We hope to have more Lezah pictures coming but this got us started.

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The following is excerpted from Chris' post at the Sailnet site, December 11, 2006.

Hi guys,

LEZAH does not have a hull number that I am aware of, as the hull was imported by JJ Taylor in 1959 to be completed in Toronto for Hazel Morris and her husband. If I had to guess, I would say that she was one of the very first off the line back in the O'Day . Both were avid yachting people and raced out of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto . They wanted something smaller for Hazel to skipper and the Dolphin provided all the numbers (including a high handicap) to allow her to be successful when competing. Taylor went on to parlay his fibreglass experience into a successful truck company in Unicell after building the Canadian version of the Contessa.

LEZAH (Hazel spelled backwards) was launched in 1960, powered by a 1959 Palmer 6 hp gas single cylinder engine. I can only imagine how classic her lines looked when new. Since then she has seen a lot of wear and tear, breaking loose from her berth a few decades ago in a storm and smashing up against a concrete pier. That damage and the other cracks will soon be less visible as my guy completes the refinishing of the decks and coach roof. I was probably well past the "worth" of the boat when I bought her, but I'm now in the "unrecoverable" area. I'm hoping she'll last another 40 or more years that I have left to sail her in the North Channel, where she'll be berthed in Kagawong, Manitoulin Island. She's never seen salt water, and now she never will; I had hoped at one time to sail her down the St. Lawrence to Port Aux Basques Newfoundland to visit friends. I'll have to find another boat for that passage.

LEZAH is heavier than the later Dolphins I imagine as she was hand-laid up fibreglass an inch thick in spots. So she would have handled ocean-going much more capably than her size would suggest (as you boys in San Francisco and Buzzard's Bay would attest).

From the second and third pics you can see the three bronze opening ports (pictures coming) that I purchased from a foundry in BC through Dowsar Marine in Hamilton ON, but you can find a similar though costlier product at New Found Metals in Washington. The original port hardware was aluminum and was replaced by the second owner, who worked with aluminum. He extruded seven god-awful rectangular portlight frames that cast great light below decks, but made the boat look like a bad home-built - especially the portlight on the front of the coach roof. That one is now gone, and LEZAH will never leak from bashing head-on into waves again. Belowdecks will remain sparse. She retains a v-berth and two aft berths that are crude plywood construction, but enough to get a night's sleep on. She still has a head, but I will have to replumb it to include a waste tank as the original design just dumped the waste overboard. I repowered LEZAH with a 7 hp BMW engine that I had a guy rebuild though V12 Engineering in Northern Ontario.

I hope to be sailing again in the late spring as the North Channel remains hypothermic cold until late May/early June...but who knows with the global temperature rise. On that subject, make a point of watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Regardless of your politics, I think sailors will find this concerning.

And one last word in this lengthy email...I'd like to express my condolences to the Gainey family for the loss at sea of Laura. She was crewing on the Picton Castle, a square-rigged barque recently out of Nova Scotia. Laura's dad, Bob Gainey, is a Canadian hockey hero from the 70's and early 80's, having won 5 Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadians. She and the family had overcome so much. My thoughts are with them.

Best regards in the upcoming holiday season,

Chris Vandersteen

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December 26, 2011. Overwhelmed with xmas events your webmaster retreated to the peace and quiet of website maintenance. I got to thinking about people one loses contact with, noticed our 5 year info gap with Lezah, and naturally emailed Chris to find out what's up. His reply:

Hi Ron,

She's sitting in the yard all wrapped up in blue. I wish I could say she'll be ready to launch in the spring, but the time and space continuum conspire to keep me from finishing up the refit. Thanks for staying in touch. Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

Chris

And, then I got to wondering why we can't seem to get more info about J.J. Taylor and Sons, and also I decided to cruise around the Internet. Lezah is the only J.J. Taylor boat on our Roster... Here's what I found.

A post on our own(!) Forum from back in the early days of the website:

Dolphin 24.org Forum posting
Aug 15, 2007
From: Chris Vandersteen
Re: Dolphin Trailer

Hi Bob,

My Dolphin is sitting on her new float-on trailer, and I'm hoping to launch before the end of the season up here in <ST1:COUNTRY-REGIoN w:st="on">Canada</ST1:COUNTRY-REGIoN>. I had the deck repainted and have yet to get all the gear back on. I'll keep you posted.

Chris
Lezah

We found another post from Chris dated August 19, 2009 on a blog somewhere:

Tanzer 16
So my Dolphin 24 sat on the hard for another season, as she awaits my attention to get her hardware and rigging reinstalled. I had the topsides redone a couple of years ago, and she has yet to be launched. In the flurry of activity since January, with the end of a long-term relationship, I haven't had the time to devote to Lezah and there she sits in the yard, on her trailer, under a canopy of blue shrink-wrap. But I didn't want to let another sailing season slip by completely, and now that I've virtually given up flying and plane ownership, I need to get back on the water. So my son and I searched out and bought a decent sixteen foot dingy, and we'll be travelling north to bring her home. She's a Tanzer 16 and belonged to an elderly gentleman who is no longer able to sail.

