Comments on a Parker Sharpie?

[brian watkins]

Well, there I was, browsing the nautical shelves in the used-books store again, and there was a copy of Payson's "More Instant Boats", which I had many years ago.  In the back was the 23 1/2 foot Light Scooner.   Now, I have seen some internet info on the quirks of sailing (and capsizing) these little schooners, and have always felt that, while I might not want to build one myself, they would be an extremely fun boat to sail.  So, while I was daydreaming, I thought: "It would be nice to have a boat that combined my interest in open boat cruising, a traditional work-boat ancestry, and some of the spark of that Light Scooner-all in one!"

That sent me back to my tattered copy of Parker's "The Sharpie Book", and to one of my favorite oddballs: the 25' Maryland Fishing Sharpie.  For those who don't have the book, it's a large skiff with a big skeg, a daggerboard(!), a cat ketch rig with sprit-boomed leg-o-muttons and a removable bowsprit with a balanced jib.   Like most of Parker's sharpies, it's based on info preserved by Chapelle (bless 'im!).    

It may be irrational, but I have a hankering for LARGE daysailers based on traditional workboats, that can be used for camp-cruising as well as taking a bunch of friends out for an afternoon.   Unfortunately, I would also want to be able to rig and sail it solo.   Being able to sail in the light summer airs we get here in Oregon would be nice.  And of course I'd like it to be fun to sail (like that Scooner!).  Other boats I like are the Core Sound 20, the Drascombe Longboat, and a whole slew of large dories.    

On the face of it, this sharpie seems to fit the bill, but I don't know if one has ever been built.  Would any of you who have the book or have seen the design care to comment on it ?   Pro's, con's or just opinions regarding the boat or Mr. Parker's designs?

Thanks in advance!

[PAR]

Ruel has modified the antique sharpie type, much like other designers have and decreased the beam/length ratio, to provide a more stable, less tender platform.

Dollar for dollar, it's hard to beat a sharpie for performance in a day boat. If the type is not heavily altered, nor encumbered with weight, they'll go like stink in a tea spoon of water.

Ruel's sharpies are more like narrow skiffs then the real working sharpies I grew up with. A lightly loaded sharpie is fast, tender and requires a good helmsman and crew to keep her upright. This is typical of most boats that have speed potential. The Light Schooner is another example of this mind set in the design. Minimum wetted surface, lots of sail area and light weight makes for a fast machine, if you keep her on her feet.

If you're a Chapelle fan, like me (I actually knew him), you'll note the differences in modern sharpies and the many variants he documented. He even went to the trouble of calculating the "standard proportions" for a sharpie. These included: chine beam/length ratio amidship 6:1 to LOD, plumb sided on fast models, flare on more wholesome versions, low but strong sheer, very low displacement (as low as possible by him), the chine in profile should begin just above the LWL at the stem, running straight for the first third of the hull (sloped downward), where it then turns gently at the point of deepest draft to run up hill to the stern, with a long, flat run and a transom well clear of the LWL.

One of my favorites was one of his found in "Boatbuilding". I've sailed it and she's a wild horse in the right hands and conditions. LOD 24', LWL 21', beam 5', draft 7" (board up). This boat was featured in WoodenBoat Magazine a couple of years ago and it looks fast just printed on paper. It did my heart good to see an old friend I hadn't visited in several decades. If that boat was built using modern methods and materials, she'd be lighter, stronger and faster, plus have the advantage of being water tight, which I remember wasn't the case of the file planked bottom in the traditional version I sailed.

Parker's sharpies have been built, some on a semi production basis.

[brian watkins]

Thanks for the reply.  Ive read that info from Chapelle regarding the relationships between the various dimensions on the classic sharpies, and you're right about the differences betweeen Ruel Parker's designs and the originals, it's quite instructive to compare them to see the changes he made.  

The Maryland Sharpie I've mentioned above seems to be a bit different.  The large skeg, for example, would seem to indicate a boat that would track better, but possibly lose some speed due to wetted surface.   The daggerboard, on the other hand could be shaped for better performance versus the usual sharpie centerboard (just don't hit a rock!).

I love comparing designs and speculating about different boats, I just wish there was some more info available on this particular sharpie.  It's not in Chapelle's "American Small Sailing Craft"; apparently the info came from a paper he wrote.  There's one tantalizing photo in Parker's book of a 28 foot example.   It's a very pretty boat.

Incidentally, I just saw photos of a 35' Parker New Haven sharpie (with cabin) for sale in Florida.  This is his development of the classic two-masted oyster tonging boat.  Looks fast just at anchor!

[PAR]

The design you are referring is in Chapelle's "Boatbuilding . . ."

I'll take the centerboard over a daggerboard anytime. Other then leeboards, it's the only way to really "gunk hole" safely, which is the whole point of a shoal draft craft.

Ruel's Maryland Fishing Sharpie has too much skeg. Sharpies don't need anything near as much, maybe he's trying to compensate for insufficient lateral area in his dagger (a common issue). Sharpies do best with little below the LWL to hold them back.