Dragon anyone?

[bamamick]

Well, we talked about 6' and 8's. Let's talk about Dragons. As most of you know I own a wooden Dragon, US149, a 1963 Borresen's built in Denmark.

What I would like to do is kind of get an idea if there are other Dragon sailors out there in the southeastern US? For whatever reason communication within the class here in the US is not the best. If you know of a Dragon or if you know someone who is interested in Dragons please give them my e-mail address.

I have located a fleet in Puerto Rico, but I wonder if there is anyone closer to home. I have posted on the IDA web site that I would be interested in hosting a sailing event at my club in the future. I can offer free launching, an experienced commitee, and even free housing for a couple of crews.

If anything happens I'll let you know.

Mickey Lake

[WFK]

Sorry I can't help you out, but damn those are such a beautiful boat to sail. I spent a lot of time sailing on Borresen hull 143. It was my bosses boat and we sailed in Vancouver BC out of the Royal Vancouver Y.C. as well as in Seattle. Won lots of frost bite series races as well here in the San Juans. Too bad the olympics replaced it with the Soling, ......talk about an uncomfortable boat!!

[bamamick]

They are beautiful boats, WFK. There is still a nice fleet in Vancouver, sailing out of the RVYC. There are also fleets in Toronto and Cleveland, about twenty active boats in all. Not huge, but not worth giving up on.

What the fleet lacks is the 'isolated' guys like me. If we could get five or six people from Alabama, Rochester, New York, wherever, then an eight boat championship turns into a 15 boat championship, which is a lot more fun for everyone.

I have rambled on the forum about one day getting a 6 meter. Well, it would make a tremendous amount more sense to maximize my Dragon and try and do at least one championship regatta a year in her. We've already done from the deck down. To redo the deck and combing and come up with new spars would be a whole lot cheaper than a 6 meter.

Hey, WFK, how about Seattle? You know that there have to be some nice old Godsil boats hiding up there somewhere. Get yourself a boat and go sailing. I'll bet you could find a nice boat pretty easily. There used to be many boats in your area. Odds are they are still around.

Mickey Lake

[Jack Heinlen]

They are lovely.

There was one that sailed the same estuary(New Meadows River, ME) the summer I'd finished rebuilding an Alden Indian. It was fun sailing against the boat. Neither of us were particularly good. I got soundly thrashed upwind, but then it evened out and she couldn't keep up off the wind, so we could stay reasonably close during an afternoon of informal beating about.

There were few displacement boats up to almost thirty foot that could take that Indian in a breeze off the wind. She must have tried to plane over about 12 knots, and was about a hundred pounds light in the ballast. Ghosting and upwind were different matters. Ah, what joy.

Never did meet those folks. Never seemed to get close enough to talk much.

[WFK]

bamamick.....
Funny you should mention Marty Godsil,
He sold my boss the boat and years later sold him his entire dragon inventory, including a couple mast's a fiberglas hull nd lots of other gear before he moved onto Thunderbirds. That guy had ice in his veins when he was on the course. Starbird tack or not, you'd better watch out for Marty.

Bill

[Tom Robb]

One of those nice Brit boat mags had a short article about stiffening wooden Dragons. Is that legal for racing here in the States?

[rbgarr]

I had a set of Dragon plans pinned on the wall over my desk at college. One day a roommate brought a friend of his by to meet us all.

She looked at the plans and said, "Nice boat, and I really like the sweep of the sheer and counter stern. I hate reverse transoms, don't you?"

We've been married almost thirty years now.

[bamamick]

That was an article by Don Street, and I believe that what he proposed is not legal in the class. His point was that if you could get your boat stiffened up that you would be more competitive. Of course, class weight limits would have to be addressed (they would have to be raised, i.e. newer boats would have to add weight).

The reason for this is that the new sailcloth requires tighter rigs to take advantage and produce more speed. In the 'old' days, the sails would stretch and take the load off of the hull. Now, the rigs stretch before the sails do, and that puts a lot of pressure on the hulls. So, if you want your hull to survive, you can not tighten the rig to what a modern boat will allow. In my wooden Star (and this was 25 years ago) we built a compression box with a piece of plate and four turnbuckles, and we still couldn't keep the bottom from splitting under the mast step.

What Mr.Street is recommending will keep the hull stiffer, longer, and will let you use a tighter rig, which should make for a more competitive boat. No one will do it unless the class raises the minimum weight, which I doubt they will do. Maybe it's just time to split the class into 'classic' and 'modern', like the meter classes do.

Mickey Lake

[Billy Bones]

RBGARR you made my morning!

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

She looked at the plans and said, "Nice boat, and I really like the sweep of the sheer and counter stern. I hate reverse transoms, don't you?"

We've been married almost thirty years now.

You ARE the MAN! And she DEFINITELY is a real woman!

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

Hey Mick, 'Bama is one of the few states left on my list to visit. How 'bout I come down for a spell and we go sail all your boats?

I've got a book I received over 30 years ago, think it's called "Lore of Ships" Has a chapter in it about sailing and they talk about the Dragon class. I've like the lines ever since. See even as a preteen I had good judgement! Shame my father didn't think so...

[bamamick]

Dave, when would you like to come? The Dragon should be ready in a couple of months. The Star, schooner, and Beetle can get wet any time. We also have a power boat and a couple of kayaks. You would be welcome to visit us.

If you've never visited Alabama then I can suggest you do so. In my county (Baldwin) we have beautiful lakes, rivers, bays, and of course the Gulf. White sand beaches, pine forests, swamps, and some of the best farmland in the country. We have 'gators, black bear, a nationally renowned bird-watching trail, and more little critters than you can ever want to see. Blue heron, egret, white and brown pelicans. And a whole bunch of golf courses, if you like that.

Mickey Lake

[David Tabor (sailordave)]

I just may take you up on that! Course work has me working OT about 3 out of 4 weeks these days so.... Just more $$ to spend on boats and boating though!