Header Photo: Starkers... Gone!

The previous header photo was the blogmeister idling around in his Maser before one of the starts of the 2015 Classic Moth Nationals. This fall I donated my Maser, number 105, (named Starkers as a Tip-of-the-Hat to her designer/builder, Randy Starks) to Joe Bousquet's expanding Classic Moth outreach to junior sailors. I haven't been racing much and felt Starkers would be better off with a younger skipper. Moth no. 105 was a good Moth. I treat my racing boats as anthropomorphic entities; they have human personalities and there was no doubt Starkers had a will to win. (Don't most singlehander's talk to their boats when racing? I even apologize to my boat if I do poorly in a race.). I like to think she was thankful at being granted another life, like a rescue dog, except in this case Starkers was brought back from an abandoned Laser hull and had a second life as a full-on racing Classic Moth. As a team, we won the trifecta of Gen 1 trophies, the Nationals, the Midwinters, and the Brigantine regatta. Great memories and I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for Starkers, this endearing mutt of a Classic Moth.

• Another Classic Moth goodbye.
• And my early Moths.

Ingrid Albaugh

Ingrid Albaugh

MASCF 2016 - A Franken International Canoe

I was set to drive over to St. Michaels for the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival, that first Saturday in October, to view the hodge-podge of small craft, most home-built, but it was a weekend of torrential downpours. Just before I was to get into my car for the one-hour trek to the Eastern Shore, I checked the weather radar and there was a blob of precipitation camped over St. Michaels. (The precipitation was caused by an offshore low which also has a tendency to flood the Festival site - boots required.) I cancelled my plans and stayed around the house, puttering on various projects.

In checking through the photos of the event it looks like:

1. The rain was not as bad as it looked on the radar. It actually appears to have stopped for the sailing race.
2. There was a very interesting Frankenboat - a modified Nethercott International Canoe hull.

This Nethercott looks suspiciously like one that was put together by my friend George Saunders - at least the color on the hull matches. In viewing the two photos I could find online, the new owner has converted this tricky, all-out racing, sliding seat singlehander to a multi-use recreational craft. The modifications I could spot were:

1. The sliding seat has gone away, replaced by amas for stabiltiy.
2. He has set up this craft for rowing. To do this he had to get rid of the daggerboard trunk and set it up with a leeboard.
3. The jib on the IC has gone away. The rig is an unstayed, carbon, cat-rig with the option for an assymetric (note the fixed sprit).
4. To fit the unstayed rig he needed to extensively modify the bow so we see a new cedar-strip foredeck with a large storage hatch. 

Unfortunately there are no photos I could find of this Franken-Nether-IC sailing which may indicate an engineering failure in one of the systems (for one, the beam with the amas and the height of the amas looks to be inadequate for a powerful sailing rig). An interesting concept though and hopefully I'll bump into this craft in the future.

"My love of Frankenboats can never be requited" - RLM

Another Frankenboat: Mothmaran in Everglades Challenge

The 2015 Everglades Challenge starts tomorrow, a 300 mile sprint down the West coast of Florida in all manner of small craft. Last year, Classic Moth champion Jeff Linton won the monohull division in his extensively modified Flying Scot.

This year we have a Classic Moth entered - well sort of. Joe Frohock picked up a Mistral Classic Moth that was languishing at the Gulfport Y.C. and made this tippy Moth into a trimaran - a Mothmaran. He unveiled the new Holland Tunnel over a year ago and in the interim he has already done a 100 miles jaunt in the contraption. Tomorrow will be the real deal.

Len Parker can't believe his eyes. The Mothmaran uses stock kit Chesapeake Light Craft amas. The fixed prodder flys a gennaker on a roller furler.

The familiar deep-Vee hull of the Mistral Classic Moth married to something different.

With everything unfurled there is plenty of sail for this 11-footer.

The crossbeams were stock lumber pieces screwed into the deck (the screws being replaced by through bolts when they started pulling out).

Joe Frohock, master cobbler together of disparate pieces into a very credible sailing machine.

