Re: [bolger] Re: Big Bolger schooners.

Triad was the project of a friend's father. My
non-sailing friend said that while the boat worked it
was not a success. It languished in the father's
backyard and was then given, to the Scouts if I
remember the story, away.


Phil Smith

> Triad: PCB describes her sailing performance, so she was built.

She was built in the same shop and at the same time as my Cynthia J.
catboat, so I saw her under construction. She received a fair amount
of local press. I saw her later both on land and moored, but never
underway. I think she was in the water for at least two seasons, but
I don't know what happened to her.

She was sprit-rigged, and not a gaff schooner.

She was not an immediate success, and my impression from talking to
her builder was that Bolger's comments were more optimistic than
another observer might feel justified. There were many parts of the
design that did not work well at all. The heavy spars of the rig
required some adaptation, and the flooding leeboards did not flood.
In the comments about Triad in his book, Bolger indicates that the
leeboard problems were fixed, but later comments in other places
about flooding leeboards are pessimistic about the concept.

My thinking is she would sail OK, especially off the wind, but she
was generally a pain in the ass otherwise. The cabin interior looked
quite pleasant though. PCB is very good at cabins, but that doesn't
get so much attention.

It's easy to get oversold on the general notion of trucking a lot of
stuff around and assembling a boat out of it. Tons remain tons. It
should be a corollary to the "a pound of feathers weighs as much as
a pound of lead" sort of caution that PCB cites several times in his
books. I find that having a trailer for my 2250lb sloop does not
save much money as I hoped, and is a lot of hassle.

All the complaints not withstanding, I think that she would do for a
cruising boat, but not for daysailing. Once the rig and leeboards
were set, the boat could sail for a couple of hours without effort
except for steering. The interval betweed tacks is short for
daysailing, so a less-hassle boat is better.

And her appearance was a trifle bizarre.

Peter (hassle intolerant sailor)

There is also Triad, a 50'10" x 7'10" plywood, leeboard, vee-bottomed
ketch. It is built in, and can be broken down to, three sections, the
longest one being 22'. There are eight purpose-fabricated galv.
steel "joint brackets" which are joined by 3/4" x 4" s/s bolts. She
uses 3000 lb. of water ballast.

There is an 11-page description of her in Different Boats, complete
with 4 sheets of drawings reproduced about half-page size and an 88-
point key to the drawings.

PCB describes her sailing performance, so she was built.

Howard

--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, Bruce Hallman <bruce@h...> wrote:
> Excuse me for being non-linear, but the similarity
> of the Insolent 60 and Breakdown Schooner just
> crossed my mind.
>
> The both are bid, trailerable, fast, boxy schooners.
> And both are unconventional mind bending Bolgeresque.
>
> Has anyone 'round here seen the Breakdown Schooner
> in person? Where is it, near Seattle I presume?
>
> Or seen the plans?
>
> I am curious about the mechanics of the
> connection of the center section to the ends. I see the
> top side bolted connections, but there seems to be no
> low down connection point. Ref: BWAOM pgs 318-323
>
> Oh, I just answered my own question, how clever, Bolger
> has massive skegs mounted on the bottoms of the fore
> and aft sections that key into receiver skegs on the
> center sections.
>
> Breakdown schooner is water ballasted, I wonder if
> Bolger would now recommend some steel plate armor
> on the bottom? And what a capable live-a-board platform!
>
> I really am intrigued about the fact that the three
> 20 foot long sections could be build one at a time
> in my garage.

Sorry for the typo's

> The both are bid, trailerable, fast, boxy schooners.

____________big_______

> Oh, I just answered my own question, how clever, Bolger

________________________________Bolger is clever, not me!

Excuse me for being non-linear, but the similarity
of the Insolent 60 and Breakdown Schooner just
crossed my mind.

The both are bid, trailerable, fast, boxy schooners.
And both are unconventional mind bending Bolgeresque.

Has anyone 'round here seen the Breakdown Schooner
in person? Where is it, near Seattle I presume?

Or seen the plans?

I am curious about the mechanics of the
connection of the center section to the ends. I see the
top side bolted connections, but there seems to be no
low down connection point. Ref: BWAOM pgs 318-323

Oh, I just answered my own question, how clever, Bolger
has massive skegs mounted on the bottoms of the fore
and aft sections that key into receiver skegs on the
center sections.

Breakdown schooner is water ballasted, I wonder if
Bolger would now recommend some steel plate armor
on the bottom? And what a capable live-a-board platform!

I really am intrigued about the fact that the three
20 foot long sections could be build one at a time
in my garage.