Old Quarter Tonners -Magic Bus

[booster]

C249!
You should have told me this yesterday! Was it a dog... I mailed Ron Holland yesterday to sort out the story. He must think I am teasing him. I met Ron Holland at the Barcelona Boat-show in -77 (let’s hope he doesn’t remember me). He arranged so I was shown the Manzanita boat-yard by Claus Kruger. A new version of the Manzanita with lifting keel was shown. It was planned to take part in the quarter-ton cup in Japan. As I recall it didn’t start, or were among the Manzanitas with rig-issues. I must contact Ron and apologize for my bad manners. How can I possibly repair this fatal mistake! Perhaps something about IMP.
Regards,
Booster

[booster]

Paul B and C249!

Found Iberian Shamrock, skippered by R Pattison, at the site:

http://www.histoiredeshalfs.com/Half%20Ton%20Cup.htm

1978 Poole

1 Wave-rider, NZ, 314,7pts Plan Davidson
2 Smokey Bear, GB, Hustler 32 mod
3 Anke, F, Joubert, barré par Chabeau, skippé par B Moureau
4 Gwaap, Af Sud, Lavranos
5 Santa Evita, GB, Dubois
6 Indulgence, GB, Hustler 32 mod
7 Green Dragon, GB
8 Mélancolie 3, F, Berret
9 Bigouden Express, F, Holland
10 Jaunac II, Suéde, Berret
11 Asa Branca, Italie, Vallicelli
14 The Goodis, Jones

17 Rangiriri, Suisse Farr

? Crazy Horse, Berret, sk: Cherret

29 Vodoo, ? Jones

? Kalik, Belg, Berret, sk: Nélis
? Feanor, ?
? Iberian Shamrock, ? Sk: R Pattison
? Chartreuse, ?, Hugh Welbourn
? Raven, Suédois,
? Silver Shamrock III, Ron Holland, dériveur, Cudmore
? Solution Too
? Pollution
? Country Girl

Seems that that neither Pattison, nor Cudmore did that well in Poole 1978.

Regards,
Booster

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by booster

C249!
I must contact Ron and apologize for my bad manners. How can I possibly repair this fatal mistake! Perhaps something about IMP.
Regards,
Booster

Funny thing is, if you check Holland's website there is almost no reference to the old IOR days. No photos of IOR boats, no stories, nada. I guess he wants only to push the idea of selling "superyachts".

Ditto the Briand website.


At least those two actually have websites. Peterson, Davidson, Nelson, and many others have no web presence at all. If someone wanted to buy a design from them, how would they find them?

I have been asked by quite a few people over the years how to contact Peterson. I tell them his business phone number has not changed in all these years, and if they can't find that they could hang out at San Diego Yacht Club and maybe catch him in the bar or on the dock near his Caulkins 50.

[quartermaster]

I did most of the modifications to "FUN" myself. Origionaly I contacted Carl Schumaker to do some of the redesign work, and he just asked "Why"? So I decided to buy some design books and figure it out myself. I sort of became obsessed, as the more I worked on it, the more I realized the potential of this boat. When I met Laurie, at the Launching of the first T.P. 52 "PENDRAGON', at the ST. Francis Y.C. I told him what I was up to, and he seemed incredulous. Like they say, it takes a whole village to raise a child, so it is with a boat. There were many friends who gave advice and shop time as well as professionals to help with vacum bagging ect. The foils were created by Arne Johnsson, of Alameda, ca. (the I.M.S. carbon keel) the rudder was a modified Melges 24 , with various parts from the 24 and J 80. The mast is a modified melges 24 rig. I did all the structural stff, rebuilt the deck , house ect. Reconfigured the hull. i.e. IOR bump removal, and transome fairing. I added a Honda inboard, sail drive that weighs in at 100 lbs. that Arne is now importing from Sweden. Note of interest. Magic Bus is in the same dry storage yard as my boat, but has not been sailed for some time. It's in really poor shape, and I had a chance to buy it four years ago, but I really dom't care for the boat astetically.

[quartermaster]

Paul B,
I was in San Diego about six years ago, with the open 60 "OCEAN PLANET", when I was there I naturally checked out the marinas and boat storage yards as was my habit. I saw a few quarters , halfs and one tonners at that time. Where they are now is anybodys guess. you will have to "Walk the Docks, and talk the talks", as they say. They are around, you just have to look. The real prizes are the custom one offs. They are really cool boats and very inovative. Some home built. All with personality, and allmost all with great tales to tell. Those magnificent men in they're flying machines. When I found "FUN", at first I didn't like it, as it had a center board, and sat low on a trailer and was really beat up. But after looking at it for a time I could see the beautiful lines, and now that it's restored everyone coments about how pretty and fast she looks. So it was worth the effort.

