Bolger and Bassett's Blackbird

[Mr. T]

This design, chronicled in Boat Design Quarterly number 26, has piqued my interest. I love the profile with the low cuddy and nearly plumb stem. I'd like to find some additional information on this design, such as pictures of the boat as built, but cannot locate anything on the internet. Supposedly the boat was profiled in Small Boat journal No. 41. Could someone with this issue possibly scan the article for me? Also, has anyone besides Mr. Bassett built this boat? I'm primarily just probing to see if this design has caught the interest of others as well, and if it hasn't what am I missing?

The particulars of the design are as follows:
LOA 23'4"
LWL 23'1"
Beam 7'8"
Draft 1'0"

[rbgarr]

The original was sold during the past year or so in Rhode Island.

[N. Scheuer]

I have both the original SBJ Edition showing Blackbird and the BDQ Edition. I'd be happy to share the SBJ when I locate it in my files.

This is one of the few power boats that has ever interested me for very long. Bolger's Snow Leopard is another.

Moby Nick

[Mr. T]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Nick, my e-mail is listed in my profile if you find time to scan the original SBJ article.

So, is this boat on anyone else's short list as well? I'd post some pictures for the rest of you to see if I knew of any that were available, but I haven't been able to find any. The lines drawings and sketches are available in BDQ, but I'm afraid scanning those onto this forum would run afoul of various copyright issues.

[PVanderwaart]

I belive that Blackbird is included in Bolger's book "Boats with an Open Mind", though not by that name.

Bolger has a commission to produce a complete design based on Snow Leopard, but it's not clear when he will get to it.

[rbgarr]

Here's an old picture of Blackbird taken at her mooring.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid151/p641e882e7b1a6e23510777d45ba2e614/f5c001a3.jpg

[JimD]

That's a nice looking boat!

[Mr. T]

Thanks for the responses so far.

It is indeed a nice looking boat. Thanks for the picture, are there any other photos out there? I'm especially wondering about the cockpit as drawn. There seems to be a smallish well forward to stand in while stearing and then a self-bailing cockpit aft of the well. I do not see any furniture drawn. Does the boat have at least a helm seat?

[rbgarr]

Here are three more pictures of Blackbird:

[There are no fixed helm seats but it would not be a big problem to design and install some. Bolger just preferred to keep the design simple and open.]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid151/pc4b003cbaef46f8c1c17f628d8c6dfaf/f5be2302.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid151/p41a4a874ecca21787cdbb6b0e16c8b42/f5be21d7.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid151/p9122a097160da89a1e1aae86c2b7b3dc/f5be1a75.jpg

[ 12-27-2004, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: rbgarr ]

[N. Scheuer]

I'll lokk for it today, Mr.T.

Concerning Blackbitd's helm, have you read the Bolger quote in the the B.D.Quarterly? Something about rethinking in terms of a more conventional pilothouse. I'd go for just a windshield and light-weight top. The helm station as-drawn looks great, but that much exposure to the Sun should be avoided.

The thing I like most about BB is her "big boat" style, powered by a concealed outboard of only 50-hp. She fits my key criteria of generating very little wake at any speed.

I became intensley interested in Lobster Boats last summer while cruising in Maine, but from a practical standpoint (home base on the Illinois Prairie) a much lighter, outboard-powered motor vessel makes a lot more sense. After all, I'm thinking strickly pleasure boats, not something to work in out in any weather.

If you haven't seen Bolger's addendum, I'll scan that, too.

Moby Nick

[N. Scheuer]

Why is it that so few (is there more than one?) of this simply fabulous design have been built?

Are potential motorboat owners just so enamored of Deep-V's that they will not consider anything else? I've met some who indeed believe nothing but a Deep-V is worth consideration. But having been rocked around by too many Deep-V's while sailing small boats, I really dislike them.

Moby Nick

[Mr. T]

Thanks for the additional photos. It really helps my sense of perspective to see someone at the helm with the boat on the water.

Moby, I saw Bolger's comments in BDQ, but that article, along with the information posted here, is all I've seen on the boat. I'm also wondering why we don't see more boats similar to this. Maybe someone can point us to some of the drawbacks of this and similar designs. I'm in the initial stage of boat lust right now, so I'm having trouble seeing drawbacks of any kind.

