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Spent the day yesterday working on the S-Boat Iroquois' rudder, old story. Random orbit in one hand, yard stick in the other, more to do. She should be in the water by next weekend. The owner Rick did a really nice job finishing the topsides and brightwork. Hopefully with the new rudder she'll be as fast as she looks.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0098.jpg
Beautiful work, beautiful boat.
Nice, simple jack rig.
How do you get it moved out of the shop?
Thanks for the work in progress shots,
it's really been a treat!:cool:
I second that... nice work and thanks for posting the progress photos Ben.
Thanks you guys, really appreciate your comments.
I had a conversation with one of the long time S-Boat owners Howard. He's owned the S-Boat Allegro since the early 1960's and was telling me about a visit he made to the Pearson (ex Herreshoff) factory / boatyard up in Bristol RI in the mid sixties to inquire about information on his S-boat. They still had many people who had worked for Herreshoff working at Pearson. And an older gentleman was produced who remembered the batch of ten S-Boats that Herreshoff constructed in 1920 that included Howard's boat Allegro.
I was showing the rudder I've been building for Iroquois to Howard and mention to him that after following the S-Boat plan my rudder was much thicker than the other S-Boat rudders I'd examined. This had gotten me a little worried, were people shaving down their rudder to go faster? Howard put me at ease and told me that a fat rudder was better. The added buoyancy of an original spec rudder would keep the bow of the S-Boat hull in the water, reduced weather helm and give the boat a longer waterline. Something to think about if you are making a new Ariel / Commander rudder.
Here are some pictures of Allegro I took last Saturday after Bill, Allegro's co owner ghosted her under sail into Mamaroneck's harbor to get her bottom painted at the boatyard.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0100.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0102.jpg
Ben
The buoyancy of the rudder to help bring her to sit on her proper lines is very interesting. Our boats do tend to squat in the aft end so that may have a lot to do with why our rudders were originally wood. Or maybe it was just an easier way to make the rudder back then.
I was talking to a new sailor on another forum recently and explaining to him the proper procedure to tune his rig. When he was done he had a bout 3" of prebend in his mast. Which for the boat he sails is just about perfect. Butt he was all concerned that none of the boats around his had as much prebend as his and thought maybe it was too much. I need to send him your photo of this S-boat wooden mast with it's prebend so set him a little more at ease.
The s-boat sure is a good looking boat.
Jerry one of the interesting things about these beautiful curved S-Boat masts is that they were built mostly in the past twenty years. Many S-Boats had lost their original masts by the sixties and seventies and were racing with conventional aluminum masts. A man named Frank McCaffrey resurrected the art of making the wooden curved S-Boat mast sometime in the 1980's I believe. Hard to imagine an S-Boat racing without a curved mast today.
Almost finished. Rick and I riveted the pintles and gudgeons onto the hull and rudder with copper rods today, fun to do. Still need to make and attached a wood cover which hides the bronze rudder stock, early next week. Primed everything with red lead, the yard needs to fair up the lead keel that was damaged last fall and do the bottom painting.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0109.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0122.jpg
Here's Danae, our shed mate, getting launched this afternoon.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0119.jpg
Really does look good Ben. Nice work.
Nice sail label that was on this old jib that my friend Hans bought for his Ensign from Trader John.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u.../SailLabel.png
Bought this at a used bookstore in Boulder Colorado while visiting my wife's family over the holiday weekend. One of those books that feels like a extended version of an article from "The New Yorker". Written about ten years ago when the times seemed much simpler. Nice Book.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0185.jpg
Did a lot of hiking out there. Great looking clouds!
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0158.jpg
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0179.jpg
Iroquois sailed and raced yesterday with seven other S-Boats on Long Island Sound, first time since her grounding last fall. She scored a second in the second race. And the first race can be chalked down as a learning experience. The new rudder performed as planned and the whole steering assembly felt smooth and solid under all sorts of sailing conditions, phew!
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0187.jpg
Ben,
F A N T A S T I C !
Congratulations!
It has been great looking over your shoulders
and seeing first hand (or is it third hand....?) your mastery
of that mysterious old boat building material they called 'WOOD'.
Also read at least twenty pages online of your latest Michael Ruhlman book find.:cool:
More, please!
Thanks Ebb! Here's some video clips I took during one of the pre-starts of the first weekend of racing the 113th Larchmont Race week. S-Boats, nice winds and weather on a Sunday of glorious sailing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO17RKcdcJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT7aVvOpeO8&feature=channel_video_title
Here's the guys we race with, the International One Designs and the Shields.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDWCZEWQxWI
"Last of the Sailormen" was written about the last working Thames sailing barges by skipper Bob Roberts in 1960. A wonderful book, one of my favorites.
More on Bob Roberts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Rob...8folksinger%29
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0234.jpg
One of my favorite boats up at City Island the Freedom 40 Freya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqwxtPPqnyM
Walking down 23rd. Street in the City stumbled upon this. Eastern outpost of a major contributor?
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...r/IMG_0228.jpg
I think you guys might enjoy this article about Everett Pearson. Who incidentally own and raced the Herreshoff S-Boat Whistler back in the 50's and 60's.
Part 1,
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...-8SVxnBDBrTlFA
Part 2,
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...IvQRfVkDMRJang
And here's a ditty by our Thames barge skipper Bob Roberts, sweet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m_ysiV4uVY&feature=related
Alfred (Al or Fred) William (Bill or Will) Roberts Known as BOB Roberts!
Wot's in a name, me lads, whot's in a name?
Be looking 'im up, Ben - thanks for another gem.
As to EBB ("major contributor":D) cast in concrete!!!
- or is that wood painted to look like concrete?
OR maybe it is cast iron made to look like wood.
We have a town close by here in California named Petaluma* famous for its downtown iron-front victorian buildings. Those letters could be:
Enterprise Blues Band - or
Elizabeth Barrett Browning - or
European Biodiesel Board.
More likely the last one, given our borderless global economy and ebbing dollar, the Euros obviously have an alternative fuel office in your hometown.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ______________
*Petaluma (Coast Miwok word meaning 'backside')
Also remembered for sailing scows like "ALMA" that navigated the P.River and
took fresh veggies and eggs across the Bay to San Francisco during the gold rush.
Alma is the last remaining completely restored scow schooner, and you can get a ride on her.
What's in a name? Carl Alberg's mom was Alma.