Boothbay Harbor One Design 1938 by Jond - FINISHED - 1:6 - RADIO - 21' racing sloop

[Jond]

During the past few weeks I have been digging into more research about this class and the design progress.  The short version  is smaller 20 foot centerboard boats were tried in earlier years.  I am not surprised they quickly evolved in 1932 to full keel versions as this is Maine and it is the Atlantic ocean out there. they were about 20 feet and varied slightly  by builder.  the shorter 20 footers remain the class of Casco bay near Portland.  they were designed by Burgess.

 

Then  during 1937 while the Designers Burgess and Hendel  were working on the Americas Cup Jay boat Ranger for the Vanderbilt team, they all sailed here in Boothbay.   Herreschoff a regular to the summer region apparently collaborated a bit through Burgess as Hendel worked into November on the design challenge by the local yacht club.  He later complimented the boats sailing qualities.    [ not a bad endorsement ].   Loon was built for Hendel as the proto type. Hendel sailed her for years.  She was recently bought by a true boat lover and restored in Massachusetts where she sails today. She is officially sail number 0.

•   here Loon is as found stored in Portland Maine in 2001.
•  here she is restored.  She apparently is looking for a new home, I hope back up here.

 

 

Norman Hodgdon built many BHOD boats both before and after the war.  He also worked as did his brother on other classes.

 

•  here is a lovely combined print by Kathy Bray of the three sister classes.

 

 

Similar boats include the Great lake 21 built for the ....Mentor Harbor Yachting Club (MHYC)   45 miles or so east of Cleveland..After  review  two boats were ordered, built and shipped. They were apparent well received....

 

Hoping to buy additional Hodgdon Brothers sloops, a member wrote in a 1938 letter

 

(Hendel Collection): “Believe it or not last year in open competition with four Stars and three 26- footers, one of our [GL 21s]  beat them in point score in a series of eight races, boat for boat. This boat is very happy in our chop, which we get plenty of with every wind as we are racing in open water.”  

 

So, in 1939, to meet MHYC’s demand for more sailboats, Charles Hodgdon  branded as the Great Lakes 21 (GL-21). Three sloops were built in 1939: Since then the McLeod group in Ohio took over.  They built many and the Great Lakes 21 name was changed to International 21 around 1948-1949, as they were looking for a larger market.   There are a few of these boats still in the area as they apparently had a fleet of 25 at Mentor Harbor Yachting Club as well in Detroit

 

 

•   This is the first boat  Gleam, ex-Delilah (GL-21 No. 1).She was built here in Boothbay and shipped west i assume 1939.  After her long life in Lake Erie she came back home.  First she was briefly owned by Maynard Bray of Maine's wooden boat school fame  Gleam had several broken ribs, and needs sanding/paint, but has since been restored.  
• I will edit in a photo and comment about  Hodgdon 21 Popeye one of the originals.  they predate BHOD by a few years .

cheers got to run

[Jond]

OK  back at my desk and a need to add a little more to the history

 

I left out the following predecessor story.  In the 5 years prior to the naming of the BHOD, January 1938, there had been several boats designed.  There were 4 built at 20 feet also designed by Hendel.  They started with center boards but were all converted to keels.  Popeye, 1935, is one of these boats and and was recently restored and sails again in the harbor.

•  Here she is sailing away with her proud owner.  One note is all of these Hendel boats have flat transoms

 

As I left off in the last post....we had the Great Lake 21 built by Sonny Hodgdon.

• It was apparently two of the 20 footers like Popeye that were sent first to Lake Erie
• Then  three 21 footers  and possibly a forth were actually built here and shipped west.  
• The first boat hull 01 shown in the last posting named Gleam when she returned to Maine was actually originally named Delilah. That distinction is important because Hodgdon 21 hull 01 Gleam  remains Gleam and that could be confusing

 

In the mid 50's, Sonny took an idea from his uncle Charles and started to build down the hull on the keel a bit.  This revision evolved into the first Hodgdon 21. That is hull 01 Gleam. One difference is the rounded transom.   He built several after 1956, and they mostly sailed in the Christmas Cove area at the mouth of the Damariscotta river.  This area is next door to Boothbay Harbor but less protected.

