How to make an ugly boat uglier

[JeffH]

A post in another section reminded me of this brilliant bit of naval architecture. Basically, this fellow had this boat he got on the cheap. It was a hideously ugly '80s euro-style custom 'glass thingamabob, but cheap. Only problem was, the dock it was destined for was in the Camden (Maine) inner harbor, which has a length limit 42 feet. The boat in question was a wee longer. Note the use of the past-tense. After a delicate surgery with a circular saw, Sawz-all and a five-foot prybar, the boat met the 42 foot limit. Only drawback was the boat ended up uglier than it started out.

http://midcoast.villagesoup.com/pix/News/200506/P68985.jpg

I happen to know the gent, and this sort of thing is completely in character. Not only does he buy a drop-dead-ugly boat dirt cheap, he makes it uglie,r and does it in the middle of downtown Camden on a busy day in order to score a small political point. Kinda have to admire him, in a way :D

The full story (http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:2KP5jsVJ7yIJ:knox.villagesoup.com/Community/story.cfm%3FstoryID%3D57021)

(had to do a bit of a workaround of the site's archives, since the story is a few days old)

Jeff

[ 07-12-2005, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: JeffH ]

[Hwyl]

In the first few years of the Mini Transat race, this kind of thing was common, the only rule in those days was that the boat had to be less than 21 feet. There were lot's of stock 22 and 23 foot boats, that were sawn down.

An Irish guy kept his truncated bow on board, painted it Orange and called it "Ulster". He was always vacillating about whether his boat should be united or divided.

[Doug Wood]

You have got to be kidding me. Yankee ingenuity? That's not exactly how I'd refer to it. Sheesh.

[Wild Wassa]

During the last Louis Viutton, the Prada Syndicate cut the bow off the boat and within 48hrs, the new faster bow was install, completely finished and polished and had past measurement. Prada still looked good.

If the chap sloped the cut rather than cutting it vertically as he did, he could have done the job in one go ... and have a boat with a new Mirror/Miracle hybrid bow.

It is not often one sees such conviction.

Warren.

[ 07-12-2005, 09:19 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[skuthorp]

Maybee the guy is a plastic surgeon, specialising in nose jobs. If the boat has a female name he's probably claiming on insurance already! :eek:

[bamamick]

You know, if he HAD to cut the nose off he could have done it a little differently and still had a decent looking bow.

I did get a chuckle about how he thought about putting a hinge on the bow and just flipping it up when in harbor.

Interesting how he found a reporter to write it up who was either completely sympathetic to his reasoning, or didn't have a clue, one of the two.

Well, people are always saying how fiberglass boats have no soul. Well, that one doesn't have a nose or a soul. That's a boat in need of some help.

Mickey Lake

[Alan D. Hyde]

So, what would YOU do to the bow now, to make her more sightly.

Obviously, moving the forestay aft will affect sailing balance.

Suggestions on how to make the best of an admittedly bad situation???

Alan

[bamamick]

I'd go down to the waterline and make a gradual slope upwards to the new bow. Don't know how it'll look, though, without seeing the lines on the boat.

A hinge. That still makes me smile.

Mickey Lake

[igatenby]

Wouldn't it have been easier to find another marina - with a 44' limit?

Ian

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by igatenby:
Wouldn't it have been easier to find another marina - with a 44' limit?

IanAs I recall, there are not a lot of choices in Camden...

[Bruce Hooke]

Originally posted by Alan D. Hyde:
...Obviously, moving the forestay aft will affect sailing balance...It looks to me like the forestay was already a couple of feet aft of the tip of the bow.

[Keith Wilson]

He's not going to leave it that way. Makes a good story, though.

"When we haul out for the winter, then we'll figure out how to taper the bow so it looks right."

[Alan D. Hyde]

I agree, Bruce.

Only a small move, to be sure.

May have a slight effect, though perhaps not, ATC, worth worrying about... :D

Alan