Some would call it global warming, some may call it Deja Vue, or some may simply say it was the weather gods repeating the same weather we had for the 2023 regatta. Fortunately, we had a skilled Professional Race Team that managed to get the two scheduled windward – leeward – windward races off after a two-hour postponement due to fickle winds swinging throughout the northern quadrant.
Race number one was a shifty event with winds coming and going in an erratic manner. Coupled with a flooding tide the fleet had to contend with on the weather leg, getting to the weather mark was much like spinning a roulette wheel. Positions changed throughout the race with some boats barely able to squeeze by the weather mark without being swept into it from the strong tide. In the end, wizard Bob Catani and his Bromasole took first place, with Max Sherman and his Artemis squeezing out second, and Bob Rude’s Oasis wrapping up the third-place finish.
Exhausting skippers and crews drifted around between races while the race committee got set up for a 90-degree wind shift and winds building to over 15 knots. Once the race got underway, three boats reached the weather mark right off the bat. On the downwind leg, Oasis overtook Bromasole and held on to round the leeward mark first and held on to win Race 2 by two seconds. It was a real nailbiter.
After the racing, everyone dragged their weary bodies back to the Bristol Yacht Club for pizzas, beers, and prizes. It typified what yacht racing is all about. Lots of stories, comparing notes, food and drink, and, of course, the awards ceremony.
Commodore Dom Messerli handed out the trophies to the day’s winners. Lots of smiles and good fellowship ensued. That’s what makes the Sea Sprite class such a great group. We expect the fleet to grow by at least two or three boats for next year. 2025 is just around the corner. For now, though, everyone is preparing for our fall extravaganza…the annual Race Around Hog Island, scheduled for September 14. Buy a boat. Be part of our one-design party! Or, bring your own boat and watch the excitement!
An honest to goodness yacht, the Sea Sprite 23 offers classic good looks and big boat stability at a manageable size.
The race began auspiciously on Saturday, August 11. BBC Radio’s shipping forecast was predicting moderate conditions—southwesterly winds Force 4 to 5, increasing to perhaps Force 7 for a time. By August 13 gusts were reported at Force 7—perhaps rising to Force 8.
Over the next 24 hours conditions deteriorated until many of the 306 competing yachts were subjected to nightmarish conditions that one contestant described as “a great fury”—force 11 (56-63 kts) gusts and gargantuan seas. By the time the monster had passed 69 boats were out of the race—24 lost or abandoned—and 19 sailors had lost their lives.
An interesting footnote to the horrific events of the infamous 1979 Fastnet is that as the racing fleet fought for survival, a full-keeled cruising boat, an Alberg 35, was bobbing along nearby—lying ahull—her crew below drinking and playing cards. When the storm had abated to their satisfaction they hoisted sail and continued to England without incident.
This anecdote is just one of many that emphasize the sea-keeping abilities of the designs of Carl Alberg (1900-1986). Most Alberg boats are nearly the antithesis of modern offshore racing boats. Instead of light, beamy hulls with fin keels, Alberg boats almost always featured long, full, heavy keels, relatively narrow beam, and modest freeboard.
Even his smallest designs have the characteristic “Alberg look,” and are acknowledged as capable for their size. In our review of his 18′ 6″ Cape Dory Typhoon (Issue #8), owners praise the boat’s demeanor in strong wind and waves.
A somewhat larger Alberg boat was one of his most popular—the 23-foot Sea Sprite.
Like most designs with a long production run, Sea Sprite 23 molds have traveled some. Originally produced in 1958 by the American Boat Building company of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Sea Sprite production moved briefly to the Wickford Shipyard, then on to Sailstar, the Bristol Boat Company, and finally to Clark E. Ryder, until his company closed its doors in 1986. An approximate total of 534 boats was produced.
Over the years the Sea Sprite earned its own reputation for seaworthiness. Recently deceased small-boat sailor, Robert Gainer, actually sailed his 23 across the Atlantic (without a windvane, outboard or electrical system). He wrote in an online forum, “She is small and can survive anything, and I mean anything. You would cringe if you knew some of the things I did to my first Sea Sprite while learning to sail.” He called her the “best balanced boat” he’d ever sailed.
Essentially, two types of Sea Sprites were produced: Daysailors and Weekenders. The beefier Weekender features a self-bailing cockpit, molded fiberglass seats, a companionway with stairs below, and two sets of lower shrouds. The Daysailer, which is very similar to Alberg’s Pearson Ensign, has wooden seats, simple cabin doors, single lowers, and she doesn’t have the self-bailing cockpit.
We got a chance to test sail an excellent 1983 Weekender example with owner, Jan Nicolaisen.
PERFORMANCE:
“Fast enough. We don’t race (at least not formally) and when you look as good as a Sea Sprite does under sail, there is no need to worry about being the fastest out there —although she is much of the time!” Bly Hartley, 1973 Ariel
“Especially in a moderate breeze with relatively calm waters, the boat seems to defy its relatively short waterline length. I’ve sailed on other Alberg boats where it seems like the designer had to compromise a bit too much towards making the boats comfortable, but in the case of the Sea Sprite, I think he got it just right.” Nathan Burgess, 1964 Pelican.
“Not a good light air boat, especially off the wind.” John Lemon, Kinglet1975
“We have to be realistic, she’s not a fin keel boat, and the sheeting angles are not as tight as a rig that has the shrouds attached inboard of the deck/hull joint. That said, I optimized the sheeting angles by placing my jib sheet tracks as close to the 10 degrees angle off centerline, recommended in ‘Skene’s Elements of Yacht Design.’ Because of the cabin trunk being in the way, I managed about 11.5-12 degrees. When using a 110 percent jib I estimate I’ve optimized my tacking angle to well under 90 degrees total for my boat. I suspect a ‘standard’ boat will be significantly outside of 90 degrees.” Dejan Radeka 1974 FIREFLY
After rowing out to where Jan and son Bjorn had left their Sea Sprite, we raised anchor, hoisted the main, unfurled the headsail and sailed away in the light air. While she’s not a “light air” boat, the Sea Sprite acquitted herself well and was able to make steady progress, tacks assisted by the momentum of her 1475 pounds of ballast. That some owners sail without motors offers additional evidence of her good handling.
Once we’d reached the more open waters of the bay and 5 to 10 knots funneling through the islands, the boat really came alive. We moved along briskly and were able to point well. The elegant ends of the 23 meant our waterline was increasing right along with the wind speed. Owners report regularly sneaking up on 30-footers, especially in moderate breezes.
With her fairly narrow beam it probably shouldn’t have surprised us when the Sea Sprite heeled some 20º or more before settling down. While this initial tenderness is no reflection on her ultimate stability, which is considered exceptional, we were reminded that sailing at a significant heel is less comfortable and more tiring, when most tasks need to be accomplished at some awkward angle.
Our review boat exhibited slightly excessive weather helm but was responsive and manageable. We’re quite sure the weather helm was the result of sails, rig tuning or some other anomaly, as Sea Sprite helm balance is generally regarded as exceptional.
With 247 square feet of sail area the Sprite has a PHRF of around 270—about the same as a Catalina 22.
A few of the oldest Sea Sprite 23s apparently had inboard engines, but most have a motor well on the centerline just abaft the tiller and through-hull rudder post. The well comes with the usual compromises (ventilation concerns, propeller drag, etc.) but for a cruising boat we still prefer the well to an outboard bracket. Performance under outboard power in any kind of a sea is said to be marginal.
Our test boat had a 6-hp motor and it was clear some modification to the well cover was necessary to make room. Owners typically employ 4-6 hp motors.
LOA 22’6” • LWL 16’3” • Beam 7’ • Draft 3’ • Displ. 3350 lb • Sail Area 247 sq ft
TRAILERING AND LAUNCHING:
“Definitely not a trailersailer but we do step the mast ourselves with a gallows system. The deck stepped mast forward of the coach house does not lend itself to a tabernacle system. Our Typhoon was far easier to rig.”Bly Hartley, 1973 Ariel
“Most of the boats do not have a tabernacle on the mast, so it is generally necessary to use a crane to step it, although I have seen some who have fabricated a tabernacle on their mast to ease in raising and lowering. … Basically, launching and rigging the boat can be done by yourself, but for most people it falls a little too far into the category of a pain and we are willing to cough up the money to have someone else do it.” Nathan Burgess, 1964 Pelican
At 3350 pounds, with a 3-foot draft, the Sea Sprite isn’t the kind of boat you tow to the lake for a daysail. She’s a small yacht that is best trailered at the beginning and end of the season. But that doesn’t mean her being trailerable isn’t an advantage. She can be pulled out for maintenance, stored away from the water easily, and she is just light and shallow enough to be manageable at a deep ramp.
