DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140529

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   89 lines

THE SCHOONER VIRGINIA REBUILDING A SENSE OF PRIDE A LOCAL GROUP SAYS A SEAWORTHY MODEL OF THE 1917 TALL SHIP COULD BE A ROVING AMBASSADOR FOR THE REGION.

The Schooner Virginia, a 1917 pilot vessel that once flew like the wind in the port of Hampton Roads, will live again, a group of tall ship enthusiasts declared Tuesday.

If the sponsors can raise nearly $3 million in grants and donations, a 118-foot wooden replica of the two-masted schooner will set sail as a floating goodwill ambassador for the region and the state.

The schedule calls for construction to begin a year from now, with completion by June 1999 when Operation Sail 2000, one of the largest-ever gatherings of tall ships and character vessels, arrives in Hampton Roads.

The sponsors would like to turn her construction into an open demonstration of wooden shipbuilding techniques on the Norfolk waterfront.

The Schooner Virginia Foundation, a group that includes a maritime lawyer, banker, marine science professor, sailmaker, ship builder and retired harbor pilot, also announced that it has chosen a builder for the project.

The foundation board agreed Monday night to send a letter of intent to Allen Rawl, who built the Susan Constant replica for Jamestown and the Spirit of Massachusetts for Boston, and is now re-creating a 17th century cargo vessel for Wilmington, Del.

The Virginia would be the region's answer to the highly-popular Pride of Baltimore II, the clipper ship that represents Maryland at harbor-front activities around the world. The Pride, which stopped in Norfolk last year, recently returned from a European tour.

``The people of Maryland are proud of that vessel,'' said Frederick E. Boesch, executive director of the foundation. ``We're hoping to generate the same sense of pride in Virginia.''

In fact, the Virginia, slightly longer and lighter than its friendly rival on the Bay, might even be a little faster, Boesch said.

With its tallest mast reaching more than 100 feet above the water, the Virginia would be just about as tall as the 10-story Omni Waterside Hotel.

Like the Pride, the Virginia would be built at a location on the waterfront where the public could watch the construction and check on its progress. A site for construction and berthing has not been chosen, although Boesch said he hopes Norfolk officials will agree to a location near Nauticus.

Once built, it would remain in port only two months of the year, roving as an ambassador for the state and region the rest of the time.

In its heyday as a working vessel and trainer for the Virginia Pilots Association, the original Virginia reached heady speeds for a sailboat, said Arthur C. Johnson Jr., a retired pilot whose father was trained on the craft.

``She was very fast and logged speeds of 15 knots a couple of times,'' said Johnson, a foundation board member.

``It's one of those schooners that look like they're doing 12 knots while they're lying alongside a pier,'' he said.

The new Virginia would allow as many as 100 guests on board for tours and receptions. Besides a crew of eight, it would accommodate 15 passengers on extended voyages and seat 20 at a formal dinner.

Boesch said it will have a strong education component, capable of carrying 100 students on daylong adventures or a research team on full-scale scientific projects.

The big question will be whether the foundation can raise the estimated $2.9 million for the project. It will set its sight on grants from the state, area cities and businesses, and private donations.

``It's no easy task,'' Boesch said. ``But we know the project will be a win-win situation for the area and the state. We know the money is out there.''

Morton H. Clark, a maritime lawyer who has long represented the pilots' association, acknowledged it will be ``a challenge to raise the necessary funds.'' But Clark, a foundation board member, predicted it will be successful once people realize what an asset it could be to the state and region.

Besides the initial cost, the project would need $875,000 a year to operate, with funds coming from governments, individuals, corporations and chartering revenue.

The Virginia has been Boesch's dream since he crewed on the Pride during the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race several years ago. The one-time publisher of a sailing magazine and now operations manager for Planet Music has been ``living, eating and breathing it for the past two years. It's taken over my house and my life.''

Tall ships have caught the fancy of port cities on both coasts and kept boat builders busy replicating them.

Lorenzo D. Amory III, current president of the Virginia Pilots Association and a foundation board member, predicted the Virginia ``will grow into something that's going to be quite lovely.

``It will be very nice seeing that thing coming and going out of Cape Henry and knowing it used to be one of ours.'' ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

With one mast towering 100 feet above the water, the ship would be

about as tall as the Omni Waterside.

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