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Starrett-Jenks Morgan45 info-opinions

108K views 198 replies 41 participants last post by  JerryStar 
#1 · (Edited)
Starratt-Jenks Morgan 45 info-opinions

Hello everyone, read some old threads and opinions about Morgan 45's built by S-J. Not all good comments, but like someone stated ,if you love the boat buy it. Iam looking hard at this boat and can see its been hauled out now for 3 years sitting dry and getting neglected. Some interior moisture. Some worn teak decking with a few spots where the flexible seal between the boards has gapped. The boat needs to be saved NOW before I think it gets beyond reasonable repair. There is a noticeable rust 6 inch "crack"and "buldging" in the lower section of the starboard side of the keel where water will seep out after a rain storm. The seeping will last for a week. Question; is the S-J built morgan a lead keel or a cement keel with steel encasing? Cosmetics I'm not to worried about but those issues can be a sign of larger hidden ones. Iam looking for someone knowledgeable with S-J built Morgan 45's, sloop rigged, center cockpit, for a survey or for your opinions of points to take notice about. I'm north of chicago about 1 hour in, racine, wisconsin. thanks guys, Dave

If your available for survey, please PM me and I'll give you my number to set up appointment.
 
#32 ·
I'm sorry, I missed the part where you said that you only had the mainsail up. While 5.3 to 5.7 knots in 13 knots of air with only a mainsail is not a bad speed for a short waterline boat like the Starratt. Of course it would still be painfully slow for a normal 45 footer under mainsail.

You are right to be skeptical when the previous owner said 9.2 knots was not all that unusual. More realistically you should be able to sail at hull speed with both sails up in 13 knots of wind. Hull speed for the Starratt Jenk's roughly 31'-6" waterline length is around 7.5 knots. With a little heel and a solid breeze you might be able to do something like 8 knots through the water. 9.2 knots might happen momentarily in surfing conditions in a strong breeze.

Respectfully,
Jeff
 
#33 ·
What would not be painfully slow for a 45 footer with main only? And what kind of boat for comparison? My boat has done the Tampa Bay to Dry Tortugas trip 6 times according to the log. Each time it took 29 hours to get there and 30 hours to get back to the St Pete municipal marina. IDK how many NM that is exactly. That seems decent to me?
 
#36 ·
I am in the process of buying a 1977 s&j45 ketch, for the outragous price of 2500. us dollars. Yes she floats, yes she needs work, the mast is simply beautifull with in mast furling, great large winches, bags and bags of sails.

Old but still working electric windless, , down below is gutted for the most part, stove is there, sink, but the good thing is I can make it the way I like it. I have read the above posts, my thoughts are I simply love the lines of this boat, skinny long and thin, the way I like my woman.

Oh my the work ahead, but I enjoy it and drag my 13 y/o daughter to help. This is family thing but we like it. I hope to work and live aboard shortly, no we are not rushing of to sail to Never never land, but Cuba the Keys, & Mexico are within our budget and reach. I truly think she can be made to take us where we need to go with safety. Good dingy eprib and lifraft. Solid engine to motor when needed. anyway some call me crazy but I get things done and have fun doing it. So for a total of around 20,000 we will anchor next to the 200.00.00 dollar boats and we might have lunch together. If youhave youg boys onboard they are not wellcome haha have to be a good dad. Good luck to all, I have had just as much fun on my good ole Pearson Triton sailing into Havana Harbor, as I did crewing on a newer Hunter. Good luck to all and Merry Xmas

Popeye
 
#113 ·
I am in the process of buying a 1977 s&j45 ketch, for the outragous price of 2500. us dollars. Yes she floats, yes she needs work, the mast is simply beautifull with in mast furling, great large winches, bags and bags of sails.

Oh Oh, two Popeyes with 45 ft SJ ketches. Must the ability to see the possibilities in an old wreck!

