When my wife Karen and I were married in 1980 I gave her as a wedding gift a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds that we had seen together in Hawaii. The ring was called the "golden crown". It seemed over the next few years that every occasion to which she wore the ring turned out to be special and very much fun.

In 1982 we decided we wanted to live aboard a Flicka and cruise for a while. We had #242 built, and lived most of 1983 aboard her, cruising the Chesapeake. As she was being completed, and we anticipated the adventure to come, it seemed we were embarking on the most special and fun thing we had done up till then. We considered several names, but when one of us suggested Golden Crown, after the ring, we instantly knew it was perfect.

We also bought and finished a bare hull Trinka (8' dinghy also designed by Bruce Bingham) for that trip to serve as a tender. In keeping with the jewelry theme, while adding a little humor (and being old enough to remember "Laugh-In") we dubbed it Ringhy Dinghy.

Today our 14 year old son is usually at the helm of Golden Crown, and our 8 year old daughter loves to row Ringhy Dinghy. After 16 years the name is still perfect.

Morris London

Rod Bruckdorfer
©: copyright 1999 Rod Bruckdorfer