The View from the Helm

I wanted my friends to know that I have decided to build a Paine 15. The first one is nearing completion at French & Webb, and you can learn more about it by going to their website or phoning Todd French. I loved AMELIA- my Paine 14- so much that I came to regret selling her a year ago. The only recourse was to build another- but the larger version suited my requirements a bit better. I bought the cold-molded wood hull from French & Webb, who collaborated with Belmont Boat Works to complete my high-tech vacuum bagged hull. I’ll post a few photos as she takes shape. This is how she stood on May 28.

WHY THE YORK 18 IS SO SAFE.

Mike York wanted the York 18 to be unsinkable, and to make an inadvertent swamping a non-event. So together we developed this very elaborate internal fiberglass unit. It encompasses the forward bulkhead with a stowage nook, the subsole with bosses to receive the real hardwood sole slats, the aft bulkhead, and the afterdeck. If you think about it you can picture this as a very expensive bathtup. There is absolutely no way that sea water can get out of this bathtub and into the hull proper. Even the decision to locate the aft hatch for gear stowage on the afterdeck rather than the more conventional location on the face of the aft bulihead was made to insure that no water could ever find its way out of the “tub.” It is beautifully tooled and fits precisely into the hull, contributing to the stiffness of the hull itself.

CHUCK PAINE STARTS BUILDING A PAINE 15

Chuck Paine faced a real dilemma. His two most recent designs are both being built less than an hour away from his home in Tenants Harbor. Both are pure Chuck Paine- fast, elegant, high tech but safe enough to be sailed by a 74-year old. In the end the 15-foot French&Webb-built Paine 15 won out over the 18-foot York 18, because it fit in his barn. Keep coming back to this blog and you can keep track of progress.