The University of Washington rowing crews, coached by the likes of Hiram Conibear, Rusty Callow, Al Ulbrickson, and Dick Erickson have been visible working out on Lake Washington since the turn of the century. Conibear, collaborating with George Pocock, revolutionized the sport and catapulted the “Huskies” to a dominant position in competitive Olympic style rowing. This history is fairly well documented through a number of different sources, newspaper articles, University archives and scrapbooks, and a number of published books. Through all this, there is an untold story. The history of the coach’s motor launches that were the workhorses, putting the coach in contact with his athletes. Who built them? Designed them? What became of them? Conibear quickly gained a reputation (and complaints were lodged with the University) for hollering from shore as his crews rowed past him. I’m sure his predecessor coach Knight was similarly limited. Then, in 1908, the crew team leased Target. I haven’t been able to find any information on design, power plant or heritage on Target., but there are some surviving photos of Conibear in his launch. In a few years’ time, the team owned the boat outright. By 1911, the boat is referred to as Target II; I assume they traded up and this really was an altogether different boat than the original, but that is not certain. There is a nice article from the Seattle Times or PI (I forget which) that goes into detail about the christening and launch of the Husky in 1923. The Husky was designed by George Wayland, and built by Shertzer Bros. Boatyard. She was part of the coaching fleet at least through the 50’s. In 1923, Alumnus was christened. She accompanied the crews to San Francisco in 1927. On April 9 th, 1927, during the featured Varsity race, with coaches Callow and Ulbrickson aboard, Alumnus was rammed by a large motor yacht that was seeking a better view of the race. The coaches were both thrown into the bow compartment, and the team manager went into the drink (including a movie camera that was filming the whole thing.) Alumnus limped to shore with severe damage to her hull just above the waterline. Finding no other references to Alumnus, I assume she was a loss, and left behind in California. The next boat to come along was Conny, named for Conibear. She was built perhaps as early as 1932, and follows the same design as Husky. It is a guess that Shertzer Bros. built her as well, but this would be more or less probable, depending on when Shertzer Bros. went out of business. It is my understanding that a fire at their yard was what finished them, but I do not know when that was. The Conny was loaded on railroad cars and hauled back east for many of the big races during the 30’s and 40’s. I have even heard it rumored that she was shipped to Germany when the Huskies won the 1936 Olympics (but I don’t believe that was actually the case.) Conny was in service at the “U” until 1971, when she was rammed broadside and sunk. The Husky was used up and left to rot in an old yard near Jensen’s Motorboat Company. Bill Garden saw her, liked her lines and hauled off what was left. He pulled out her Chrysler Crown and had it rebuilt at Doc Freeman’s. Before doing much else, he traded her away to Dudley Davisson in exchange for some sanding work. Dudley, aka the Grinder, wedge seamed her hull and repaired her as necessary. He installed a small one-or two cylinder engine and sold her in 1970 or 1971. If anyone can tell me what happened next, or where she is today, I’m eager to know. A copy of Conny was built by H.A. Long Boat Works in 1958; the Husky II is still in service at the university today. I was a member of the crew team from 1973 through 1977, during which time I was very involved with the upkeep for the Husky II. In this capacity, I learned of Conny, which at that time lay in the University’s Corp Yard #2. She had been dumped there 4 years earlier after the sinking. Just as Bill Garden liked what he saw in Husky, I too was taken with Conny. In 1979, I salvaged what was left and haulted her away from the university. Today, thanks to good fortune and the skill and craftsmanship of boat builder Dave Berg, she is fully restored. She’s still powered by her original Scripps F-6 engine (records show the engine delivered to the Atlas Engine Co. in October , 1931). Her restoration is fully documented in pictures. I have been in contact with a number of people in my attempt to fill in all the gaps – Anchor Jensen, Norm Blanchard, Stan Pocock and Dick Erickson, to name a few.