[rbgarr]

My quibbles with the design are that the sheer is too flat, and the covered motorwell takes up too much space in the cockpit. IMO, the wash shown coming out of the well at the transom indicates that there may be a design problem or the motor extends too far below the keel. I also wonder how well she would maneuver in reverse compared to a stern-mounted outboard.

The pluses and minuses of motorwells have been addrerssed in another thread recently.

I had a 19+' hull with almost the exact same hull shape (also with a 50 hp outboard) and she pounded pretty severely at speed in waves.

[N. Scheuer]

Not to quibble with you, rbgar, but wouldn't having the motor mounted forward of the transom serve to counter the tendancy to pound?

As for the shear, Bolger's frank intent was to design a smaller variation on an older 45-footer. That boat also had a flattish shear.

The wash out of the transom is something I would certainly ask Bolger about.

Moby Nick

[cdragon]

contact Tony Widman at Proper Yachts-they are in Freeport, Miane now - he owned Blackbird for a long time and may have had her built? Not sure, but a good source for info and a very nice guy to boot

[Tonyr]

I think we still have a well immersed transom here, so there will be lots of wake at relatively slow speeds. I have looked quite hard, but before deciding on my modified Glen-L Eagle, could not find anything modern, adequately roomy and light which promised what I wanted - slow speed fuel efficiency and minimum wake at displacement speeds, plus the ability go a bit faster when required (accepting wake and less efficiency at those faster speeds).

Tony.

[rbgarr]

The pictures I posted are from Tony Widmann, who sent them to me when we were interested in buying the boat. Thanks for mentioning that he's now in Freeport.

I saw ESCORT (the 40' S&S design that inspired Bassett and Bolger) exposed, sagging and looking pitiful on a cradle in a South Carolina marsh back in the eighties. I tried to find out who owned her, but she disappeared before I could do so. I'm guessing that she was bulldozed or chainsawed because a condominium went up there not long afterwards. Even in poor shape she still looked like an elegant yacht although her white hull and bottom paint with green boottop and varnished upperworks had been painted dark blue and gray respectively.

I'm pretty sure the same hull design (different cabin) has been used by Legendary Yachts for a powerboat they've built on spec. For some reason their website is down now.

Olin Stephens is a master at making a flat sheer look good. I've got one of his Shields sloops, and her sheer just straddles the line between being too swoopy and too flat. IMO Bolger and Bassett just missed it. It's difficult to do well on such a short boat, especially when trying to evoke the profile of a boat twice the size... but, hey, I couldn't do it!

The challenges of scaling have been addressed in the forum before.

[N. Scheuer]

Interesting, rbgarr, that you mention how short Blackbird seems. When giving the design some close study a couple of years ago as to how I would actually use it, were I to dedicate the time to build a wood strip/FRP rendition, I thought that I could stand to have her 24 to 30 inches longer.

Were this to slow her down a knot or two, so what? A design as striking as this should not dissapear from view too quickly, eh?

Moby Nick

[rbgarr]

I could see that. :cool:

[rbgarr]

Here's a photo of the original ESCORT which inspired the Blackbird design.

http://www.cannellclassicboats.com/cbb_escort40.html

MELANTHO, mentioned in the comments, is still immaculately kept out on the very monied end of Long Island, New York. Here's a photo of her cabin:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid109/p8fb12c1b5eed4c945ce9d50cb914e79a/f92a8725.jpg

I'm fairly sure MELANTHO is an LFH design and not a sistership of the S&S ESCORT design, but I could be wrong. Notice the art deco mooring 'posts' instead of cleats!

[ 01-03-2005, 12:45 AM: Message edited by: rbgarr ]

[rbgarr]

Then there's my favorite powerboat of all time: Sidney Herreshoff's 52+' SHEERNESS:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid152/p4247bb97364b7396c440d7ae6952e244/f5a47c45.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid109/p4fe813fa3532890ea10b16cafffe430b/f93a59df.jpg

[ 01-03-2005, 12:45 AM: Message edited by: rbgarr ]

[JimConlin]

Dave, Thanks for that.
With such beauty, life is good.

