Burt Jones- RIP

[oneguyfromdetroit]

Nicely done, Swedge.

I knew Warren better than Burt, but I loved both those guys. Burt always welcomed me on Burden for the Chimo race, which is always on or near my birthday. And I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than racing with the Burden crew.

There is a Facebook group titled "I knew Warren Jones, and he was a Badass". Burt is the one who knocked out Warrens eye. Racing last season, at age 84, and planning on racing this season, Burt was every bit the badass Warren was. They'll be kicking it up in the afterlife too.

 

[FastrSailr]

Well put, Swedge and oneguy. It's going to be really, really hard to work on the boat this spring and not see Burt out there messing around with his keel and holding court.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Legacy

FromAnarchist "Saildry" on the occasion of the death of hisuncle, Burt Jones, over the weekend. For some more beautifuleulogies of this Detroit icon, be sure to pay a visit tothe thread and share your own story. For more history of theJones boys on the Great Lakes, read this eulogy from Burt's brotherWarren's passing a few years back. This is what legends are made of.

Itall started in the 1950s with a Lightning. Sailing with his brotherWarren, Burt Jones was off to a sailing career that lasted over 50years. The exploits of the Detroit boys on the Lighting arelegendary. From Warren smacking Burt with the tiller to knockingeach other off the boat during a race there was never a dull moment. Burt was called into the army in his teens to help design and builddrones. He then moved on to the infantry and fought in World War II. After freezing his feet and spending a few months in the infirmaryhitting on nurses, he was released. A degree in engineering atMichigan State led to a 37 year career at Ford Motor. Through it allthere was sailing.

Afterowning his own Lightning, Burt moved on to keelboats, jumping in feetfirst with a 38’ Chris Craft purchased in the mid-sixties. He wassoon modifying the boat with the help of his engineers at Ford. After great success in the Chris Craft, Burt was foolish enough totry sailing with his brother again, and they purchased the hull anddeck of a new Tartan 42 in 1972. They spent the winter finishingthe boat with Burt building the interior and Warren providing thedeck hardware. Spars and sails were bought from a now defunctCanada’s Cup defender and The Great Whisper was born. Afterreturning from the SORC, Warren and Burt’s booming voices could beheard around the great lakes for years. They somehow managed toquit arguing and won the 1979 BYC Mackinac race. By 1987 Burt hadanother project in mind and he purchased a new Express 37 from thewest coast, and called it Burden IV.

Theboat was delivered and launched at Bayview Yacht Club. Warren camedown to look at it and said “It will never sail, mast is tooshort.” Burt campaigned the boat in stock form for many years andraced in Level 66 in Detroit. He was giving up some time, butenjoyed the competition and getting the most out of his boat andcrew. Having a few seconds to give he put a larger spinnaker onthe boat to be more competitive in the level class. Soon the classhad disappeared and Burden was relegated to PHRF. The boat suffereda bit in light air and Burt started talking to Carl Schumaker aboutmore modifications.

Firstup was a carbon rudder and stock. Burt built it himself and kept thepre-preg carbon in the commercial kitchen freezer at Bayview. Afterthat it was a new cockpit with scoop and a custom keel. The boat wasstiffer and faster, but needed more juice. A carbon tube waspurchased with a taller main and stock foretriangle. The originalspreaders, rigging and boom were used. Even though Burt was spendingmoney, he was Scottish and frugal. The boat really performed upwindnow and sailed to its rating even though it was taking 24 seconds inpenalties.

NowIRC was upon us and Burt reveled in the chance to run trialcertificates to see what else could be done. The mast had brokentwice and lengthened each time to add more sail area, maybe Warrenwas right about the squatty rig. Burt always said “If it breaksit’s too light, if it doesn’t it’s too heavy.” Mastheadkites and a longer pole were added from the Farr 40 and the boat hadno weaknesses. At the age of 84 last year turned out to be Burt’slast sailing season and it was his best:

-DRYAIRC A Class Champion

-IRCGreat Lakes Class Champion

-BYCMackinac Class Champion (30 years after his first)

-BYCLong Distance and Windsor Overnight First in Class

-DetroitNOOD IRC First in Class (fifth year in a row including overall in2007)

Eveninto his eighties Burt Jones worked tirelessly on improving himself,his crew and his boat. He loved the competition of the sport and hiscompetitors. He is what every boat owner, sailor and man shouldaspire to be.

Saturdaymorning Stas Popowich, Burt’s right hand man since 1986, was on hisway to help Burt with a rudder repair. He was greeted by a phonecall from the hospital: Burt had been felled by a fatal brainaneurism. He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Denise. The boat was named after the two of them, partners forever. I hopeGod has some ear muffs when Burt sees his brother for the first timein years.

-ToddJones

 

[Wcyr07]

It is great to see that, excellent idea Clean

 

[Tronner]

Swedge, nicely done. While I don't know Burt, I knew of him and know a few that are like him.

