Old Quarter Tonners -Magic Bus

The Mini Tonner was likely 'Pocket Rocket', which languished
for years on the trailer in Cabrillo before, I think, being chainsawed.

I came across a video 'infomercial' for Forespar's TruPlug a while back.
The boat they hacheted holes in for the demonstration was 'Juice'.

 

Yes, that's the one.

I imagine that boat was an orphan after Mike passed. If someone took a hatchet to it I would not be surprised.

 

Elias is still around, but the boat had been orphaned long ago.

 

Mike's still around? I thought he had a heart issue about 10 years ago that got him.

If you are in contact with him tell him I have a half model of Ragtime he built. It is the original keel/rudder, but the keel is damaged and needs to be rebuilt.

 

Yes, he still has a shop in the Marina Shipyard.

 

That's great to hear. I'll stop by to see him in a few days.

 

A Question For Australians

Hello all,
Anybody know of this boat. Built by Clem Masters QLD. Named now "Rapt in Blue"

 

Last week I dropped by the SWYC yard in San Diego. Snapped a few pictures of Star Eyed Stella, 4th in the 1976 QT Worlds.

I don't think she has been off the trailer in more than 20 years. Might be more than 25 years, maybe 30.

Deck hardware is stripped, fore and aft hatches are broken open, no windows, big holes in the deck, with quite a bit of water in the cockpit and below.

The hull has paint peeling and large areas where fairing putty is also peeling off.

I know at least two people have tried to buy this boat in the past few years. Apparently the owner doesn't want to sell. So the boat sits and rots.

 

A few hours after I took the photos of SES I ran into Doug Peterson. He gave me this picture he took while my boat was being built. That's Kerry Geraghty standing next to it.

Very cool to see what it looked like right after it was turned over.

 

Paul B old IOR boats

What a shame SES is a sweet design. It should be out sailing. John Churchill out of Everett trailered a Kirby 26 all the way to Texas for those Corpus Cristy Worlds. John was locked into the B fleet/ with, Chilton Kiwi 25 out of Dallas/Fort Worth. Star Eyed Stella out of San Diego,and I think an other Kirby 26 out of Vancouver. I can recall Churchill speaking about SES. I would love to see this boat compete in those UK Quarter ton race.

 

Thought you IOR aficionados might be interested in this very wide beamed Half Tonner from the early to mid 1970's, same time as Bruce Farr produced his Half Ton south Pacific winner Titus Canby - this from Jim Young's upcoming book.
"Mama Cass was the forerunner of the Young 88. I used to think that the forward end of that boat was really nice but if only she didn’t have a pinched stern. The stern was pinched in for a optimum rating under the IOR. I believe I was the first to come out with flared hull sides on Mama Cass, a boat I designed for Merv Elliott, Greg and Bruce’s father. I made a big change in hull form when I went for the Rocket 31. That design came out at the same time as the Young 88. I had the two designs published in SeaSpray in June 1980 together with core construction in the hope that it might generate some interest. Mama Cass was a good boat but was a bit under canvassed; in hindsight. I could have made the hull a slightly different shape which would have allowed me to give her a bit more sail. I had sailed her for Merv once because he had to stay home because his wife Gwen was not well. A shroud carried away during a race series breaking the mast but we fixed it up overnight, put it in the boat in a hurry so as to be ready for the next race. The course took us outside the Gulf islands and we were off Takapuna, Mama Csss was so good upwind, we were catching the leading boats and I thought we could take first; we tacked ... and over goes the mast. So that was the end of our hopes. I had to go and tell Merv – and that was not very nice at all; we had missed a split pin in the panic to get back into the contest. Merv took it surprisingly well, losing the mast twice in two days."

 

When you say "B" Fleet I assume you mean everyone except Magic Bus.

It sounds like the '76 QT Worlds was what IOR was intended to be. There were the lightweight boats like Magic Bus and Fun, the heavy boats like Espresso and Potent Star, and boats throughout the medium spectrum like Business Machine, SES, and Eager Beaver, all capable of being competitive.

Magic Bus could have lost the entire regatta on the last leg of the last race. However, they didn't deserve to lose like that. They were in a class of their own with finishes of 1-1-2-18-2 in a 36 boat fleet. The poor result in Race 4 was due to the wind dying on the last leg and filling from the opposite direction, which flipped most of the fleet. If the wind had not shifted she would have been top 4 in Race 4.

