Thread: Flying Dutchman Restoration

Howdy,

The FD is perhaps the most sophisticated of the European sailing dinghies, and this is the first time I've seen one skinless.



Amazing to see. In its day it was the most sophisticated of the international racing dinghies though was a bit heavy by Australian standards.

364lbs with fittings - so maybe around 300 in the hull structure alone. An 18ft skiff in the plywood era would have come in around 160lbs without fittings and would have been sailing under a lot more stress and probably had a lot more surface area - so you can see that the Europeans were well behind us in construction.



This is a wooden boat from the '70s. That little spinnaker pole hanging off the boom used to send us Australian sailors into fits of giggles - even our smallest kid's classes had longer poles than that!!!

The "us" is collective - Australia and NZ were so far ahead of all the overseas classes with durable boats coming in at around 10lbs per foot across a range of indigenous classes - which usually included fittings.

Whereas the Americans and Europeans were at around double that - they just didn't make the transition to glued ply construction as neatly as we did. But some of the boats were just beautifully built with lots of neat timberwork.

Here is a bit about the history of the Flying Dutchman class
http://www.sailfd.org/class2.htm

Here are a lot of pics of boats including some older ones that might be useful for picking up info as the rebuild continues.
http://www.sailfd.org/USA/img/photolibindex.html

Good detail pics of a woodie from the early '70s
http://www.sailfd.org/USA/img/bh70

Any Idea of the age of the one in your pics?

MIK

Thanks for the memories, I used to race one at Beaumaris for the RAAF in the late 60's, got many a soaking in a stiff breeze, buggers had more sail than my 26' trailer sailer.
Big step up from the Mirror and a tad quicker
Saw one for sale a couple of years ago, described as an ideal beginners boat

One of my earliest memories was of a Flying Dutchman Regatta on the Derwent (circa 1963)... They were truly impressive to a two year old!!!!

My first view of a Dutchman was in 1959, the fleet of FDs and Finns that had been built for the '56 Olympics had been auctioned off and a few had come to Sydney. My boss had a 40' steel raised deck yacht and the staff (4 of us) were out for a Sunday on the harbour with his family. Two of his mates pulled up alongside in a Dutchman and asked his son if he wanted to go for a ride. I'd never seen anything take off so fast!! And in '59, it was one of the prettiest things afloat, clear finished moulded ply. Ah, the memories of youth! Rolly Tasker from Perth was the one to beat.
Cheers
Graeme

Originally Posted by graemet

Rolly Tasker from Perth was the one to beat.

I believe the boat we are restoring is (was) his.

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

I believe the boat we are restoring is (was) his.

That'd make it 50 years old! Not bad for a moulded ply hull.
Cheers
Graeme

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

I believe the boat we are restoring is (was) his.

Wonder which one of his boats it was - I imagine he would have had a few.

If it is the one that sailed the worlds against the great Paul Elvestrom.

It was one of the most nail biting races I've ever read about.

"The 1962 competition was the first such major sailing event in the Tampa Bay area.

Since the Flying Dutchman was used in the Olympics at that time, many top sailors attended. Memorable was Australia's Rolly Tasker and his candy-apple red boat with a checker-board rail. His crew was Ralph White from Bavaria, a huge man who kept pulling gear out of the deck until everything was made stronger.

St. Petersburg sailor Gene Hinkel remembers three people lifting the back of a boat off the trailer while White easily raised the front end of the 20-foot craft.

The darling of the press was great Danish sailor Paul Elvstrom, who sported a crimson sunburn; along with Hans Fogh, then having recently moved from Denmark to Canada. Elvstrom had won more Olympic gold and major titles than anyone.

Elvstrom rode the trapeze wire as crew while Fogh steered. Their old, beat-up vessel was in stark contrast with Tasker's. In the final race, one of these boats was going to win the regatta. All Elvstrom and Fogh had to do was keep Tasker and White from finishing in the top half of the fleet.

Those who watched on that windy day remember it as one of the most exciting events, as the two boats short-tacked down the bay along Coquina Key. Finally, Fogh's vessel had suffered enough and started slowly sinking. But he had held their competitor back enough to win."