Your story brought a smile to my face. My condolences to you and the Burt Jones family and friends.

 

[LIsailorkid]

Guy was also a helluva quarterback

 

[Polaris]

Legacy

FromAnarchist "Saildry" on the occasion of the death of hisuncle, Burt Jones, over the weekend. For some more beautifuleulogies of this Detroit icon, be sure to pay a visit tothe thread and share your own story. For more history of theJones boys on the Great Lakes, read this eulogy from Burt's brotherWarren's passing a few years back. This is what legends are made of.

Itall started in the 1950s with a Lightning. Sailing with his brotherWarren, Burt Jones was off to a sailing career that lasted over 50years. The exploits of the Detroit boys on the Lighting arelegendary. From Warren smacking Burt with the tiller to knockingeach other off the boat during a race there was never a dull moment. Burt was called into the army in his teens to help design and builddrones. He then moved on to the infantry and fought in World War II. After freezing his feet and spending a few months in the infirmaryhitting on nurses, he was released. A degree in engineering atMichigan State led to a 37 year career at Ford Motor. Through it allthere was sailing.

Afterowning his own Lightning, Burt moved on to keelboats, jumping in feetfirst with a 38' Chris Craft purchased in the mid-sixties. He wassoon modifying the boat with the help of his engineers at Ford. After great success in the Chris Craft, Burt was foolish enough totry sailing with his brother again, and they purchased the hull anddeck of a new Tartan 42 in 1972. They spent the winter finishingthe boat with Burt building the interior and Warren providing thedeck hardware. Spars and sails were bought from a now defunctCanada's Cup defender and The Great Whisper was born. Afterreturning from the SORC, Warren and Burt's booming voices could beheard around the great lakes for years. They somehow managed toquit arguing and won the 1979 BYC Mackinac race. By 1987 Burt hadanother project in mind and he purchased a new Express 37 from thewest coast, and called it Burden IV.

Theboat was delivered and launched at Bayview Yacht Club. Warren camedown to look at it and said "It will never sail, mast is tooshort." Burt campaigned the boat in stock form for many years andraced in Level 66 in Detroit. He was giving up some time, butenjoyed the competition and getting the most out of his boat andcrew. Having a few seconds to give he put a larger spinnaker onthe boat to be more competitive in the level class. Soon the classhad disappeared and Burden was relegated to PHRF. The boat suffereda bit in light air and Burt started talking to Carl Schumaker aboutmore modifications.

Firstup was a carbon rudder and stock. Burt built it himself and kept thepre-preg carbon in the commercial kitchen freezer at Bayview. Afterthat it was a new cockpit with scoop and a custom keel. The boat wasstiffer and faster, but needed more juice. A carbon tube waspurchased with a taller main and stock foretriangle. The originalspreaders, rigging and boom were used. Even though Burt was spendingmoney, he was Scottish and frugal. The boat really performed upwindnow and sailed to its rating even though it was taking 24 seconds inpenalties.

NowIRC was upon us and Burt reveled in the chance to run trialcertificates to see what else could be done. The mast had brokentwice and lengthened each time to add more sail area, maybe Warrenwas right about the squatty rig. Burt always said "If it breaksit's too light, if it doesn't it's too heavy." Mastheadkites and a longer pole were added from the Farr 40 and the boat hadno weaknesses. At the age of 84 last year turned out to be Burt'slast sailing season and it was his best:

-DRYAIRC A Class Champion

-IRCGreat Lakes Class Champion

-BYCMackinac Class Champion (30 years after his first)

-BYCLong Distance and Windsor Overnight First in Class

-DetroitNOOD IRC First in Class (fifth year in a row including overall in2007)

Eveninto his eighties Burt Jones worked tirelessly on improving himself,his crew and his boat. He loved the competition of the sport and hiscompetitors. He is what every boat owner, sailor and man shouldaspire to be.

Saturdaymorning Stas Popowich, Burt's right hand man since 1986, was on hisway to help Burt with a rudder repair. He was greeted by a phonecall from the hospital: Burt had been felled by a fatal brainaneurism. He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Denise. The boat was named after the two of them, partners forever. I hopeGod has some ear muffs when Burt sees his brother for the first timein years.

-ToddJones

Well done.

 

[sail1403]

I knew this thread would be up fast and I hesitated to find it. Losing Burt put me in an introspective mood and a loss of words. I have had the privilege to sail with Burt for the last five seasons. It is cliché to say a honor and a privilege but it is the fact of the matter.

Someone above asked what type of man Burt was. Well the best illustration I can think of to describe Burt's character was after this past Mackinac race at Horns on the island. Burt accompanied his crew to the bars that evening and we found our way into Horns and eventually muscled our way to a table. Before we got a table I looked back for Burt and he already had a beer in his hand. Which struck me as odd because Burt wasn't really a drinker. He would have a beer or two on the way back from the race course and shoot the shit with the crew at the dock but he wouldn't be the guy you would expect to get the first beer at the bar.