Aside from Magic Bus there were quite a few boats from quite a few designers that were pretty competitive with one another.

In the first race Magic Bus won, followed by the Davidson FUN and the Holland Business Machine.

In the second race It was Magic Bus again, followed by the Evelyn Potent Star and the Kirby Eager Beaver just getting by the Peterson Star Eyed Stella. At this point overall it was MB, FUN, with Bus Machine, Espresso, SES, and Eager Beaver tied for third.

In the third race it was Potent Star, followed by Magic Bus and Star Eyed Stella. Potent Star was very big (29 feet) and heavy with a small sailplan, and loved the heavy conditions in races 2 and 3. Overall after 3 races MB, Potent Star, and SES.

Race four results don't tell much about the speed of the boats due to the fleet turning inside out on the last leg. MB was 18th. Business Machine managed 2nd to move into a tie for first. Espresso (Mull) managed a 6th to move into 3rd overall, just ahead of SES who was 13th. Potent Star fell to 31st and out of overall contention. Other "B" fleeters Fun and Eager Beaver scored 21st and 27th.

Going into the last race any of the top 4 boats could have won by winning the race. The Kirby Fred Again actually won the race, with MB just crossing Business Machine in the final cross on the final leg to take 2nd and the overall win. Fun took 4th, Espresso 5th, and SES tumbled to 9th.

Final Standings:

Magic Bus
Business Machine
Espresso
SES
Fun

 

1976 Quarter tons, Corpus Cristy, Texas.

The Kirby 26 picture I posted earlier was taken at the Labor bay PITCH races at Bellingham, Wa. It was Fred Again, from Vancouver. I choked down my picture quality and now can post Churchill's boat. I'll also post snaps of a Peterson pin tail, flush deck taken in the bay area, SF. CA.

I should not have linked Churchill to the A fleet Paul B has clearly chronicled above. However John described his efforts at this regatta as struggling in the B fleet. Not as I offhandedly implied. Up here in the sound we often have large fleets of say Thunder birds that shake out into A and B fleets. More than likely reflecting skill level, not because of well are poorly out fitted boats.

Once out on the water he stressed, how surprised he and his crew were by this A & B fleet separation. They had new sails, a new boat, and they prepared there mast by laminating towes of carbon fiber to its upper panels. Sailing near them only one time in Everett, my boat speed was well off compared to them. We all looked forward to good reports from Texas.

Not the case. Yes, a wide range of design types fell into this A fleet, however there were well prepared boats and crews that fell into the B fleet and the story I herd was that this "IOR" had something inherently bad about it. Yes, yes, I know all the dismissive arguments against this viewpoint. Yet, in the long run this "perception" carried the day. I dare say, it was "not" what the IOR boats looked like. That was only a convenient whipping boy for diatribes against the IOR.

I think the IOR did more for the " UNDERSTANDING" of sail boat design than what was knowable to the " interested general public", and disclosed in the previous 100 years. Many practicing yacht designers fully understood shaping boats this way are that, once on the water provided totally different behaviors. The public, me included struggled to understanding this range. This closely held knowledge, after all is why one hires a designer. Yet, as sailing became accessible to the proletariat in the 1960's an explosion of new designs flooded the water ways. The IOR, organized and quantified all these design shapes for all to review. Reading "One Design / Sailing World" and matching reported weather condition to the performance of the various designs revieled the conection..

 

Pet 25 flush deck.

Snaps of a flush deck Pet 25



It would be interesting to view the complete list of racers at this 1976 Texas worlds.

 

Bussiness Machine 1/4 tonner found.

I have just found out the fate of Chilton's 1/4 tonner Business Machine. Rotting away, if Fiberglas can, on a rusted out road trailer, in a field in southern Oklahoma. Not all that clear but in sad shape like SES!!! At least I'm planning on reworking my old Pet 25 for my nephews.

For those not informed about this old Holland, Kiwi 25, It was constructed much like "IMP" A tubular space frame carrying the keel and rig loads. A very lightly laminated hull shell attached to the aluminum frame. A back porch transom was added to the hull, hoping it mite add a little Water Line Length. The rig was a very small section B&R rig with double diagonals. All rod- standing rigging.

I ran across the Mull Espresso 1/4 Tonner in New Orleans in 1979, and was impressed by this small rig. All rod shrouds. This boat had a small Brigs and stratton air cooled auxiliary mounted ahead the mast/ with it's shaft running aside the keel bolts just off center line.