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POTTER WITH A LATEEN RIG?
Our editor-at-large Larry Brown is 75 now…an increasingly ancient mariner. He’s sailed various Potters since the early 1990s.
Vintage Lightning
Reborn as a Camp-Cruiser
The Joy of it All
Choosing a Boat Design
OPENING DAY
Sitting hove-to in 30 knots of wind was not how I anticipated spending my opening day.
RECONSIDERING ROSIE'S RIG
It was a typical hot Mississippi day when I walked into the Ocean Springs Yacht Club to cool off. I had just spent two hours bent in half while working inside the cabin of my West Wight Potter 15. I was stiff and drenched in sweat but feeling proud of myself. I had just turned Rosie into a lateen-rigged catboat.
SHALLOW DRAFT
When we were kids, we had a cocker spaniel aboard during summer cruises. The dog apparently had a massive bladder, but we kids were happy to row her ashore when nature called. We thought boating with a pet was terrific…but did our folks have a voice in the matter?
TECH BIGHTS
Some fiberglass boats, like Boston Whaler skiffs and MacGregor power-sailers, are built with integral flotation foam between the inner and outer laminations. Roger MacGregor was willing to flood his water-ballasted boats just to prove that they would not sink—and you can still find his old sales videos if you want to see for yourself. (youtube.com/ watch?v=hemNdJmzQBo)
MAKING THE SWITCH
Following are some methods for adding a Lateen rig to a Potter 15. Most of the photos are of my boat, but some clever ideas from others are included as well.
FIVE QUESTIONS: Richard Woods
Sailing experience with Richard Woods
Core Sound Cruising
Hmmm. I’m in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a nifty camp-cruiser sailboat on a trailer. I have a daughter on a sailing lake in Michigan, and another daughter on Long Island Sound in Connecticut.
Upgrading the Potter 15 Centerboard
When I bought my Potter 15, Blue Knot, in 2014, it already had more than 25 years on its clock.
REMEMBERING MY POTTER 19 TANBARK
In the mid-1980s, Joe Edwards flew me out to California to try out our new boat.
The Sea Trials of Minimus II
Since our first article about Minimus II, our minimalist, four-masted voyaging catamaran (SCA #117), we’ve taken her offshore for initial sea trials. On our second outing, we spent two days and a night offshore from the coast of Oregon.
The Importance of Capsize Testing
I was glad to see your recent article on the back page regarding one person’s experience with a capsized boat (Artful Sailor #122). I’m so glad he did this testing on his boat and I agree with his conclusions.
ESCAPE TO QUARANTINE SHORE THE TEXAS 200 IN 2020
It is almost dark. The sun has finally hit the horizon as I tack down Matagorda Bay towards Pass Cavallo.
SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Moosehead Lake, Maine
There’s adventure in leaving a place you know for a place you don’t know.
Sweet & Simple
Fred Shell shares some of what he has learned over nearly 40 years of designing, building, and sailing small boats
Diversity Afloat
As the sailing season comes to an end on northern waters, I find myself pondering the modern sailing scene.
Boat Review: Salish Voyager
Gig Harbor Boat Works releases a new design aimed toward adventure
Anchor Juice
That’s odd, I said to myself. It hasn’t rained, yet there’s a cup of water in the bilge.
Reader Boat: Precision 165
During my three years of ownership, here are just a few things I’ve observed about my P165. Most of these features have contributed to my joy of sailing this little boat.
Are Power Tools Corrupting Us?
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” —First Baron Acton, 1904
Getting in Touch with Reality
As part of my usual in-depth research for this column I decided to ask Google whether sailing was safe. “In fact, it can be deadly,” came the response, “A study from Rhode Island Hospital concluded sailing is more dangerous, and has a higher fatality rate, than skiing and snowboarding combined with NFL football.”
Five Days in the Turnbull Islands
I rowed out of the marina at Blind River, Ontario, and raised the sail just offComb Point. It had been a ten-hour drive from Wisconsin, followed by the usual scramble to launch and load the boat.
The Worst Sailor Still Alive
Upon retirement I decided to learn how to sail, so I bought a little dinghy and taught myself how to efficiently capsize, founder on rocks, and embarrass myself in front of large groups.
SMALL BOAT CRUISE: Tobyhanna Lake by Sunfish
Tobyhanna is a Native American word for “a stream whose banks are fringed with alder.”
PLAN STUDY: Kombi Sail and Paddle Canoe
The first boat I designed was the Beth Sailing Canoe, which, for better or worse, made me a marked man.
Born Again
An 1881 Bowdish sailboat, abandoned in a northern Michigan junkyard, is rescued and restored to museum condition by John Parlin, wooden boat surgeon extraordinaire
AUSTRALIA THE HARD WAY
The David Pyle Interview
Amateur Boatbuilding: What if I Make a Mistake?
Everyone makes mistakes. If we try new things we will make mistakes, an essential part of the learning experience. It’s nice to learn from mistakes of others, but we learn more lessons and they stick better when they are our own. The more painful the mistake, the stronger the lesson learned.