 

 

•  here is a Hodgdon 21 coming in the Damariscotta.   Note the aluminum mast.  This change took place in early 60"s when several of these boats were being built.  The BHOD kept wooden masts until the 1973 switch to fiberglass.  I will be thinking about how best to use an aluminum mast in my next build.  

 

I will leave the next steps in history to more research on fiberglass hulls , aluminum spars and newer sails to be included in the next build. I need to learn more about how all these three boats shifted to fiberglass.  I have gotten from the Maine Maritime museum a print dated 1962 showing the time of early interest in developing what they then called plastic hulls.. The last wooden boats were built in late 60's. Ohio built formed plywood, presumably with glass as they had already changed the name to international 21.  The Hodgdon 21 with its built down hull and minor change to add 4 inches in length made the fiberglass version in the early 70's. It was renamed the Christmas cove 21 and is popular today.  

 

The East Boothbay peninsula separates Linekin bay / Boothbay Harbor from the Damariscotta River, Driving down the peninsula one either goes east into the Damariscotta and the Christmas cove area or west into the Boothbay Harbor. There has been an on again off again rivalry between these clubs and the two boat classes. Naturally we each claim the better boat. I have to admit however that the last few time we raced the newer fiberglass CC 21's cleaned up.

 

I end this entry with a great endorsement that makes us all proud

 

L. Francis Herreshoff sums it up best in The Common Sense of Yacht Design writing, “the Boothbay 20 foot Class has produced some of the nicest small sailboats I ever sailed in; they are lively, comfortable, stiff and dry” (L.F. Herreshoff, 1948, pp. 62-65).

 

 

anyway this research has been fun....now we need to get ready to finish and get ready to sail

 

cheers 

[Jond]

I need to update a few things that are happening as we are waiting for spring. We are still waiting for the foundry to reopen next month.

 

Here area few photos of the restoration continuing on the real Bittersweet.  It is fun to compare.

•  I took Bittersweet junior up to David's shop.  She enjoyed seeing many of her big sisters resting for winter.  

 

•  all those floors are in, the keel glassed and the bilge hard coated[ the gray].  The inside planks and under deck are painted and we are ready for the new teak sole.

 

•  here is the hard part done getting the layout for all that new teak.  I love it.  He is also working  to restore the deck painted finish. David had given me scrap teak wood to copy for the model.

 

•  Look as those fittings...I made the bases. I note David turned the blocks to align, so pulling the halyard to the new winch is a straight line.  oops I did not do that on the model.

 

•  Here is the real jib track in Bronze.  I think we came out OK on the model. I am so glad we made this change on the boat.  It was stainless. 

 

•  After much talk we agreed not to reinstall the old Bittersweet mahogany sign board.  My rear admiral chose the red outline and font  for the gold letters and we have real Bittersweet.  What I liked was I was able to order small sized letters at the same time so the model name is exactly like the real thing.  

 

 

OK back in the shop.  

 

•  I got the sails and rigging on and mostly done on Ought 6.  There are a few more clevises and things to make to complete the work.

 

• Today I took them out side to get a little sun.  It was still cool but they were happy in the breeze.   This Photo is for the sign board as i will take Bittersweet to the Owls Head Transportation Museum annual show on Saturday in Rockland.

cheers 

 

[michael mott]

I hope the show goes well in Rockland.

 

Michael

[captainbob]

Ah, what fun you'll have.

 

Bob

[Jond]

Spring is coming. i took burlap off the rhodies today and more important .....

 

•  i took the tarp off the chase boat.  Now paint and varnish and get ready to go

 

During this slow period I did make the auxiliary power for the boats

 

•  here you can see we are now equipped with our paddles.

 

Last week we had the annual show up at Owl's head museum

• 

 

Killing more time i decided to upgrade our previously generic house sign with a scaled  BHOD profile in the correct Bittersweet color scheme.

 

•   here we are with a light breeze off the cove.   The numbers are on order and will go on the keel.

 

• ..up on the porch one thing led to another and I had to scrape and paint the railing.   this is very early for us to get outside. We are normally inside until early May

 

•  I had some fun making the mast to scale this time.  I may add the upper jumper stays later

 

•  Here I put together a goose neck from parts.  I chose to make the sail hanks from twisted copper.  the sails are sunbrella and are usually good for two seasons.  They are removed for winter.

