Question for AS29 sharpie owners

[donald branscom]

Do you think that walk thru bow on the Phil Bolger designed AS29 sharpie should eliminated ?
One owner complained that in a chop every 3rd or 4th wave would come aboard.

[JimD]

It should only be eliminated if you don't want every 3rd or 4th wave flooding your boat. Otherwise it should be built as designed.

[donald branscom]

It should only be eliminated if you don't want every 3rd or 4th wave flooding your boat. Otherwise it should be built as designed.

You make it so simple I feel stupid!! HAhahhahah

I am thinking of building that boat as a model 29 inches long, this winter.

[JimD]

I am thinking of building that boat as a model 29 inches long, this winter.

Sounds like a great pasttime, Donald. But at that size it won't take much of a chop before it starts shipping water.

[Breakaway]

Doesn't the walk-through bow in that boat also allow the heel of the mast to swing?

kevin

[john welsford]

Doesn't the walk-through bow in that boat also allow the heel of the mast to swing?

kevin

If its a model, just build the bow without the gap and drop the mast in from above, but on a fullsized one I
d be inclined to put a "gate" on there to stop water coming into that mast well in bulk, seepage is not an issue but I've heard that bulk water in there makes the boat somewhat out of trim at times.

John Welsford

[wely]

I have also worried about the open bow. I have read somewhere of one of the builders extending the bow to a point adding a stem.

[skaraborgcraft]

I guess it all depends on what kind of sailing and WHERE you sail . Theres a mass of MIchalak boats that have open bows for "stepping ashore", which is great if you sail on small lakes or smooth rivers;likewise,i believe Micro and Long Micro also had open bow sections. Personally,and for where i sail,i would not want an open bow section if that area can fill with water and not drain INSTANTLY. I have just built a Michalak family skiff with a draining aft motor well,but sitting on the rear flotation box is enough to immerse the drain holes,and there is a good amount of water sloshing around in there...... i can see a raised floor being put in there,the holes in the bottom filled and new drain holes put in the transom. The AS29 mast did swing through the bow,but there is many a way to have a deck stepped tabernacle mast to avoid that,though maybe not as quick for "shooting bridges",again, depends where you sail,and what you want from your vessel. I thought about an AS29 about a decade ago, thought it would make a good single hander and live aboard,but i was put off by NOT knowing how it would perform offshore in heavy seas and wind....so i ended up fitting out a ferro Hartley Tasman instead. I still like the design, it would work well here in the lakes,but too big for my needs these days. I would have given it a pointy bow too. I have since found Bolgers TRUMP design,and had i found that a decade ago, i would have probably have built that instead.

[Lance F. Gunderson]

The scuppers as designed should quickly drain any water that comes aboard, as they successfully do in my Bolger Black Skimmer. But I would not want to be too far offshore in any flat bottomed sharpie type. They work best in protected waters.