A matter of perspective: Classic Moth Boat transom designs.

The photos of Moths generally featured on this blogspot are often bow shots with spray flying and the skipper with his main sheet and hiking stick all crossed up, such as the one below:

Your diarist rounding the leeward mark in OOH LA LA at the recently concluded 2011 CMBA National Regatta.  The venue is Elizabeth City,  North Carolina.  Photo credit for all images in this post: Lennie Parker.

However in a continuation of my earlier attempt to help both of my readers in the task of distinguishing between various Classic Moth Boat designs,(see the Gulfport, Florida Mid-Winter Regatta posts), this post will concentrate on an aspect of the boat which rarely is highlighted: the transom.

Here we see Walt Collins driving his Europe towards the weather mark.  Click on photos to enlarge.

Next we have John Zseleczky on the same point of sail in his Mistral design Moth.

Here are the two boats side by side.  Note that the Mistral (Nr 2000) has a deeper and more elliptical transom than the Europe. What is less obvious in this exposure is that the Mistral also has more rocker in her keel line as well.

In an attempt to introduce a degree of stability into the Mistral design, Jeff Linton has tortured the stock Mistral skin panels to fit the shallower Europe transom shape.  Jeff calls his modification a Mousetrap, as in "built a better one..."  Note the cassette style rudder on Jeff's boat.

This is Joe Courter's Maser.  The Maser is a Moth Boat derived from a dead Laser hull, hence the name of the design is a contraction of the words Moth and Laser.

The Maser has a similar transom shape and amount of rocker as a Europe but has a narrower maximum beam. This can be discerned by comparing the two boats seen in this photo.

Finally, John Pugh's Mint design reminds us that hard chine designs can be competitive.

Rödqvarna!

Along with the bicycles in my collection I also have a couple of motor bikes, one of which  is the subject of today's post: my little Rödqvarna.  The Rödqvarna is a small (118cc), single cylinder bike which was manufactured by the Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag.  In English HVA translates into Husqvarna Weapons Company, Incorporated.  The company, which in the US is best known for dirt bikes, chainsaws, and sewing machines got it's start in 1689 making muskets for the Swedish army.  Over the years demand for weapons fell in Sweden, and in order to keep it's skilled work force busy HVA branched out to make many other products ranging from cast iron skillets to highly complex items such as sewing machines and one of my personal favorites, microwave hot dog vending machines: a great idea which was a little to ahead of the times; you put in a few coins and a minute later out popped a hot dog complete on a warmed bun.

Among the items produced was a range of motorcycles, which started in 1903 by the addition of a motor to a beefed up version of the pedal bicycle which Husqvarna already had in production.  During the 1930s Husqvarna raced their bikes in a number of the Classic race races such as the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. The well known British racer Stanley Woods was HVA's main works rider.  In the years leading up to the second world war HVA introduced a series of pedal assisted light motor bikes with 98cc engines. After the war the engine size was increased to 118cc and the pedals were deleted from the design.  Although in later years Husqvarna motor bikes are best known in moto-cross competition, the early two-stroke singles like my little bike were envisioned as cheap road transport.  HVA start the 118cc series with the all black painted "Svartqvarna" ("black-qvarna") in 1946.  My bike is a later "Rödqvarna" or "red-qvarna" and dates to 1952.  The red painted Rödqvarna is also called the "Rödmyra" (red ant) which is also a good description based on the color of the paint and the size of the engine!  I acquired my Rödqvarna from my Swedish in-laws when they were preparing to move from Sweden to Australia for three years to work for an Australian mining company.  My father-in-law told me I could have the bike provided I was willing to pay the costs of shipping and custom duty.  So, lets take a look at this fiery red ant.

Here she is, viewed from the left hand side.  The bike dates to 1952 and was the working man's go to work vehicle for those well off enough not to ride the bus or walk to work in the immediate post-war years.  To me she looks very much like a scaled down Indian road bike.  Note the fat fenders and "fishtail" exhaust.  The engine is a 2-stroke single that displaces a lusty 118cc which was rounded up to "120" for the purpose of advertising.

