I tawt I taw a Ventnor Moth.

One of the things I didn't mention in my earlier posts about this year's National Regatta is that Erky's widow, Alma, had decided to offer his vintage division Ventnor Moth Boat for sale.

John Z. decided to step up to the plate and is now the new owner of Tweety.

The boat is in overall good condition and came complete with two sails, spars and blades.

But like all boats approaching 70 years of age, this one has her share of things to correct.

But there's nothing here that John can't fix.

Although Tweety's original IMCA sail number is unknown, she does have a Ventnor Boat Works production number stamped into the expected place--the forward centerboard trunk log.

She'll rest in John's shed until he has time to move her into his workshop.  Once fettled, she'll be a welcome addition back in the vintage division racing fleet.

Interesting old photo

Fellow Moth Boater Mike Jones found this interesting old photo on flea-bay and asked if I could identify the sailors and venue.  The venue is almost certainly south Florida, but which coast?  I can ID the two closest boats:  Lucky Duck, Nr 1264 first turns up in the old Moth Class records in the year 1951.  She was owned by Miami YC member Charles Phillips.  Lucky Duck is interesting because she sports a boom vang which seems very advanced for the early 1950s.  Nr 1350 is Charlie Hunt's Moth Twilight.  Both boats are round bilge designs with Twilight appearing to be a scaled down copy of a Thistle class dinghy.  The last boat, obscured by Twilight, might be Nr 1256, in which case she'd be Lewis Twitchell's Fluid Drive (Twitchell like Phillips was a MYC member) or she could be Nr 1356 in which case she would be Irene Futcher's boat Sirene.  Futcher sailed with the St. Pete Moth Fleet while Hunt sailed with a small group in Lake Wales, FL called the Dawn Sailing Squadron.  Perhaps a Floridian viewer can provide more details.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

2014 Brigantine Moth Boat Regatta Pix

All the "big wind" sailors who stayed home from this year's BYC Moth Regatta because of uncertainty over the status of the new club house missed a great event.  We had 9 boats: one vintage, 5 Gen I and 3 Gen II.  Yes, the clubhouse was slightly unfinished, but we did have flush toilets (you had to go to the bar to find a sink that worked to wash your paws, but come on--that's not a big deal).  And we had plenty of breeze out of the NW.  Enough to make the wires sing and produce white caps in front of the club dock.  Yes, launching was a PITA but once overboard the the racing was close and exciting.  Friday night, prior to the racing, Judy and Joe Courter wined and dined us as is their custom--good times!  The bottom line is that Bill Boyle took the Vintage award in his Abbott, Walt Collins, sailing his Europe won Gen I and John Z won Gen II sailing his Collins-constructed Mistral. 

Bob Patterson (Shelley Mk I) blew up after crossing the starting line during the first race and there were other casualties as the day worn on.  Next year we might be civilized enough for linen tablecloths and candle-lite, and yes, perhaps even complete plumbing in the restrooms but don't count on it!  What you can count on is a good day of racing.  Photo credit:  Ingrid Albaugh

Launching into the strong NW wind is always a bit of a hassle at BYC but nothing we can't deal with.

Drew--our RC.  Well done sir!

Lining up for the start of the 1st race.

A few seconds after the whistle.  Bob Patterson is Nr 217.

The fleet stretches out as we encounter a goodly gust.

That same gust ripped the center traveler horse out of Bob's Shelley!  Joe Courter tries not to run completely over Bob's sail...

Your old diarist had a good day out.

As did diaristson.  Say isn't Nr 43 Richard Petty's NASCAR number?  May have to paint that boat blue...

The jet ski kids were out in force but not a problem.

Vintage champ Bill Boyle in his Abbott Moth.  For those familiar with Fran Abbott's boat, the original hull number of this one is 1603.  Bill was borrowing a sail from Tweezerman for the day.

Walt Collins the Generation I champ in his Europe.

John Zseleczky sailing Walt's old Mistral Y2K Bug to victory in the Generation II division.  Hey John--time to finish Y2K2!

Occasionally I got lucky.

But most of the time I had a splendid view of Walt's transom.

While we were out racing, a young man from Maine arrived to buy Tweezer from Bill Boyle.  He rigged her up and sailed around a bit before packing up for the long ride back home.  Maine is getting to be a hot bed for Moth Boats.  Perhaps a northern regatta in a couple years?  Road Trip!

Back at the float at the end of the day.  Looking for my launching trolley and a beer.

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?