Mast raising and rigging was described by one owner as “not particularly easy.” Amongst the owners we interviewed were some who require yard assistance to raise and rig, and a few who manage the tasks themselves. The do-it-themselves owners employ advantages like custom tabernacles and mast raising systems.
SEAWORTHINESS:
“The boat continues to surprise me in heavy air. The key is to put a reef in the main above 20 knots. I recently sailed her on a three hour upwind slog in 20-25 knots and 5 foot swell, about a 15 nautical mile run. I was wet but she performed beautifully.” Dejan Radeka 1974 FIREFLY
“Excellent heavy weather boat. Good in heavy seas.” Robert M. Reed, 1982 Sea Dancer.
Few boats her size would be considered more capable than the rugged Sea Sprite. In addition to her deep keel and substantial ballast (44% of her displacement ), the Weekender has a self-bailing cockpit of modest size, low windage, a protected rudder mounted to the aft end of the keel, and mostly stout construction with high quality materials.
One potential trade-off is that her low cabin and low freeboard makes her wet in a seaway and she can ship some over the 10″ coamings when heeled past 30º. We were also dismayed to discover the port cockpit locker opens directly onto the quarterberth and the inside of the boat.
Several owners suggested the Sea Sprite might need to take a reef somewhat before comparable boats, but they were also unanimous in describing the 23 as forgiving and capable. One owner went so far as to say, “You really can’t get yourself in any trouble with this boat.”
The 6’3″ x 5′ 3″ cockpit has two 1.5″ cockpit drains, a 12″ deep footwell plus an additional 3.5″ sill at the 16-inch wide bridge deck.
There are nice foot-wide sidedecks, and an 18″ foredeck hatch for working forward in bouncy weather.
“I am 6′ 1″, and I can’t really fit in the V-berth lengthwise in the way it was designed. I can, however, sleep down the center of the v-berth, or sleep in the quarter berth, which is surprisingly comfortable, although it does take some effort to get in and out of.” Nathan Burgess, 1964 Pelican
“I’m perfectly comfortable in the V-berth at 5′ 6″. It doesn’t bother me that I cannot sit up. My husband does not like to sleep in the V-berth. The quarterberth is marginally better since you can sit up. The second quarterberth is usually full of gear so I would say you could sleep three. There is a Porta-Potti with a dedicated locker in the notch of the V-berth. You do have to put in the companionway drop boards or something if you want privacy. We use a single burner butane stove on the bridgedeck. Satisfactory enough for breakfast. It would get old pretty quick if the weather was bad.” Bly Hartley, 1973 Ariel
When a designer tries for a good sea boat, with a low profile, low freeboard, narrow beam and fair sized cockpit, something has to give—and usually it’s accommodations.
The Sea Sprite actually does a fair job of using what space is available. There’s just enough sitting headroom on the forward end of the quarterberths, and the berths themselves are two feet wide and 6′ 3″ long—most of that under the cockpit.
Two opposing cabinets are just forward—to port an insulated ice box, and to starboard a sink with 10-gallon tank below.
Farther forward is the V-berth, which has a filler board over a molded liner recess designed for the portable head. The V-berth is six feet wide by 6′ 3″—which taller sailors will define as barely adequate or worse. Additionally, headroom over berths is minimal and would have the potential to be claustrophobic were it not for the smoked forward hatch and two opening ports.
Decent stowage is available under berths and atop a shelf around the V-berth. Most lockers lead to the bilge.
Jan, who cruises the San Juan and Gulf Islands for months at a time, has added monkey hammocks above the V-berth and plans to make additional space by going to a smaller battery.
“If you’re not terribly set on having a modern ‘big’ battery, then it would make sense to do as the builder intended: Get a wheelchair sized battery and put it in the dedicated small battery compartment directly under the cabin sole (accessed by a cutout in the teak/holly floorboard).” Jan says this frees up the best stowage locker in the boat—the cavernous space under the companionway ladder. “Build a small shelf to close off the bilge and this is the easiest to access, best placed, most sizable locker in the boat. As of now, and I suspect this is the case with most Ryder-built boats, a previous owner has ‘upgraded’ to a bigger battery and moved it here. Returning to the original setup with a wheelchair battery is project number one for the 2011 season.”
The cockpit is comfortable for two persons, but even though a few owners spoke of having five adults aboard on a daysail, with an inboard tiller, motor well, and narrow beam, we think the cockpit would become cramped quickly.
QUALITY:
“These are 60s/70s era fiberglass boats and they’re built like tanks. Everything was overbuilt….You have to watch for deck delamination under poorly bedded deck hardware. The decks are balsa cored, and all of these boats are old now, so you will find delaminated deck areas. The lazarette decks are notoriously bad because of the way they cut the access hatches for the outboard well. … Also, surprisingly, they did not lay-up solid glass under the mast step area. My boat had balsa there too, which was completely soaked and delaminated when I bought her. I’ve noticed some flex in the deck in the mast step area when sailing hard. I’m planning a mast compression strut in the cabin for this next off-season project, to stiffen her up.” Dejan Radeka, 1974 FIREFLY
It seemed that everywhere we looked on the 23 we found first class quality and construction. Clearly she was built to last—hand laid fiberglass hull, encapsulated lead ballast, heavy fiberglass, and solid fittings.
The inward flange hull-to-deck joint was apparently mechanically fastened with stainless screws and bonded with 3M 5200, but the interior with liner is so well finished we couldn’t really see the joint. That didn’t bother us so much, but we did wish the chainplates were visible for inspection. Unfortunately they too are buried behind the liner.
Another area we’d want carefully surveyed before purchase are the decks, which were built with balsa coring on later models. Balsa makes the decks much stiffer without adding appreciably to weight, but it’s also susceptible to rot if water has been allowed to penetrate through, say, an improperly bedded fitting. The lazarette decks are apparently the most common trouble spot.
If we were buying a Sea Sprite we might just opt for an older model with solid fiberglass decks—in spite of the weight penalty.
The only other area of concern we heard about was the potential for rot and failure in the cross beam supporting the deck-stepped mast. Sometimes this manifests itself as flex and delamination on deck.
The review boat’s stout rig featured upper and lower shrouds, spreaders, and diamonds—upper spreaders that help stiffen the upper mast.
COMPROMISES:
“Only adequate light air performance, and minimum accommodations. The boat is mostly a daysailer, and unless I wanted to use it for extensive cruising (which I don’t), it is beautifully built and a pleasure to sail. …” Robert M. Reed, 1982 Sea Dancer.
Most owners mentioned the Sprite’s modest accommodations as the primary compromise. As owner, John Lemon says, “It is a boat you really want to sail. If you are looking for comfort or a spacious cabin, a Sea Sprite is not for you.”
A few owners suggested speed or performance was a compromise, but mostly one they willingly exchange for peace of mind in rougher conditions.
MODIFICATIONS:
Most owners hadn’t done much in the way of modifying their 23, suggesting she came well equipped. However the mods owners elected to make were major chores. Several owners cut through the liner to get at and replace the aforementioned original chainplates, which one owner suggested are prone to breakage.
Owner Dejan Redaka did a total refit of his Wickford Shipyard 1974 model. He replaced all mast hardware, added a tabernacle, completely rebuilt the lazarette deck, added a new custom hatch, converted the outboard well to a lazarette stowage locker, replaced chainplates, reinforced hull-to-deck joint around chainplates, installed new toe rails, custom built a new teak stemhead, and much more. He also installed lifelines and pulpits. He says he was able to source a J22 bow pulpit and a J24 stern pulpit for much less than custom, and both worked well.
VALUE:
“Raise the sails, drop the mooring pennant and go! I can blast around a crowded mooring area with ease. The boat handles great, even though she has a full keel. You can sail her dead downwind at hull speed, put the helm down hard into a 180 and she’ll stop in a boat length. It’s the perfect mooring pick up trick when I’m singlehanding; I can just walk up to the bow and grab the stick. People sitting in cockpits of bigger boats look on with envy.” Dejan Radeka, 1974 FIREFLY
We found examples of Sea Sprite 23s on the used market from $2,000 to more than $20,000. That’s appropriate as boats this age can be in such disparate states of repair—and some of the potential repairs and upgrades can be quite costly.
