You would think a color photograph of two 18-foot sailboats, spinnakers flying, featured on the cover of every Southwestern Bell phonebook serving a city housing over 108,000 people would be an easy computer lookup. Nope.
Don Hutcheson took the picture. Set up his camera on the east shore of small Lytle Lake east of Abilene.
Instructed John Crutchfield’s crew and Dick Elam’s crew to sail our 18-foot Flying Scot sailboats downwind in front of houses on the west shore of the small lake.
Trouble for two skippers, little wind blowing. Spinnakers collapsed. Solved by dropping a stern anchor. Held the boats in place while faint breeze—unusual for West Texas—blew behind us.
Spinnakers filled. Photographer took the picture that ‘Ma’ Bell printed on all Abilene telephone directories that year.
John was a lawyer who enjoyed telling anyone with a telephone book, “That’s my sailboat up front, leading Elam’s boat….as usual.” Just the opposite was true.
Having trouble finding the picture on that year’s telephone book. Maybe because shot in early 1960s. Can’t even find out how many telephones in Abilene back then. Back when the wind barely blew in West Texas.
Sailers looking up as they raise up the spinnaker on a Flying Scot sailboat–Photo at Shutterstock
Update: Thanks to Susan Crutchfield Cotton who provided a copy of the missing picture, April 1964.
