First sail in the Sharpie

[alistairedw]

I accompanied the new owner yesterday on his brief maiden sail in the 1936 Sharpie renovated by Forbsie.

Neither of us had sailed a gaff rig before so it was a bit of a trip into uncharted territory. It was quite windy so we put a reef in the main (resulting in a not very nice shape).

The old jib (made in Cowes in 1949) worked well.

Prior to this sail I had been watching National 12 dinghy racing. Quite a contrast between the athletic hiking style required for the National 12s and the rather graceful and stable progress of the Sharpie.

Despit being very heavy (big metal centreplate etc) she was surprisingly lively downwind. The mainsail seems huge on such a small boat.

It was rather appropriate that the Sharpie's first sail (with her new owner) at Twickenham Yacht Club coincided with the National 12 Open meeting which was first staged here in 1936.

 

[DanTribe]

I occasionally crewed on sharpies when there was a strong fleet at Burnham in the 60s.
Those metal centreplates were quite a feature, referred to as debollikers, never sit astride the c/b case in shallow water!
I remember them as being gunter rigged, not gaff, strictly?
They still seem to be a popular type of boat in Holland & Germany.

 

[Peterduck]

Here in Australia there was a spin-off known as the Lightweight Sharpie, because they were made of plywood instead of solid planks and were considerably lighter. They were rigged with a bermudan main for closer windward work, and went faster than [--word removed--] off a shovel. These continued to be sailed until fairly recently. Some may still be raced, I don't know much about the dinghy-racing scene.
Peter.

 

[alistairedw]

I think it is a Gunter rig.

I understand that this boat is in the style of the Sharpie class but is slightly different (smaller?)

Thanks for the warning about the centreboard! Nice fun to crew on though with no kicker to get in your way.