Thread: Heavyweight Sharpie in Hobart

Here's an update....

You're right Mik, original plywood decks. And I can confirm that the hull is planked to the gunwales. Also confirmed is the fact that the tubes are a "recent" addition. The original venturi hole can still be made out.

Sorry, all the original rig and sails are gone. Even the Oregon mast shown in the pics is not the original main mast, but one from a Lightweight Sharpie.

Originally sailed by Max Thorpe, though still searching for a sail number....

I will do up a display board for the upcoming Austrailian Wooden Boat Festival where I am involved with a display of Sailing Dinghies - we'll see what info/interest that creates.

Well the first day of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival is over and my little blurb on the Sharpie just might have had the best success possible. Tony Coulter sails what he believes is to be the oldest, and one of only two Heavyweight Sharpies still sailing in Australia. He sails out of the Hastings Yacht Club in Victoria and attended the National Championships held recently.

Fingers crossed that Jabaru 11 has found a new owner........

"WELL DONE".

Another classic rescued.

Paul.

Originally Posted by HOOKED.UP

"WELL DONE".

Another classic rescued.

Paul.

+1 great job

Did he count the one at Goolwa (if it hasn't relocated) I think it is one of the olympic ones from europe as in the brief glance I had all the gear seemed non OZ. That was probably 15 years ago.

MIK

Howdy,

there was just a comment on my website from Richard who has one of the Heavyweight Sharpies from the Olympics. It will be on display in April

We have a HWS at the Mordialloc Sailing in Melbourne that was used for the ’56 Olympics. It is in good condition and will be on public display on the 10th of April 2011 for our Wooden Boat Festival. See http://www.mwbf.Wordpress.com
Regards
Richard

The 12 sq m was always a one design, victor in a design competition looking for a cheap fast two-person cruiser-racer (yep, cruiser- like the FD and other craft it was designed as a weekend camper).

It's interesting to compare them to the only other boat in the competition that I've seen plans for, an Erdmann design. The Sharpie (designed by Kroger does look a much nicer design, finer in the bow and flatter in the rocker, with less flare in the bow and a wider stern, even when compared to "Free" development-class Renjollen.

The Sharpie was definitely OD, which caused much angst to Mander who built his boat to within about 1-2mm of plan, measuring with a theodolite, only to find that the AUssie Olympic measurers were very lax and uncertain about the OD rules. Graham Mander (Peter's brother, who almost won the NZ trials) says that they were a beautiful boat to build and the plans were excellent.

Compared to the "free" Renjollen and the Einhietzner (forgive the spelling) one design which evolved from them, the Sharpie was quite heavy but still performed well. At the time the REnjollen were clearly the quickest dinghies in the world - where a Historical 18 or Emmy is about Flying 15 pace, the Z Jolle is about 505 speed.

In the UK in the '30s there was an annual match between the aristocratic International 14s and the much cheaper Sharpies, which was apparently normally a very good match.

The Sharpie performed very well against it's intended replacement, the International Tornado - an UFfa Fox design that never caught on and struggled upwind from the scanty reports available. As late as the '52 trials that selected the FD to replace the Tornado and 12, the 12 was normally about 8 or 9th in a fleet of around 19 boats.

While mentioning those trials I may add that the FD (minus genoa and minus a trap for some time) scored 4,5,3,7 (trial skipper), 3,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1. The Osprey (which used a trap before the FD) sometimes claimed to have won, which is a load of cobblers as it scored 5,6,7,1,8,3,4,9,2,5,3,6,4, The Hornet (a wonderful cheap little boat by comparison, with a plank) is also said sometimes to have beaten the FD but actually got 6,3,3,11(trial skipper), 4,4,3,3,7,9,2,4,3. That result shows just how fast the long, skinny Euro type was - no wonder it influenced Benny!

The bermudan rig is not actually totally inaccurate - the 12 (and the Erdmann 12 design) initially allowed for both gaff and bermudan rigs but the gaff won out. Apparently one benefit was that the boat was less likely to capsize when moored, which was the normal way to keep it. I've never heard, though, of an Aussie bermudan rig until Len Randell designed the bermudan rig shortly after the Lightweight Sharpie was created.

On the National Library of Australia site there's a newspaper archive that includes the Hobart Mercury, and it has many 12m2 Sharpie results. Jabiru II may pop up there.

Boatmik, was the Stampl sharpie the 9m2 singlehander?


PS - the heavies may be the most notable dinghies, but as for "the rarest", I'd say classes like the Kiwi, Ferguson, Sandridge Sharpie, Boxies, Fentura, A 12, Mersey, Ghost, Hustler, Snail's Bay and Magnum would be well in the running!

Hi Chris,

Brilliant, Brilliant post. That includes a huge amount of information I didn't know about.

I knew about the FD as a camping boat before genoa and trapeze (the Dragon keelboat has that pedigree too I believe).

The Stampfl (I might have that name wrong or completely the wrong nameSharpie) was a cat rig with a thwartships plank mast with a sock luff or something like that (can't quite remember, but it was something interesting. Bit beamier than most European Sharpie types, but near plumb stem and narrow transom. Slight vee'd bottom if I remember right.

MIK

Dylan Winter's latest video is on a 12SqM Sharpie fleet in Norfolk
KTL vlog 153 – Norfolk Sharpies « Keep Turning Left
sweet