Wooden Boat AtlasDesigners, builders & classes · v3.0

Atlas / Designers

dates unverified · Wilmington, California

Hugh Angelman

Designer and yard partner — Wilmington, California

Co-founder of Wilmington Boat Works and author of the Sea Witch — the clipper-bowed gaff ketch that became the West Coast's romantic cruising archetype and is still being built.

Yard
Co-founded Wilmington Boat Works, 400 Yacht Street, Wilmington, in 1920 with Willard Buchanan and Tom Smith
Sea Witch
Designed and built c. 1937–41; later redrawn below the waterline by Charlie Davies
Production
Later runs built by American Marine and by Cheoy Lee in Hong Kong
  • c. 1937Sea Witch ketch — 34 to 42 ft; still in production and replica build
Sourcing notes & unresolved questions
  • Birth and death years not found. One source names the original builder as 'Wilbo' — almost certainly a contraction of Wilmington Boat Works, but stated here as found rather than corrected.

Wooden Boat Atlas v3.0 · built 30 July 2026 · a project of the Golden Gate Wooden Boat Foundation · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · open data · corrections