Let's start with the desert first.



From this



It's sort of the reverse of what most do, which is put a huge cabin on a small boat.

Full story here http://www.tritondaysailor.com/

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Interesting idea. The Triton was about the first successful glass cruiser and quite a few have unremarkably and safely circumnavigated. Of glass boats, one of the finest.

For those interested in the early days of glass, check "Heart of Glass."

Gosh, that is quite lovely.

Doesn't look like frozen snot any more..

A couple of my favorite shots:

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She looks like an oversize ensign (not surprisingly) in those pictures.

I understand there's a class of chopped J24's somewhere.

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Curious what the interior looks like. Could be quite serviceable.

would have looked even better if he had cut a little more sheer into her before re-decking.
I wonder what price is on that "for Sale" sign.

Another one... this for $249K (!!!) and not as successfully executed IMO.

http://tinyurl.com/3y32o7

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249k for a daysailor cobbled together from an old blister infested plastic boat!?!?!?

is it just me, or does it appear the whole world is smoking crack?

That's what you do when you find an old 6mR or 8mR that has been reconfigured for cruising. You rip that stuff off of there and get her back flush!

As much time as you spend in the Carribean, I am surprised you haven't seen the IC24's, Gareth. That's a J/24 hull with a different deck on the. Originally used as a club boat among the different venues of the Carribean, they have now made their way to Dallas and I hear a couple of other places in Texas are considering them.

Mickey Lake

Re-imagining boats like this is great stuff! A rock solid hull you can dress however you wish. Those hulls were built like proverbial tiger tanks.

A lot of work! He's got many thousand hours in this project, just in case people think it's a walk in the park.

I notice he's selling it. He won't see his investment in time, not even close. But, who cares? Nicely done, and I wager a fine boat for someone who wants to day sail a large party or to weekend. It's not my cup of tea, but it opens the doors to imaginative thinking.

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Loverly,

Thanks for posting that.

Excellent! I've always been fond of the Alberg-Pearson boats. I honeymooned in a triton and owned an Alberg 35 for many years.
I wonder how much lighter the Triton daysailer ended up. Losing some weight would improve it.

Thanks, Gareth.

TimH may not have been afloat longe enough to know that glass boats like the Triton made before the Carter-era energy crisis have not experienced osmosis blisters.

I think a lot of very ordinary looking glass boats could be transformed by chopping off their glass houses and replacing them with wooden ones, large or small.

That $249K boat has been "on the market" for at least 5 years now, and has become something of a running-joke among Triton owners.

The boat that started this thread, on the other hand, found a new owner shortly after its launch.

Jim, I don't think they did any match-racing before the boat was sold, but I've come to doubt that the reduced weight would have made a remarkable difference. Tritons can vary significantly in weight from one to another before one even picks up a saw.

This pic shows the relative waterlines of three Tritons, and that represents a difference of roughly 3000# (30%!!) between the top and bottom tape.. It's been suggested that the Daysailor above floated somewhere between the bottom two tapes, which means it turned out to be about the same as a light-ish unmodified Triton.
In comparison to the bulletproof-weight hull, Pearson built the deck/cabin components rather lightly.

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Actually I *was* wondering about that. When I was working in marinas back in the 80s the only boats we did blister work on were the lower quality stuff, like your catalinas and columbias.
I was wondering especially about the Ingrid 38 hulls built by Blue Water in Port Townsend (actually they were made in Woodinville I believe).

There was an era when glass hulls often were mated with wood cabins, coaming, etc. Even a handful of Folkboats were built this way--with the lapstrakes molded into the glass. The urge for low maintenance seemed to kill these efforts, however. There are lots of junkyard hulls laying around these days waiting for the transformation. As a project, i would be inclined to do this rather than a wood hull from scratch, myself.

Do I recollect correctly that the Tritons did not have molded headliners? The later Pearson boats did.

Early Tritons had no liner, but later models did. I think the upgrade was added in '64 or so, around the same time they switched to encapsulated ballast, but I could easily be off by a year or three.

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Did the Ingrids have any hull lamination problems? They are probably about the most beautiful of the plastic boats IMHO.

That website's a keeper.

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Yeah, that's a really complete construction log, and it resulted in a very nice boat. I always liked Tritons even with their original undistinguished deck molds, and that one is spectacular! Good job!

And, dammit, it got me thinking - I have a Mariner; a Rhodes 19 with a semi-ugly cabin that sleeps four legless midgets and a fiberglass cockpit that resembles a worn-out jacuzzi. It's a very nice sailing boat, but it's not pretty except from 100 yards away. Damn! I don't need another project, but it sure would make a lovely little daysailer with the house from a Bridges Point 24 and wooden cockpit seats . . . . .

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We have some wonderful 50's and '60's boats that would react well to that treatment.
Some of the early John Spencer keelers sell for virtually nix and have fabulous looking hulls.

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I've been on one where the whole interior was rough, sprayed chopped glass.

sounds painful

Here is Tim's forum. He is the guy who redesigned the Triton Daysailer.

http://www.triton381.com/forum/

If you can get over your fixation with wood. It is a great place to meet up with fans of classic plastics!

Most glass boats of that era were designed by respected designers and had attractive hulls but er, unfortunate deck moldings. The hulls were solidly built and are selling for very short money these days. If the hull design is appealing, recycling such a hull is a very cost-effective way to build a boat like this.

If I were to make a daysailer type out of an older fg hull, I'd be looking for a clapped out Bristol 29 hull. Halsey Herreshoff adapted an Alerion type model for the class. This one would make a good candidate (though not a basket case): recent sails and awlgripped hull, decent engine, tiller steering, custom winter cover... http://tinyurl.com/2ktqsv

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"TimH may not have been afloat longe enough to know that glass boats like the Triton made before the Carter-era energy crisis have not experienced osmosis blisters."

Brother had a Pearson Vanguard of the same vintage as the Triton posted. He had some minor problems with osmotic blisters. Nothing terrible, but they were there.

The thing is, with those hulls there is so much meat. Built before they knew the engineering well, and they really laid the glass and resin on. His hull was hand laid, and a few blisters were mere pimples. I think he said the hull at the joint with the keel was 1 3/4 inches thick. Real MOJO in the hulls. The deck and cabin structures were a different matter. Bill reported lying ahull in a gale in the Pacific and watching the coachroof oilcan, with more than a little consternation.

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Their forum for wood boat freaks is called "The Splinter Group"


I recommend that the Bilge's name be changed to THAT!!

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the hulls on the Ingrids are extremely thick from what I have heard. Isnt the blistering caused by the type of resin? I cant remember. I thought moisture got in and had reactions to the styrene or something.

The decks on early Pearson boats were balsa cored. When the balsa rotted, as was common, the decks got limp.