One thing is for sure, Sea Sprites have a loyal following and are adored by their owners, so they tend to hold their value fairly well. A well-rounded design, the 23 makes a good daysailer, cruiser and even club racer. No matter how she’s used she’s bound to draw admiring glances. •SCA•
PAINTING YOUR SEA SPRITE…LET’S GET READY FOR SUMMER
Bob Rude – Sea Sprite 785 – Oasis
I’ve had a number of local sailors comment on how much they love the new paint job I have on my Sea Sprite. If you want to do the job yourself, here are some tips and lessons I learned from doing this during the spring of 2023. This post in its entirety can be found in “Technical” for posterity as well as here.
First, realize that this isn’t going to be as fancy as having a professional spray paint your boat with Awlgrip. But, it’s going to be about 95% as good and a heck of a lot cheaper. From 5-10 feet away, it’ll be hard to tell you didn’t have a professional spray job.
Here’s a list of the materials you’ll need to get started.
MATERIALS
An orbital disc sander with a built-in bag to gather the sanding dust (I used a 5” electric Rigid model from Home Depot – $65.00)
Packets of Diablo sanding discs having the following grits: 80, 100, 120, 150, 220). Buy the packets that have roughly 20 discs per packet. ($10.-$20 per packet)
Foam brushes – 1”, 2”, 3” width. Buy a box of each. Available online from Jamestown Distributors. Cost about $20 per box. Each box has approximately 20 brushes. Throw away after using. Good for varnishing, too).
6” foam rollers, pan, and handle for the roller. Only use foam rollers if you want a nice final finish! DO NOT USE KNAP ROLLERS! Home Depot or Jamestown Distributors.
Epiphane Polyurethane Top Side Paint (Two Part) – $70 per quart. You pick your color. You’ll need at least two quarts. (Defender Industries – Order on-line once you’ve checked out their color chart)
Epiphane Two Part Semi-gloss polyurethane primer. Choose white or grey, depending upon your boat’s final color. Two quarts at around $50 per quart. Defender Industries
Flexible sandpaper blocks of various grits – Home Depot
Tyveck suits and a good respirator. Clear eye protection is also a good idea.
Plastic mixing pots for mixing the two-part paints – Jamestown Distributors. Price varies by size. Sold in packs of 5.
Now that you have all your materials, you’re ready to get into it. You’re going to develop some new muscles from holding the sander against the hull. Be patient.
I would recommend beginning the sanding on the stern of the boat. Start out with the 80 grit sandpaper. Starting at the stern will give you a good idea of how you’ll need to transition through the different grits of sandpaper to eventually end up using the 220 grit. Also, if you make a mistake on the reverse transom, it won’t be as visible as if you’ve done it at the bow of the boat. Think of the transom as your “practice area.”
Your first pass of the hull with the 80 grit will knock down some of the high spots and maybe eliminate some of the scratches and dings you’ve incurred over the past few seasons.
The project begins…The original green gelcoat that had been painted over with a cheap one-part green paint. This photo was taken after the first sanding with 80 grit sandpaper.
Don’t be surprised if your hull looks “splotchy.” Notice how one of the photographs of my early sanding appears. The hull looks like a pinto animal. You may need to use a fairing compound if you have some big dings. You can hose your boat down with a garden hose to remove some of the dust collected from the sanding.
The old paint as been completely sanded off using each of the sandpaper grits. This is what the hull looks like. Notice there are still some minor hull irregularities probably caused by original hull mold. Try to get the hull faired as smooth as possible
I hope you’re not exhausted from these repeated sandings. You’ve only accomplished the first step in getting the hull prepped for the primer. From this point on, you want to repeat the sanding with successive finer grit sandpaper. Don’t be afraid to change the sandpaper as you go along. Let the newly affixed pad do the work of leveling the hull. After completely doing the hull with all the different grades, you’ll be ready to think about painting.
At this point, you should mix a solution of 75% water and 25 % alcohol in a bucket of water. Using a wet rag, wring the water from the rag and gently wipe the hull down, wringing the rag out frequently will remove any dust and impurities that may have occurred.
While you can sand the boat in sunlight or shade, when it comes time to paint, you need to be careful not to apply primer or paint in direct sunlight during the heat of the day. It’s better to paint when the hull is in the shade or earlier in the day. If that means you’ll only be able to do half of the hull, so be it. The worst case scenario is trying to roll on primer or paint on a hot hull. The paint will dry as soon as you touch the roller to the fiberglass and it will inhibit the slow drying of the paint that you need in order to get the paint to level out and create a smooth surface and a nice shine.
I’ve included a photo of my primed hull. You’ll need to put two coats of primer on with a 220 grit sanding between coats. Again, wipe the hull with the water/alcohol mixture. Primer comes in two colors. Use gray primer for darker final colored paint or white primer for lighter colored paints. Allow the primer to dry thoroughly and then do a final 220 grit sanding and clean up. You’re getting closer to apply the paint! Finally.
Once the second coat of primer has dried and been sanded, wipe it down and get ready for the first of two coats of paint. Let the hull dry for a day or two. Here are some additional tips. I needed plenty of tips. My painting coach is shown above giving me some pointers.
I suggest you start the painting by experimenting with your rolling skills by first painting the underside of the transom down near the rudder post. You are bound to make a few rookie mistakes with the roller. Make those mistakes out of sight.
I’ve seen so many sailors get jacked about putting the final touches on their boat by painting the bow sections first. Invariably, they glop the paint on too thick and the finished product has roller marks or runny paint right where you don’t want anyone to see it…on the bow. Be patient. Attack under the stern first. You’ll be glad you did. If you feel really frisky, you might move to the transom as your second painting endeavor. Once you’ve master the art of using the roller with a light touch, you can move on to the port/starboard sides of the boat. This photo shows my professional painting coach giving me a lesson.
There’s a real knack to using a roller. Always roll from a point of existing paint to the section that hasn’t been painted. As you finish the rolling stroke, use a flick of the wrist to get the roller to leave the hull with a light touch.
Someone may tell you to use a paintbrush to “tip” the paint. I’ve painted two boats without tipping and the boats turned out beautiful. I’ve never had success with tipping. You choose your poison. For me, I’m sticking with the foam roller…no brushing.
There may be sections of you boat where you will want to use a foam brush for detail work. You may decide to mask off the toe rail before priming or painting. If so, take one of the narrow foam brushes and use it for edging. Then run the foam roller up to the section you’ve just painted. Do the edging as the same pace you are rolling. That way the paint can blend in while it’s still wet.
Once your hull has the first coat of paint, use the 220 grit sandpaper and gently go over the dried painted hull. By now you should be a master sander. Wipe the hull down with the water/alcohol mixture and let it thoroughly dry. Then roll on the final coat of paint. If you’ve done all the prep work, you should have a bright smooth hull.
In retrospect, I would estimate that 90% of the work is the prepping the hull for the final two coats of paint. It will be hard to persevere through all the sanding but this is all the foundation for ending up with a beautiful boat. Take your time. You’ll be happy with the end result. Don’t rush and make a mess out of a beautiful Alberg-designed day sailor.
Here are some photos of the final project. I’ve added a gold-leaf cove strip to set off the deep read color of the hull. I’ve applied two coats of the Epiphane Dark Red two-part polyurethane topside paint.
A second coat of black Interlux CSC bottom paint is still needed. I also ended up painting a new waterline with Epiphanes water line paint. This can be painted on with a foam brush.
The finished product is in the water and ready to go. I had a professional come and apply the gold leaf name on the transom.
Good luck to you as you restore your Sea Sprite. All the time and effort will be worth it.Edit
Bright blue sunny skies, a perfect 8 knot sea breeze and 9 competitive Sea Sprites lined up on Saturday, September 9 to finish off a successful season of top-notch one-design racing.
The Race Committee of Tim Sandiford and Kayla Kowal set up a perfect starting line and gave us a clockwise course around Hog Island. A maximum flooding tide paid dividends for teams astute enough play the eddies off Hog Island and the Portsmouth shore. As one tactician described the race after finishing, “It was a race decided by hitting one tack correctly.” Amen to that analysis. Everyone had to navigate a rushing wicked current heading northward between Hog Island Light and the Mt. Hope Bridge.