Quartermaster

[Tanton]

I have lost track of the boat. Last I heard, she was in Annapolis. Anyone knows?
24', beam 10'.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by quartermaster

Paul B,
I was in San Diego about six years ago, with the open 60 "OCEAN PLANET", when I was there I naturally checked out the marinas and boat storage yards as was my habit. I saw a few quarters , halfs and one tonners at that time. Where they are now is anybodys guess. you will have to "Walk the Docks, and talk the talks", as they say. They are around, you just have to look.

Believe me, I have walked the docks of SoCal for years. I know a lot of people who have been around the business for years and no one knows where a lot of the old boats have gone.


I lived in San Diego in the '80s and again in the '90s. I sail down there quite often, just did Yachting Cup, and have spent a lot of time on various docks there.

At SDYC there are no custom QTs, HTs, or OTs that I have noticed in the past 10 years or so. The last HT was Pete Jung's Peterson "Scorpion" and it has been in Long Beach for more than 10 years. The closest thing to a One Tonner is Danny Camet's Frers 40, but with a masthead rig so it rated closer to Two Ton.

At SWYC there is one QT, the Peterson "Star Eyed Stella", that hasn't been off the trailer for years. No HTs, not OTs.

About 10 years ago the King OT "terrorist" was sitting, rotting in a slip near the end of Shelter Island. I think it is long gone.

There were only a handful of daggerboard QTs ever in CA. The Whiting "Magic Bus" plus two or three production versions, the Davidson "Fun" (your boat), the Peterson "Blitz", the Nelson/Marek "Blivit". Your boat is the only one anyone has seen sailing for a very long time.

We know where Magic Bus is, but they don't seem to want to sell. Ditto the Schumacher "Summertime Dream".

The Farr 727 "Quick Jabs" from Long Beach disappeared probably 20 years ago.

I know there is an old production Peterson pintail rotting on a trailer out in the desert North East of San Diego. There is another old Peterson pintail QT in a rental business in Long Beach. There is another old pintail "Flying Circus" for sale (way overpriced) on Craigslist at the moment.

I had heard that the old Mull "Spread Eagle" was without a keel in a ravine near the SD zoo a few years ago. I'm sure it has been removed and destroyed long ago.

We know at least one of the three original Peterson/Eichenlaub pin tail QTs (Valkyrie) was cut up a few years ago. No one seems to know where the other two are ("Tickled Pink" and "El Principio").

I'm afraid some of the other boats have met the same fate.

[phum]

Quartermaster,
Re. fun
Well done, do you have any photos of the project.
phum@tpg.com.au
Peter

[booster]

Hi!
Arne Johnsson, Almeda, is mentioned in the post above. Arne used to run a shipyard in Sweden, Sailing Progress. The quarter-tonner Butterfly I sail was built by Arne in -77 and was 3:rd at the Helsinki World’s in -77, steered by Norlin himself, when Manzanita (R Pattison steered) won. And here I have to specify the designer of this winning boat: Ron Holland. Arne built several R-yachts as well. In Sweden Arne Johnsson got the middle-name “Styren” (“Styrene” in English”). I visited Arne’s Shipyard in Spillersboda, Sweden. Among the more interesting stuff was a 3-meters cut-off of the bow of the 1-tonner Stress (Peter Norlin design). To refine Stress’ pointing ability the bow was sharpened. It managed to win one of the races at the World’s in Germany when Tilsalg was the total winner.
Regards,
Booster

[booster]

Paul B!
Well, the Briand website is not that bad. He says that the first design of his, a quarter-tonner, was built when he was just 16 years old! This must be a world-record!
Regards,
Booster

[quartermaster]

That may be right. When I was down in S.D. what I may have been looking at weren't quarters at all. I was guessing some of these boats were, but I may be mistaken. I know of the Peterson quarter tonner that was cut up at Svendsens Boatyard a few years ago. I knew the owner and it was "Valkire", but I couldn't convince him it was worth saving. I had my hands full at the time with "FUN". Yes I have chronicled the re-build of the boat and I haven't yet coalated the pix yet. I've just started racing it and I'm in the throes of getting it and the trailer race ready.I've just designed and built a new rudder which has helped emensly, I can actually hold a lane to weather in 25 knts. I wasn't sure it would work out, as I've never done a foil from scratch, but it seems to be working out well, now if it will only hang together....You sound like you know more about these boats than I do. The" Magic Bus" that is in Alameda has a keel, I don't know if it ever was a centerboarder. I've been inside, but I didn't see evidence of a trunk.If you guys know the whereabouts of any quarters in the U.S. please let me know as I'm receiving emails of guys looking for them. I didn't realize they were so rare.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by quartermaster

The" Magic Bus" that is in Alameda has a keel, I don't know if it ever was a centerboarder. I've been inside, but I didn't see evidence of a trunk.If you guys know the whereabouts of any quarters in the U.S. please let me know as I'm receiving emails of guys looking for them. I didn't realize they were so rare.