Zooming in on the left side of the engine.   K. L. G. spark plugs are getting very hard to find.  I think I'll keep this one for show and use a modern plug when I ride the bike.

A close up of the "fishtail".  I need to tidy the wiring for tail lamp!  Yes, that's XENOPUS in the background.

The right hand side of the Rödqvarna. For my Swedish viewers, the registration plate reads "P5600" and is the original one issued when the bike was new.  The cycle in the background is my BSA b25--almost 20 years newer  Remember that you can click on the photos to enlarge them for better viewing.

Classic tank shift.  The gearbox is a 3-speed.

The right hand side of the engine.  I love the script cast into the side cover.  Language lesson:  the company spells its name "Husqvarna" using antiquated Swedish spelling conventions.  The town, which incidentally diaristwoman hails from, spells its name "Huskvarna" which conforms to modern day spelling rules.  A "hus" is a house and a "qvarn" is a mill.  So Husqvarna started out as a mill house around which a town grew.

Last shot:  a look at the nice decals on the tank.  She's a beaut!

Irene wrap up

OK, for the two readers who are not related to me and wonder how things turned out on the barrier island of Brigantine I can happily report that although Irene passed quite close to the island as a Cat. 1 hurricane (estimated to be about 10 miles off the coast, with sustained winds above 74 mph) we had very light damage at the "Hotel George"--just a few shingles off the roof.  Both the states of Delaware and New Jersey imposed travel bans while the storm was in play but we were able to go check our house on Monday.  Getting there was frustrating due to many detours around downed power lines and deep, standing water in places close to lakes or swamps in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.

This isn't storm damage.  My evacuating renters need to learn how to back up, or get their vision checked or maybe both.

After checking the rest of the house I went through my collection of cedar boards and found a suitable replacement.  After an hour's work my driveway gates are back in service.

Down on the beach a goodly crowd was enjoying a break from clean up duties.  This was mostly a local crowd since tourists had been forced to leave before the storm.

Although the life guards had returned with their beach stands, the surf boats were still absent.

The bay side home which was all boarded up in my last post was almost back to normal by Monday afternoon.

The Yacht Club was much as I'd seen it the previous Friday with only some of the windows and doors boarded up.  But, true to Yachting priorities, the windows and doors which got attention were the most important ones: those for the club's bar...

And finally, the fates were kind to the owner of "BAD DOG" the poorly secured Opt seen in the previously post.  She filled with rain water and thus weighted down, stayed on her launching trolley despite the high winds and absence of lashings.  Double click and you can see the depth of the water in the hull and the floating sponge near the mast partner.  "BAD DOG" managed to live up to her name!

Good Night, Irene.

Enjoy the Weavers.  It might put you in the proper mood to plough through the rest of this post!  Diaristwoman and I spent the day driving up to Brigantine to secure the house before the arrival of Hurricane Irene.  Of course today was a beautiful day with gentle wind--perfect for goofing off with a good book and a beach chair.  Regrettably we spent the day preparing for the storm.  We left Maryland early in order to get on the island before the 2 pm deadline, after which the police were closing the only bridge leading to the island to oncoming traffic.  On the ride east to the coast we encountered a solid stream of traffic heading west.  It was good to see that tourists were heeding the evacuation orders but one had an unsettling feeling going against the flow!  Did we miss reading the daily memo?  Was there something we didn't know? 

The local newspapers had one story to report.  Double click to read "all about it".

Our house looks good from across the street.  Hope the joint is still standing on Monday.

Down on the beach the beach patrol was busy moving surf boats, life guard stands and other paraphernalia to higher ground.

The last weekend in August and hardly a soul to be seen!  If the dune grass was brown instead of green this could easily be a winter time picture.

This lone surfer was out testing the surf.  Come back tomorrow dude!

Some people take their window boarding seriously.  Today the bay water is almost mirror smooth.  That won't last.

Like most businesses, Aversa's Bakery was boarded, sand bagged and closed for the duration.  Where will the police get their donuts tonight?

