I have been a long time out of the hobby as our local club folded years ago, but a friend of mine recently purchased an old marblehead and revived my interest.
We are both now sailing regularly at a local pond and are being asked constantly by spectators about building yachts of this class and I am having trouble finding plans…
Can anyone help an old sailer revive this class of racing in Australia or am I fighting a losing battle with these IOM things?
If you think it can’t be done, Move over and let those who are doing it show you the way…
Also check the American Model Yacht Assoc. (AMYA) “store” as they have a set of inexpensive plans as well - for BONE 1X. Cost is $30 - but I am not familiar with what “generation” that series of design is… I am sure Roy Langbord or maybe Steve Crewes could put some sort of a date on them for reference.
Good luck - always nice to hear about folks who want to build.
G’day mate , well your right, about one or two things and that is old marbleheads. For those that love em’ , love em’. Just a little word for those “down under”, OZ land. Earl’s a great guy and his heart is in the right place but the American boats are not for Australian conditions , for they sail in light conditions but are not that good in our heavier winds.
If you’re keen on buildingan M from scratch Radio Yacht Supplies in Qld has plans available of a few very competitive Bantock designs. A good guy to track down & talk to in Victoria is Lincoln Mcdowell who designs & builds his own very fast M’s. Im sure he’d help you out with a shell.
The M’s have had a quiet past year in oz with many of their sailors concentrating on the upcoming IOM Worlds in Qld this year. Rest assured the ball is in motion to put the M in Aus back in the popular picture.
Yeah , Thanks Brad , I got called away before I could finish this. as I was saying the Australian wind speed is higher in Australia and therefore you will need a boat for this higher speed range(in Sydney it is 6 to 9 knots). In our club we have acouple of Archer designs that don’t seem to go that well in the higher winds. The older hulls may go even worse. If your in Queensland you may want to look at the Clubman Marbleheads, for these also offer some alternatives as well in the not so new boats like your mate’s boat.
Just to add a little info for you guys, in the way of vintage that is, the yacht that my mate purchased was a Maltese Falcon with a carbon groovy mast and bantock sails. By no means a slow boat [^] I identified this hull only because when I started racing I tracked down a man by the name of Ron Attard from Melbourne who designed and built these hulls. He had decided not to build any more and sold me his prototype (first from the mould),I believe an early 80’s design.
These are what we are sailing, and seem to be creating a lot of local interest.
So I guess anything that would be competative with these would be good.
If you think it can’t be done, Move over and let those who are doing it show you the way…
G’day Div, Yeah really great boat. We have one in our club in Sydney , goes really well. The one in Sydney was built by Ron Attard (complete)as well and bought by M.Hotson new KA845. This particular boat is sailing in a modern fleet and will win in its right conditions. So it will make a very competitive club boat, Congratulations.
I would suggest if the sails are old , purchasing new sails and replacing the old gear but the boat will give you many years of service. Steve
Steve’s right, I should have mentioned that most US boats are for light air. The one exception, for which we have plans, is Ted Houk’s “Rip Tide,” at 18 lbs displacement. Sailing at Fleetwood UK, mine was noticably stiffer than the UK boats, including Stollery’s “Bloodaxe.” She’s also stayed up (and gone great) at San Francisco in half a gale. The design is from 1949 and was competitive in the US up to the 70’s.
half cents worth-
My “Riptide” is awesome when it blows hard here in Boston. I think its the heavy displacement, and fine entry to slice the waves with high bow. I think you can get glass hulls and keels for “Riptides” forget where. Vintage M’s can sail in places the Hitecs can’t. Reverse is true too of course.
Hello Earl really nice to hear from you . Well mate you were certainly sailing in good company with those Stollery Blood Axes. I’m about to put an article up on OUR PAST page on Blood Axes for there is a good story there. I concurr about Mike Kelleys ‘Riptide’, would I be vulgar and say it does look like a English boat.
Ah Shipmate , I thought you were coming to Australia in 2005? Possibly all this racing in the UK has got to your memory ( a senior moment) Say G’day to (J). Steve
A bit off topic, as the boats discussed in this thread are considerably more modern. Riptide definitely belongs in the vintage fleet. I think the Riptide is one of the best looking boats out there. One of these winters I’ll build one.
Seagull, That suspiciously looks like a Maltese Falcon at Balarat. I sailed there in 1989 Circa, Have you and Div got together?? sounds good? Good boat.
hi steve
yep u got me there it is my maltese falcon and yes diversion and i sail often together with a anouther friend (not that fairwind [:)] ) i will be posting new photos there soon!
Seagull, I’m an old bloke that likes Marbleheads(all of em’) and/also Maltese Falcons and a funny thing seagull all the people who own them, think they’re beaut too. Isn’t that amazing.