Together, my son and I prepared the trailer (which I hauled back from the northern locale a few days ago on my own utility trailer), installing new wheels and tires, wiring, etc. So we'll be heading out in a couple of hours, hoping to launch in the next day or two, weather permitting.

While the trailer was in need of repairs, the boat, upon inspection, appeared to be in good shape. No damage was apparent, and a cursory examination for delamination and soggy fiberglass turned up nothing. For the amount if time in the water that we'll see, I think we're pretty safe. We won't be racing her, and she's too small to do more than fart round for a few hours in light to moderate breezes. Perhaps I'll rekindle my passion for sailing enough to have Lezah ready for spring.

Chris

We are trying to track down Hazel Morris, and also to generate some information about J.J. Taylor and Sons - stay tumed

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December 30, 2011. No long holiday break for your Dolphin24 website staff!, Nor for Beverley Darville, archivist at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto, Canada! As Lezah had a reputation as an active racing boat it seemed that maybe the RCYC might have some archival information that could shed light on her record. BINGO!! Lezah was definitely a racing boat - a very successful racing boat under her skippers Hazel and Dave Morris. Thanks to Beverley we found many records of Lezah's racing success in the Annals of the RCYC. Here are a couple of clippings:

LYRA is the Lake Yacht Racing Association formed in 1884 as an association of yacht clubs on Lake Ontario and eastern Lake Erie. Winning the Louise Freeman Cup (photo at left) in 1963 was quite a challenge - that's over 100! miles on the rhumb line in a Dolphin in heavy weather....We'll try and get the local weather report. In addition to winning the 1963 Louise Freeman Cup Lezah won the 1963 Earl of Dufferin Cup awarded for the best corrected time in IMS classes; she won the 1963 Boswell Race in Division VIII; and in 1962, she won the annually awarded Queens Cup, originally presented by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1891. I am sure that it did not escape notice that Lezah won the Cosgrove Cup in 1960 - right out of the box!! stay tuned

December 31, 2011. Today, your webmaster spoke with Hazel Morris. She was returning my call and caught me planting our live Christmas tree out back - no pen or note paper, but a wonderful conversation. Hazel lives with husband Dave out on a cattle ranch in Neudorf, Saskatchewan and remembers well getting off a plane from London in January, 1960 and going to the Toronto Boat Show where she was to see her wedding present - a Dolphin 24 on exhibit!

While she and Dave are not 'internet friendly' they will make an effort to get to see the website - perhaps at their local library - and we will talk again next week. I will have pen and paper handy! She told me that they sold Lezah to someone, who sold it to Chris, and 6-7 years ago on a trip back east she went to see the boat and knew that it had been painted blue. She has wonderful memories of racing Lezah with her "all girl crew".

Your webmaster also has been in contact with Jim Taylor of J. J. Taylor and Sons (one of 2 sons, the other is William), and he is a long time friend of the Morrises. We will talk next year/week.

For a Dolphin24 webmaster its been a great way to exit the year, and a wonderful opportunity to start 2012. Happy New Year!!

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January 24, 2012. Early in January I spoke with Jim Taylor whose father and grandfather owned J. J. Taylor and Sons, and during that period, I also spoke with both Dave and Hazel Morris. The result is the beginning of a fascinating, and continuing story. Basically, Jim tells us that J.J Taylor built only one Dolphin 24 - previous reports had indicated 10-12 boats were built. That one boat was built for Dave Morris who bought it as a wedding present for his new English bride,

Jim reported that Dave was an enthusiast for the, then, new fiberglass technology, and, as we know, so was George O'Day. Hazel told me that their boat was exhibited at the boat show in two pieces, as she recalls - the hull, with the deck suspended above it. The purpose was to show people what could be done with this new fiberglass technology. Jim Taylor told me that they built it as a special favor to Dave, and exhibited it so that show go'ers could see what could be done with fiberglass as a boat building material. Dave told me he had the boat bonded together and arranged to have it finished. We are waiting for more on this story.

On a follow up conversation with Hazel today she told me she had been to the library and, with the help of the librarian, arranged to download and copy several pages from the website including Lezah's. She has also selected some pictures of Lezah and will mail them. The nearest store where copies can be made is over an hour's drive from the ranch!

We had a wonderful conversation ranging the breath of Dolphin sailing experiences - including how Lezah excelled in light air. Hazel recalls Lezah winning the Queens Cup in 1962 - a race from Toronto to Hamilton at the western end of Lake Ontario, a distance of 25-30 miles. The race was under the CCA Handicap System with large and smaller boats racing together - including the RCYC Commodore's 60+ footer. Sometime during the race the wind went very light and many boats retired and were being towed into Hamilton harbor. The Commodore's boat finished, and he was anticipating being awarded the Queen Cup. However, Lezah sailed into the harbor - and was announced as the winner!

February 7, 2012. Hazel Morris found some pictures of Lezah, copied them and mailed them in. We are hoping for more

Dave Morris at the helm - 1960 black and white photo - hull color blue/green

Note port light change by later owner, and she's red! - Dave on boat visiting

Lezah For Sale in Oakville, Ontario, 2006? Just before Chris Vandersteen bought her..

A previous owner painted her blue - note the white paint job low on the keel

Stay tuned

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