ID help! Needed a trailer, got a sailboat...

[Spokaloo]

So there I was, needing a little trailer for the Lumberyard Skiff and flipping through CL for trailers, when I stumbled on the right one for the right price, holding a little sailboat off the ground. Not being a blowboater, I was stumped, and it's in sh*t shape, but it sails, and everyone that was here this weekend for the family reunion loved sailing in it.

Anyone know what the hell it is?







It was purchased by the previous owner in Seattle, they said it was built in the late 60's or early 70's. Looks like a sloop rig to me, fractional, as the jib only goes about 2/3 of the way up the mast.







Flat bottom, ply on frame, nice mahogany transom and seats. Flat bottom, steel daggerboard and rudder (oh Billy that daggerboard case is loose and floppy...), leaks a bit but apparently everyone had a ball.

It looks a little like the Gardner Sailing Flattie, but the construction is all wrong. I haven't put a tape on the sail area yet either, so that's on today's agenda.

I'm either going to replace the boat with something that can use the rig, or rebuild the boat using her as templates and recreate it. Who knows...

Also, apparently, Photobucket refuses to rotate them. Sorry, but deal with it the best you can.

E

[Rich Jones]

Looks a lot like a Bluejay, but they have centerboards, not a daggerboard as this one does. How long is the boat?
Doesn't seem to be in that bad a shape. It floats, it sails. Take a good hard look at restoration before building a new one. The ply decks are a bit crude, but they can be fixed/replaced easily enough.

[Spokaloo]

It is roundabout 15 feet long.

The keel is warped well over an inch above the sole. The board case literally flops side to side with the flick of a wrist. I think there's a BUNCH of work, and I will putter with it first before I tear it apart to see if I can get a few years out of it before her replacement happens.

It does have some similar lines to the Blue Jay, no question about it! The rig looks a little different, but I'll read more.

E

[David G]

I thought you had an ID on that boat... or was that an entirely different sailboat you asked me about?

[Wacoflyr]

I thought it might be a Comet until you said that bit about a daggerboard. It's not a Snipe, which was the other popular class back in the day. Hmm.... No insignia on the mainsail? No builder plate, no serial number on the starboard stern?

[johnw]

Is the bottom absolutely flat, or does it have a little arc or v to it?

[StevenBauer]

Exact length and beam will help if it is an old class racer.


Steven

[Spokaloo]

13'6" LOA

5' beam

Flat bottom, sparsely framed

Dagger board, all steel

Rudder fixed, all steel

No plates, no numbers, nada. I am guessing it was a class racer that was home built and didn't get any sort of info put on it.

Unrelated boat David.

E

[Thorne]

Does the bottom go to a slight V in the front from a flat stern section? As above it sure looks like a Blue Jay to me. They were often sold to clients partially finished to avoid the commercial builder paying the (at the time) stiff fee to S&S. So the client would often build the decks and other bits and bobs, although a DB in place of a CB is pretty strange. But if not raced then nobody would care...

Great little boats, I owned both a '56 and '66 models.

http://www.sailbluejay.org/specs.html

[johnw]

The Blue Jay had a slightly Veed bottom and a centerboard instead of a daggerboard, but yeah, I was thinking that, too.

[Spokaloo]

I'd say it might be a knock-off of one with no splashboard, and a pancake-flat bottom.

Ironically, she's decided that she isn't too interested in remaining in one piece. Yesterday the mast shattered (the builder smeared lots of glue on the internal blocking, but it didn't stick to anything...), then all of the screws in the transom holding all of the rudder hardware in place pulled out. She's had a hard, sad life I think.

So the question is...

I have a 60sf main and 30 sf jib, all the track and rigging (nice bronze stuff), a huge steel daggerboard, rudder, etc etc, and a disintegrating hull. What to do, what to do!

Could knock together a Gardner sailing flattie or the smaller Monk Truant, which have very similar rigs.

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[johnw]

Perfect skiff? 16' melonseed?

[potomac]

Spokaloo with the excuse to build another boat- methinks a sledge hammer may have been present at the boat suddenly disintegrating. "I mean, we've got all this rigging. It would be a sin to waste it. And the family loves sailing."

[seo]

A steel centerboard I can see, or a wooden daggerboard. but a steel daggerboard seems like nothing but trouble.

[johnw]

A steel centerboard I can see, or a wooden daggerboard. but a steel daggerboard seems like nothing but trouble.

Snipes have metal daggerboards. Every time they float test one, the same thing happens.

[Rich Jones]

I'd say it might be a knock-off of one with no splashboard, and a pancake-flat bottom.

Ironically, she's decided that she isn't too interested in remaining in one piece. Yesterday the mast shattered (the builder smeared lots of glue on the internal blocking, but it didn't stick to anything...), then all of the screws in the transom holding all of the rudder hardware in place pulled out. She's had a hard, sad life I think.

So the question is...

I have a 60sf main and 30 sf jib, all the track and rigging (nice bronze stuff), a huge steel daggerboard, rudder, etc etc, and a disintegrating hull. What to do, what to do!

Could knock together a Gardner sailing flattie or the smaller Monk Truant, which have very similar rigs.

E

I'm hoping you weren't far from shore when the boat started going to pieces!