The Duckboat Worlds were held at Mantoloking Yacht Club last Friday. Our Speedwell was in commission again with her sprit rig. Conditions were less than ideal with a light, flukey NE breeze. Not only that, but an unusually strong Northerly current played havoc with the start and weather mark rounding. I managed to get around the leeward mark in the bottom 20% of the fleet and then headed back to Beaton’s. The thought of another run and long beat back was just too much.
Julia sitting on Speedwell at the Duckboat party the night before the race. There were 74 boats participating this year.
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Leaving MYC. If it wasn’t for the northerly current the fleet would have never reached the course. The forecasted NE to SE 5 to 10 kt breeze never materialized.
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The two Beaton boats heading out. Tom is in B-9. Beaton’s built hundreds of these boats over the years. There are several generations of sailors that learned to sail in these boats.
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Arriving at the start. Just enough room to fit this Happy Skipper. Let’s hope for a bit more breeze next year.
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Do I need a clam license? Do you think Sjogin’s been taking on more water than usual? Enough to grow clams! Â Usually bilge water won’t support such growth.
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Time for a quick haul to find out why she’s leaking so much.
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When hauled, we found the garboard plank split with bilge water draining out. A lead tingle stopped most of it. After launch we found another split and leak above the repair. An inside caulking job slowed that one down too.
Usually Sjogin is hauled this time of year for her annual maintenance. Since the aft garboard planks need to be replaced, along with several other long deferred items, she’ll stay in till November or so. Then she’ll come out, set up outside for a bit of drying out and then into the shop for a few months this winter. I’ll miss the heart of the hot stove season this year, but at sixty or so years old, Sjogin needs some TLC from Beaton’s.
Enough for now. I’ll catch up on a few other items this week. I promise.
good duck boat pics thanks. you seem alittle bow down in the duck boat pic. droopy nose or water perhaps? heard from gary that the races were less than thrilling. the good news re sjog is maybe get more beaton pics while repairs are in progress. clams in the bilge is never a good sign.
Peter,
Speedwell is the last of the Duckboats built by Phil Clarke in the early ’50s. One of the first things David Beaton did when he took over building them from Clarke was to raise the bow a few inches. That made a big difference in sailing down wind. A few years later he lengthened the cockpit to its current size.
Less than thrilling is an understatement.
Russ
Russ, I just bought the study plans for your boat Sjogin modified by Garthside. I am in the research stages of the build right now. A questions if I may…Are you aware of or can you get me in contact with anyone you may know currently building this craft?
Michael Hirschler
Baltimore, MD
Hi Mike,
I wish I knew of any builders. Have you looked at the Threads in in WoodenBoat Forum? Here’s the current one: http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?155015-Sjogin-news There are links to the other Threads in the beginning.
I’m working on an article for WoodenBoat and would love to feature a new Sjogin taking form. Maybe you can be the first!
Good luck,
Russ