(Elvstrom said that he and Fogh muffed a tack when the genoa snubbing winch (in the days before ratchet blocks) became snarled and Tasker got through - but was held far enough back not to take out the worlds)

1962 St. Petersburg, Florida USA
19 barcos de 18 naciones

1.(D) Hans Fogh - Paul Elvstrom 6055
2.(KA) Rolly Tasker - Andrew White 5946
3.(K) Stewart Jardin - James Ramus 5066

Tasker was also world champion in 1958.

Whether he had the one boat or several - I have no idea.

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Wonder which one of his boats it was - I imagine he would have had a few.

Next working day is in February. I'll see what I can find out then.

Memorable was Australia's Rolly Tasker and his candy-apple red boat with a checker-board rail.

I don't think it can be that one as this is all bright finished. Well, it will be (again) after a lot more work has been done.

Wow! Doesn't time fly! I started this thread in December 2006. I have been very remiss in not keeping it up-to-date as work has progressed.

Various members of the Wooden Boat Association of Queensland have been working steadily. The first Sunday of each month has seen a good turnout for our monthly 'working bee' in the Maritime Museum workshop.

A couple of members have also worked every Friday.

The project has absorbed many man-hours and she is now getting close to launching. Most of the work now is going into working out the rigging and associated deck fittings.

Our emphasis has been on producing an active sailing boat, rather than a 'perfect' restoration that nefer gets in the water. It should be pretty exciting.

She will probably be officially launched early in August. Watch this space.

Hi There
To give you some background; I'm from South Africa, sailling an Elvstrom 1/4 tonner.
Still a youngster and am keen for a classic project.
I have just bought two flying dutchman hulls with one full rig.
Both hulls need work.
I would like to do a restoration, but am to sure where to start, yes i am a novice at restorations.
Are there any links or web sites i can look at for more info.
Thanks for your time.
Regards Theo

The 18' skiffs were technically more "advanced" than FDs. That much was obvious to
me as a teenager in Wright Intermediates at the 18-footer club at Bulimba in the mid-70s.

But the FDs I saw at our annual inter-club comp at Manly were far and away the most
beautiful boats I came across. Worth attending the race just to see them.
Lovely to see one given new life.
cheers
AJ

Originally Posted by Theo

I would like to do a restoration, but am to sure where to start, yes i am a novice at restorations.
Are there any links or web sites i can look at for more info.

Hi Theo,

The research we did before starting indicated that there were many variations in the Flying Dutchman design over time, so It's hard to find a standard model to work to. We were given a second boat which was not suitable for restoration so we have used it as a source of some components, rigging etc.

I don't know if it was universal, but the boat we have been restoring was constructed by purchasing a 'floppy', which was two factory-made laminated half hulls with no frame. The builder then built the frame, then attached the floppy skin . We were restoring the boat to sail actively, so needed to be sure that the frame was securely glued together. Our approach was to surgically cut along where the two halves joined at the stem and keel, then peel them off. We re-glued and repaired the frame where necessary, then re-attached the skin. Both the removal and the re-attachment were pretty nerve-wracking.



More pictures here.

We had to get under the cockpit floor as well, and found the best way to do this was to cut holes in the (Sob! beautiful ) plywood floor between frames and stringers. After completing repairs we laid new 'reproduction' plywood floor panels so it looks like new.



That was the general approach to our project. More advice about boat restoration in general is available in many books and, indeed, from this forum. If you make a start and need specific help just ask here, with photos if possible. If I can't help I will get answers from some of our guys who were more directly involved in the project (I was just a labourer) .

We hope to launch her on 16 May, hopefully with photo's.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
Ill be in touch threw the project.
Good luck with the launch.

Regards

If it was tasker's boat I doubt that it was a "floppy". The guy was a first rate boatbuilder and would have done everything himself.

Unless there is documentary evidence supporting the "floppy" view.

I didn't know such a form of construction was possible. Without framing the shell would be very vulnerable and then there is no reference point for setting up the internal framing.

Remember the glues at the time were non gap filling and that the FD has reasonably tight shape tolerances. Would be very difficult to retrofit a frame and have the boat take up the required shape.

Or I would assume so.