Leslie Geary

Four years later, with lifelong friends Dean and Lloyd Johnson, Geary designed and built Empress II, another 24-foot centerboard racing sloop.

While a sophomore at the University of Washington, he designed Spirit, a 42-foot LOA (length overall) racing sloop for the Seattle Yacht Club.

Among his designs are Sir Tom, an "R" class boat that dominated the racing circuit along the West Coast for three decades; Katedna, later Red Jacket, a 62-foot LOA schooner which would enjoy unrivaled success in Northwest racing; and Pirate, another successful "R" class racer.

But with the Depression lasting throughout the 1930s, he received few commissions for yachts, the exception being Stranger and the 53-foot LOA Tri-Cabin cruiser Almar (later renamed Rachel Fox and Santina) built in 1937 at Lake Union Drydock Company.

[5] By the time he went to work at Craig Ship Building Company in 1939 to conduct stability testing during World War II, his career was near its end.