Here are some photos of the hull Ifound in a skip in hull (ironically) in
1987. It was buried amongst bungalow throw outs from what had been an old
mans home, who had died, and someone had cleared his unwanted possessions
into a skip. The hull was lightly damaged when i 'liberated' it having had
other things thrown on it.
As a 13 year old Irigged it and played with it a little and painted a horrific
yellow scheme on it but fortunately did no lasting damage. 17 years later
i decided to rescue it from the loft after noticing water damage on the deck.
When Ioriginally found it, it was missing all rigging, masts etc, but had
a jib sail stuffed inside it with a few basic block and hooks that look manufactured.
The sail is clearly a pro manufacture item with perfect stitching and lining.
The hull is carved from one piece (pine I think)and stained dark green inside,
still showing the marks of carving. The 2 fins are thick brass plate and the
lead weight on the bottom is cast in one piece. The deck is curved and lined
with ink (now very faded) parallel to the centre line of the deck. It has
gunwals with drain slots carefully carved at intervals. Interestingly it had
the lugs for a rudder on the rear fin but no hole in the hull or deck for
one.
The hull weighs just over 6lb its length is 24 1/2 inches with a 5 1/2 inch
beam. I have yet to re float it to know its water line length. The deck height
to keel bottom is 8 1/2 inches
For now I have made a rough bermuda rig (as it seemed
easiest) with a 48 inch mast as it seemed the right length for the jib sail....but
it may not be from this boat I admit.I am restoring the hull and have now
fitted a rudder ( as this is for use not a glass cabinet) and made up a display
cabin and a cabin with a radio set up to control the new rudder, but I designed
it to not need any deck fittings to keep originality as much as possible.
I hope to try it out in th next few days once the hull paint has hardened,
and I have rigged the sails.
My personal guess is that it was a manufactured kit home build from just pre
wwii.... ? And a toy rather than a racer, but the keel is the odity in that
as it seems over engineered for a toy ?
Looking forward to hearing your opinion on what it is and from where and when.
Im never going to part with it but if its worth enough to insure please let
me know. AP
Comment from Russell Potts
This is rather interesting.
I think that this is probably a commercial toy from the early years of the
20th century. It's too small to be a class boat, The hull form is very simple,
possibly suitable for machine cutting of the exterior. On the other hand,
the twin fin configuration is very typical of serious racing models of the
1890s and early 1900s, before George Braine invented his gear. Commercial
models with twin fins are pretty uncommon. This one is a pretty superior toy,
with serious fittings and a good lump of lead
The illustration is the only commercial twin fin boat I know of and comes
from Gamages Toy Bazaar, 1913. It is very similar to, though not I think identical
to your model. You will see that it has a simple gaff rig and, like yours
a free swinging weighted rudder on the back of the aft fin.
I am intrigued to know how you plan to radio the rudder without piercing the
deck. As you have got so far along with your restoration and plans to install
radio I won't press you to return it to its original condition. After all
it's your boat to do with as you please.
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