Those articles are wrong. The M15 was drawn by Jerry Montgomery, based on Hess' M17. Jerry says that Lyle said of the M15, "She's the best little boat I never drew." I've never heard there was any opposition from Lyle to the creation/construction of the M15, but I'd defer to Jerry on that one . . . Based on the quote, it sounds to ME as if Lyle approved of the M15 . . . ----- Original Message ----- From: <BILLAMICASR@aol.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 4:06 PM Subject: M-15 I was recently told a story about the M-15 that needs a bit of clarification. I've read in a couple of articles that the M-15 is a Lyle Hess design. Now I'm told it is a Jerry Montgomery modification to a Lyle Hess design. So I'm told... when the M-15 idea was concieved, it was Jerry Montgomery, who wanted to offer a smaller, quality cruiser that would sail respectively as well as the M-17 did. I'm told Mr. Hess didn't care for the idea and wasn't totally behind the construction of the M-15. I'm told the M-15 was then created as a drawn down M-17 by Jerry Montgomery and the rest is, as they say... history. Maybe this question should be answered by Jerry Montgomery. Or is the story well known and I'm the last to hear about it? (has happened before) Regards, Bill M-17 @ Billamicasr.funtigo.com

I think you must be down the line a little, Bill. The concept for the 17 was mine; I approached Lyle to design it for me. The concept for the 15 was also mine, and I thought that during the ensuing 8 years I had learned enough to do it myself. By that time, Lyle considered me to be somewhat of a protégé because I had spent a great deal of time studying design, mostly under his wing. Actually, Lyle approved of the 15 very much, and once said that it was the best looking boat I built. In the design stage, he looked over the drawings several times, suggesting once that I give it a little fuller sections forward (which I did), and another time suggested that I include a skeg, aft, which I did not do. We discussed his thinking and my thinking at length. He did approve of the boat and was probably as excited about the boat as I was. I'm quite proud of the 15 but at the same time consider the 17 to be my best boat; mostly because of the masthead rig, which because fo the cost factor was not used in the 15. Look at the old Balboa 20, which was a Hess design and had a 7/8 rig. The rig is probably the biggest reason that the M-17 is a little faster boat in most conditions because of flexibility. Jerry jerrymontgomery.org ----- Original Message ----- From: <BILLAMICASR@aol.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 1:06 PM Subject: M_Boats: M-15

I was recently told a story about the M-15 that needs a bit of clarification. I've read in a couple of articles that the M-15 is a Lyle Hess design. Now I'm told it is a Jerry Montgomery modification to a Lyle Hess design. So I'm told... when the M-15 idea was concieved, it was Jerry Montgomery, who wanted to offer a smaller, quality cruiser that would sail respectively as well as the M-17 did. I'm told Mr. Hess didn't care for the idea and wasn't totally behind the construction of the M-15. I'm told the M-15 was then created as a drawn down M-17 by Jerry Montgomery and the rest is, as they say... history. Maybe this question should be answered by Jerry Montgomery. Or is the story well known and I'm the last to hear about it? (has happened before)

Regards, Bill M-17 @ Billamicasr.funtigo.com _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats