Here is a video of one such spark-plug, Greg Reed of Grapevine, Texas. His love and passion for the 15' Mutineer sailboat, a sailboat abandoned when Chrysler divested their marine business's in 1980, is building an orphan fleet in Grapevine Texas. Of note in the video is how the fleet is attuned to bringing up the new racer.
(Anonymous, in the comment section, says both the Mutineer and the larger Buccaneer are still in production. "The Nickels Boat Company in Mich. is still building both boats and the Buc still has a fairly active class. In fact a Club in Alaska recently adopted the Buc as it's Club fleet.")
As a follow-on to Greg's pitch in the video for Grapevine, Texas running the 2014 Nationals...there were 19 Mutineers racing in the 2014 Nationals: Gib Charles, 1st; Ty McAden, 2nd; Uwe Hale, 3rd; and Mr. Mutineer, Greg Reed, 4th.
Grapevine Sailing Club - Mutineer Fleet 2 from russ ansley on Vimeo.
I recently had a fling with the BUccaneer and tangentially the Mutineer. Looking for a "feeder" fleet boat, these became the most likely candidates. The Nickels Boat Company in Mich. is still building both boats and the Buc still has a fairly active class. In fact a Club in Alaska recently adopted the Buc as it's Club fleet. I always thought the Buccaneer was an attractive boat with it's biggish jib and tack set back from the bow and raking stem. Line an FD - sorta.
ReplyDeleteAnon,
ReplyDeleteI had a good high school friend that got into Buccaneers before Chrysler took them out of production. Fine sailboats. I've always maintained that Rod MacAlpine Downie is an underrated dinghy designer. Thanks for clearing up that they are still being manufactured by Nickels Boat Company.