|
 In
the winter of 1995 I read an article in the New York Times
business section about Eric Goetz and his boat building
business (Sunday, January 22, 1995-section 3). At the time
they were working like mad on a number of America’s Cup
programs and were “top dogs” in the high performance sail
boat building business game. I called them and was
introduced to Hal Walcoff, who invited me to visit their
plant in Bristol, Rhode Island and discuss my new A Scow
ideas. In February of 1997 I visited Goetz and was blown
away with their technology. Also during this trip I was
introduced to Dirk Kramers who became our designer and idea
man.
In June of 1997 Dirk and Hal traveled to
Minnetonka to sail on Victory (’86 Melges) and to learn more
about A Scows.
Dirk started working on drawings and
ideas, but because of personal issues on my part the project
was put on hold until the spring of 2000. Rob Evans entered
the project at this time. We were looking at building a
carbon fiber hull at an all up weight of 1200 lbs. (note:
the idea of a lighter carbon fiber hull was dropped in
2002.)
In June of 2000, M100 (’85 Melges) was
measured with a laser inferometer by Andrew Williams to
determine the hull shape. The computer told us that shape
was a little bumpy, but generally okay. However, the shape
was not symmetrical which, obviously, needed to be
corrected. Other minor changes to the shape were also made
to allow the boat to float on it's lines properly as an
eventual 1,200 pound design.
Building "A" Hull
To build a new hull, you need
a mold to build the hull in. To build a mold, you need a
plug, which is the hull shape, but made in styrofoam. A plug
can be milled using large milling machine, which is driven
by computer programs.
During the Christmas season of 2001 I met
long-time Minnetonka scow sailor Chuck Gorgen at a party
where we talked about the A Scow project. He told me of a
firm by the name of PAR Systems in Shoreview, MN just north
of St. Paul. PAR Systems manufactures huge 5 axis milling
machines used in aircraft and boat plug work. Chuck
introduced me to Charles Haberman, who was very interested
in making the hull and deck plugs. At this time I was also
introduced to Lance Molby, who became our local computer
expert and did a wonderful job of fitting all the pieces
together.
We started building the hull plug in late
February of 2002 along the lines of the current A Scow
hulls. The only changes to the common A shape was to better
streamline the hull by removing the "bumps" and increasing
the hull width at the bow and stern by about 6cm. The
length, width, molded depth and deck crown measurements are
very near common A Scow dimensions. It took a good two
months to complete the plugs with all the careful checking
we did to be sure we were making class legal tooling.
Thanks again to Charles and Lance.
We had a bumpy time when we started the
mold tooling, but were saved by Mike Parks, who formerly
worked for Johnson Boat Works for some 15 years. He went
into his own fiberglass repair business when Johnson was
sold in 1998. Mike went to work... and fourteen hand rubbed
coats of wax later started building both the deck and hull
molds.
We went through
some 3000+ pounds of fiberglass and resin building
the two molds. When the glass work was finished Rick Bohn
of Bohn Welding put some 3500 pounds
of steel around the two molds... 6 full days of cutting,
fitting and welding. The same work also was done for the
center truss plug and mold.
On Dec 9th, 2002 Mike and
I started molding the deck. The hull came next, followed by
the center truss. Lance and Charles designed and water jet
cut the bulkheads and side trusses from preformed foam and
glass. The net result-- "a perfect fit!”
Our design incorporated
an improved center-truss and sideboard trusses that improve
stiffness of the boat and add longevity to the hull.
The center truss and side
trusses were glued and glassed in place. The deck fit very
well and was glued and glassed in place. The finished hull
and deck were removed from the mold on February 27th, 2003.
We then took the boat
home to Shed 9 after making stops at Composite One, PAR
Systems, and CBF by Pierre (Gerard Pierre), who made the
center truss plug. We wanted to show them the finished boat
and thank them for their great work.
Rigging and Sailing
In April of 2003 Sander
Sundberg, the official ILYA measurer, measured both the
Victory tooling and boat and found them to be in full
compliance with all ILYA Class A scantlings. In other words
there is no question the hull of Victory was built as a
class legal A Scow.
Once the boat was home, I really went to
work fitting out all my ideas which
were finished in time for a May 4th launching. It happened
to be a very cold, wet, windy day.
 We
got the boat up on the it's newly rebuilt and painted lift
(by Willie Crear). A great, fun party was hosted by Tom and
Georgia Burton with all the builders, suppliers and crew.
Thanks to Hale, Dirk, Charles, Lance,
Gerard, Mike and so many others including the fabulous
Victory crew who have made this project a successful
reality.
In the following weeks and months, we
sailed our tails off with practice, race, practice, race and
more practice, both home and away. Although we're all
experienced "A" sailors and have sailed together many times,
there was plenty of orientation to the new boat and we all
wanted to "up our game" along with the new boat. We did not
win all the races, but we did bring up the level of
competition one small notch, just as all those that have
proceeded us.
Moving to carbon fiber
and the V38
In the fall of 2005, Susana
and I decided to move forward with the carbon fiber boat
project. After several months of planning, meetings and
trips to vendors, we formed Victory by Design, L.L.C. to
give us a proper organizational structure. Following much
discussion we decided upon V38 as the name for the new boat.
Our next effort was to gain organizational support from the
Inland Lakes Yachting Association (ILYA) in order to
interest local sailors in purchasing boats.
The assurance of
competition and innovation
On October 14, 2006, the ILYA
Board of Directors unanimously voted to authorize the
participation of carbon fiber composite hulls in the A Scow Open
Class racing events. The board action also allows the
sideboards to be built of carbon fiber composite materials.
This decision affirms the nature of the A
class to be one that allows for development and innovation.
We are poised to take advantage of the new ruling, and have
well known Goetz Custom Boats of Bristol, Rhode Island lined
up to build hulls. The boat is expected to weigh in at 1250
pounds, all up. The spars and rudders are constructed of
carbon fiber as well. We are very excited about this
long-dreamed-of carbon fiber boat, and know it will provide
for spectacular sailing.
This new ILYA authorization establishes a
sub-class within the A Scow Open Class Fleet that assures
racing competition for the new lighter-weight boat. We think
it's likely that the combination of safety, ease of
handling, and brute speed of the V38 will bring sport boat
enthusiasts from around the country into racing one of the
world's fastest monohulls. |
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