Rather post pictures of my ketch, I'd post the url, but I'm only at 7 posts so the thread won't let me. So if you want to see all the snaps, go to usauctions dot com, then "past auctions", then November 3, then Starratt. I'm really interested in the rudder placement. Popeye21
 
#37 · (Edited)
My dock neighbor has a morgan 45 with unfinished interior and a lead keel that he poured himself. I dont know how it happens with a short waterline but his boat spanks all of our boats every summer. We all make passages to the lake erie islands and the morgan does the 32 mile trip 4 hour or less and the rest of us 34-38 footers pull in after 5-6 hours. I can say I am jealous. The best I have seen personally (GPS) on his boat was 8.9knts steady with 60% genoa and no main in 18 knts of wind. He also has a shorter boom than usual on these boats and a taller mast. Very interesting boat that he has been tinkering with for 30 years. Heavy and fast - strange combo, but works with this setup.
 
#38 ·
Scarlett, France

Hello.

I own a starrett and Jenks 45 in France. Sorry for my english. It is a beautiful boat wich cruise fast and well. The best I have ever seen.
Unfortunately we have problems with Cost Guards to import it in Euperan Union, especially in France.
Do you someone who already have the same boat and got registration paper in E.U ?

I look for your work onyours boats and it beautiful. Mine has not a well finishd interior and I have project to get it the best I can. Lot of work !

Thanks for all.
 
#42 ·
Hi Guys,
I just wanted to let everyone know about a little money saving tip I recently took advantage of. Antique Boat Registration. My FL state registration Was nearly $200 per year, I downloaded and printed out a simple form off the internet, filled it out and took it in to the registration office. I told the girl there that I wanted to register my boat as an antique, she pushed some buttons on her computer and said, "Your registration will now be $6.25 per year sir" Thats a good amount of savings for 2 hours of my time! To register as an antique in FL, your boat must be;

1. Powered by the original type power plant.
2. Not be used for commercial purposes.
3. At least 30 years old.

It really is that simple! And, if you don't tell your wife about the savings; you will have another $190 dollars (actual amount may vary) to spend on your beloved boat! If you have questions, shoot me a message and I will try to help.

Sailing Dreams on s/v Gypsy Soul....
 
#44 ·
I just bought a Starratt 45 that needs a ton of work. It is a yawl with cruising cockpit. I plan to refurbish over the next several years. I have enjoyed reading your posts and look forward to tapping into you guys for support and advice.
Can someone with the cruising cockpit post some interior pictures? Mine will need to be gutted and I am looking for ideas, especially would like to put in a full stand up shower which I know will be tight.
 
#47 ·
summer updates

OK, as you can see its finally painted. Mast stepped last week. new standing rigging with Hi-mods and custom 316 stainless hex bar turnbuckles. New digital Radar, new Lofrans windlass, new Harken roller cutter/staysail setup, new running rigging. In the second pic you can see my added secondary winches and cheekblock mounts added to the cockpit. Moved the boat this morning from the gravel to a different spot on the pavement. working on wiring the windlass, wiring the mast base. next on the list are stanchions and rails, load anchor locker with chain, load rocna anchor, final sanding on the deck. and a host of small interior projects to tidy up in fall. Launch date spring 2012.
 

Attachments

#51 ·
Great Original Purchase Information

My wife and I have just purchased a S-J 45 and are beginning the process of a complete refit. In our research we stumbled across Starratt and Jenks Yacht Company. It is a complete copy of the original documentation including price list, options, specs, etc. I hope it can be of help to anyone else working on one of these wonderful boats.
 
#52 ·
Hello,
I have a S&J 45 in France for 3 years. Actually I can't legally sail further than 20 nm from a port.
I have some problems with regulation. I need S&J 45 drawings.
Do someone has any draw, diagram, design of this boat ?
I have to pass stability tests. An idiotic regulation when you how well this yach sail overseas, but I must do with ...
I already have Bill Browing doc. But it isn't enough. I need the more technical specifications I can.
Thank you for your help.
 
#53 ·
Morgan M45 plans

The S&J 45 was designed as a racer masthead sloop by Charley Morgan back in the 60´s. Purportedly Morgan Yacht Corporation built 12 of these before it sold the molds to S&J, who built many more in various finishing stages and introduced the modified center cockpit deck option. I found the original plans for this design and attach them hereto. Hope they are useful to some of you.
 