[TR]

The drawings of ESCORT published in Skene's Elements are initialed by AM, which would be Al Mason, a fine designer of smaller powerboats. But study of her lines reveal a bottom revision for (I assume) some later version. In the running photo's she exhibits reasonable trim, but for some reason the bottom was dropped aft and a reverse "hook" added. This could have been done to deal with increased power and speed.

MELANTHO is indeed a LFH design, #103 done in 1959, 40' LOA by 9'6" beam.

SHEERNESS is a classy looking boat but she exhibits too much trim while running for my taste.

Tad

[Geoff C]

I'm struck by the similarities between this boat and the Reuel Parker Commuter 36. Both good looking boats. I think the shear line on Blackbird is fine, it fits the intended style of the boat.

http://www.parker-marine.com/comu361.jpg

http://www.parker-marine.com/commuterbig.jpg

[rbgarr]

Thanks Tad. Interesting notes. I met Al Mason in the 70's and he was a very helpful and modest guy.

[rbgarr]

Nick- I sent Mr. T copies of the SBJ article, so you don't need to search your back issues unless you've done it already.

[N. Scheuer]

Thanks, rbgarr! I'm having trouble locating that issue. (Moved too many times! Can't find anything!)

Moby Nick

[N. Scheuer]

Found the relevant issue of Boat Design Quarterly in an unlikely place. (will file it properly now)

I like what Bolger and Bassett (the builder) have to say about the design in retrospect, especially because it includes both of my wishes, cover for the helm, amd increased length.

Bolger: "The design still looks good to me. Its layout is shipshape, though if someone were interested, I would consider giving her a sheltered cockpit at the level of the steering well. I think this could be done well within the general style."

Bassett: "I'd like to stretch her to 30' and give her an inboard engine."

The Editor (Mike O'Brien) might stretch her to 30', or some longer, on the same breadth and hang one of those fine four-stroke outboard machines on her transom. Then we'd have a fast, quiet vehicle for traveling the waterways.

Were I to construct a Blackbird (Moby Nick writing now) the boat, possily known as the BLACK HORSE TROOP, after the Cavalry Drill Unit at Culver Military Academy, would find itself running across Lake Michigan from Winthrop Harbor to Michigan City to visit the Grandkids. With that duty in mind, perhaps a pair of smaller outboards might be employed in the interest of safety.

Aft of the sheltered helm, a tent mounted on bows which pivot upward out of the stern, similar to the "back porch" in my present Shearwater Yawl, as well as in the Dovekie which preceeded her, having mosquito net on three sides, would give the cockpit more flexibility for cruising.

Sure would like to go for a run in Bassett's Blackbird, sometime.

Moby Nick

[DavidSumsion]

Does anyone know if plans are available for blackbird

[JimD]

Welcome to the forum, DavidSumsion. There was a thread on Blackbird not too long ago, and it's profiled in Small Boats. Don't have my copy with me at the moment but if there are plans Small Boats should tell you how to get them.http://woodenboat.com/wbmag/img-smallboats/smallboats-covspred.jpg

Have a look here. Looks like plans are available from Mr Bolger: Phil Bolger & Friends
P.O. Box 1209
Gloucester, MA 01930 http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=64285&highlight=bolger+blackbird

[rbgarr]

BLACKBIRD may be one of the safety boats accompanying the Small Reach Regatta.

[Spokaloo]

Nasty little rumor that Jacques Mertens over at www.bateau.com (http://www.bateau.com) is spinning off a blackbird/commuter/Sparkman & Stephens boat in his particular method. No word yet on LOA or particulars, but its due out in the next few weeks.

E

[JimD]

Nasty little rumor that Jacques Mertens over at www.bateau.com (http://www.bateau.com) is spinning off a blackbird/commuter/Sparkman & Stephens boat in his particular method. No word yet on LOA or particulars, but its due out in the next few weeks.

E

Merten's approach sounds very epoxy intensive from his descriptions. He says, iirc and I paraphrase, they are not just plywood boats sheathed in epoxy/glass, or to that effect. But I sorta wish they were.

[Spokaloo]

He claims they are Composite construction. It will be epoxy intensive, and will require quite a bit of glass (im betting 15-20 gals of epoxy/hardener combined), but they are also lighter than most plywood/frame boats of the equal size and impact resistance.

I am also thinking it might require foam coring to be used in certain areas.

E