The 2015 version, entered in the 300 mile Everglades Challenge. Additions are some fairings for the crossbeam attachments and a massive foredeck coaming to keep water out of the cockpit. The word from Earwigoagin's reporter from Gulfport was once he loaded all the required Everglades gear he had water coming over the daggerboard trunk - time for a quick redesign! As with the sailing canoes entered there is no room for onboard sleeping! Good luck Joe!

Read George A.'s blog post on the Mothmaran over here.

Frankenboat: Laser-To-?? - I'll let You Figure it Out

I admit when I clicked on this video I had no idea where this fellow was going with this Frankenboat/Laser hull project. I won't spoil the surprise (it certainly involved a  lot of wood!).


Other Earwigoagin Laser- to-Frankenboat posts:

1. The New Laser Sail
2. The Maser

Sunfish Frankenboat; The Solar Fish

Drawn to all things just different, I couldn't pass up taking photos of this modified Sunfish, the Solar Fish, that showed up at the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. Very ingenious. It was designed to be a sit-in, non-hiking day sailor with a small cabin. I took a quick once-over on shore but didn't have a chance to talk to the owner/builder. Some features that were apparent in my quick glance over were;

• Furling sail.
• Solar panel that fed a small trolling motor (the motor seemed to double as a rudder as well.)
• A very nautical looking cabin.
• What looked to be a wooden anchor bowsprit fitting (but I didn't see an anchor).

The Sunfish sported Ohio registration numbers. There seems to be a large number of retired machinists from the now-gone heavy industry factories of Ohio that seem to love hacking into various projects.


The Solar Fish made it out for a sail-about before the sailing race but didn't participate, instead smartly returning to shore under power, ignoring the contrary wind blowing off the Museum shores.

A side on view of the Solar Fish under sail..

Two photos on the trailer.

Exclusive to Earwigoagin; The New Laser Sail

Laser forums have been abuzz recently about the "new Laser sail design", one that will be much more durable than the current model.

In a exclusive to Earwigoagin, we have obtained secret footage of the new Laser sail undergoing on-the-water tests. Sorry, I can't divulge the location, the skipper, or who was filming this.

Junk Rigged Laser from Ryan Barber on Vimeo.

2011 Classic Moth Midwinters; Those Cheeky Bastards, Another Frankenboat!

My post about Classic Mothists converting Lasers to Moths elicited from the blogshpere either horror, bemusement, or a "Wow, that's kind of neat" (the latter comment mostly found among fellow Classic Mothists). And then at the 2010 Classic Moth Nationals, Len Parker did another Frankenboat, a MiniFish conversion to a Classic Moth. After all this, I was wondering what the class could do for an encore. Turns out, I didn't have to worry.

Patrick Burger showed up at the Gulfport Midwinters with a Classic Moth that he had hacked out of an older wooden Fireball hull. Leaving the Fireball bow intact, Patrick had chopped the back 5 feet off, bent the topsides in so he could use the existing Fireball transom, took the bubble foredeck off and redecked it flat (unfortunately in 1/4" ply so it was heavy), and added a 1/2 deck around the daggerboard trunk. Patrick recycled damn near everything; the daggerboard and rudder were from the original Fireball, the mast from the original Fireball, and the dolly from the original Fireball.

For the regatta, Patrick didn't have much success racing it as a Classic Moth; the Mothball was too blunt, with too short a waterline, and, in 1/4 inch ply, too heavy, but it was a very credible sailing dinghy. Patrick took it out for a test sail on a breezy Friday and had a great time blasting back and forth.

Sometimes the creativity in this Classic Moth crowd just blows me away!

The following pics were taken by John Z, Amy Linton, and Elisabeth Albaugh.

Here is what a normal Fireball sailing dinghy looks like..........



And now, presenting another Classic Moth Frankenboat, the MothBall..............



Your blogmeister, Patrick, and Rod Koch admiring the "balls" it took to mashup a Fireball into a Classic Moth..........



Mash up artist, Patrick Burger with his Mothball creation.........



Patrick sailing his Mothball upwind in a straight on shot......



Patrick, upwind and heeled, showing the distinctive double chine Fireball shape.......



The Mothball downwind.........



Patrick rounding the leeward mark.........