Attachments

#58 · (Edited)
Good to hear from S&J 45 aficionados. We are re-building one in St Petersburg -- Salt Creek Marina where Charley Morgan had his office for many years. The S&J factory is just across the creek from here. The boat has been on the hard for most of her life so has no blisters or other problems and she is sound as a rock.

I heard from a local surveyor there that S&J actually bought (rescued) many of the original Morgan manufactured hulls which had been abandoned by their owners (a fairly common DIY occurence), trucked them back to S&J, rebranded and renumbered them and then sold them as S&J hulls. This guy knew Jenks personally and thought him something of a scoundrel who eventually did jail time. Or maybe its just another sea story. Any one else know anything about any of this?

In any event I also think she is a great boat. I have also heard that her proper designation, by Morgan, was Ocean Racer 45. Not to be confused with the Nelson-Marek 45, an entirely different animal, reversed transom and all.

We have removed the engine, lowered the salon floor in that area so its flush all the way for'd, filled the prop aperture and enlarged the rudder a bit -- original reports were that she was a bit squirrely down-wind.

Looking forward to hearing more from y'all.

K E Froeschner
Orion
 
#60 ·
Good to hear from S&J 45 aficionados. We are re-building one in St Petersburg -- Salt Creek Marina where Charley Morgan had his office for many years. The S&J factory is just across the creek from here. The boat has been on the hard for most of her life so has no blisters or other problems and she is sound as a rock.

I heard from a local surveyor there that S&J actually bought (rescued) many of the original Morgan manufactured hulls which had been abandoned by their owners (a fairly common DIY occurence), trucked them back to S&J, rebranded and renumbered them and then sold them as S&J hulls. This guy knew Jenks personally and thought him something of a scoundrel who eventually did jail time. Or maybe its just another sea story. Any one else know anything about any of this?

In any event I also think she is a great boat, way more than the fat-assed 46 with which she is sometimes confused. I have also heard that her proper designation, by Morgan, was Ocean Racer 45. Not to be confused with the Nelson-Marek 45, an entirely different animal, reversed transom and all.

We have removed the engine, lowered the salon floor in that area so its flush all the way for'd, filled the prop aperture and enlarged the rudder a bit -- original reports were that she was a bit squirrely down-wind.

Looking forward to hearing more from y'all.

K E Froeschner
Orion
Nice purchase, post up pics when you get a chance. I considered lowering the salon floor or raising the fwd floor. I chose not to lower the floor because I did not want to lessen the tank capacity. Somewhere in this thread are pics of my new custom tanks and toolbox install under the settee. I did enlarge my rudder and reshape the upper portion by removing a section from the hull and adding that area to the rudder.

This years projects are custom 316 stainless modular davit system incorporating the dinghy motor lift and wind generator pole. Dodger, cockpit sunshade;hartop vs. softtop. Bamboo whitewashed flooring inside. Finish SSB install. Custom solar panel mount...

Finally the weather here is to break into the 60's next week, time to get started.
 
#80 ·
We have removed the engine, lowered the salon floor in that area so its flush all the way for'd, filled the prop aperture and enlarged the rudder a bit -- original reports were that she was a bit squirrely down-wind.

K E Froeschner
Orion
Keforion,
I have a 1976 Starratt 45, hull # 27. I have motored her 200 miles at a stretch, sailed her solo all the way to the FL keys and back, and had her towed 10 miles, (after my engine seized up in the gulf and the wind died) 2 of those miles were against a 4 knot current and the Tow Boat US Captain had to keep his engine well above half throttle to retain foward momentum and directional control.
My burning question to you is; how do you plan to move your boat around and more importantly, how will you navigate bridges on the ICW?
I stopped by SCM today to look at their facilities and saw your boat Orion, the dodger you built looks top notch! Great work! I didnt understand the big holes in the bow about a foot above the waterline and the two 4" oval holes in the back right at the waterline, what are they for?
 
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