 

Today I went upstate to visit the foundry and drop off the keel bulb patterns. we are getting closer to launch day but much to do first.

 

cheers 

[Omega1234]

Hi Jond

 

Very nice progress, so far. I'm looking forward to launch day, just as much as you must be, so bring on the bulb!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[michael mott]

 

this is very early for us to get outside. We are normally inside until early May

Jon the same goes for us out here. Normally the ice leaves the lake around the end of April this year the ice vanished on the 9th of April just twelve days earlier on March 28th there were still trucks on the south side of the lake with folk still Ice fishing. on February 19th the ice was 28 inches thick.

 

We will be putting the docks in on April 30 and launching Maria May 7th

 

Very nice work on all the fittings, the models look like they are waiting very patiently for launch day. We will need lots of pictures.

 

Michael

[Jond]

I need to update some progress.

 

As spring arrives, I am waiting to hear the casting of the keel ballasts is done so I can get to water testing before the audience arrives. we have a big show on June 23 and I need to get them both sailing before that dock party.   The casting was supposed to be last week and then by today; let's hope for next week.

 

In the mean time the real Bittersweet came out of the barn and got ready to launch.

•  Here she is getting her first breath of great spring air after winter inside.  I still think her lines are just great. Not bad looking for a 75 year old girl!

 

Then the next day she went to a boat yard with a crane for a quick set of her mast to measure the rigging and then go  to stay at David's cottage to wait for launching.

 

It is almost launch day....said up here..we are going to splash her when we get the right tide.

 

•  her mast enjoyed the ride but it's time to take her off.  We are splicing all the lines at home on the kitchen table. the new shrouds should come in a day or two.

 

•  here is a view of the completed fore deck.  Isn't that teak sole sweat!

 

•  Here is a great view aft as you can enjoy David's dock, his 50 foot ketch that he sailed around the world with his family a few years ago and his work redoing the inside of the hull.  Now we have measurement we need to complete the boom crutch too.

 

•    ....and surprise the rear admiral came and approved  all the work so far...that is big

 I will post the real launch and obviously the models' launches , but I need the keels! I include these because this story is both the building of the two models and also the restoration of the real boat in the same winter.

 

cheers 

[Mark Pearse]

that looks great Jon

[Jond]

It is now time to get these boats sailing.  I spent the last few days tuning up my other two pond yachts, 50 inch Marbleheads. It is important to have something to compare.   I then moved to update and tune up the rigging I have done to make these two BHOD's ready to sail.  

1. The main sail loop now has its end block attached  via shock cord to the transom. This finally clears the tiller lines.
2. all sail sheets are now connected by hook to allow simple take down
3. I redid the jib tack connection, so it can also be removed for travel.  I need to have two boats plus all the RC stuff in one car so I need them to be able to set up quickly.  The show lines [ sheets] all come off for sailing
4. I reworked the jib sheet so it is off a second return loop and the sheets goes out  1/2 of the mainsail.  This is a limitation of using a single drum winch as opposed to older designed arms.
5. I have a programmable radio [ a must for scratch build] and trimmed the travel for the 3.5 turn drum winch to 80% to stay in the boat

some day after it works. I will write it up and do a diagram.  In the mean time, today was a big day.  I was able to go up to Rockport and get my lead ballasts made from molds I made earlier.

•  Here you see six new half keels bulbs.  The two larger ones are supposed to be 5 pounds each and they are for one to the two larger schooners I never finished. The design is for the marble head.   The four halves are for the BHOD and were designed on Cad to be 2.75 #.  Richard told me he would add a little to compensate for shrinkage, so when I drill holes I should be fine.   He showed me the 1/16 layer he added to the forms . 

oops.  .... the haves weighed as is ..3 at just over 4# and one at 3.25#.  so off to the immediate fix up and float test.  I drilled 1/4" connection holes into two of the 4+ pounders.  That brought them down to 3.25.  if I use a dowel to connect instead of brass I really don't add weight back.  So let's see what happens in the water and if 6.5 is still too heavy

 

•  here we are through the woods to the dock and in for a bath.   I moved her around and found the water is above the boot top, and that is not good either for speed performance or the look.   