Halfway through the race, the top three positions changed several times. Leading over to the southwest corner of Hog, was hotshot Bob Catani and crew. Once they turned the corner, they were off to the races for the finish line. Their circumnavigation time was 1:04! Pretty amazing for a 23 foot one-design!
The order of finish with boat and skipper were:
Bramasole – Bob Catani
Hope – Emelia Moreno
Oasis – Bob Rude
New Hope – Dom Messerli
Vexatious – Andrew McKeith
Zara – Chuck Rosco
Lullabelle – David Borton
Seeker – Ian Cozzens
Swallow – Jerry DeRahm
Below is the winning crew with the now famous winner’s perpetual one-of-a kind -trophy of Mr. Hog.
Following the race, skippers and crew were greeted on the BYC deck with free beer and pizza, courtesy of the Sea Spite Association.
There was the return of the famous Marino pulled pork sandwiches provided by the Marino family.
Karen, Lou, and Emilia Marino
Andrea Rounds took photos of the racing and of the post-race gathering at Bristol YC. Here is a link to Flickr and the photos:
The only cloud on the day was the fact that SS Commodore, Dom Messerli was unable to join the festivities due to a positive covid test a week earlier. Congratulations to Dom, however, for all his hard work promoting the class during the 2023 sailing season and his fourth-place finish.
On a super nice day today, Bob Rude and I are excited to send you the sign up link for the fun sail/race around Hog Island to be held on Saturday, September 9th.
This year we are lucky to have BYC provide a starting boat and the sign up can easily be done via the attached link. Please note, there is no cost associated to sign up, just make sure you are a member of the Sea Sprite association. There is only less than one week to go for the fun race around Hog Island.
Please take a moment to sign up via the link here.
On this link, you will also see the SI’s and NOR’s and who has signed up thus far.
We have had a fantastic sailing season with all the Sea Sprites this far and this will be another super fun event. Rumor has it we may be in for a special, very special food treat after the race, possibly bringing back some former tradition from previous Hog Island races!!!
Please let me or Bob Rude know if you have any questions.
Looking forward seeing you out on the water and at the gathering at the BYC after the sailing. Everyone is welcome, skippers, crew, family and friends.
Here are some wonderful pictures and a video of the SS23 fleet in Bristol Harbor in action. The album is on Flickr, and is shot by fleet sailors Andrew McKeith and his wife Shaween. The album is mostly still photos, and can be viewed sequentially using the arrow button on the right to move the pictures. A video of an evening race start follows.
Andrew And Crew
Here is the video of the start of a Wednesday evening race in Bristol Harbor…
What a beautiful sailing venue. Come join the fun! And send some pics of your own!!!
Our own Sea Sprite Association Commodore Dom Messerli ran the tables and finished first at the Annual Sea Sprite Regatta on July 22, with finishes of 2/2 in two races. Bristol Yacht Club, in Bristol RI, graciously hosted the event, supplying the race committee pro and staff as well as the RC boat.
Dom With His Auld Mug
Bob Rude finished second with Max and Mary Sherman finishing third. The Shermans also won the trophy for the best new skipper(s) finish.
Bob, Dom, Max, and Mary
Dave Guinther , Race Committee PRO, had his hands full laying out courses for the fleet of eight boats. Light air and shifty winds swinging from northwest to southwest meant that his able RC crew of Dave Legrand, Bob Yayalian, Roger Carney, and Flip Meyerson were kept on their toes moving marks and start lines. Two races were finally able to be run with great windward-leeward-windward courses. Thanks, gents.
Off The Start In Light Air
Great courses provided for close racing throughout the day. Lots of tacking on the upwind legs and jibing on the downwind legs kept skippers and crew on their toes. It meant you had to be tactically savvy to prevent getting pushed to the back of the fleet.
Close Racing All Day
Exhausted skippers and crews convened at the Bristol Yacht Club for a festive pizza and beer party, courtesy of the national Sea Sprite Association, after a long day of racing.
The next big event for the Sea Sprite fleet will be the annual Race Around Hog Island, scheduled for Saturday, September 9. The Association invites all Sea Sprite Owners to attend this highly anticipated yearly event. Or, come out in your own boat and watch the action.
Our fleet and the Sea Sprite Association continues to grow. We now have the largest class for the Wednesday night Millard Series. Grab a boat and become part of this growing one-design class. Contact Dom Messerli (Dom.Messerli@me.com) or Bob Rude (Rrude1@me.com) for more information. Or, go online to SeaSpriteAssociation.com.
It is with deep sadness that the sailing community of Rhode Island and beyond mourns the loss of long-time sailor and Sea Sprite aficionado Herb Browne, age 92, of Bristol, Rhode Island.
Herb didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He spent his early years living in South Providence, a tough, rough and tumble place. It wasn’t until he moved to the Edgewood section of Providence that he was introduced to sailing. He took to it like the proverbial fish to water, cutting his teeth sailing Beetle Cats, one of the popular wooden one-designs of the day. Later in life, after serving in the military in Korea and after living throughout the United States, he and his wife, Christine, ended up settling in Bristol, RI. There, he quickly became engrossed in the sailing community and from 1977 to 1979 he served as Commodore of the historic Bristol Yacht Club.
Herb always had an eye for beautiful boats. During his time in Bristol, he witnessed the birth and evolution of fiberglass sailing yachts. At one point, the largest fiberglass boat at the Bristol Yacht Club was a 30 foot, Pearson Coaster, owned by his friend, Joe Kinder. Herb’s heart, however, was always centered on racing in one-design boats. At the time, Pearson Ensigns and locally built Sea Sprites were the dominate one-design racing classes on Narragansett Bay. That’s when Herb fell in love with a 23-foot Sea Sprite day sailer, designed by Carl Alberg. As we all know, there’s nothing like the sweet lines of an Alberg design.
Herb was an acknowledge master of one-design Sea Sprite sailing in the region, campaigning his blue-hulled beauty named Scot Free. As all sailboat racers know, having a crack crew comprises 50% or more of a skipper’s success. Herb had two of the best young sailors one could hope for, son Robbie Browne and friend, Carter Skemp. Herb would relish telling stories about skippering Scot Free. Robbie and Carter would do everything else from sail trim to tactics.
Herb modestly insisted that his job was easy…just drive the boat.
Eventually, Herb found it too taxing to be jumping around in the cockpit of his Sea Sprite. It was then he transferred to a Marshall Cat. He never lost his love affair with his Sea Sprite, however. In his later years, Herb and I, along with our wives, would sit on the Adirondack chairs on the shoreline of the Bristol Yacht Club. We would watch the boats sail through the mooring field while reminiscing about all the sailing characters we had met over our lifetimes. Whenever a Sea Sprite under sail would pass into view, Herb would become animated and turn to me an say, “Bob, look at that boat. Look how beautiful she is.” Herb was right; there’s nothing quite as beautiful as a Sea Sprite under sail beating to weather.
Herb’s insights into the Class and his knowledge about class development will be sorely missed as will his smile and wry story telling. His absence leaves a gaping hole in our minds and hearts.
May he eternally sail on a lifted tack with a warm steady breeze.
The Sea Sprite Association has a unique relationship with the Herreshoff Marine Museum. From our members, the HMM has acquired a fleet of five SS23’s along with assorted boat fittings and accessories and many hours of rehab work on the fleet of SS23’s. They are using the boats extensively in their teaching program. And for each of the past 7 years, the SSA has donated $300 to the HHM’s sailing program for both kids and adults.
Bill Lynn, president of HMM, wrote to Chuck Roscoe, Treasurer of the SSA, to thank us for our 2023 donation of $300. Our donation continues to contribute to the world of teaching kids the joy of sailing. It is much appreciated.
Kids In HMM Sailing School Storing Their SS23 At The End Of The Day
After a number of years of considerations about design, costs, and suppliers, a pennant is finally offered for purchase from our source, The SailBag Lady, in Madison, Connecticut.
Will Sofrin, in collaboration with the SSA and using the original line drawings archived at MIT, has created a beautiful fine arts print of the craft. His artwork is beautiful. We have offered his work through our Ship’s Store for many years, and continue to do so. Here is the print:
Each print is customized to reflect colors and names of the boat and owner on high quality paper. They are pretty neat.
