Welcome to the Beetle Cat®

The Beetle Cat Boat is a twelve-foot, gaff-rigged wooden catboat designed by John Beetle in 1921 and originally built by the Beetle family of New Bedford, MA, famous for their whaleboats.

After three years of somewhat informal regattas to determine the "New England Champion" in Beetle Cats, the New England Beetle Cat Boat Association (NEBCBA) was formed at New Bedford, MA in the spring of 1940 for the purpose of providing an annual junior championship for Beetle Cat Boats. Over the years, NEBCBA initiated several other championships for both juniors and adults. Today NEBCBA still sponsors championships under the umbrella of the "Leo J. Telesmanick Championship" in honor of Leo J. Telesmanick (1915-2001), who built the Beetle Cat for over 50 years.

NEBCBA's original purpose, however, has been expanded to include promoting the maintenance, restoration, preservation and just plain sailing the Beetle Cat Boat. It is one of the oldest classes raced actively and probably the only one still made exclusively in wood. The New England Beetle Cat Boat Association is dedicated to continuing this success into the future.