My name is Eric Pomber and I am finishing hull number 29 from a bare hull. I went out and spent a few days with Sumio and Tommy at the yard and came away with lots of valuable information. I have all of the exterior wood work done and most of the interior pre-fabed and in the boat but not glassed in. I am faithfully sticking to the current standard layout from the blue prints I got from Sumio.
Sincerely Eric Pomber
We finished hull #22 ourselves and had a great time doing it. But
that was in 1977 and you’ve got me curious as to where hull 29 has
been since it came out of the mold. Or maybe the “29” was a typo?
Stan
Hi Stan,
To the best of my knowledge I am the third owner of #29.
The original owner was from Maine and then it was sold to a guy from Michigan. When I found the boat it had the opening ports installed and a nice coat of paint on the tiller.
The owner from Maine had a hollow spruce mast’ boom, and bowsprit?made to the original plans. It came with 5 brand new sails,Main, 100% jib, staysail, working jib, and spinnaker. All were made by Bhondel from Main.
The boat spent it’s life on a farm until I got it. The gelcoat is chalky and the floor of the cockpit had a crack, other than that it was fine. Fortunately the first owners never touched the deck so when I checked every square inch with a moisture meter it was dry as a bone.
This fall I finished the bulwarks, covering boards, and rub rails. Last summer I roughed in the interior which is screwed in place with spacers and is ready to be glassed in place over the Christmas holiday.
When I can get some digital photos I’ll pas them along. Thanks for the info on the manual and yes I am going to have a brand new old boat #29 1977 SLM BCC.
Eric Pomber
I was?quite surprised when hull #29?turned up for sale on the owner’s site. MINX is #30 and was also an unfinished boat. I found her in a back yard in Seattle, untouched, 17 years after the original owner bought her in 77. Funny that the two unbuilt boats should happen to be consecutive.??
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S/V MINX
Roy Myers
Roy, that is strange.
Was it a bare hull or with a deck?
Also, I’d be interested in how you did the interior; traditional Hess
layout or something different. We did our own.
Stan…hull #22 Waxwing
Eric,
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Congratulations on aquiring Hull #29. I remember the advertisement on the BCC site awhile back, was working to acquire the boat when the owners email address went dead. Just curious, from Maine to Michigan, where is the boat now?
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Best Wishes,
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Marty Chin
Hi Marty,
Hull #29 is still in Michigan.
I have it tucked in the corner of a friends marina in Mt Clemens.?He takes time off in the summer and lets me use his shop while he is gone. Short of having it at home it is a good place to work.
Hi eric,
My BCC Cyrano is currently reposing at Jefferson Beach Marina in heated storage
Hi Jim,
I live about two miles from Jefferson Beach Marina in ST Clair Shores MI. Is it the same marina? If so do you?live in the area?
I would like to get a look at your boat. I have seen two others, one at Sam Morse and Aloha when my family and I were in Annapolis last spring.
The photos I took have been a great help. Seeing the quality and how things were put together saves a lot of time.
Let me know if you are in the area.
Eric
Yes mine is in st clair shores.
Look at the sam l morse website. There are lots of pics of Cyrano it was the latest launch.
My home # 248-855-0469. Feel free to call.
Jim
Stan – MINX was hull and deck, assembled by SLMCO in August of '77. The owner didn’t have Sam install the ballast for him. The only two objects inside the hull were the engine and mast bulkheads. It sat that way for 17 years while the owner mulled over the problems of melting 5000 lbs of automobile wheel weights (from a previous unbuilt boat project).??By?'94 the task had become insurmountable, steel molds were drawn and a foundry lined up.??It only took me 4 days…maybe I did a?rush?job.???
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I modified the standard interior in ways that are now being copied by the last several new boats. I?extended the galley counter?6 inches towards?centerline,?yielding both a larger double bunk and a double sink in the galley. To starboard, the quarterberth and settee sacrifice 2"?each so that the chart table and ice box are 4" larger. Sumio proclaims to have had the same idea as the salon table I built- it slides?vertically?in the sail?track in the mast and swings up under the?mast deck. He’s expecting to copy?the idea on his own boat.
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The forepeak is reasonably standard, with the workbench being a bunk that opens the sail bin bulkhead.??The starboard hanging lockers are divided in three parts rather than two, one being a?set of shelves with a door. The entire forward?shower sole and head are glassed in so I can wash them down with a firehose from on deck-?DOWN,?monster!
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She carries a bonneted Jib Top, another idea which?has worked out well. This zippered sail may be set three ways: full sail, then the upper part may be?tacked to the bowsprit or?set on a pennant, raising it for an excellent slot effect with the staysail.??
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S/V MINX
Roy Myers???
Roy, that sounds interesting. Have you any pics you can post or a site we can visit?
And I’m not at all sure I understand what your bonneted Jib Top is. Can you be more disciptive? Sounds like the sail is in two pieces?
Here (I hope) is a site you can see a little bit of our interior.
Stan – I’ll attempt to post photos when I can find the time. I just trucked MINX back up to Washington- winter is a very cheap time to haul- it cost 1500 from LA harbor. I’m in the midst of decommissioning her for snow season.
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The bonneted?Jib Top is indeed in two pieces. A huge zipper holds it all together, with some straps at tack and clew to take the strains. GALATEA had the same thing done to one of her sails. It’s an old idea,?the very term?‘bonnet’ being an old English term. I interpret it in this case to refer to the lacing used?before the advent of the YKK company. Larry Pardey writes extensively about this in Cost Conscious Cruiser. His UK sailmaker did?the traditional work. Elliot Patterson made MINX’s sails. According to them, some windsurfer has a patent on the method they used, so I paid a 200 royalty fee. I think I might find a different sailmaker next time.?
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The?Jib?Top is the standard BCC roller furled sail, but on hanks. We reduced the sailcloth weight one ounce since it wasn’t roller furled. The bonnet (the?lower section) could have been made?even lighter without sacrifice.??It’s still a rather heavy sail. The cut angles across the sail from luff to leech, taking about 4 feet of luff and perhaps 6 feet of leech?away (higher cut, assuming the need in stronger conditions). The resulting triangle resembles the Yankee somewhat and may be?tacked to the bowsprit or on a pennant, up higher.??Most?of the time it is tacked to the sprit,?and serves well on all points of sail. No bags, no wrinkles, no faulty furling lines, no expensive hardware to buy. With a single reef in the main, the staysail, and this low, decent size headsail to drive her, we are quite comfortable in surprisingly poor weather. She will beat into?25 kn of wind with this at 45 degrees off the wind and tromp along in comfort.??I’ve discovered that she will point higher if I hoist the small?sail on a pennant, creating a?better wing with the staysail. We can squeeze, (pinching) a 35 degree angle to the wind with this technique. But we can’t take?as much?wind with near so much comfort. As?Larry?points out, the bonneted sail can be dealt with as two pieces if crew isn’t up to handling the rather large?jib top as a single?sail.
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S/V MINX
Roy Myers???