Further information is available on the website under “Store”. Here is a link to the website page:
On this page, you will find a link that will get you to the order form that describes layouts available, pricing, etc. Print it out, fill it out, and send it on to Will. He is very responsive, and will answer any questions you may have.
Right now, Will has drawn up only a print for the Weekender. If there is enough interest among Day Sailor owners, he will draw up a Day Sailor print as well. Please email me with a brief note indicating your interest in purchasing a Day Sailor print. I will keep Will and those interested up to date about the numbers.
It was a perfect early May evening as the Bristol Yacht Club hosted the 2023 Sea Sprite Annual Meeting. A musical instrumental duo welcomed Bristol Yacht Club members as well as Sea Sprite sailors and their spouses.
Cocktails were enjoyed prior to the formal 7:00 PM meeting. As you can tell by the following pictures, everyone enjoyed socializing and sharing their latest sea stories and how much they loved their Sea Sprites.
Left to right: Andrew McKeith, Dom Messerli (Commodore), David Borten, Shawn Hogan.
Dejan Radaka (Board of Governors), Michelle Free, Scott Free
Chuck Roscoe (Treasurer) and wife, Kristen
Following some rollicking sea tales, the boat owners assembled in the BYC Chart Room where Commodore Messerli opened the meeting by introducing himself and asking everyone assembled to introduce themselves and share any pertinent information about their sailing history and/or boat information. Members in attendance:
Roberto Garcia
David Borton
Chuck Roscoe
Scott Free
Andrew McKeith
Bob Catani
Dejan Radaka
Bob Rude
Shawn Hogan
Shawen Williams
Great vibes could be felt throughout the Chartroom. We could tell that this promised to be a great evening.
Next on the agenda was to formally induct new officers and board members:
Chuck Roscoe – New Board Member and Treasurer
Dom Messerli – Commodore and new Board Member
Carter Hall – Secretary
All new Board Members and Officers were unanimously approved.
Chuck Roscoe issued the treasurer’s report: The SS Association is solvent to the tune of roughly $6,000. New owners continue to join the association and their membership fees continue to feed the coffers.
Dejan Radeka, Forum editor of the website, encouraged all SS sailors to contribute articles to be posted on the website. He also displayed two new sizes of Sea Sprite pennants that can be ordered from the Sail Bag Lady in Madison, Connecticutt. The cost is $51.00 a single flag, and for orders of twelve or more the cost is $31.50 per flag. Here is a link to the Ship’s Store on the SSA website describing the pennant in greater detail and providing ordering directions. https://www.seaspriteassociation.com/store/pennant/
Different size pennants can be ordered if your Race Committee needs a flag to indicate a Sea Sprite starting sequence.
The Racing Schedule was presented for the year by Bob Rude, Board Member. Each boat owner will be presented with a copy of the Sailor’s Guide to the Racing Rules and The Rules in Brief. It’s never too early to brush up on The Sailing Rules of Sailing, 2020-2024. Let’s continue to have safe fun on the water!
To round out the evening, Commodore Messerli presented the trophies for last year’s sailing and Sea Sprite contributions:
Amon Trophy – Bob Catani
Nancy BelleAward – Bob Catani
Sea Sprite Regatta – Bob Catani
Denise Award – Greg Raleigh (see preceding or following post)
Brown Award – Dom Messerli
As an aside, all our trophies will be permanently displayed at the Bristol Yacht Club in an upstairs glass-enclosed trophy case. (A huge thank you to the BYC and steward Chris Healy for making this happen.)
Greg Raleigh, from Wisconsin, our Fleet Log Editor, is awarded the 2023 Denise Trophy.
The Denise Award is a beautiful wire sculpture of a Sea Sprite 23 made in 2002 , and is named after Gary Collin’s wife Denise. Originally the trophy was awarded to the winner of the Around Prudence Island Race. In 2012, we began awarding it to a person who has contributed significantly to the Sea Sprite world.
Greg is a perfect person to receive the award. He is a full on participant in our Sea Sprite sailing world. I asked him to write up a bio. Here is what he wrote:
July 1, 2009 I bought my SS23 off an eBay auction on my 55th birthday. I bid on it only to appease a coworker, and based on the bid I submitted, I obviously had no expectation of winning the auction. So it must have been fate that brought me into the Sea Sprite world. I had never even heard of Sea Sprites prior to the auction. That fall was spent sanding and painting the bottom and topsides, restoring the bright work, reworking the wiring, and checking over every part that came with the boat. I changed the name of the boat from Kairos II to STIMULUS. It seemed only fitting as I received my first stimulus check from Uncle Sam which was for almost exactly the same amount as the cost of the boat, and it arrived the same day I went to pick it up. That winter I was on eBay daily bidding on boat parts, building a new wooden hatch and Dorade boxes. I also joined South Shore Yacht club (SSYC), Milwaukee, Wisconsin and by spring I was ready to splash. Only problem was that I didn’t know how to sail. I had been on sailboats before, knew I wanted to sail more, but never really learned to sail.
I started by reading whatever I could get my hands on. Then with all that book knowledge, I ventured out on nice days to teach myself to sail. It wasn’t pretty and I’m sure several club members had a good chuckle watching me sail onto my mooring, but mostly they were supportive. At the bar afterwards, they always took the time to answer my many questions. SSYC was not the closest port to my home in Grafton but it has a break wall that creates a large protected area where I could safely practice without getting beat up by the waves. It also emanated good vibes and just felt comfortable in a Cheers sort of way. I always managed to get where I wanted to go but I knew that I wasn’t sailing efficiently, and still had much to learn. I chose to advance my sailing knowledge by crewing on a race boat rather than taking sailing lessons. I found a skipper that was patient and willing to teach a newcomer. For his patience, I have remained a loyal crew member, I’m not sure he will ever forgive me. We have always done the Wednesday night beer can social series of races. We have raced and helped with the race committee for many Queen’s Cup races, a night time dash across Lake Michigan. Annually we do the Hook Race from Racine, WI to Menominee, MI, about 189 miles up Lake Michigan. We fortunately have been division winner three of our last four attempts. We even almost won the whole thing when we double handed it in 2011. We did get temporarily distracted by a storm with over 90 mph winds which washed our wind instruments when the tip of our stick met the lake. I’m proud to say we survived and finished third that year, I learned more in those two days than I ever thought possible. STIMULUS has been raced, and I use that term loosely, in SSYC’s double handed series, Milwaukee Area Sail & Trail (MAST) social series, SSYC pursuit races, and several Louie’s Last Regattas. Most of these are serious fun not serious racing, but it is very competitive because Milwaukee is home to many good racers. I single or double hand most of these races and have become accustomed to being the pickle boat, even with a 289 LMPHRF rating.
Over the years I have gleaned much from the members of the Sea Sprite Association and especially from the forum which is a repository of so much practical wisdom. Eventually, I even began to contribute by responding to questions on the forum, and writing an article. Later, I think I volunteered to help by managing the Fleet Log. One thing I’m sure of, I have received more than I have given and I’m grateful for all I’ve learned.
I retired three years ago from a job that never was work. I was the Safety Officer and Technical Coordinator for the Hyperbaric chamber facility at St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI. We were a vanguard facility, one of the oldest hyperbaric facilities in the country, with a high patient acuity level and were one of the busiest. The rewards were not financial but many. I retired to curling, woodworking, my bonsai trees, and of course sailing. For three weeks in spring and fall I help SSYC by operating the derrick for boat launching and haulouts. I’d like to add a Sea Sprite Regatta or a Round the Hog Race to my sailing resume before I permanently stow my sails. It would be fun kibitzing with fellow Sea Sprite zealots. So…. maybe a new trailer should be my next purchase. Someday I hope to meet in person all of the personalities that I have corresponded with through the Sea Sprite Association.
I wish I had a picture of Greg receiving the trophy. Wisconsin is truly a long ways from Rhode Island!
Our very best wishes to Greg for a well-deserved award. Thank you.
Bristol YC in Bristol, R.I., has graciously offered to host our Annual Meeting next month on May 12th. Cocktails at 5:00 pm, and dinner at 6:00 pm will be in the dining room. We will adjourn around 7:30 to an upstairs meeting room for a short business meeting to vote board members into office, and to meet our new officers Commodore Dom Messerli and Treasurer Chuck Roscoe. Ideas and thoughts about moving forward will be welcomed.
