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Dear Forum Users:
My apologies, this one got away from my general policy of letting controversial issue go by the wayside and keeping my political views out of discussion forums.
I am deeply sorry for any harm I may have brought to the BCC discussion forum.
Sincerely,
Rod
S/V IDUNA
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Rod:
I guess my vote would be to continue to address controversial
issues as they may relate to our boats or “relatives” of our boats. Lyle
Hess’ wonderful creations deserve to be nurtured and protected by those of
us who know them best. There are those out there who have/can give his
boats a bad name and, as Hess owner wannabe’s visit this web site, we owe
it to them as well to share our understandings about the boats and the
people who build them…good, bad, or indifferent.
Just sailed home this morning after a short trip on White Wings
and am feeling quite fondly toward the breed. I never go out that I am not
more amazed and pleased by the quality and detail of my BCC.
Tom
At 03:31 PM 6/14/2003 -0100, you wrote:
Dear Forum Users:
My apologies, this one got away from my general policy of letting
controversial issue go by the wayside and keeping my political views out
of discussion forums.I am deeply sorry for any harm I may have brought to the BCC discussion forum.
Sincerely,
Rod
S/V IDUNA
Tom Harrer
S/V Whitewings III
I agree with Tom, as long as discussion is healthy and does not
degenerate into mudslinging. Bob’s “expert” opinion would have been
a lot more credible had he told us of any connection before starting
a slinging match.
John (no connection to anything)
— In bcc@yahoogroups.com , Tom Harrer <whitewings@c…> wrote:
Rod:
I guess my vote would be to continue to address
controversial
issues as they may relate to our boats or “relatives” of our
boats. Lyle
Hess’ wonderful creations deserve to be nurtured and protected by
those of
us who know them best. There are those out there who have/can
give his
boats a bad name and, as Hess owner wannabe’s visit this web site,
we owe
it to them as well to share our understandings about the boats and
the
people who build them…good, bad, or indifferent.Just sailed home this morning after a short trip on White
Wings
and am feeling quite fondly toward the breed. I never go out that
I am not
more amazed and pleased by the quality and detail of my BCC.Tom
At 03:31 PM 6/14/2003 -0100, you wrote:
Dear Forum Users:
My apologies, this one got away from my general policy of letting
controversial issue go by the wayside and keeping my political
views out
of discussion forums.I am deeply sorry for any harm I may have brought to the BCC
discussion forum.Sincerely,
Rod
S/V IDUNATom Harrer
S/V Whitewings III
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I think it a timely moment to make some long understood points regarding this discussion group.
As far as I am concerned (I suspect I speak for most), this board is 'for, by and of" BCC owners. To the extent that it automatically does so, it is an excellent support mechanism for the Sam L Morse Co, but that isn't really the intent of the board.
This board, unlike some other owner's boards out there, is uncensored by the manufacturer (or anyone else). We may discuss any issue we wish, controversial or otherwise. This holds tremendous potential. We can come up with issues that only users will discover, informing the builder of something that may need attention, and other owners of issues that they must attend to on their own boats. We may invent a modification that is of so much value that it becomes a standard retrofit on most boats.
This open policy creates a potentially vulnerable situation for SLMCO and an opportunity for unscrupulous competitors. Anyone may read the posts here. Some threads could be reinterpreted as criticism of the BCC, and re stated to prospective boat buyers, twisting the intent to disfavor the little ship we all love so much. That issue concerns me, and finding a relatively unidentified person observing these discussions makes me wonder on their intent. Particularly when they turn out to be the manufacturer being mentioned. In the spirit of this board, let us have open handed declaration of identification. Several less scrupulous companies are interested in illegally copying Lyle's designs, and plenty of buyers stand in line to get a big break. Please note that I'm not accusing anyone of the above practices, merely pointing out that the potential exists.
The distribution of the construction manual creates a similar problem recently discussed here. I have a copy of it made for me by George Hylkema when he was owner of SLMCO and I was building up Hull #30. It's a prize, but so full of conflicting and disorderly information as to be, in George's words: 'worth laughing about over a bottle of rum'. Yet, it's distribution does invite buyers of illegal hulls to believe that they are one step ahead towards completion of an 'almost BCC'.
I can hardly blame other makers from watching this discussion group. For some strange reason, the integrity and longevity of Sam L. Morse Co has led to a strong group of supportive owners, and another large group of want-to-owns. What on earth could be the secret??
SV MINX
Roy Myers
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The whole issue of illegal hulls is sad. Sad for the buyers and sad for the builder.
I had scanned the manual for my own use and made it available to folks as a way of saying thanks for going to the trouble of photographing
their boats for me. It's not like there is any secret proprietary information that can't be had from other sources. There are no lines or detailed
construction guidelines specified by the designer such as you might expect if you purchased a set of plans from Lyle's daughter. There is
nothing there that could not be intuited by a reasonably competent builder; proper placement of the portlights for example or the angles of
the bulwark supports. Helpful but hardly earth shaking.
Indeed if there were critical information in the manual an argument could be made that the information should be available to the hapless hull buyers
so they don't muck it up and cause a boat to sink. Perhaps for the cost of royalties payable to the copyright owners?
The bottom line is purveyors of illegal hulls must be identified and crushed. They steal from all of us
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