George, Walt, and Gregory
Thanks so much for being out there, I'm so glad I found your web site.
I have considered building a boat for some time now and had been scanning the classifieds for a cheap boat that I could use for parts. There was an ad for a "Moth Class" sailboat in the classifieds that was located about an hours ride from my home. I was unfamiliar with this class, normally all you would see on the small lakes around here are Sunfishes or other small fiberglass boats. I went out to the web to find information about it. Once I saw your web site, read a few articles, and viewed some of the pictures it was all the motivation I needed to go check this boat out.
Because the boat was so cheap, I figured at best, I could use it for parts and/or a pattern for building another. What I found was more than I could have hoped for. The Hull was in reasonable good condition, I could see a few fiberglass patches on the 1/8" plywood skin but no significant rot. The boat was complete right down to the down to the sail and battens. The gentleman who was selling it, was a bit older and was moving out of the area. He had told me that no one was interested in the boat because of the wooden hull and that was why he had advertised it so cheap. (funny, that's exactly why it interested me, I wished I had queried him a little further as to it's history)
Needless to say, I bought the boat on the spot and loaded her on my truck in anticipation of getting her on the water next opportunity I had. When I got home, I set her up in the back yard to check everything out. The sail needed some repair plus she could use a good coat of varnish, and some minor patches to the hull but otherwise seemed intact.
A few days later I had the opportunity to put her on the water. As luck (or misfortune) would have it, it would be a day where the lake was like glass and there was just the faintest of breeze. I took her out anyway, just to see if she would float (had to paddle back in). People on the lake must have thought I was crazy (they're probably right).
Well a minor leak did show up in the bilge and possibly the dagger board box. I'll have to work on that soon but I still want to sail her a few times before it gets too cold here to play.
The boat has a tag in the stern cockpit that reads "Fletcher Marine Products, Cherry Hill, NJ". From the pictures I have seen on your site, it appears to be similar to the Cates design (gar8.jpg or wareb.jpg). The sailbag is from Seidelman's Sailshop in Moorstown. And #'s 2689 are on the sail and stamped into the rudder and dagger board) If anyone knows anything about this boat, I would be very happy to here any history, especially if it has a name. I have already enjoyed many of your stories on the site. I'm sorry that, all that I can contribute is that another boat was found.
What a fortuitous circumstance for me. Thank you again, your site has a lot of useful information if I hadn't found it, I probably would not have checked out the boat Plus, since I'm a novice to sailing, I have a lot of learning to look forward to.
Best of luck to you all,
Ed Salva
NE PA
George Albaugh Reply
Hi Ed:
Sounds like you got lucky and picked up quite a find! Congratulations! While I have possibly the best collection of early Moth Class records of anyone currently involved with the class, I regret to inform that I find no record of your Nr 2689. Interestingly, Nr 2688 shows up as a boat registered to a sailor at Avalon Yacht Club and Nr 2690 went to a fellow racing from Corthinian Yacht Club in Cape May, but of Nr 2689 there is no record. From the records of other boats with close hull numbers, I think I can safely say your boat was built in the year 1965. And the info on the builders tag "Fletcher Marine Products, Cherry Hill, NJ" bears that up since Blair Fletcher moved his boat building business from the original shop (a converted gas station in Westmont, NJ) to a brand new purpose built building about a year earlier. I have Nr 2160 in my collection of boats, which is also a wooden Fletcher-Cates, but the builder's tag gives the Westmont address.
You didn't mention it, but I'm willing to bet that the mast and boom on your boat are aluminum rather than wood. By the mid 1960s Fletcher had converted from wood spars to alloy. I'm also guessing that the dagger board is wood rather than aluminum! By the time your boat was built, more knowledge about hydrodynamic shapes was available and the flat alloy plate centerboards that are found in earlier Cates boats like mine were soon dismissed as crude, poorly shaped and heavy. Does your boat have center main sheeting or an aft traveler? Fletcher made the transition to center main systems about the time your boat was built. Mine boat has a stainless steel rod traveler near the transom. If yours has center sheeting, she probably has a piece of 5/8 inch sail track riding on a atwartships piece of wood attached to the aft end of the centerboard trunk with a slide mounted block as the traveler. And yes, Bob Siedelman was Fletcher's sail maker of choice unless the customer specified a different brand. So, it sounds like you have a fairly original boat. Blair generally stamped the hull number into the keep just aft of the trunk or sometimes on the trunk.
I know its a bit sudden, but if you can make it down to Elizabeth City, NC the weekend of September the 21-22, you will have the opportunity to meet most of the racers and see a lot of the current boats. If you can't make that race consider coming to Chestertown, MD on the 12th of October for a one day regatta. If none of those dates fit your schedule, please stay in touch. I organize a regatta at Brigantine Yacht Club every June (Brigantine is just north of Atlantic City). We'd love to see that boat back in action!
Best regards,
George Albaugh
Walt Collins Adds:
Hi Ed,
I checked over my stuff from th elate 60's and did not find any reference to 2689. I did see that 2686, 2691, and 2693 were all sailed by teens in south Jersey in 1965. That pretty much inplies that your boat was also one of those built by Blair Fletcher's shop and originally sailed in one of the south Jersey clubs. I did see a picture of Blairs shop in the 1965 Moth Doings (the Moth handbook of th etime) which showed a new ply Fletcher-Cates rugged up with an aluminum stick as George Albaugh's comments said. I could not see any hull numbers though.
You have a good find in this boat if the wood is sound as it would be one of the last plywood production boats of that design. Blair made more and more glass versions of that design and then switched over to building some Shelly design moths.
Please keep in touch and join us soon for one of our races. Do not be put off by the term race. We currently have people of various ages and abilities at our events. The "old hands" like me really like giving pointers and helping more people enjoy moth boating,
Walt