•  You can see the the hull is wet well up the side.  also note there are two holes in the lead.  

Since one of the remaining  half bulbs is already 3.25 with no holes,  I plan to do the following:

• Cut a thrid connection hole through the center of this pair. That hole should do away with 3/4 # and get us both back to what I had planned for and give me a method to deal with the two other half bulbs that are not currently balanced.
•  
• This is a little bit of a trial and error approach.  After the next go around I still may not be as high as would want to get the boot top up and visible.  It is important however to keep this strong moment arm to keep the model more upright while sailing and that may be a comprise.   

 

I still have the possibility add on to the rudder.  If I get a lee helm, with this new keel  I will use that to try to trim since I can not do anything above deck.

 

 

Just to keep up with her big sister.  Real Bittersweet is now at her mooring.  

 

•  Here she is going in ...splashing in local talk

 

•  here the mast is stepped and rigging ready for a sail

 

 

cheers 

[Omega1234]

Hi Jond

 

Launch day's not far off, from what I see! Exciting times.

 

I look forward to seeing the hull underway.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

This is when it gets exciting...   can't wait to see the full-size and the little brothers sailing.

[Jim Lad]

Soon be sailing - both senior and junior!

 

John

[Jond]

tada!!!!!

 

we are not home yet but both models have been sailed.

 

•  I took Bittersweet to the yacht club dock as that is where in the future we hope to race.  there was not enough breeze and the performance was not great but she did sail.

 

•  here i took Ought 6 over to the Southport yacht club and there was a a good breeze.  she sailed great after i got the hang of it and then the rudder line broke at the knot on the servo.  

 

•    Here one can see three of the four issues that I need to fix.
  • I need to upgrade the line or connection fo the rudder lines.  the black sting in the photo.
  • I found the cute little stand up blocks on the after deck hatch cover catch the main sheet.  I will need two hatch covers, one plain to sail and one as is for show.
  • the nice looking hooks to connect the sheets to the boom hook should be more secure, perhaps a fishing lure clip like on the forestay.
  • I also need to improve the connections to the sail clues and mainsail tack. the cute shackel I made up did not hold.

I had a lot of problem with lee helm with little wind  on the first day but no problem once we got a breeze.  I look forward to working through the details

 

cheers 

[Jim Lad]

At least everyone was sailing, Jon!

 

John

[Omega1234]

Hi Jond

 

Congrats on the launching of both boats. They look really nice on the water.

 

I'm sure that you'll have the little teething problems fixed in no time.

 

All the best!

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

I think teething problems are normal, Jon.  At least she's not an RC airplane as teething problems on those are usually fatal to the craft.

[Jond]

Here we go with a video. 

 

• Bittersweet has a lee helm.  she is sailing with a second sail cut down a bit and still dos not go well.

 

• Ought 6 with the first proto type sail did well and here is a video sailing at the dock of the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club

[Omega1234]

Hi Jond

 

They're alive!! Beautiful video. It brings back lots of memories of when I sailed mine; many a years ago.

 

Love it.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[captainbob]

The helm, be it lee or weather, has to do with the underwater center of resistance and the sails center of effort.  To compensate for a lee helm, where the boat is turning away from the wind, the sail is too far forward and needs to be moved aft.  This can usually be corrected by loosening the forestay and tightening the backstay.  To correct for a weather helm you need to move the sail forward.

 

Bob

[Jond]

Thanks Patrick

 

Bittersweet also sailed and we have a film...but she would not come around and I will wait to solve the helm before posting... I am back to the drawing board.  The consensus of sailors here is to solve the lee helm, I should get a new mainsail enlarged  to full size. That is what I think I will do. In my early posts, I had cut the mainsail  down to match the reduced size jib. After receiving the first sail, I cut further for the look...[ that might be why the first sail worked better on Ought 6 and this one did not on Bittersweet]   It seems the added sailing keel hurt the trim and to compensate I will enlarge the mainsail back to its true scaled size.  This is part of the challenge to scratch build and make her actually sail well.

•  Here Bittersweet the model is sailing and you can also see the fleet of BHOD's moored behind her.  Bittersweet is the green hull and tan sail cover behind the green Eight bells in the foreground.  Wildfire, the red hull in the fore ground is the club champion and she often is the lead boat in weekly races. 