It took a while to get Burt to the table, not because he wasn't moving fast enough, but because people kept stopping him to shake his hand or give him a pat on the back. Once we sat down at the table people kept stopping by again to shake Burt's hand, congratulate him on the race and, just generally show their respect.

With all the goings on that occur at a bar post-race my attentions got side tracked till Burt nudged me to get my attention and to hand me a beer. As I looked over at Burt there were at least eight beer bottles sitting in front of him. I knew very well Burt didn't order eight beers.

It dawned on me then what was happening. People were buying Burt beer after beer. More beer than it advisable for a man to consume and he had been handing them out to his crew. As the night went on the beer kept coming and it started to trickle into my booze-laden consciousness; I had the privilege to be sitting next to someone who was more than just a man. Exaggeration? Look at the other words people used to describe him. Icon, larger-than-life, influential…

As I sat there sipping the beer he handed me, and even now as I write this, I looked back to all the times people would stop Burt just to show their respect and say hello. How many times people sailed their boats over to ours just to holler a greeting to him. I never thought of it then but looking back it would have annoyed a lot of people, the constant attention. Burt didn't seem to relish in it or shirk it he just accepted it with a warm smile and a kind word.

With all the adulation Burt always managed a lot humility and it is probably why people liked him so much. On the boat he was a leader who kept a lot of bad ideas from happening and offering up just as many good ones. A lot has been said about his booming voice, and it was loud, but that was a small part of what made it fun to sail with him.

Burt Jones may be a lot of the great things to many other people. To me he will always be a dear friend sorely missed.

Thank you, Burt.

+1000000 Swedge

I think I might have turned Burt off to drinking beer, I had the pleasure of growing up with Todd (we got in a little trouble) working for Warren & Don & started my "big boat" sailing with Warren & Burt on the Whisper and when Burt bought the express I moved over to Burden and enjoyed every minute. short story: (all pre conversion, moved out of town when conversion happened) Burt had me deliver burden to Port huron before a MAC, Burt & I went to the boat to prep & make sure we had the proper flares we got there about 3pm and he says beer? of course I said, we through the course of the next 6-8 hours had gone through 13 beers each and felt surprisingly well the next day...Burt comes up in the morning hey you know how many beers we had last night??? it was than that we determined we were at least one case short for the race and as many of you know he had that shit eating grin on his face...so many great times with Burt, he will be missed...so many great memories.

I picture him with his yellow float coat on, wet sanding the keel with his little blue block of insulation & 1000 grit wet/dry "smooth as a babies bottom"

He didn't have a kids of his own but he sure has adopted many of us over the years

 

[explenture]

Recently lost my long time sailor father. I can see a similarity between him and this genglemen in the respect people have for him, the memories created and the stories that will go live on.

 

[Heatwave80]

I went to high school with Todd and worked several summers at Thomas Hardware. Warren and Burt were a rare breed and the sailing world is poorer for their passing. Underneath their gruff exteriors were two men who cared deeply and passionately about sailboat racing and the people who made it happen. You will be missed.

 

[Old Man On The Bow]

Have been out of touch lately and just happened by SA this morning, So sorry to read about Burt. Again not one to sail with Burt and the Burden crew but was always great to sail against them and to be around the group at the club.

A great read to go through all of this this morning, many found memories of the Detroit sailing world, now less one more great man.

Condolences to Todd and the entire extended Jones family.

Best Regards

 

[BGeff]

It sucks having to write even one of these, yet Todd has had to do it twice. Keeping a good thought for all who are close and Fair Winds Burt. "Nice Pair" is sorry for the loss and will continue to sail in the spirit of the Jones brothers. You are missed.

BGeff

 

[SailDry]

Just found this one showing some of the modifications.

 

[BGeff]

Awesome shot. Thanks for posting it.

 

[SailDry]

Burt and Warren after the 1975 Super Mac.

 

[isma]

Burt and Warren after the 1975 Super Mac.

Great shot but Warren looks younger than I recall from that era. The Ericson 39 on the outside sort of stamps the date but are you sure, 75?

Edit: Supermac? Doesn't the shot look like the coal dock? Supermacs don't end at the Rock.

 

[barleymalt]

Burt and Warren after the 1975 Super Mac.

Great shot but Warren looks younger than I recall from that era. The Ericson 39 on the outside sort of stamps the date but are you sure, 75?

Edit: Supermac? Doesn't the shot look like the coal dock? Supermacs don't end at the Rock.

Definately Mac Is, the Round Island lighthouse is visible. Could be '75 if they elected not to do the Super and stopped. IIRC, Port Huron was first that year, Supermac was east to west.

 

[BGeff]

Before my time. Thanks for the history and pic.

 

[sailski]

Burt and Warren after the 1975 Super Mac.

Great shot. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[ropetrick]

Great photo! Thanks for sharing Todd.

The brothers always had real fashion sense.