Old boat going fast

Sanduskysailor · #1 10-23-2012

Check this pic out from a race in August. This old woodie was charging by at full song. Crew snapped pic with his cell phone just as boat was starting to do a slow broach. They took down their mizzen stay sail right after this pic.

A 1929 Alden 55 ketch. Dreamer. A work of art.

deniseO30 · #2 10-23-2012

would be nice to see tanbark used for the spinnaker!

rugosa · #3 10-23-2012

Nice shot, regardless the upkeep, they are so sweet. Another shot under sail - Dreamer - Erie Photo Album - Topix

jrd22 · #4 10-23-2012

Nice, thanks for sharing.

CBinRI · #5 10-23-2012

Just gorgeous.

Hartley18 · #6 10-23-2012

Yes, rather an unfortunate choice of cloth for the spinnakers - plain white would have looked nicer. :0

I'm not sure why you might think old boats travelling fast is somehow unusual. There are many old "gentleman's yachts" (we have two here racing regularly - built 1895 and 1905) that can easily out-run a modern plastic given the right wind/sea conditions.

If anything displacement yacht speeds have probably got slower as the years have passed. Doing +15kts on a large old gaffer is a pretty exhilarating ride - and God help you if you hit anything!

Sanduskysailor · #7 10-24-2012

Hartley. What the heck are you talking about? The title of the post was descriptive not a comment. A 55 boat going fast in 35 knots of wind is not surprising, so what. Your statements about plastic boats being slower etc means what? According to the owner the boat doesn't surf being 60,000 lbs.So what. The multi-colored staysail and spinnaker are quite striking when seen in person.

My intent in posting was to show an old classic steaming along with full sails and a massive bow wake. Great pic from a cell phone, that's it.

ccriders · #8 10-24-2012

I think we sometimes forget that the lines of these boats, that we find so beautiful, were primarily drawn for speed. Not accomodations below and size of cockpit, but full out speed under sail.

Barquito · #9 10-24-2012

Not to mention, they always seem to be rigged to carry an abundance of sail.

nolatom · #10 10-24-2012

Woo-hoo, an assym carried out on the old wooden pole. They're hard-core.