As an aside, Patrick did walk away with an award at the Midwinters. He copped himself the "Persistence Award"; awarded to the person with the worst overall result after finishing all the races. Don't snicker, your blogmeister is a previous recipient of this award which remains prominently displayed to this very day!

Another Classic Moth Frankenboat; Fish and Chips

Transplanted Englishman, Len Parker, has added to the list of other sailing dinghies that can be successfully converted to a Classic Moth. This time it's the MiniFish.

Len found a cheap $150 MiniFish (Alcort's mini version of the Sunfish) which at 11'6" (actually Len found it was only 11'3" when you didn't count the deck flange) made the Classic Moth conversion a simple transomectomy (he cut the transom off and installed one at the correct 11 foot length).

Len married the converted MiniFish hull with a cheap aluminum Windsurfing mast, to which he added stays and an used Classic Moth marconi sail..........everything else remained as it was on the MiniFish.

Len brought the now named Fishboat "Fish and Chips" to the 2010 Nationals. Unfortunately he had a surgical procedure on his leg open up on the first race (with E-City having had a huge sewerage spill upriver three days before the Nationals, Len wisely opted to abandon racing). George Albaugh had his vintage Dorr Willey similarly open up (cracked plank) on the first race so the switch was made; with George driving "Fish and Chips" the rest of the regatta.

"Fish and Chips" made a very credible showing. George had some very tight racing with the Gen1 folks and it seemed to me the Classic Moth/MiniFish version was a big improvement over the original lateen sailplan.

I took a spin in "Fish and Chips" after the racing and was impressed. It is a small boat (I think it only has 3'9" beam) so if you're pushing 200 lbs, you wouldn't be Fishboat material.... I think 150 lbs (70 kg) crew weight would be ideal. The low freeboard would be very wet in any significant chop so definitely keep this Fishboat on flat water.

Tip of the hat to Len on a very workable Frankenboat......

George reaching in "Fish and Chips".













George standing in "Fish and Chips".

















"Fish and Chips" fighting for inside with Ed Salva
at the leeward mark.












Len, feel free to add any other observations on the conversion and sailing of "Fish and Chips" to the comments.

Pics by Elizabeth Albaugh and Len Parker

(I'm bringing Len's comment back into the main post so he can correct some of my errors.)

"Hi Rod , This turned out to be straight forward project on what I guess is the world's simplest sailing dinghy.It kept me almost sane while I was injured earlier this year and couldn't sail ( or surf ). It actually only cost $100 and the aluminum mast came free with some broken carbon windsurf masts I picked up.I kept it as cheap as possible and some of the fittings were originally intended for another Moth project.On the ply transom I used the original Minifish/Sunfish gudgeon bracket & rudderhead.I added a travel track in front of the cockpit , mid-boom mainsheet with a ratchet block & added dual controls for the outhaul , vang & Cunningham. The only sail control the original Minifish had was the mainsheet , which could be fed under a nasty looking brass hook in the cockpit. I figured I'd lose some knee flesh on that thing , so I removed it. Turns out I didn't need a hook to lose some knee flesh ! ... I used a Sunfish daggerboard and a broken carbon windsurf mast as a boom , with plastic awning /sail track & a recut Europe sail.It hadn't rained here in 4 months until I moved the hull outside and I forgot to screw the inspection port lids in , and typically it poured it down all night and the hull foam soaked plenty of water up , adding considerable weight which still hasn't completely gone.The first time it hit the water was at the Nationals , and I didn't last very long ! George and your good self would be better judges of performance and things that need tweaking , but it was fun to convert and sail , and it lasted longer than I did ... Cheers , Len"

Frankenboat: Laser to Maser

Doryman posted a comment to my Brigantine post wondering where was I in the photos. Humble of demeanor, I left out photos of me racing at Brigantine, but, since you asked, I was the one sailing a Laser. Um.....Actually there was three of us sailing Lasers in the Classic Moth regatta at Brigantine.

Laser's in a Classic Moth regatta? How can that be?

Well here is a photo of me and my "Laser".

That's not a Laser!