You will order from the delicious menu for your dinner and from the bar for your drinks. You will pay for food and drink that evening. A deposit is not necessary, but reservations are.
Please let Bob Rude at goodreader@cox.net know by Friday, May 5th, how many folks will be in your party.
See old friends, meet new sailors. I know many (maybe most) of you live too far away to make the meeting. If you have issues you would like to comment on, email the secretary Carter at seaspriteassociation@gmail.com with your thoughts to have them presented at the meeting.
We will have a beautiful evening in a gorgeous setting at Bristol YC. I hope you can make it.
You can use your own PayPal account, Venmo, or credit card. Please, no checks. It really becomes painful when I misplace a check.
The SSA is in great shape. The annual report to the annual meeting will read like last year’s. And the really good news is that our leadership/admin reorganization effort is bearing great fruit. Eric Doelling in California will continue as Classifieds Editor. Greag Raleigh in Wisconsin will continue running the Fleet Log. Dejan Radeka will coordinate the Forum. We have a new Commodore Dom Messerli who will also serve as Fleet Commander for the racing fleet in Bristol with the able assistance of Bob Rude. We have a new Treasurer in Chuck Roscoe. Carter Hall will continue on as Webmaster and will coordinate the transition to a more inclusive and clearly defined organization. The BOD is stable. All is looking very good. One more spot remains to fill, the Secretary, and our admin team will be complete.
Thank you all for your participation. You are a wonderful group of sailors. I wish everyone Fair Winds and Godspeed and a wonderful sailing year.
I hope you had a great celebration ringing in 2023. And I hope this new year brings you great joy and happiness.
2023 will see changes to the structure and the leadership of the Sea Sprite Association. We will be spreading out administrative functions. And I will be retiring from my position as Commodore.
I have had a great time helping to build the organization during these past eleven years. I have made many friends, met wonderful fellow sailors, and have had many truly memorable experiences. However, it is time to restructure the SSA organization to engage more people in leadership and administrative positions.
The SSA is a strong, healthy, and vibrant organization. A summary of the state of the SSA is included at the end of this post.
We are seeking participants from around the country who love the Sea Sprite crafts to fill leadership positions of commodore, secretary, and webmaster for the Sea Sprite Association. Positions are for one year. We have a zoom account, and future BOD and organizational meetings will be via zoom. You can live anywhere and enjoy participating in the leadership of the SSA.
Helping fellow Sea Sprite owners to enjoy these fine boats is an incredibly rewarding experience. If you would like to know more about what each position involves , or wish to volunteer for a position, please either email me at: seaspriteassociation@gmail.com or call me at 401-258-1389.
My very best wishes to you all,
Carter
STATE OF THE SEA SPRITE ASSOCIATION
The SSA is well-defined with clear organizational structure. We are formally recognized as a non-profit organization by the state of RI and by the federal government. We have simple but effective by-laws governing the organization. Our leadership group currently consists of a Board Of Directors, a commodore, a racing chair, a webmaster, a historian, and a forum guru.We have an active website promoting communication with postings, a forum, technical support, and classifieds.
The membership is supportive and widespread. Over the past 10 years, 252 sailors have paid dues for at least one year. That number includes about 50 owners of SS28/30/34’s. We are spread out across the US in 30 states, Canada, Alaska, and even England. RI has 63 registered members, Mass 44, Maine 23, and Conn 17. States having one boat include Col, Okla,Ala, Del, Ill, Ind. There are 5 boats in Canada and one boat in England.
The website is active and vigorously used. Site visits have been averaging 100 visits per day for several years, down from around 160 in the early years. Total visits since its inception are 434,000!!. The Forum is active, with archives dating back 25 years. Racing remains very active, with a one-design fleet in Bristol and PHRF participation in many local yacht clubs around the country.
Every year, the Sea Sprite Association and the Bristol Yacht Club host the Sea Sprite Race Around Hog Island. This year’s event was held on Saturday, September 10.
Eight Sea Sprites competed in this year’s event. Some fickle September winds swirled around the Middle Ground starting area for an hour and a half requiring the Race Committee to use an abbreviated shortened course. We could have called this year’s race, “The Race Around Poppy Bell!”
The good news was that we had a light but steady westerly wind which made for some great tacking duels heading up to Poppy and then some strategic downwind sailing angles for the run back to middle ground buoy.
Sea Sprite sailing wizard Bob Cantani outdueled the fleet and finished first. (FYI: Bob has been sailing Sea Sprites since he was a teenager. That’s more years than you can count on all your fingers and toes!)
The final finishing order was as follows:
Bramasole – Bob Catani and Adam
Oasis – Bob Rude and Ted Brandley
New Hope – Dom Messerlli and Josh Rodriguez
Lullabelle – David Borton (single handed!)
Freya – Susannah Holloway and her all female crew of three
Primrose – Thorne and Lane Sparkman (Herreshoff)
Jotun – Craig Fonseca and Richard Dulac (Herreshoff)
Artemis – Ruth Suoto and Pat Crawford
Following the racing, skippers and crew met at the BYC for pizza and beers. As always with racers, strategies were spelled out and tales of woe were shared. The infamous “Mr. Hog” trophy was awarded to the first-place finisher.
Sea Sprite sailors are now looking forward to next summer and the 2023 Millard Series. There’s nothing like one-design racing. Hook up with a Sea Sprite boat and come join the fun.
For more information, contact local fleet commodore, Dom Messerli at Dom.messerli@me.com or Bob Rude: rrude1@me.com.
Great news, the sailing season is upon us and your SeaSprites and your crews can’t wait to go sailing, especially some sailing fun with your SeaSprite comrades! 🙂
This year we have the following in store:
Wednesday Night BYC-Millard Series Racing:May 18th Skippers meetingMay 18th, sign up deadline before late fee kicks in
May 25th, practice race
June 1st, First race
August 31st, Last race
September 7th, Make-up race
The spectacular, super fun Sea Sprite regatta will be:Saturday July 23rd, 1pm
SeaSprite Race Around Hog Island:Saturday, September 10th, 1pm
Looking forward to seeing all the beautiful Sea Sprites out there on the water, wave when you see one! 🙂
I decided this winter’s project would be to clean up the cabin and make more storage space for all of the stuff that one needs when setting out on even the shortest adventure. First, the head had to go! Its placement made it near impossible to access anything ahead of the forward bulkhead. I never used the damn thing anyhow. So out it went along with the plumbing and storage bag which also ate up a lot of potential storage space under the port berth. In its place I made a removeable shelf/seat platform. Next I made another access point in the port berth forward of the aft bulkhead where the bag used to live which now opens up the whole port side berth area for storage and then made up two new caps for the top of the vertical berth panels. The last bit of construction was a 20″ wide cabinet with a drawer and shelf atop the starboard berth attached to the aft bulkhead. All that done it was time for a fresh coat of George Kirby’s Sand color topside paint to replace the glaring white that was just too white no matter what time of day. Now I’ll hopefully have room to sit in the cabin without having to compete with all of the stuff I’ve brought along.
Cuttyhunk is a small island at the the tip of the Elizabeth Islands on the eastern side of Buzzards’ Bay in southeastern Massachusetts. It is a town time has forgotten (except for the 50 moorings in the harbor and all the cruising vessels moored there). Sort of like Brigadoon. Lobster rolls and clam chowder at the shacks dockside, gray shingled old homes along the few streets in the town center, and lots of preserved land. Lots of sea and sky. Wind, too.
A ferry from New Bedford comes once a day in the morning delivering supplies and a few people. It is a great day trip. And a fun and strange and endearing tradition is alive and well….jumping into the water to say farewell each time the ferry departs. Kids, adults, all are welcomed to assemble at the dock to jump. There can be a gaggle of 20 people of all ages doing the Jump for any given departure. An odd way to say goodbye, hope you had fun, but, I guess, a way of jumping for joy.
Sue and I sailing our SS30 bumped into Dejan Radeka and Mary Pat Radeka sailing their SS30 with his daughter and her boyfriend 2 days ago at Cuttyhunk. As the ferry left, our erstwhile Sea Sprite website Forum guru continued the tradition, waving goodbye as he plunged into the waters…
Here he is in mid-flight…
He did survive. He is a big guy, and made quite splash. He was not arrested for his wake (see sign).
