About Quintessence

Built by Jarvis Newman and Malcomb Pettegrow of Southwest Harbor, Maine, Quintessence is, literally, a copy of an early 20th century Maine Friendship sloop Dictator.

Dictator was built in 1904 by Robert McLain, simultaneously with another sloop, the Estella A. The Estella A is now part of the Mystic Seaport collection.

Newman came across the badly deteriorated Dictator in the early 1970's and completely rebuilt the boat. As part of the restoration process Newman took measurements off her hull, forever preserving Dictator's beautiful lines. This two-year restoration process was documented in the Time-Life Library of Boating, in The Classic Boat.

Newman created a mold based on the Dictator lines and used it to build a number of glass-hulled "Dictator Class" Friendship sloops. Quintessence was built from the same mold, but unlike the rest of the class, was rigged as a schooner. Quintessence is truly one-of-a-kind! The schooner rig was designed by Ralph Stanley. Pettigrow crafted the deck, superstructure and interior from a Bob Wallstrom design.

While thoroughly traditional in design, Quintessence boasts a thoroughly modern array of marine electronics. She carries RADAR, fixed and handheld GPS receivers, an on-board Windows based navigation computer running state-of-the-art Nobeltec Visual Navigation Suite software, mirrored chartplotter displays, a DSC VHF radio with an integrated AIS receiver and full wind instrumentation.

Quintessence participated in the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Races, placing first in Class "C" and winning "Best Overall" in 2007, placing third in 2009, first in 2010 and withdrawing from the 2011 race after covering only a third of the race distance after 22 hours of tacking against increasing headwinds.

Quintessence's home port is Bayville, NJ at deRouville's Boat Shop on Toms River just off Barnegat Bay.

Basic Specifications