Just a very quick reminder…membership dues! Thanks to those who have already sent in their 2015 dues. We count on only dues for support. The Sea Sprite Association is strong, and getting stronger. Please see the annual report of the BOD meeting for fiscal year 2014 posted just below for details.
Dues are the same as last year…$25. You can pay by check or PayPal. See To Join/Renew on the website.
And thank you. Carter
Here are the minutes from the Board Of Directors meeting held last week on January 22, 2015:
2014 SSA Board Of Directors Meeting Minutes
January 22, 2015
The Sea Sprite Association Board Of Directors met Thursday evening, January 22, 2015, at the Country Inn in Warren, RI to review the year for 2014 and to plan for 2015. Present were Herb Brown, Dana Menillo, Bob Catani, Dejan Redeka, and Carter Hall. Chad Brown was absent. The following items were discussed.
OLD BUSINESS
Financial
The balance sheet for 2014 was reviewed. Net balance grew from $1169 to $2673. Income was generated by membership dues ($1925 from 77 members up from $1375 from 55 members last year) and race fees. Administrative costs continue low in the range of $250, but will be higher next year as initial 3 year prepayment of some costs expires.
Membership dues for 2015 will remain at $25. Our goal remains to have 6 years of operating costs saved.
Membership
Active dues paying members rose from 55 to 77 this year. For the past 2 years we have had a total of 98 members. States represented for the 2 years rose from 14 to 21. One email blast was sent and one web posting done reminding owners of dues. Several insertions were placed into the website suggesting users join the SSA. Membership may have grown because benefits were added for members only (10% off at Jamestown Distributors and Thurston Sails). Sea Sprite owners also joined to sell boats.
Dues as noted above will remain at $25 for 2015. Benefits will continue for members only, and a placement of a classified ad will still require membership.
Organization
The SSA remains well structured and financially intact. The website is active and fully accessible to all, with 75 visitors per day visiting 400 to 500 pages per day. Numerous rehab projects were documented and placed on the site. Bristol organized a How To Race Fast mid-winter seminar. Classifieds grew,with a total of 22 boats listed for sale in 2014 and 16 sold.
A suggestion was made to focus on enhanced PR. Ideas included promoting articles about the sea sprite in sailing magazines and about events in the Providence Journal, identifying local pr contacts to promote sea sprite sailing. Other ideas welcomed for sailing venues across the country.
Ads
The no ad policy continues. A Ship’s Store of limited items (no clothing to be offered) was added, and a fine arts print offered. The SSA will receive 10% of sales. Line drawings are also offered at cost. 2 local partners are promoted (Jamestown Distributors and Thurston Sails) as providing members with a 10% discount.
Current policy will be continued. No expansion planned.
NEW BUSINESS
Taxes
At current level of income, as a non-profit organization, the SSA will not be required to pay state or federal taxes. However, a determination by the IRS is required. It will cost a one time fee of $400. A yearly emailing declaration to the IRS is required as a tax report.
The determination fee of $400 will be paid this year, and a request for a tax-exempt determination review will be filed with the IRS. The email tax report will be filed for 2014.
Class Rules
The BOD directs that a Rules Committee be formed to develop class rules for the SS23. It will formulate a draft, submit the draft to the membership for review, and promulgate a final set of Rules And Regulations. The Rules Committee will have full and final responsibility for the Rules and their implementation.
Narraganset Bay SS23 Racing
Racing for NB was discussed. The current schedule is active and well received. However, there is some contention regarding high fees charged by Bristol YC for non BYC members to race in the weekly evening races. A meeting will be held this winter to review the planned fees by BYC for 2015 and to consider alternative racing plans.
New Board Members
Herb Brown has sold Scot Free, and wishes to resign. Paul Sollito will take his place temporarily until officially confirmed at the April meeting.
By-Law Changes
The following changes to the By-Laws will be drawn up and voted on at the Annual Meeting in April:
1. A Treasurer will be added to the organization and duties outlined.
2. A paragraph will be added delineating how SSA assets will be distributed in the event of the organization’s demise. The BOD proposes that assets would be distributed to a sailing non-profit organization such as The Herreshoff Museum.
These minutes have been reviewed and accepted by the Sea Sprite Association Board Of Directors on January 28, 2015.
Dejan Radeka has written several terrific articles describing major projects we all have contemplated as we sail and restore our SS23’s. Here are excerpts from 4 with links to the Technical Section of the website for the full article, including pictures.