I welcome your stories of travel or racing or day sailing in all vessels sea sprite. Describe your time in an email, attach some pictures, and send the email to me at seaspriteassociation@gmail.com. I will write up a post.
It should be Spring, but it isn’t. No boat to work on yet. So I dug out some old brochures from the SSA archives (an almost forgotten bin in my basement), took pictures of them, and strung them together to tell the story of the sea sprite line of boats. The picture quality is adequate (you can read most everything), and the story is fun to follow from the brochures. I also added an oral history thread from the Forum of 2007, threw in a couple of obits, and maybe a couple of pithy comments. If you have nothing else to do……..
So, doing anything this winter? Covid blues got you down? Too much free time on your hands?
Here is a suggestion. Kirk Cusik at Herreshoff needs some help with maintenance projects on the 3 donated SS23’s they use in the sailing school. As you may recall, Carter spent each of the last 3 winters rehabbing their 3 sea sprites. They are heavily utilized in the school, and need a yearly spritz. Take a look at the next post below this one to see the work done on Grayling last year.
We have a great relationship with Kirk and the Herreshoff Marine Museum. The school instructors have raced 1 to 3 boats in the yearly Sea Sprite Regatta, and we have donated much volunteer time working on their SS23’s as well as a yearly gift of $350.
If you have some spare time this winter and would like to do some varnishing and other boat work on our beloved SS23’s, please call Kirk at 401-353-0912.
For the past several years, the SSA has supported the sailing school at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, RI, with donations of time, money, and parts. We have for the past 4 years donated $350 to the school. Members have donated 4 SS23’s as well as sails, blocks, roller furling, and other parts. HMM is an permanent honorary member of the SSA, and their instructor staff has been encourage to race their boats in our fleet races for free.
Last Fall, Zack and Kerry King donated Grayling to HMM. She had been raced by the Kings some years back and is in good shape. She needed some upgrades and repairs. Here is the rehabber-in-chief (Carter) describing the winter:
I took down all the paint inside and outside (not the hull), painted 2 coats of base coat and one coat of white finish inside, bilge, cockpit, cabin trunk, and deck. Same with deck nonskid, but I used a premixed nonskid gray finish 2 coats. I took down all the varnish and recoated with 2 coats of cetol and one clear coat. I took out of the boat and cleaned and repaired the floorboards and the seats, and coated them with 2 coats of sealer. I stripped and varnished the doors. I rebuilt the seat and floorboard supports. I did this indoors at Herreshoff. Here are some pictures of the finished product!!
Stripped:
Beautiful doors. The teak seats and floorboards look good sealed.
We were squeezed into Building 28 with some old Herreshoff wooden boats
Kirk graciously let her be borrowed for the Sea Sprite Regatta on July 25. Carter skippered with crew Jim Goff (John’s father) and Lee Hayes (Matt Hayes’ father). They called themselves the HOGS (Herreshoff Old Guys).They sailed to two third place finishes which earned them an overall second. She still has it!!
And here is the best picture of all. The summer sailing camp this year has been gangbusters. Grayling has been used every day this summer for teaching kids how to sail. Here she is at the mooring last week.
Pretty neat. Six kids putting her away after an afternoon of sailing.
John Holscher has been doing rehab work on his SS23 for a couple of years. He has compiled a set of pictures and general directions for construction of a sliding hatch cover that now are on the website under “Technical”. He has done some fine woodworking.
Greg Raleigh from Wisconsin has constructed a hollow, classic, and beautiful wooden spinnaker pole for his SS23. The details of the pole and the story of its construction is listed on this website under “Technical”.
20 sailors along with crew, spouses, and children gathered Friday, April 12th, at the Herreshoff Marine Museum for our Annual Dinner And Meeting. It was a great evening.
Our dining venue was spectacular. The Herreshoff Museum sits on the Bristol Harbor waterfront. It is a collection of old boat manufacturing buildings that includes a large building housing about 25 to 30 sailing and power boats designed and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company from the 1860’s well into the 20th century
The Hall Of Boats
After strolling about in the Hall Of Boats, we assembled in the America’s Cup Hall Of Fame room with displays of Cup history and 2 walls of photographs of America’s Cup sailors and owners who have had a big impact on the sport. With these (mostly) guys staring down from the walls, it was destined to be a great evening.
And the party began!
Beer And Wine Bar
Leo’s Italian Restaurant in downtown Bristol catered a buffet style dinner…chicken piccata, grilled veggies, salad, eggplant parmesan, sausage and peppers, and 3 cheese pasta. It was absolutely scrumptious.
The conversations flowed. Al and Nita Voskian from Freeport, Maine, enjoyed the SSA dinner as well as time in Bristol. And Walter Hobb came over from Lincoln, RI, joining a large Bristol contingent.
Rob Browne explains to Andrew McKeith supervised by historical Cup figure from wall
Lou and Deb with Herb and Chris in back
Carter presented his annual State Of The Organization summary.
First the SSA, then his picture on the Wall??? My pipe is here somewhere….
Here are the takeaways for 2018 and 2019:
Our statement of purpose guides our spending and planning:
“The Association shall promote interest and participation in the Sea Sprite class of sailing yachts. Activities shall include but are not limited to coordinating racing and cruising, social, cultural, and educational events.”
A subset/amplification of these goals includes promoting a sense of pride in ownership, a sense of family among owners, a commitment to maintaining our aging boats, and a vigorous racing group.
Here is how we worked to reach these goals in 2018 and what we plan for 2019:
The Organization Remains strong. We had 74 paid memberships last year, up from 44, due to the free hat offer. We have a new Forum provider Tapatalk which gives us a capability to embed pictures in a posting directly from our computer with direct picture storage. No more third party hosting. Classifieds are very active. Visits to the website are leveling off at 41,000 a year.
The Budget We have $4500 in the bank, down $200 from last year. We took in $1875 from membership dues, but spent close to $1300 on free hats and $300 to Herreshoff to maintain three SS23’s in their sailing school. Our goal is to cover 7 to 8 years of admin costs including website maintenance if we get to lean years with no dues. We have reached our goal.
2019 Plans Dues continue at $25. No freebies. Admin hit of $600 for 3 year website costs next year. Donations continue to Herreshoff of $350 to maintain 3 SS23’s in their sailing school and free membership in the SSA and free entries in summer SS23 racing. Racing events will be the same as last year…SS2 Regatta late July and ‘Round The Hog in early September.
2018 Awards Carter won the SS23 Regatta and ‘Round The Hog, each by a whisker. Bob Catani won the Wednesday evening race series, and was awarded the Nancy Belle trophy as the best SS23 racer on Narraganset Bay. The Browne Award for the racer exhibiting a high level of sportsmanship on the race course went to John Pagnoni sailing Belligerence. Lou Marino was awarded the Denise Award for outstanding contribution to the organization for his yearly ‘Round The Hog cookouts. He also contributed as liaison to the SS23 fleet for the Wednesday evening race series.
Lou embracing the Denise Trophy
And that, folks, was it. What a night. Lots of fun, stories traded, friendships continued. The organization remains strong.
2019 dues will be $25, same as always. No hats, pins, flags, or other goodies this year. The treasury needs a boost. Your joining/rejoining keeps the sea sprite spirit alive and the boats afloat. For a short pep talk about why join, click here: Membership pep talk
Please use PayPal to pay your dues. It saves your SSA Coordinator much time. You can use your credit card without a separate PayPal account. Here is the link: SSA PayPal dues
If you prefer to pay by check, here are instructions on how to do so: Pay by check
The 2018 ‘Round The Hog annual race was held on Saturday, August 25, under gorgeous blue skies and a perfect 10-knot breeze. Sailing days get no better.
The race is a self start, no protest, no fee race around Hog Island located just outside of Bristol Harbor. For this year we had 7 boats. The wind was directly from Hog Island, and we chose to go clockwise around with the upwind leg up Hog Island channel. Lulabelle (Carter Hall) got off to a good start, and headed up the channel leading the pack. We all squeezed upwind, and got a lift to get past land into the Mount Hope Bay channel. Everyone tacked to get around the lighthouse, and sailed another long close-hauled leg to the upwind bouy. Remarkably (no, it really was remarkably!) Lulabelle was still in first. She managed to stave off a furious challenge from Bob Catani in Bramasole on the dead downwind leg. It was close racing, with the fleet continuing to race closer together. Rounding off the fleet finishing were Bob Rude in Apsaras, Lou Marino in Hope, Adrew MacKeith in Vexatious, Franco Rigatoni in Pau Hana, and Dom Meserli in New Hope.