At one time she most certainly was a Laser, but now #105 is transformed, a rare Classic Moth emerging from the Laser chrysalis into a sailing craft we call a Maser. For the tale that can be told is about several intrepid Classic Mothist's, in true tinkering, Frankenboat tradition, have been happily sawing up old Laser hulls and then piecing them back together into Classic Moths (Masers). The trick is in figuring how to take a 13'4" (4.064 meters) Laser hull and squeeze it down to the Classic Moth length of 11' (3.35 meters).

The genre was started by two Norfolk, Virginia Mothists, Randy Starks and Al Whitener. Initially they just lopped 2 feet fron the Laser transom; a sailable solution but unfortunately ending up with too much wetted surface to stay with other Classic Moths. Undaunted, these two embarked on building several more Masers. each version getting better.

Here are the barebones steps to make a Classic Moth from a Laser (tip of the hat to both Randy and Al for their innovations).

1. Look for an old abandoned Laser hull, either in the weeds or upside down baking in the sun, a Laser that hasn't been moved in years, preferably a Laser where the owner has lost everything but the hull. Buy hull.
2. Cut deck off hull.
3. Cut raked bow off hull.
4. Cut a chevron shaped wedge out of center of hull (eliminating daggerboard trunk) to shorten hull.
5. Glass aft hull and front hull back together.
6. To add more rocker to hull, slit keel line to about 3 feet from transom and push more rocker in. Glass keel line together.
7. Pinch up bow and glass together. Make sure hull is no longer than 11'.
8. Add 1/8 inch plywood bulkheads and decks (saving about 40 to 45 lbs on the Laser weight.
9. Add Classic Moth rig.
10. Go sailing

Here are two Masers sitting on the lawn at the Elizabeth City Nationals. In the foreground is one of the Starks/Whitener versions. In the background is one built by Joe Bousquet.



Classic Moth #105 is the last Maser built by Randy Starks. Look hard and you can definitely tell it retains the original Laser transom.



A true Maser aficionado looking for a primo Maser conversion, one worthy of top dollar (at least $400 for the hull) should look for the following............

1. Maser must retain the original Laser transom with serial number. Extra points if the hull still has the original Laser bailer well (and bailer).
2. Must exhibit some lumpy unfairness along the topsides where the split hulls were joined.

Bottom line, a top of the line, show quality Maser must have some Laser lineage visually preserved. (I would also add a so-so paint job to what I consider a proper Maser..... to highlight the tinkering history of this particular model; but that is just my preference).

A shot of Joe Bousquet's Maser under sail.

---

And a YouTube video of your humble scribe narrating another modification project on his Maser.

• And click here to see even more repairs on my Maser - this on the back deck
• Starkers Gone!

FrankenBoat

Frankenboat - Modifying an existing sailboat hull (usually a sailing dinghy) into a completely different concept.

I must admit a strange affinity to those who develop Frankenboats. It is a very, very tiny cadre in the sailing community who delight in seeing something different in the ordinary, unlike the automobile community where creativity and the mashed up abound, whether it's hot rods, VW Beatles with Rolls Royces hoods, or Honda Civics with dolphin tails. I wrote about my friend Fran who is slowly converting a Sidewinder into a Geezer Sailing Canoe.

And here is a Roger and Williams student who decided to make a high performance skiff out of a Laser hull (tip of the hat to SailGroove).....


Sailing Videos on Sailgroove


I'm always on the lookout for the oddball creative type who has hacked up something old and familiar into something new (who woulda thunk....I own a Frankeboat which I'll get to in a later post)

Another Boat Nut (and Good Friend)

My good friend, Fran DeFaymoreau came down from Long Island two weekends ago for a visit. Fran is another long-in-the-tooth International Canoe sailor and at Sugar Island Fran brought his latest brainstorm, an older Chrysler MFG Sidewinder he picked up for $100 or so. Fran's idea is to put a canoe stern on this boat, a sliding seat and make it into an older gents EZY canoe. For Sugar, all Fran had the time to do was plop an International Canoe rig into the Sidewinder. He quickly found out the Sidewinder leaked like a sieve and the jury rigged IC sail plan was just this side of pulling something out and falling overboard. Fran is an excellent boat builder and given time, he'll have a working concept.

I have two pics of his drifter sail in his Sidewinder/IC at Sugar Island.