Also my cute little brass inserts holding the 6 pound sailing keel failed on the way home in the car. I need to address that too and go back to more robust inserted bolts.

 

•  Here is a still of Ought 6 sailing . It was fun when the youth sailing group came in and sailed with her as seen in the video.  They all came over to see and discuss....future modelers??

 

cheers 

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Jon

 

looks great, well done. I think the lee helm is because your clew is very loose to the boom & not at the boom where it should be, you can see that the main is not getting much of it's potential power whereas the jib is. I might be wrong, but is the clew on the full sized boats tight to the boom (or a bit loose when it's light)?

 

This would have the effect that Bob describes

 

Mark

Edited July 20, 2016 by Mark Pearse

[Jond]

Bob and Mark

 

Thanks so much for your advice.  A new sail is $$$ so i will definitely try your ideas.  The loose clue was due to a dock side fix to the out haul.  it is interesting because on my real BHOD I am having an issue that with only a sheave, I can not loosen or tighten the out haul controlling the foot for either down or up wind during a race.   The red boat [champion of the fleet mentioned above] has added cheek blocks, one double and one single to the side of boom to allow aide in adjusting the sail after rounding the windward mark.  I watched them do it as I followed them 5 miles around the outer island and back last Friday in the classic boat race.  Because I cut down the sail as mentioned on the model, the distance from the sail to the end of the boom to too long and the clew rides up.  Mark great observation. for now i will add a lashing to bring the sail to the boom.

 

as too pulling the mast aft, a little bit is fine as that is what we do with pond yachts.  my thoughts to keep the scale however will be to maintain the rake of just under 4 degrees...[.3/4" in 1']  that was part of logic to resize the main.  My first sizing was trial and error.  the too comments together however explain why one boat sailed OK [ still Lee helm trouble in light air]  and the other not even in good air.

 

My family is gone now and I have some time.  First up is to reattach the sailing keel by installing permanent bolts.  It is not good for display version but a need I think to continue sailing. I will then follow above and go back to the water.  My big dead line in only two weeks away.

 

cheers

[Jond]

Wow summer is ending quickly.  Yesterday we had our final sail in real Bittersweet and it was great.

 

I just wanted to share a final posting on the resolution of the sailing of the Bittersweet model that under performed previously in the log above.  

• I first took the advice given and reset up the boat to check the rake,  I found it was incorrect.  i reset it at the 4 degrees. aft...thank you Cap 'n' Bob for suggesting it.  You were right on!

 

• I then attached a line to hold the out haul snug to the boom.  This is because shortening the main sail foot to keep in balance with the smaller jib allowed the out haul to ride up....thank You Mark for pointing it out.

 

• the light designed insert connection for the sailing keel failed and ripped out while in the car coming home from a previous sail.

 

•  Here I copied old design of placing a #8 lag bolt [hanger] into the keel and then using a wing nut to add the sailing keel.  This method works best for a boat that will be sailed a lot.  For display we have the two bolts to look at if we remove the white sailing keel.

 

•  Here we are on the working stand at the yacht club and I plan to display her mostly like this with the sailing keel in place.  

 

 

•  Here we have gone to our pond and found she sailed really well after re-raking the mast

 

•  and yes she came about too.  The line holding the out haul came off and she still performed, so I guess the rake was the real issue.  

 

I plan to have fun and sail these for the next few summers .  Thanks to those who followed along and gave me encouragement and tips as I find my way in this great new challenge of building classics boats that can actually sail.

 

I am playing with the 1:24 Bluenose listed on my signature right now, but am not sure if it is ready for a log yet.  If I decide to keep going to complete it I shall post it.  If I hang it back up to the ceiling for another year I will move on to other ventures.  i want to try some smaller scale boats to to figure out how to do that because these big models are just that..BIG.  

 

cheers 

 

[captainbob]

She looks great on the water.  Glad all went well and you had fun.

 

Bob

[popeye the sailor]

very interesting log Jond...simply amazing!   beautiful boats as well      great metal work too!

[Jond]

Thank-you for comments

 

I loved the build. They are really a bit big for display. I am working and learning to enjoy 1:24 scale and that would be about a foot. I hope to do that next year if I can ever make my dories for Bluenose.

Cheers

Jon