And then to the barbecue at the Merino’s. Lou again produced his famous barbecued pulled pork, everyone brought dishes to share, stories were told, and the season remembered.
Gathering at Lou’s patio
The spread
Mr. Hog disapproves of pulled pork for lunch
Bob Rude telling a tale
We all had smiles
A wonderful setting
Mr Hog dines the next day still disapprovingly
The end of season ‘Round The Hog races and the cookout at Lou and Karen and Emilia’s home in Bristol are just plain wonderful. I know it signals the end of the racing season, but when my boat splashes down in May, I am already looking forward to the warmth and good feelings of the day. Our continued thanks to the Marino’s for hosting.
The article below appeared in the Bristol Phoenix on June 7, 2018. It is written by Christy Nadaline. The pictures are from Lou Marino.
Every girl wants a prom dress that makes her feel great. Not every girl gets to wear a prom dress that says so much about who she is.
Emilia Marino, daughter of Lou and Karen Marino of State Street, didn’t want just any dress when the graduating Bay View senior attended her final prom last week. She managed to marry her creativity and her favorite sport into an unforgettably fun frock.
“My mom taught me to sew when I was young,” said Emilia. “She’s a fantastic seamstress.”
At the same time, Emilia’s dad, and the East Bay Sailing Foundation, taught her to sail. For years, she has crewed for her father every Wednesday night, racing their Sea Sprite Hope out of the Bristol Yacht Club.
She’s currently captain of the Bay View sailing team, which also practices out of the BYC, and she spends her summers teaching sailing at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.
“I was always coming up with these random ideas when I was younger, and at one point I decided I wanted to make my wedding dress out of a white sail,” she said. “But that’s so far in the future.”
The prom, on the other hand, was right around the corner.
She told Peter Wisotzkey, sailing foundation program director and Bay View coach, what she had in mind.
“He was able to find a retired rainbow spinnaker in the basement of the club,” Emilia said.
photo by Lou Marino
The pattern on the spinnaker lent itself well to its new purpose, and the dress fea-
tures a fitted blue bodice with red, blue, orange and yellow stripes fanning from the waist.
Emilia, (who is also an accomplished ceramics artist) plans to attend URI in the fall and study ocean engineering. And yes, she will be joining their sailing team.
But, what shoes to wear with a dress made from a rainbow spinnaker?
“Rainbows, of course!” laughed Emilia, referencing the ubiquitous leather flip flops known for their durability and popular with sailors.
“I’m not going to spend a bunch on money on shoes that won’t go with the dress, that I’d end up kicking off anyway.”
Jon Goff, avid Bristol sea sprite sailor, racer, and inveterate creative tinkerer, is in the process of rebuilding Raven, an SS23 daysailer. His work is a remarkable story spanning several years and many hours that he has now documented on a newly created and exquisitely detailed blog. Here is the link to Raven Rebuilding. And below is his home page. He looks forward to your comments, advice, and thoughts.
SEA SPRITE 23
RAVEN
Rejuvination of a Classic
During the summer of 2009 my father and I began to discuss the purchase of a boat that was larger than our Herreshoff 12 ½ but smaller than the C&C 35 that my wife and I previously owned.
The boats that we were principally looking at were the Pisces 21, Herreshoff Fish and Alerion 26. That summer I sailed in a number of races on Elf a Sea Sprite 23. I found Elf to be a pleasure to sail, well balanced and possessing an attractive shear. The Sea Sprite 23 was added to the list of boats. In particular the DaySailer model with a larger cockpit and more protected seating for sailing with small kids. The price point was also very attractive being less than 10% the cost of any the other boats in consideration. At the end of the summer the Sea Sprite 23 fleet sailed in the Herreshoff Regatta amongst all of the classics. Seeing the Sea Sprites sailing alongside more traditional classics gave me an idea and at that moment this project was born.
Taking the classic hull and shear profile of the Sea Sprite 23 daysailer and couple it with a traditional Herreshoff Cabin Top; something similar to that found on a Herreshoff Fish Class, or Alerion.
The GOAL became to rebuild a Sea Sprite 23 DaySailor to be more aesthetically pleasing, easier to sail and to create an ideal family boat for all ages that will last generations.
Luke has written a lovely article just published in Sailing World about his first boat, an SS23 he sailed in Bristol a few years ago. Here is the link: Luke’s article. Great Spring reading!!
I hope you are thinking of cover removal, varnish, and bottom paint these days. There is, truly, a whiff of Spring in the air (maybe it is the odor of the varnish).
This post is a continuing request for spare parts. The Herresmhoff Marine Museum in Bristol runs a great sailing program. They own a fleet of Herresmhoff 12 1/2’s, and are expanding to include added bigger boats as the school grows to include more advanced sailors, older folks, and even rentals for the day. To that end, last year they accepted in donations three SS23’s to add to their growing boat inventory.
As you know, our boats are older craft, and often in need of repair. Kirk Cusic, Director of the Herresmhoff sailing program welcomes any spare boat parts you can spare. This might include blocks/winches/shackles, old lines, standing rigging, sails, special racing gear, or anything else used over the years and no longer needed.
Your donations will be made to the Herresmhoff Marine Museum, a non-profit organization, and are tax deductible. To coordinate a donation or to ask questions , please contact Kirk either by email at k.cusic@herreshoff.org or by phone at (401) 253-5000.
Good Old Boat featured Ms Lynne G and her owners Joel and Lynne Schuman in its March, 2016 magazine. It is a great story. As you might remember, her rehab is carefully documented by Tim Lacky, from Maine, who did the restoration. Bill Jacobs has written a fine article, and he and Good Old Boat have generously given us permission to post his work on our website.
As part of my winter project to post descriptions of rehabs for reference by Sea Sprite owners, here are 2 more recent major SS23 restorations done by Tim Lackey in Whitfield, Maine. They are Ms Lynn G, owned by Joel Schuman of Eagle Harbor, Wisconsin, and Aventura, owned by Peter Krause of MacMahan Island, Maine. Tim does fine work, and posts terrific documentation of the entire project.
His site is Lackey Sailing. From his home page click on Projects Log to get to links for Ms Lynn G and for Aventura. Alternatively you can get to the project documentation for each boat from the Restorations category on the right-hand menu on the home page of the Sea Sprite Association website.
Many of you know the work done by Chance Smith on Heritage, his SS23, from his postings on our Forum. Chance’s work is meticulous, and his documentation is beautiful. He believes we are all stewards of our boats. It shows in his work.
Chance posted many posts on our Forum for several years. You can reference them by going to the SS23 Forum, and typing “Heritage” into the Search box at the top right-hand location. You can get to this site as well by clicking here: Search SS23 Forum link Unfortunately, due to Photobucket’s recent decision to eliminate 3rd party hosting, the pictures associated with those posts are not available. We are working to resolve this problem.
However, Chance did write several posts for a forum on the Pearson-Ariel website describing his work on through-hulls, cockpit drains, brass portholes, and the cabin sole. Click on the following link to get to his postings on their site:
Norm Grant is a Rhode Island based photographer who among other subjects has taken some gorgeous pictures of sailboat racing on Narragansett Bay. He has been a photographer for 30 years, currently producing video for the Community College of Rhode Island and shooting freelance photo and video assignments. He welcomes inquiries for event photography, documentaries, or corporate videos, and can be reached through his website at http:////normangrant.zenfolio.com
He has kindly lent our website numerous photos of Sea Sprite 23’s sailing in local races in the upper Narragansett Bay. The images below are from Bristol YC races in 2010 and 2013 as well as from the Mount Hope Sailing Association races in 2013 and the Herreshoff Regatta from 2010. You will also see a few of them cropped and used as web site headers. If you use any of these pictures from our site, please give him appropriate credit. If you would like prints, they can be ordered from his website.
By the way, if you would like to while away some time in the cold (or even warm) weather season, go to his website and scroll through his galleries. He has some spectacular shoots of PHRF yachts and big boat Herreshoff classics racing in the Upper Narraganset Bay.
SEA SPRITE RACING PICTURES FROM NORM GRANT. Single click on photo for full size screen.
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