What is it?

[daddles]

I've got a 12' dinghy. When I bought it, I was told it was a 'Torch' but the few photos I've seen of Torchs are of a different design - they are all double chine boats, this is a single chine.

So, what is it?

She's about 12'4" long (bit hard to measure accurately at the moment). Probably about 12' along the waterline.
Beam is 5'2" but that includes 1" of decking overlaping on each side so 5' to the outside of the hull.
Single chine.
Very flat V on the hull.
I think it originally had a gaff rig or gunter set up. Now she features a cobbled up marconi set up but that, of course, is of no help.
Dagger board.
Mast sits on the fore decking supported by a very heavy compression post.
Framed - very heavy frames.
Age? Sixties? Seventies? - ply with fibreglass tape on the seams but lots of nails holding things together.

She now features side tanks but they were added by the previous owner - the existing decking is how she came to him.

Any help, even if it's just pointing me somewhere else, would be appreciated. As I said earlier, she's always been described as a Torch but unless there were more than one design called the Torch, she ain't one of them.

I've attached two photos that show the hull shape. Other photos can be seen on my website.

Thanks
Richard

http://www.users.bigpond.com/richardspurling/torch1.jpg
http://www.users.bigpond.com/richardspurling/torch2.jpg

[Venchka]

Richard,

Do you take in stray animals too? How many is this now? 3? More? How's your Tender Behind? :cool:

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[daddles]

We now have a lovely little dog called Skipper. Guess what, he was a stray.

The Tender B***** Behind is going no f****** where at the moment. I finally gave up on those girders specified for inwhales and am making them out of plywood, but I needed to repaint Henry (the boat that is the subject of this thread) first.

I've just finished stripping Henry's hull ... and found lots of that stuff you blokes call 'rot' and lots of repairs and lots of plugs and lots of ... well, you know what it's like when you take the paint of a thirty or forty year old boat. Ever pulled off epoxy and cop a whiff of musty air? I have. Let's re-open the old 'don't coat an old boat with fibreglass' thread.

The current count is:
Henry VIII - the yacht that is the subject of this thread.
Redback - half finished, that confounded Tender Behind
My Yellowtail who is, as yet, un-named and who I can't wait to start on but I have to finish Redback first and I have to paint Henry before that.
Then there's Scrat, my son's Mouseboat.

Last, and in this case least because it's for sale, is Drip-a-long Daffy, my Heron. I bought the Drip-a-long because my ex got involved in dinghy racing and I wanted to share her interest. What I didn't realise was that she was in the process of tying herself to the bloke she was going racing with. So I wound up with the Heron. A great little boat and I'd keep it only I'm a tad big for it and not really interested in racing. Henry has a lot more room in the cockpit though he is still really a racing type dinghy. And he's tough. Drip-a-long was built as a racing dinghy - 4mm ply, weights only two kilo over the class limit. The term 'delicate' springs to mind. Henry weighs easily twice that but is rugged as a result - hell, you could use him as an icebreaker.

How did Henry get his name?
Think of a king with a good attitude to ex-wives. My sole concession to bitchiness in this whole marriage break up business.

Cheers
Richard

[Venchka]

I can just now see the photos. That's a big trailer, Paw-Paw! You could put most anything on it. Maybe keep the trailer and burn the boat? :D

Only kidding. Good luck Richard.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Meerkat]

Is that one of Welsford's Tender Behinds? ;)

Consider laminating the inwales in situ. We had to do that for his Navigator and it worked quite well.

[daddles]

Yes Meer. Thanks to the amount of vertical and horizontal curve, laminating proved to be impractical. I wound up using ply - cutting the vertical curve and bending the horizontal. It worked quite well but ...

Cheers
Richard

[daddles]

bump

[Venchka]

Richard,

Please promise me that you are going to change the color scheme of Henry VIII.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Wild Wassa]

She is like an old Heron with dodgy sails. I originally though that she was an old Sabre Class.

Warren.

[ 12-22-2004, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Hwyl]

Originally posted by Wild Wassa:
She is like an old Heron with dodgy sails.Warren. I was going to say: Yes but the heron had gunter rig. Then I looked at the first post. By gosh I think you've got it. Herons are 11' 4". So the 12' is a bit optimistic.

[Wild Wassa]

Daddles was tricky, he fooled us Hwyl with a bit of wild angle distortion. Herons look more like this to me, ... 'SLR' a Sea Scout boat.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid38/p7023ffbd364e6e52b54d78afa4e5f82b/fd158354.jpg.orig.jpg

Warren.

ps, SLR is the ACT Sea Scouts most winning boat, until a few years ago, when I started working on her. She is a delaminated old wreck, dry rot set in after a few years off the water. I fixed her before I knew about CPES.

Warren.

[ 12-22-2004, 04:08 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Venchka]

Mumble...grumble...old brain is on the fritz...posted this in the wrong place.

Richard,

Wade through this list. See if 'Enery shows up.

One Designs (http://www.sailingsource.com/classes.php)

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[Wild Wassa]

Venka the Heron Association (NSW) page no longer exists in the list so it says. Don't waste your time wading, she is a Heron. The photo makes her look a bit elongated.

Warren.

[ 12-22-2004, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Venchka]

Thanks! I posted that list yesterday in the wrong place before the Heron lineage appeared. No worries. Somebody someday may find it useful.

Cheers & Happy Holidays!

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[daddles]

Sorry boys, it is not a Heron. Much larger - longer, beamier. Different shape. The photos don't actually distort her much. If I had one, I'd put up a picture of my Heron sitting next to Henry like to show the difference - it's like putting a corgi (Heron) next to a greyhound (Henry).

Thanks for the thoughts though.

