Osprey 55

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Graham T
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Osprey 55

Post by Graham T »

When I first saw Osprey 55 in the boats for sale section I immediately thought of a fellow club member who I have been trying to get into Osprey sailing for a couple of years now. As soon as I saw the pictures though I knew that this was a real time machine of a boat and to rig it for modern Osprey fleet racing would not only put unnecessary strain on an elderly boat but would lose a piece of Osprey history in the process. I pointed my friend towards a plastic Osprey on e-bay and determined to restore 55 to her original condition – not too hard considering that she is completely rigged as she was from new….

She has been in my workshop for a day now and I am already pondering rigging questions when I should be stripping varnish – given that I want her to be original as possible but to still be sailed regularly what sort of string should I be using for the running rigging? 3 strand knicker elastic as she has at present or new dyneema that won’t stretch but will look out of place?

She has a small patch on the foredeck where the top veneer has been sanded through – redeck, patch or leave alone and call it a sign of her age? I want her to look good but she is a 1957 boat. I don’t want her to be too good to sail in case I scratch her!

The fastenings under the paint are corroding and blowing the paint off. Those I have tried to undo to replace just shear the heads off. I guess the answer is to drill them out, plug the hole and put new screws in unless someone has a better idea…..

No doubt many more questions will be raised when I start in earnest….

Graham
Graham T
Osprey 1340, Osprey 1245, Osprey 55, Miracle 1358, Laser heap, ancient Mirror kit half assembled, Project Miracle in need of decks........
Kielder Water Sailing Club
Michael Brigg
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by Michael Brigg »

Do whatever you need to do to get her sailing at the standard you want her to sail at as quickly as possible. If you spend too long pondering the nature of the running rigging you will loose the momentum. Nothing looks out of place on a boat you enjoy sailing. You can always start spending time getting the period look once you have her out on the water being preserved in the best way there is. You will ultimately end up with two sets. A "spare" set of "Period" lines for special events and a "Working set" of sailing rigging for the business end of giving the boat the thrashing it likes best. Modern lines dont put too much stress on the boat, its the crew that load them up that do that.

If you are sailing with a modern fleet I think this can get to be a problem as a slow boat, howver good it looks can end up being a bit lonely. My own opinion is that its too many different coulored lines that marks out a modern boat. The psychedelia shouts out "Complicated." A classic boat has a modest simplicity about its control lines (OK perhaps that is because they didn't have them in those days) and sticking to a very limited range of colours for your lines will go a long way towards keeping a proper period feel to the boat without compromising the quality of the rig.

If that patch on the deck is going to offend you then replace it in the way that you can 1) afford and 2) enjoy. It is after all a repair and if this was a new boat you would do a proper job so why not a proper job for an old boat if her condition merits it. Just be careful that the job doesn't mushroom out of control
Michael Brigg
Pat
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by Pat »

There are plenty of modern ropes that look traditional - just browse the manufacturers catalogues. We were looking on the English Braids stand at the boat show and they have a variety of white and buff ropes designed with traditional wooden boats in mind. Our problem was not knowing the length needed for Half Cut's mainsheet :roll:

As for screws just remember to use proper stainless steel!

I envy you sailing on Kielder - such a lovely big stretch of water. We stopped there on the way back from Scotland last year and decided we'd have to take a boat next time!
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Ancient Geek
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by Ancient Geek »

Pat,
With great respect, shame on you, "Half Cut" when new in 1968, had lots of coloured ropes in differing hues, depending on the job the rope did, we (The keener dinghy fraternity.) had just started dying our own ropes with dylon dyes (I recall righting off an expensive saucepan when sidetracked by the dog - large pan full of molten terylene in as I remember it royal blue!) thank goodness by late 1969 thanks mainly to the multi coloured display of ropes in Rodney Pattisons "Supercalfragilisticexpalidocious" at the 1969 Boat Show (Post Acapulco Gold in 1968.) Marlow began to do what they said they never would (Jim Hawkins of Marlow Ropes was a near neighbour of my parents.) and dye ropes. The founder of the concept was John Caig (Cake.) who's father was a pharmacist very near to Parkeston YC, ans stockist of Dylon Dyes.
So whilst I too love the hemp coloured ropes they would not be original in "Half Cut".
Writing of Superd..............s I cannot resist adding this old chestnut.
Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which
produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little,
which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad
breath. This made him ... what? (This is so bad, it's good)
A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
Boom boom Mr Derick.
Simples.
Graham T
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by Graham T »

Hmm - food for thought.... Now another thing - do you think the alloy mast is original for 1957? it looks old enough but why would you have an alloy mast and a wooden boom? There is a great big mortise in the mast step - much bigger than the mast foot tenon so I suspect that she has had a broken mast at some time in her life. There is a serial number on the mast so I might try Selden to see how far back their records go. Does anyone know any good books on wooden mast building?
Graham T
Osprey 1340, Osprey 1245, Osprey 55, Miracle 1358, Laser heap, ancient Mirror kit half assembled, Project Miracle in need of decks........
Kielder Water Sailing Club
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jon711
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by jon711 »

Books on mast building, hmmm. I think that there was something in Ricahrd Birmingham's book "Boatbuilding Techniques Illustrated", but unfortunatly I lent that book to someone many years ago (I forget who!) and never got it back, so am unable to check for sure..
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Ancient Geek
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by Ancient Geek »

Wooden booms and alloy masts were quite usual up until the mid 1960's when Proctors et al began doing the end castings.
Simples.
roger
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Re: Osprey 55

Post by roger »

Graham great to see her in good hands. Chris Barlow is the man to advise you on wooden mast building and I think somewhere he has written an article on it.
As far as the boat is concerned I agree it is nice to keep her as original as possible as she may be the only one left thats not modernised but you have to enjoy her so do as much or as little as you are comfortable with. Be great to see her and shoestring alongside each other at some time.
Hornet 191 Shoestring,
Hornet 595 Demon awaiting restoration
Hornet 610 Final Fling
Hornet 353
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