Sea Sprite 23 Chain Plate Upgrade/Replacement Project – by Dejan Radeka
By now, the youngest SS 23 is just shy of being 30 years old. As discussed elsewhere in the forum, there are many structural components on these boats that are at or near failure and will require some sort of repair, replacement or upgrade in order for the boat to continue to be safe and functional.
The chainplates are probably the most stressed set of components within the rigging system, closely following the oft cursed deck support beams and sodden mast step area deck core issues.
Please note that this article assumes that you have already tackled deck core and mast support beam issues. All of these systems must be sound, and work in unison, in order for your rig to perform optimally and correctly.
Chainplate failure can manifest itself in the following ways:
Before discussing the repair/replacement, it is important to first understand how they were installed during construction………….
To read the entire article and to view diagrams and pictures, click here
Mast Compression Post Project – by Dejan Radeka
Eventually, as with most older fiberglass boats with deck stepped masts, the under deck support beams on your Sea Sprite 23 will begin to get tired. Unlike larger boats with bulkheads that can help spread the load of a deck support beam, the 23 has no such interior components. Instead, the builders glassed two athwartships wooden beams across the deck layup (upside down) before flipping the deck and laying the deck onto the hull. In addition to the two beams, once the deck was laid onto the hull they also glassed gussets on either end, to attempt to spread the load to the hull sides.
All of this will be easily visible in all but the Ryder built boats (which have a head liner), so it is relatively easy to inspect for the impending failure of the deck supports. You’ll need to lie on your back, look up and inspect the beams for any cracking. Also look at the radiused transition/edge of the forward cabin trunk and deck for cracks.
Up on deck, you can look for more cracking or crazing, again at the radiused transition of the forward cabin trunk and deck. Note that this area can be confusing to inspect, because in parallel, the boat may also be suffering from a sodden balsa deck core around the mast step area. The deck may look compressed, in addition to showing cracking and crazing. The mast step itself may also look like it “sank” into the deck, which is a good sign that the core has failed.
To read the entire article and to view pictures, click here
Porthole replacement/upgrade project – by Dejan Radeka
This technical article about porthole replacement is adapted from several of my posts in the Forum about this topic.
With three different builders, and some 500 plus hulls built over a span of almost 40 years there are many variations in fit, finish and hardware found on the Sea Sprite 23. A good example is the set of portholes that came with your boat. Unless you have a late model Ryder built hull with the nice bronze portholes, you most likely have some variation of aluminum framed plexiglass fixed port, or perhaps a slightly better quality, yet non bronze, opening port. If they are the former, I’m sure they leak like a sieve and are cloudy and nasty looking, with corroded aluminum frames.
After contemplating this for several years I bit the bullet and decided to get some new portholes for Firefly. I wanted bronze. In my opinion it was the only option for the pretty Sprite.
For almost two years I searched eBay, consignment shops, etc for used ports. The main problems I found with used ports include:
1) They never have the trim rings, which make them essentially useless.
2) The condition is never very good
3) They’re always too big for the Sprite
4) They’re way overpriced.
I finally had enough of the searching. I bought new, bronze opening ports from NewFound Metals in Port Townsend, WA http://www.newfoundmetals.com).
To read the entire article and to view pictures, click here
Lazarette Deck Rebuild Project – by Dejan Radeka
This was the first major project I undertook on Firefly. Many Spriters with pre-Ryder boats like mine, will ultimately recognize this major flaw in the execution of the lazarette deck hatches for the outboard motor well. These hatches were simply cut out of the deck lamination, with hinges and trim added. The balsa core was simply covered over with sealant. Over time, water would get into the deck laminate, saturate the balsa core, and cause delamination.
We’ll take a quick detour from the project to provide some context. Carl Alberg actually designed the Sea Sprite 23 to have a small inboard motor; this is evident from the lines drawing. The vast majority of Sprites built however, did not have the inboard option, rather they were equipped with an outboard motor mounted in a lazarette motor “well.” Many sailboats of this size and vintage were so equipped. With this option there is virtually no above decks storage available as the motor takes up most of the lazarette area. Another disadvantage is that you cannot fully tilt the motor out of the water, therefore the boat suffers the associated drag while sailing, and the lower unit becomes fouled during the course of the season. Lastly, on the Sea Sprite this is a really lousy design because to mount the outboard means you have to leave the lazarette hatch open all the time because the outboard head unit stands proud of deck level.
Now back to our story. When I bought the boat in March, 2009; there was still snow on the ground; everything was frozen, and the sodden lazarette deck was not obvious to me.
To read the entire article and to view pictures, click here