Duckworks - January 2015 Letters

VIDEO: Big Adventure in a Small Boat, Gunkholing in a Sea Pearl 21. In this new video from OffCenterHarbor.com come aboard a Sea Pearl 21 and learn all about how this skipper uses his small boat for big adventure. This guy has got small boat bliss figured out!

Enjoy the video, and be sure to sign up to see 10 more of OffCenterHarbor.com's best videos!

Watertribe NCC Report

Hi Chuck,

I've posted a story about our finish in the 2014 Watertribe NCC.

https://sail.fsanmiguel.com

Frank

Strike 18 photos

A builder is posting his build photos here, a nice sequence

https://woodsdesigns.freeforums.org/strike-18

Best wishes

Richard Woods of Woods Designs
sailing catamaran designers

www.sailingcatamarans.com

A Metaphor for Life

Catch. Pull. Feather. Recover.

The oars creak, and protest a bit.

Catch. Pull.

The feel of ash on palm, a bit rough, but soothing.

Feather. Recover.

A gentle slush from someplace up forward.

Catch. Pull.

The circles follow along obediently. Each a whole unto itself.

Feather.

Satisfying. But, so, so fleeting. Each circle.

Recover.

There’s the little wake we leave. It spreads. And, disappears.

Catch. Pull. Feather. Recover.

It’s what we do. Some, rapid, with purpose.

Catch.

Some, never quite in rhythm, never quite satisfied.

Pull.

Some, in what appears to be random, but delighted disconnection.

Feather.

The pauses come to last as long as the strokes. The boat slows. The pond grows quiet.

Catch. Pull. Feather. Recover.

Always someone to follow. Someone to continue on. It’s what we do.

With love,

Dan Rogers

building a forge

The forge doors are going on tomorrow and then I will get the forge build article to you. just finished the strap hinges today. hard work but satisfying.

Craig

More on Stanley Sayres

Hi Mike,

I am a grandson of Stanley Sayres. I was researching a stitch and glue folding pram as a winter project and stumbled across your article on the Grand Old Lady "SloMo IV". What a surprise!

I really liked the article, and you did some nice research. I would ask only one question, where did you find the reference to Stan wanting to build racing boats for a living? That is the first I've heard of it and frankly wouldn't credit it with much veracity. If there is some contemporaneous direct quote or recorded interview I'd consider it, but otherwise not likely. He was the largest car dealer on the West Coast at the time. Between the car dealerships and the boats he was not likely looking for more income. He, as he was quoted: "like to go fast, sitting down". Stan had been a locomotive geek as a kid growing up in Walla Walla Washington. (Which really sounds as if it should be in Australia, just near Wollongong, Woy Woy and past Woop Woop)

He was one of the last gentleman racers. His only sponsorships if we can call them that were free fuel and lubricants from Mobil and gearboxes from Western Gear. I know they did quite nicely out of it because Anchor Jensen told me a story in 1998 or so about how he showed the CEO of WG how to greatly reduce the weight in high speed high torque gears (and Slo-Mo's) over dinner and it was worth enough that the CEO flew to Europe to buy a new Swiss gear cutting machine and sold enough contracts off the back of that on the same trip to pay for the machine. The trouble with drive shafts you mention is because only half the prop was deisgned to be in the water. As the boat came out of the water the engine and prop would accelerate and when the blade dropped back in the blade would slow the shaft down against the racing engine. The torque sheared prop shafts until the got them strong enough.

By the way, if you corrected the spelling of his surname to "Sayres" I would be extremely grateful. As George M. Cohan said to a newspaperman: "I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right."

Kind Regards,
Matt Foss
_________________________

Mike replies:

Hi Matt,

What a surprise to hear from you. I wished I found you earlier. You are related to a clever and brave man. I enjoyed writing the article and it was just from published sources.

I am sorry about the spelling error of the name Sayres. I got the spelling from press articles of the time. It seems it was misspellt often. I changed the spelling in the article which you can do when things are published online.

The reference to building racing boats came from the tax reports.

CTRL F and search for the words "Detroit in August 1948" in the references above.

It says:

The petitioner, Jones, and Jensen watched the 1948, Gold Cup races in Detroit in August 1948, and after their experience with the first Slo-Mo-Shun and Slo-Mo-Shun II and III they recognized the tremendous room for improvement in the designing of racing boats. At that time they also recognized the possibility of profit to be made in the designing, construction, and sale of racing boats. They considered the possibility that the Navy might become interested in the basic design of these fast boats and might become an important customer.

I am happy to change the article if you see the need.

Mike
________________________

Matt Responds

Thanks Mike,

Thank you for the very prompt response! I've only heard about the tax case, but never read the source material. I stand corrected then. Now that you've cited that and mentioned the Navy, I do recall my mother telling me that Stan had discussions with the Navy but the focus of the conversation as she told it was hydrofoils where the boat lifts on "wings" protruding from the boat's hull.

Regards,
Matt

Guess What: Winter is here

“Give me your huddled masses…”

It’s that time of year when all the girls congregate under a roof, and get ready for snow.

(We’ve grown to three RV storage stalls, two deep, and four wide.)

Now, a new sister has showed up. Rather unexpectedly.

And, she’s a really big girl.

That’s not counting the one back in the shop for trim and finishing…

Looks like a full house…

Dan

To comment on Duckworks articles, please visit one of the following:

our Yahoo forum

our Facebook page