Same Magic Bus, was a centerboard, now a keel.



Check Craigslist for LA and SD.

Last month on the SD list there was the old Goose, a highly modified Santana 25 Quater Ton that was owned by the guys who eventually built the Nelson QT "Blivit". It was in Mission Bay and was free to anyone who would come get it, on a trailer. They were calling it a Peterson 25; it is not.

On the LA Craigslist recently there's been the old Peterson pintail "Flying Circus". It is similar to the Valkyrie that was cut up. They are asking about $10K for it, probably 3x what they should be asking.

If you know anyone who might want a production/semi-custom Peterson 25 pintail (like Valkyrie but with a bit of a cruisy cabin) I know where the old "Loose Change" is and it can be bought for little money.

[BeauVrolyk]

Originally Posted by quartermaster

I have been following a few of the conversations that have been posted. I am the owner of the 1/4 ton "FUN", now renamed "Joyicity". I have been sailing since the late 70's and racing since the early 80's. I started out on folkboats, Knarrs and old woodys. Those were corinthian classes at the time and we had a lot of fun going slow. The point wasn't so much to win at any cost, but to compeate in a race, do your best, then meet at the host club and have a few drinks and a good jaw. I've noticed a stedy decline in this type of sailing over the years, much to my dismay. I don't get it. The sport of sailing was one of the last bastions of sports that anyone could participate in, at any age, and compete on an even keel with the best. If you did well against the rock stars, so much the better, but it was all in fun. Nowadays it seems the focus is more on the winning, at any cost, and the good old days of comaraderie and fair play are all but a dim memory. What's happened to our society to foster such a sea change. Have we lost our way? What is the point of the sport if cheating and bad sportsmanship are considered o.k.?I don't know, maybe I'm hopelessly old fashioned, but I relly don't enjoy racing when so many see it as way to force they're egos on others. I've restored my boat and am in the process of trying to get the quarters back together to race again, similar to what they are doing in Europe. Thats a picture of my boat in this months Latitude 38 under sitings and on the Quarter ton website in England. You sound like you have been there in the hey day of I.O.R. and experienced it first hand. I hope to inspire others to find these old boats, restore them, and race a corinthian class again.

Quartermaster

Quartermaster,

I share much of your feelings on these things. As someone who's raced for all but 7 years of his 57 year life, I was raised on the sailing morals you describe. It's nice to see I'm not the only one.

I have a couple of suggestions. A skipper I used to sail for said:

"Always choose the boat you're going to sail based on the people you'll crew with and the competitors you'll have. Ignore the boat itself, it doesn't matter. What's the point of going a knot or two faster with a bunch of *******s."

Morgan Cox, LAYC

Some of the best advice I've ever received.

Next, I'd suggest you join us for WoW (Wednesday on Woodies) which is still going on just as you describe it. You needn't bring a boat, just bring your foulies. We leave the dock at 5:45 every Wednesday night from the San Francisco Marina and over 200 sailors are out there every week in more than 50 boats. It's some of the best true racing around.

Yes WoW is populated by slow heavy boats (IOD, Knarr, and Folk Boats), sure they are tons slower than the IRC boats I also crew on, but for pure fun it can't be beat.

The bar is still filled every Wednesday night at the StFYC with the same old arguments, laughter and lies.

Come on down!

Beau

[quartermaster]

Corinthian racing. I'd love to join in! I have a Spiddsgatter as well as the quarter tonner, that I've had for 20 years or so. Right now she is on the hard, while I do a few repairs. I used to race folkboats , Knarss and Bears. Great people, great times. I used to race in the Big boat Series at the St.Francis Y.C. and it seemed the further up the ladder I went, the less I enjoyed it. Thats what prompted me to buy my own boat and restore it. I hope to attract other Corinthians so we can go out and play, for the love of the sport. Right now there are three quarter ton owners in the Bay area that have contacted me with the intrest of starting a class. Another corinthian group is the S.S.S. which I think are like minded people who just want to race and tinker with they're boats. No hassles, no oversized egos, and no poor sportsmanship.I'll certainly check out the wensday niters.

Thanks!

[booster]

Quartermaster!
I agree. In those days the Swedes used to spend a lot of time building the boats. The boat was ready to race just in time for the Swedish trials. Totally exhausted one took part in the trials, and hopfully got in top 10. With the french sailors (and others), often good dinghy sailors, from 470 an so on, practiced a lot in boats they had not built themselvs. This started a new trend, but the cost to stay competetive increased as well. It became somewhat similar to what you say "it seemed the further up the ladder I went, the less I enjoyed it". Let's hope you can get some querter-ton activity.
Regards,
Booster