Turns out that there are two Mercers named Winsome. What are the odds? The other Winsome is owned by L. T. Lilliston and lives in Marion MA.
Heard from June and John Downs in July 2002 and got details about their baby. She was Mercer Boatwork's 5th 44. We believe that she was initially owned by Bache E. Whitlock. According to the Downs, Mr. Whitlock gave her to his captain Donald Andrews, when he could no longer sail her. Mr. Andrews (of Metairie, Louisiana) renamed her to Bonnie Doon. Some pictures of her are below. The Downs bought the boat from Mr. Andrews in 1987 when he was hired to goto Taiwan to surpervise the construction of a new boat for someone. They renamed her Winsome.
They purchased her in Tarpon Springs, FL and sailed her to Connecticut. In the fall of 1992 they headed down the ICW and sailed to the Bahamas. They sailing in the Bahamas for 5 years and returned to Connecticut in the spring of 1997. June and John returned to work for the past 5 years and are presently preparing to depart for an extended period of time. Sounds like a fabulous life! They have periodically upgraded Winsome to include an Awl Grip hull and deck, sea frost refrigeration, new electronics, 62hp turbo charged Yanmar engine, Alpha 3000 auto pilot, Harking roller furling, Ideal Windless, and Icom 710 SSB. They repaired/replaced all exterior wood, replaced starboard quarter berth with desk/chart table, new main and mizzen masts, all standing and running rigging, new cushions, and have stripped and repainted/varnished the interior. They are presently replacing their Dyna Plate and need to install a holding tank. Their have in place a Lectra San MSD1. They are looking for information regarding location of holding tank and systems that are compatible with the Mercer.
The Downs say that Winsome must have down a lot of serious racing prior to their buying her, in evidence to the plaques on board when they bought her. Winsome is their home now so they don't race her seriously but when they cruised in the Bahamas between 1993 and 1997, their Winsome won several Georgetown, Exuma Cruising regatta races. They would love to see other Mercers down there as well and are very interested in hearing from the other Mercer owners.
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