Chuck Cole - First Letter

Wellll.....Walt.......remember a kid down in Larchmont......on the elizabeth river.....built a Ted Causey design with rolled float tanks with my old man..ca.1967..then an 1/8" Gene Willey design on your general building principles.....circa 1971!!!Anyway the old hulls died a few years ago after much rebuilding and epoxy from the younger intrigued neighborhood kids(now with kids of their own!!!!)still have my Hogshire..#3020 on it's boom with a midships Traveler and mainsheet horse out on the boatshop....somewhere......I talked to a discouraged Walt Collins back in 1979.....maybe when my lady and I sailed our 22'Cowhorn south to Grenada and back(4yrs)returned with a two year old and started a 37'Cedar on Oak lapstrake Cowhorn and started windsurfing....built a balsa board in 1984 after I blew the rig out of my Causey Boat and decided I was too old and bigger to sail that little boat in a blow.....windsurfers seemed designed to handle heavy wind without blowing up......sooooooo I was soooo glad to hear that Classic Moths live on....truly a Phoenix-trip....out of the ashes of a strong and vibrant tradition....I'm proud of you-guys....and jsut a little curious to see the Australian contingent in the flesh someday.....

Had a enthusiastic talk with a 13 yr old last week....interested in building a Cape Cod frosty.....seven feet!!!!I started thinking moths....suggested an email search to him....and found the Classic website this evening.....walkin' down memory lane.....not really interested in talking up theclassic classic Dorr Willey design....seems a little heavy for a moth...to me....your guidelines seem right sedate and practical by some standards....right on by mine.....are there any drawings out there.......I really haven't searchrd this site thoroughly yet sooooo my request may be a bit misinformed but let me know........

My son is 18.....crewed on a 140' schooner Roseway up in Camden last summer......but I have a 13 yr old daughter....annnnd a 19 month old Periwinkle Soleil....who could be sailing Moths When her old man is old and greyer.......it'd be fun to heAR from you, Walt.....all the best.....keep those sails goin' upwind when they have to......downwind when they can.......oooops. that's the cruising sailor talkin' now......actually i'm planning a long cruise to New Zealand whenever I get this big Double ender in the water......and she has plenty of deck space.....14 feet of Beam!!!!!!!

Later and Lightly......Chuck Cole and the Sailing Sunspirit Family - from Paine Hollow on CAPE COD

Reply From Walt To Chuck

Chuck, I think I remember you. Did you live on Cedar Lane and have a Navy Blue boat? I don't remember where we saw each other in '79, but seem to remember seeing you again about that time. I was windsufing also and had built a 1/8th inch ply windsurfer. I was bummed out in 79 because I couldn't seem to get into the (tall rigs and spooky) international moths. I got back into the moths in 1990 when I found out about the revival in Elizabeth City.

We have lots to offer in the way of drawings/plans. I had looked at the Frosty site before and the moth is a lot more boat. We don't have any races that far north now, but you could try to get something started. We will help all we can.

If my memory is correct, your boat had a standard (classic) sail, not the fully battened international (which came later). If this is correct, you have half of a classic moth already. A winsurfer mast with extension and PVC track rivited on will complete a rig, although somewhat bendy in the mast department.

The quickest hulls right now seem to be the MISTRALS, which are a a failrly quick build and come in at the required 75 lbs fairly easily. These boats are a handfull downwind though. Basic plans and instructions are available. A tame boat is the MINT design being built by Erky Gregory. Sort of in the middle are the CATES deep vee's. Pictures of all these degign are on our web page.

Don't forget that the Olympic class for women is the Europe Dinghy which evolved only slightly from the moth. A moth would provide good training for a Europe at a fraction of the cost.

Good Sailing,

Walt

Chuck Cole - Second Letter

That's me.....or....was....tho' now that I think of it....my son's name IS Cedar Oceanus!!!!!!....I built an 1/8th inch ply boat on your basic model later in '71...in the garage behind the cedar Lane House...I was a Freshman at ODU...{went on to Middlebury in Vermont and then on to UMASS FOR AN ELEMENTARY TEACHING DEGREE....still sub at the local Charter school (Great Website....The Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans)on occasion!!!!}