The restoration of Griff

Bill Boyle is restoring yet another vintage era Moth Boat.  This boat was constructed in 1947 in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was first registered as "Day" to Evening Star YC member Robert Armour on the 10th of July, 1947.  After racing briefly under Armour's ownership, "Day" was transferred to another ESYC member (S. DeMille) in 1952.  By 1957 she was purchased by the Zeidman family, renamed "Drifter" and moved to Mirror Lake (aka: Browns Mills YC) up near Whites Bog, NJ.   Browns Mills had a very large Moth fleet in those days and the Zeidman siblings were part of that racing scene.  In the early 1990s the son of Zeidman family brought "Drifter" to a Brigantine Moth Boat Regatta with a for sale sign on her.  BYC member Joe Courter bought her, renamed her "Griff" and raced her a couple seasons before moving to a faster Moth.  She malingered in Joe's garage until Bill Schill picked her up two years ago, "ripe for restoration".  Sadly, he never got the chance to enjoy this project.  This past spring I helped Bill's widow, Marty find homes for his Moths.  Another Bill, Bill Boyle, put his hand up for Griff.  So buckle up and follow the account of Griff's revival here:  http://griffavintagemothboat.blogspot.com/

Griff on her way back to the race course.  Will she get yet another name?

Yet another Moth Boat restoration web site

Bill Boyle, our fearless Fletcher-Cates rehaber, is also attempting to bring back a very neglected Abbott-design Moth that Bob Patterson found abandoned behind a warehouse in Chestertown, Maryland.  How an Abbott Moth wound up there is anyone's guess but Bob muckled onto her and in turn passed her over to Bill, figuring Bill could use a bit of wet firewood. The poor neglected Abbott has sat in Bill's shed over the last couple of years and now has finally moved to the top of the project list.  If you thought that old Moth Nr 264 looked pretty hopless at the onset, just wait until you get a load of this baby .

(cut and paste this link if the one above doesn't work: http://billsmothboatpage.blogspot.com/  )

A little history: Fran Abbott opened a small boat yard at 200 West Ave. in Ocean City, New Jersey just after returning to civilian life at the end of World War II.  I bought my first Moth boat from Fran in the summer of '59--a nail sick old Ventnor which he was selling under consignment.  I still have the bill of sale somewhere.  Anyway, along with servicing various big boats for members of the Ocean City Yacht Club and selling small boats on consignment, Fran built a couple dozen Moths of his own design.  Fran was strongly influenced by not only the Ventnor and Dorr Willey Moths which were current in those days but also he developed a rather strong opinion about the faster, lighter boats coming up from Florida!  Fran didn't like tippy, flimsy boats and so build his boats strong (read heavy) and stable.  Although he realized that the Moth was a development racing class he still pitched his boats more towards stability rather than ultimate speed.  In Moth boating, as in most things, speed comes at the expense of stability and longevity.  Fran over-built his boats to be able to take the abuse that beginner kids generally dish out.  These were the days before Sunfish or Optimist dinghies--the boats that currently make up the beginner fleets (I've seen inexperienced kids ram dock pilings at full till in a Sunfish and just bounce off with no or minimal damage--an Abbott could to a degree do that as well).  Having said all that, an Abbott Moth in the hands of a talented sailor was competitive against the best designs of those times.  Most Abbott Moths however went to rookies rather than the top sailors in the fleet and so didn't often figure in podium spots at the end of a regatta.  Be that as it may, I think a well sorted Abbott will be a VERY competitive addition to the CMBA's current Vintage division and look forward to racing against this boat when she's finished.  Sadly, Fran passed away a few years ago and so won't be able to comment on this attempt to breathe life back into one of his boats.   In the next few days I'll dig through my photo files and post a pix or two of what an Abbott Moth in race worthy condition looks like so that you'll have an idea of what Bill is shooting for.  In the meantime, settle in for the ride at the URL above.

Another Classic Moth Boat Blog Spot

At last year's Mid-Winter Regatta, long time Mothist, Merv Wescoat decided that he had too many boats and asked me if I wanted his old wooden Fletcher-Cates.  I thanked him for the offer but told him that I had more projects than time but that I'd cart the boat back north and see if I could find her a good home.

Merv Wescoat (on left with orange cup) engages in a bit of "bench racing" with his long time rival, Beans Weatherly.  Merv turns 85 this January and still occasionally races Moth Boats--and with great effect I might add.  When he's having a good day he's a hard man to beat.  Growing up on the Atlantic City waterfront as the son of a tug boat Captain and seventy five+ years of experience racing Moths and other small boats just might have something to do with that...

Bill Boyle put his hand up first and indicated that his son Shane would race the boat at the Wooden Boat Magazine's Wood Regatta provided they could get her repaired in time.  The 48 year ago mahogany ply was delaminating in several places on both the hull and deck but father and son epoxy filled, faired and repainted the worse places and indeed BUCKSHOT made it to the starting line back in May.

 

BUCKSHOT (silver hull/white deck) lined up next to several newer Moths.  This photo permits a quick study in the evolution of Classic Moth designs.

Shane was able to race the first of two days of that regatta and then the delamination problems returned. Upon returning home, Bill and Shane decided to tackle the problem head on by giving the boat a deck-off restoration.  You can follow their progress here:  http://fletchercatesrestoration.blogspot.com/

Bill is a beginning blogger so the blog spot is currently a minimalist's delight but I'm sure he'll quickly catch on.  He and I live about an hour and half apart and so the next time I'm his way I'll attempt to answer some of his blogger questions.  Meanwhile, enjoy the story of this boat's return to race worthy condition.

Bill Boyle's Cates: Sea Isle City daze...

Both Bill and I cut our Moth Boat racing teeth with leaky old Ventnor Moths.  We both graduated to new boats after our respective skills improved.  And again, we both moved up to Cates Florida-design boats.  I bought mine from George Szabo, a Cooper River Yacht Club racer who built a couple boats each winter, one for himself and the other for speculation.  I bought Nr 2249 from George S. in 1962.  Bill, on the other hand, teamed up with the Patterson family, down at Sea Isle City, and built his own boat.  That boat is the subject of today's post.

Bill Boyle in his Patterson-Cates in 1965.  The Sea Isle City, New Jersey back bay marsh can be seen in the background.  The Patterson clan modified the Cates design by converting the originally designed hollow bow sections to the faster convex or "full" bow shape.  The modification produced a slightly faster, but much wetter boat (note the presence of the larger than usual splash boards just ahead of the mast).  The rectangular window in the sail and the rakish, stylized sail numbers were a signature mark of Bob Seidelmann's sail loft. Located in Westmont, NJ,  Seidelmann Sails made most of the sails used by south Jersey racers in the early to mid 1960s.

A year later, 1966.  Here we see Bill (shirt tail hanging out) and Erik Illenberger standing by Bill's boat on the beach next to the Sea Isle City Yacht Club. The mast in the foreground belongs to Erik's boat.  Bob Patterson's cousin, Lynne Berlinger, can be seen wading ashore in the background.  This was Bill's last year of Moth racing.  The following year he sold the boat and went surfing.  He's returned to racing Moths, but he still has an Oceanside Instrument surf board hanging up in the shed to remind him of the old days.

Here's a recent photo of Bill back sailing an old Ventnor Moth which he restored a year or so ago.  He calls the boat "Last One" not because it's his last boat but rather this is probably the last Moth to  come out of the old Ventnor Boat Works.  Bill is also working on an old Fletcher-Cates for his son Shane.  The more we change, the more we stay the same!