Anybody Have Pictures Of Your First Sail Boat?

[Craig Weis]

Here is mine. Dad bought it for me in Evanston, Illinois. $150, [in 1968?] chucked it up on top of the Mercury station wagon. We made the trailer later. She came in white, I painted her cream-yellow with black and red stripes and got a new sail. Note that the sail is loose footed, and basically a flat bottom cat boat designed by Philip Rhodes. I sailed on a Rhodes 19 keel and a Rhodes ? with more of a cabin. Forget what they call them.

Named her "BOTTOMS UP" after a head shop in Piper's Alley on Rush Street in Chicago. Must have been a Hippie, maybe.

I was in high school or late grade school? Had to sail it 3 miles out and back around one of the water inlet cribs for the City of Chicago and back to Belmont harbor. Took all day. ------> Belmont Harbor, Chicago.

skip.

[brackish]

1966 Columbia 24 Challenger. FAUX PAS.  Bought it in 1970 with  two partners:



Frank

[B.Hart]

   No photos  but my first was also a SNARK. It had a large Budweiser emblem on the sail , my DAD got it through some promotional thing.    BILL

[romei]

Mine was also a snark.  Bought this sunflower on ebay.  Gave it to a kid in exchange for scraping and painting the inside of my CP16 and taught him how to sail.  We still sail together.  He sails faster than me :-D

[NateD]

AMF Copperhead

Bought her from a cousin-in-law for $350. I don't think I sailed her more than 7 or 8 times. Fun boat, but I got tired of sailing with a swimming suit on. Launching from a lee shore was always an adventure.

[fafnir]

Wow,  never figured the snark was such a popular boat.  My first boat was also a Snark with a large Pepsi sail on it.  When I first saw the boat it was in front of a grocery store full of cases of Pepsi and I was 14 at the time.  I made some inquiries and after mowing 10 or 15 lawns the boat/cooler  was mine :-)  Skimmed a how to sail book and the rest is history.  Wish I had pictures.

[brackish]

While not the first boat I owned, a Snark was the first boat I sailed.  Belonged to my best friend in high school.  It had Kool cigarette advertising on it, go figure.  Don't remember how he got it, maybe his folks smoked a lot of Kools.

Frank

[nies]

Since i still cannot post pictures yet, my first boat was a kit boat from Luger Boats. It was a 16 foot daysailor ,called Leeward model. Was suppose to take 30 to 60 hours to complete, 640 hours later i had my first boat. A GREAT EXPERIENCE, sad day when i had to sell her to buy a bigger boat......PHIL

[Salty19]

1971 Chrysler Man O War



She was fast!  Acquired for free as a "take it away or throw it out" giveaway, she leaked around the daggerboard trunk and was prone to tipping over.  I only 1/2 tipped it once but there were many close calls!

I understand the boat was damaged around the mast trunk by the next owner.  First time out too...

[NateD]

After the Copperhead, my second boat was a Luger Leeward, built in the early 60s. I only took her out 3 times before I sold her. The last time out the wind was blowing pretty good and I sat with nervous anticipation as I watched every single piece of 40+ year old fiberglass flex and bend. While it was probably safe enough, it didn't seems like the boat had a lot of life left in it, so I moved on to the current Com-Pac 16. The Leeward also had a flat bottom, which wasn't much fun in whitecaps.

[nies]

NateD, Yes she had a flat bottom and a solid steel centerboard that must have weighted a ton. there were about 300 screws joining the two halves of the hull, you had to put screws in very carefully so as not to strip out the holes. My brother inlaw and I spent a saturday drilling and screwing, both had bloody hands at the end, he has never let me forget it either.........PHIL( We had a 12 pack and he drank them all)

[B.Hart]

  I think the kids of today would be better off if they were given SNARKS instead of video games and systems  my2cents     BILL

[Craig Weis]

nies writes about his Luger Boat, 16 foot day sailer and says...this about that. "Since i still cannot post pictures yet, my first boat was a kit boat from Luger Boats. It was a 16 foot daysailor ,called Leeward model. Was suppose to take 30 to 60 hours to complete, 640 hours later i had my first boat. A GREAT EXPERIENCE, sad day when i had to sell her to buy a bigger boat......PHIL

So here ya ago a 16 foot Luger. Don't know if it's the right model, Leeward?



Skip had one of these, a 16'-0" Dolphin Senior, given to me free by Jasen's mother, Hilary. Never sailed it because the Silverton Mf'g. factory foam used in construction was NOT closed cell foam and she filled with water and weighed a ton, wouldn't float. But I have the rig and may use it on my 16 foot Penobscot Old Town Canoe.

In an effort to save the boat I used my Milwaukee Saws-All and a few blades and cut the deck off, ground out the foam, gave it up and tossed the two pieces in to the weeds. Anybody want the two pieces? Rudder and dagger board are solid glass. Talk about heavy!!

[nies]

Skip, that is the leeward model , only difference was my hull was blue, thank you for the effort.....Phil