There are three reasons why my Heron is for sale and I'm keeping Henry. The Heron was built as a racer and is delicate. Henry was built to break through a polar ice cap (and weighs accordingly). Henry has a larger cockpit that feels roomy to me whereas I'm cramped in the Heron. Finally, I've got a chance of selling the Heron whereas the chances of selling Henry are remote. Besides, I'll get more for the Heron.

Wayne, I will be changing the colours. I'm hoping I will be able to get away with a scuff and slop paint job on the top, at least in the short term. The hull is now sanded and bogged and with all the heat we've had lately, all those dark spots in the wood have disappeared. I might even get this coat of paint to last.

Cheers
Richard

[Meerkat]

Old wooden wayfarer?

I think most of the problem with that boat's paint job is the :eek: purple deck :eek: . Repaint that in tan and she'll look lots better!

[ 12-22-2004, 09:01 PM: Message edited by: Meerkat ]

[Meerkat]

Image link corrected...
Originally posted by Wild Wassa:
Daddles was tricky, he fooled us Hwyl with a bit of wild angle distortion. Herons look more like this to me, ... 'SLR' a Sea Scout boat.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid38/p7023ffbd364e6e52b54d78afa4e5f82b/fd158354.jpg

Warren.

ps, SLR is the ACT Sea Scouts most winning boat, until a few years ago, when I started working on her. She is a delaminated old wreck, dry rot set in after a few years off the water. I fixed her before I knew about CPES.

Warren.

[Meerkat]

Herons, right side up, look like this:

http://www.heron-dinghy.org.uk/rough.jpg
http://www.heron-dinghy.org.uk/philkids.jpg

Length 3.429 m 11'3"

Beam 1.372 m 4'6"

Minimum weight 63.7 kg 140 lb

Sail area
Main 4.78 sq m 51.5 sq ft
Jib 1.72 sq m 18.3 sq ft
Genoa 2.83 sq m 30.5 sq ft
Spinnaker 6.36 sq m 59.0 sq ft

[Venchka]

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH! Keep the purple deck! :cool: It's all that white that is soooooooooooooo boring! :eek:

Grinning.

Merry Christmas Richard! I hope Santa brings you the bird who sands and paints.

Wayne
In the Swamp. :D

[daddles]

So THAT's what a Heron is supposed to look like. Mine has spent most of her time on her side ... with me sliding across the floorboards and punching holes in the hull.
That's the other difference between a Heron and Henry - the Heron has a centreboard, Henry has a dagger board. Of the two, the centreboard makes a lot more sense.

The other big difference, apart from size, is that the Heron has a quite a lot of rocker (is that the term? The hull curves upwards quite a lot from about the centre board). Good old Henry is pretty well flat from the bow back.

Have you got the dimensions of the Sea Scout boat Warren? And any others that might be close. There's no reason to suppose she may not have been one of the Sea Scout programs. Pity I can't get you to have a look at her mate. You might be able to give me some tips on fixing her up. If you're over here for the Goolwa boat festival, keep an eye open because at this rate, she'll be the only wooden boat I've got available.

Cheers
Richard

[Doc R.]

I am certianly no expert.My only thought was she might have been a redecked something or other.My only adventures with sailing dinks was a Penguine.I used her to comute to work everyday out on Long Island(Sag Harbor)
Good Luck, I am currently trying to I D a boat that I bought.It was represented as a Graves Constellation,but,I find she is the wrong age and the wrong size.Whats a fellow to do?
Maybe some of your brothern on here could help.I posted yesterday but no news yet.(under another topic)
G.C. 31' mine 29'
G.C. late50's early60's mine 1969
The only thing I can say is they both have a very pretty bottom.I'm a sucker for a pretty bottom.
Good Luck,
Doc :confused:

[John Meachen]

I have doubts about the boat being a Heron.The mast is wrong for one thing,as the Heron has a gunter rig.The mast shown is not only for a bermuda rig but it has spreaders.It may be a Graduate in which case it should be 12ft 6in long and have a Bermuda rig and I seem to remember that there were a number of them in Australia.It is also not a Torch which was never a very numerous class and which would have one more chine than the boat in the photographs.There is always the possibility that the boat was built to no known class design but simply built to satisfy the desires of the original owner.As long as she satisfies the current owner,no other considerations really come into the picture.

[Wild Wassa]

Daddles, I can't take measurements until after the school holidays are over, if the Heron is in the boat shed, the keys to the boat shed are on the way to Adelaide, it's the silly season. If she isn't locked away SLR is only 100 yards away, the silly season could rule though.

Warren

[ 12-23-2004, 02:31 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Wild Wassa]

Daddles we are back on line. How can I help you Mate with the Heron?

I was looking at the Sea Scout's 145 and it clicked ... a 125. Under the torch on the sail, there are two old triangles (like a watermark in the sail), from what looks like the Class emblem. Possibly removed by a previous owner. I'll keep my fingers crossed. A 125 is 12'4" LOA.

http://125qld.vze.com/ (http://125qld.vze.com/) Photo QLD 125 Association.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid153/p365c90b0fe969349497ed79c30212661/f58e0809.jpg

Warren.

[ 01-08-2005, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[daddles]

Well spotted Warren, it is an old 125 mainsail ... but the boat isn't a 125. The mainsail is but one of the many components that led the last owner to call this boat 'Bitsa'.

She probably won't be at Goolwa now Warren - it looks like I'll have Redback ready (FINALLY!). However, you are welcome to come around and criticise my paint job in person. I'll even lubricate the old throat to help the vitriol.

Same for any of you other blokes here in Adelaide for Goolwa ... or any other reason. Give a yell. I'm always ready for confirmation that I'm not the only nutter in this world.

Richard