Boatbuilder and past member of the Canadian sailing team, William ‘Bill’ Alexander Abbott, has died at the age of 98.
Bill grew up adventuring in the woods with his dog team, fishing, picking blueberries and learning to hunt.
His appreciation of nature and his passion for outdoor activities stayed with him for his entire life.
Around 1940, Bill’s family moved to Sarnia, Ontario, where he completed his high school education at SCITS.
On his graduation in 1944, Bill enlisted in the navy to serve in WWII during which he sailed on the Atlantic, until the last run to Murmansk, Russia, and finished his naval career on the Pacific in 1946.
Bill returned to Sarnia where, with the help of his father, he opened Abbott Boat Works.
Abbott Boat Works
He married Ruth McCracken in 1950 and in the mid 1950’s they moved their family and the company to London Road where they raised their eight children.
In the first decade of Abbott Boat Works, Bill built and raced wooden power boats, then over the years transitioned into building many classes of sailboat.
In the 1960s, he built Nordic Folkboats and Dragons – first of wood and later of fiberglass.
The Abbot 22, introduced in 1964 was the first in a line of fiberglass racer-cruisers that bore his name. This was followed by the Abbott 28, the Abbott 33 by 1980, the Abbott 27, and the Abbott 36 and Waverbreaker, Fisherman 22 fishing boats and canoes.
Bill’s boats were constructed to high standards, and he achieved world-wide recognition as a skilled builder.
This provided an entry into the world of competitive sailing, in which he excelled over the next two decades.
Legend of Sailing
Some of his proud accomplishments were being named to the 1980 Canadian Olympic Team, 1983 Canadian Pan-Am Team, and winning gold at the Soling North American Championship.
Besides other victories and placements in Mackinac races, a special achievement was winning both first in class and first in Division, sailing an Abbott 33 in the 1991 Bayview Mackinac race. Bill was always an avid competitor in local Sarnia Yacht Club races.
Bill was always on the go, balancing the time he spent on his family, his faith, the out-of-doors, sailing, and running Abbott Boats.
He was as a life-time member of the Sarnia Yacht Club, which donated the William Abbott Senior Trophy to the CYA, to be awarded yearly to the best sail training program in Canada; the Film Board of Canada included Abbott Boats in the travelog series, ‘About Town’; a 90th birthday sail past at the Sarnia Yacht Club; and many articles were written about him.
Bill was also included as a ‘Legend of Sailing’ by Ontario Sailing in 2017.
Bill’s nickname ‘Chief’ first came about to differentiate him from his son, Bill Jr, who took over his father’s role as skipper when racing. His building skills helped support activities for the Boys Brigade, and he supported the work of many travelling missionaries.
