BY: JOHN COURTER
Part 1: single handers
Penguin:
They were 11.5 foot wooden or fiberglass non-self rescuing (at least back when the club had them) cat rigged single or double hander. 72 square foot sail, 180 lbs. The club acquired a fleet sometime in the late 1950's. They were long gone when I joined the club in the fall of 1976.
I asked Norm and Ralph what they remember of the boats.
Norm:
As I recall we had 8 cyan/aqua glass Penguins when I joined in 1966.
They and one (maybe two) wood hull(s) were on a rack in the canoe house.
We used a dolly to launch them down the ramp into the cut.
Ralph:
Yes. A fc named Evan Engstrom and several of us built these racks. I don't remember the dollies, but how else would they be launched. We could probably find plans on the internet-- or certainly thru WoodenBoat magazine. Ah yes, coffin corner. rj>
Norm:
Hard chines, vertical transom, little rocker. Plywood sheet floorboards
1-2 inches off the hull. The club (I think) put styrofoam sheets under
the floorboards to help them in a capsize but they floated about as
high as an old Lightning when swamped.
I don't think they planed much if at all. Usually something broke if you
tried.
A common way to capsize in summer was to sit in "coffin corner", flat
on the floor with your back against the transom and your arm over the
tiller, and then jibe. You blocked the tiller so you couldn't round up
and you were stuck there while it rolled on you. Resting your arm
on the tiller in this position could also jack the rudder off the
transom, another fun ride.
Another fun prank was to sail by someone with their boom out and unhook
their clew. The "Phantom UnClewer" had many a victim.
Ralph:
I thought this was in the Kite era, since they used the "two
pronged bracket" and swaged wire rope for their outhaul. --rj
Norm:
The wood centerboard often broke off the bit around the hinge pin when
people (ahem..) sailed up the ramp without raising them (easy to do with
a southerly). After my contribution to this research I became the Penguin
fleet captain and fixed this a lot. The bronze pin was captured in two
3/8 inch pipe nipples and caps threaded into the sides of the trunk.
For a while I replaced the pin with a wood dowel which acted as a fuse,
but I had to replace them regularly due to wear/sogginess. I should have
varnished them ;)
Ralph might remember more about the wood ones and how many we had in 1961.
I recall rumors of as many as 12.
Ralph:
Sorry I don't. --rj
Pictures of the Penguin at: http://www.penguinclass.com/
Pico:
The Pico was our first attempt at a polyethylene boat sometime in the 90s. We had both an Escape and a Pico brought out as demo boats. I wanted to demo the Escape and the dealer tried to talk me out of the Escape so he talked me into also demo-ing the Pico. The Pico was a much better built boat and the Escape went back with a hole in it. After much debate some months later a Pico was purchased to evaluate if it was strong enough and to find out if the instructors liked teaching and students liked learning in it. The instructors weren't interested in even trying the boat out in their classes and the boat was sold off as an orphan boat after a few years. The Pico is 11.5 feet long, has 55 sq. ft. sail area, and the hull weight is 154 lbs. The mainsail reefs/furls around the mast like the Bravo, but you have to disconnect the vang and there is no furler line, you just grab the mast and rotate it.
Pictures of the Pico at:
Tech Dinghy:
This was a donation that we had for a time. Few people sailed it. A story from the old timers says that the P.E. department had a sailing program using Tech dinghies and their students were told to sit in the middle of the boat for safety. Apparently our club members took great delight in sailing circles around them while hiked out annoying their instructors.
The Tech dinghy is 12 1/2 feet long, cat rigged, and weigh about 200 pounds.
Norm:
Regarding Tech Dinghies, there were four made by the Beetle Boat Works
that belonged to the P.E. department in the canoe house then. I don't
know if the club ever owned them or acquired others. The instructor
was very paranoid about wind and they would be coming in while we
were launching Penguins or Huskies.
Ralph:
After the PE dept stopped giving classes we had access to them. I don't recall how they were disposed of. If memory serves(?), Larry Jasman (chief and binary barge throttle jockey) had taken the PE class. --rj
Pictures of the Tech dinghy at:
Kite:
11 foot self rescuing fiberglass cat rigged single hander. They were acquired approximately 1970, and I don't remember exactly when, but it was probably the early 80's that they were sold. The one named Ralph Jackson was given to Ralph for all the work he put into the club and because the Kite was his favorite boat. The club had at least 8 of them, and they were the single hand teaching fleet. The Kite was designed as a junior trainer for the Finn. It had a solid round tapered wood mast that was stepped right at the bow of the boat. I was told that I had to hike off of the transom when running to keep the bow from going underwater due to the weight of the mast up forward. I remember the 1/2" thick sheets of wax hanging from strings in the sail locker that you would rub on the bolt rope of the sail to make it slide easier up the luff slot in the mast. These were the first boats I went out on. I liked taking them out for our Friday night races when the wind was fairly light. The Lasers were the hot new boat that everyone knew couldn't be beaten by anything, and I had a good time beating them on the Kite. I think the Kite had less wetted surface and so was a little faster in light airs. The Kite was 11' 7" long, sail area, 78 sq. feet, hull 160 lbs, 205 lbs all up. Note the ski belt that was common for a buoyancy aid at the time on the person sailing the boat. Photo from 1980 Daysailor.
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