At the Yacht Club, some took the club's orders to tie their boats down seriously...

but others, not so much.  It will be interesting to see if these Optimist dinghies are still here after the storm passes.

A touch of defiance flying from the club's yardarm.

Lighthouse circle is near the south end of Brigantine Boulevard.  The bridge off the island is about a mile beyond this point.  Once we leave the island we won't get back on until Monday at the earliest.  What will the "after" photos look like?  Hopefully not too different.  Stay tuned and don't touch that dial...

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!

MG J1 featured in an old Swedish movie

I'm a stubborn soul and  I've been trying without any luck to identify the name of the movie, the names of the actors and actress and to discover if the movie survives intact or if this youtube clip is all that remains.  None of my Swedish in-laws remember this film.  Nor does anyone I've contacted in various MG clubs both here in the States and in Scandinavia.  The movie dates to no earlier than the car.  The car is an MG J1.  The MG Car Company didn't introduce the J-series model range until 1932 so that gives us the earliest year this movie could have been made.  The J-series included the J1, a four seater as seen here, the archetypal J2; a two seat sports which set the basic formula for small sports cars up through the mid-1950s, and the J3 and J4 which were also two seaters.  The J3 was used for sporting trials and rallies where as the J4 was a full on road racer.  The J3 and 4 had destroked 750cc engines to comply with class regulations for their respective events and both of those types were also supercharged.  The J1 and J2 were produced with normal road use in mind and had non-supercharged 850cc engines.  Any help answering my questions regarding the film clip will be appreciated!  In the meantime enjoy this little trip in the "way-back" machine.

Early days at Brigantine Yacht Club

Back in the late '50s and early '60s I was racing an old Ventnor Moth and mostly stayed within the comfort zone of my own club's home waters.  One of the kids I raced against was Kenn Claus.  Kenn's half-brother Fred sent me some photos taken between the years 1959 and 1960.  Enjoy!

Here we see the original BYC club house.  This building was a former gas station building located at the south end of the island, near the lighthouse circle.  The club members bought it and had it moved to 10th Street and Bayshore Ave. in the late 1940s.  This photo pre-dates 1960 because that was the year when the "new" addition was added (look at the Yacht Club building in my opening post of last December to see the present structure).  The old gas station is still part of the building, it's just been cleverly added on to.

The houses,across the street, in the background, are still there but the one to the right has been enlarged over the years.  This photo also pre-dates the renovation of the club house and grounds.  Look at those mahogany speed boats!  The red burgee on the cross staff indicates the start of a race.

I  know that this photo is from the year 1960 because that was the first year I raced in a large invitational  regatta.  As a junior sailor I broke into racing within the safety of the waters of my home club and later, after gaining experience, started to travel to "away" regattas at other south Jersey clubs like Margate and Ocean City.  In this exposure I'm sailing my trusty old Ventnor, Nr 774 (using a sail from my other Ventnor, 764, which was in even worse shape). I called Nr 774 THE SIEVE, as in she leaked like one. Kenn Claus is sailing his brand new Titan design Moth, MISS AMERICA, Nr 1608.  Kenn's boat still survives.  The fate of poor old 774 is unknown.  As always, click on the photos to enlarge.

This photo was snapped just after the start of one of the races.  I'm several boats ahead of Kenn but he's upwind of me. Kenn didn't stay behind me very long.  The eventual winner of this regatta, George Kelly from Ocean City YC, can be seen almost falling out of his Abbot Moth INKY PINK, Nr 1593 (at the extreme right side of the picture).  In the background one can seen the Gerber brothers' sailing GEMINI, Nr 1540.  GEMINI is a Challenger design Moth.

Three Moths on a summer afternoon.  The boat closest to the camera is Kenn and probably Fred in CLIPPER, Nr 912.  CLIPPER was a Moyer design Moth.  The Moyer was very similar to the Ventnor and was probably a knock-off.  In the center,  Nr 505 was an old pre-war home-built Moth that John Walton redecked like an early Sailfish, ie: no cockpit; essentially a sailing surfboard.  The red and white Moth furthest away is a Ventnor.  This photo is also pre-1960 since Kenn is sailing his old boat.