North Star 23''

[brioooon]

I am thinking about buying a North Star 23. It was built in the mid-seventies. I was told it was built in Canada somewhere on the North shore of Lake Ontario. My problem is I cannot find any info on any North Star boat much less this size and vintage. Does anyone have personal knowledge of these boats or can anyone direct me to a source of such info? Thanks

[Jeff_H]

I am guessing that you are looking at a Northstar 727. The dead give away on this is the fractional rig. These were really neat Bruce Farr designed raceboats. In their day they really broke new ground. I always had a warm spot in my heart for these wonderful little boats. If I remember correctly they had cast iron keels and bolts which should be checked carefully. Otherwise they were simple boats that should have held up well. I had a Northstar 500 and thought they were well built.
Good luck
Jeff

[Jeff_H]

I just reread your post, Hughes Northstar was started life as Hughes and was started by Howard Hughes (not that HH) building a line of quirky but well built boats. In the early 1970''s US steel bought Hughes and tooled up a bunch of interesting (and not so interesting) boats including the Hughes Northstar 727 that you are probably looking at. Most of these boats were from top designs like Bruce Farr and S&S.

Jeff

[BenDaniels]

I had a 1973 Northstar 500 (S&S designed IOR 1/4 tonner) from 1988 to last year when I bought a 30'' Carl Schumacher designed ULDB. Whew! what a difference; better for the predominately light airs of Puget Sound. During my time with the Northstar, I found several ads in old issues of Yachting Magazine. These were primarily for the Northstar line, but did see an excellent graphic of the 727...but did not keep it. In my opinion the NS500 was very well built with the right fittings, good layup, etc. It even had tapped aluminum plates in the deck core sandwich where the winches were located; no through bolts. Probably was a little "overbuilt" relative to other boats of the period. Most parts (such as toerail, stanchions, spar parts,etc.) I was able to replace after some research. An easier task than with my new boat.....where the heck is Sparcraft.