Rana 17s Unite?

[Anastasia]

Any owners of RANA 17's out there?
It sure would be great to hear of your tales
and suggestions for keeping these boats
alive and well.

A Rana 17 is a 30 year oldish Norwegian made wooden daysailing sloop
with an open clinker, lapstake pitch pine hull.
The boat has a daggerboard keel, skeg,
and transom hung rudder
The sails are rigged Bermudian/Marconi style.
It's one of the first boats to use copper rivets.

http://home.internetcds.com/~jamz/images/Sailing_Crew_2.jpg

[imported_Steven Bauer]

I think copper rivets have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years on small clinker boats.
I do love the Norwegian boats, though. I'm helping my 13 year old build a 15' Faering, a double ended rowing/sailing boat. We just this morning finished planing the bevels on the inner stem and inner sternpost. Maybe tonight we can set them in place on the building form. Then we just need to install the keelson (inner keel) and we'll be ready for planking.

Steven

[ 09-06-2003, 08:17 PM: Message edited by: Steven.Bauer ]

[Dave Fleming]

Just had a flash of memory... Well maybe.
Did not the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle at one time before it was Non-Profit import those boats into the US?? Dick Wagner, correct?

Seems like I got a brochure or two of both sail/rowing and power versions floating around here in the great mess of stuff I wallow in.

Ring a bell with anybody?

[imported_Conrad]

Wow- when my family moved to Seattle in 1967 we set out to buy a boat, and the result was a Rana boat, purchased from Dick Wagner when he was renting them from his houseboat on lake Union. I think it was 16', but seem to remember he had a couple different models. It was a great boat, very seaworthy, cruised all over the San Juans and lake Washington, where we lived. It held up well, finally passing out of the family about 5 years ago- the quality of the planking wasn't the best, lots of splits, and the entire hull was starting to work pretty badly, making it hard to keep tight. But man, we used to wait for a blow, then take it out to see what it would do- it was thankfully under-canvassed and pretty easy to manage in the worst the lake could dish out. The Thistle was a whole lot faster though... :D

As a note, my dad bumped into Dick at the wooden boat festival about 3 years ago, and although dad was 85, not the 53 or so he'd been when they first met, each remembered the other quite clearly. I didn't know it at the time, but apparently it was the first boat Dick sold, and kindred spirits must have made an impression on each other.

[Jeremy Burnett]

Rana used to make a range of small wooden boats,the 17 footer was the largest I think.We had one in the 60's.There were also pram dinghies in two sizes that were good.There are some still in the harbour here.I dont think they are pitchpine more likely some Baltic white pine variety.I was once told they were built by Norwegian farmers to keep the busy in the winter .I dont think they are still available.

[Anastasia]

How amazing to find past owners of Rana 17
sloops out there in the matter of a couple days.
It's great to read Conrad's Rana tales,
( I wonder if I have your old boat;
mine sure seems to have the aging features
you describe.)
and to read there are still some floating in Falmouth harbor.
Dave, I'd love to get a copy of the flyer Dick Wagner used to sell them, if your come across it.
I do have a message off to Dick,
hoping I can get further info on the boat from him..

Thanks to Oyvind of Norway
for providing me with an web address to contact Rana.
I did query them about the boat,
but they could not confirm my boats as theirs without an identification plate number,
which I could not find on the boat.
After seeing my picture they were also concerned about the color.
I guess they expect us to keep boats in the original condition and color scheme,
maybe like the Norwegian farmers.
It also seems they stopped making wooden boats in the 70's.
I expect to write them again to see
if they can give me further info of the Rana 17
they did make.

Thanks again for you consideration.

Maybe than I can paint her the right color!

[Mike K]

I'm considering buying an 18 foot "Rana Bat" which appears to fit your description precisely.

In hopes of learning more about the boats and their sailing qualities, could I make contact with your respondants? Could I learn from your experience?

Mike K

Originally posted by Anastasia:
Any owners of RANA 17's out there?
It sure would be great to hear of your tales
and suggestions for keeping these boats
alive and well.

A Rana 17 is a 30 year oldish Norwegian made wooden daysailing sloop
with an open clinker, lapstake pitch pine hull.
The boat has a daggerboard keel, skeg,
and transom hung rudder
The sails are rigged Bermudian/Marconi style.
It's one of the first boats to use copper rivets.

http://home.internetcds.com/~jamz/images/Sailing_Crew_2.jpg

[Phil Joseph]

There is currently one for sale in the classifieds in "Messing about in Boats"

[Fritz Koschmann]

This is a 14' Rana boat.
http://media18.hypernet.com/mywb/icache/item1058.jpg
It is a displacement hull but no sail rig. As I understand it all the boats were imported like this, without rigs. The sail rigs, mast, daggerboard etc were added in Seattle. There are still several here in Gustavus Alaska, mine, an 18' sail, and a 14' sail version. There was also a 16' planing version that has been broken up. In the 70's every hippie wanted one.

fritz koschmann