Three Pre-WW II Wooden Snipes Built in Wisconsin (Dunphy and Thompson)

Photo taken by James Henning (Deerbrook, Wisconsin USA) of three pre-WW II wooden Classic Snipes that he now owns.

The blue one in the back (without decking) and the green one up front are Dunphy Snipes (built in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) and the white one in the middle was built by Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Co. (Peshtigo, Wisconsin). Dunphy and Thompson built many of the Snipes sailed in the midwestern states of the USA before WW II and for a few years after. Henning restored the green Snipe to near original appearance, and the blue Snipe is being restored to be a replica of 1939 Dunphy racing Snipe #4000 “Also” that was owned from 1939-41 by Snipe designer William F. Crosby.

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There are Thompson Snipes in several museums in the USA:
Wisconsin Maritime Museum (Manitowoc, Wisconsin)
Clabber Girl Museum (Terre Haute, Indiana)
Finger Lakes Boating Museum (Hammondsport, New York)

Several Thompson Snipes have been restored by owners in Illinois, New Jersey and Massachusetts)

I admire Jim Henning’s interest in preserving these Classic Snipes for their historical and sentimental value. It’s a fun hobby (speaking from experience). Jim’s wife Donna might have another opinion.

John D. Rose