It looks like a Spiral, which was designed in New Zealand and still raced in Australia. By the late 70's, there were dozens of Laser rip of classes, designed and built by people wanting to cash in on the Laser success. None have been really successful beyond isolated pockets.
Is it a SKY lark?just bought this buy on identification no title etc. guy said it might be about 20 + years old ????
I'd like to know what is is so i can figure out what to check on it and how to rig it etc. it has a main sail and a jib . i do not now anything about sailing ....... yet
darn i have to figure out how to add the pictures lol
Thanks
This one is not a Laser ripoff, but an obviously doublehanded boat with a stayed sloop rig.It looks like a Spiral, which was designed in New Zealand and still raced in Australia. By the late 70's, there were dozens of Laser rip of classes, designed and built by people wanting to cash in on the Laser success.
The only "Skylark" I can find is a curious tunnel-hulled boat with a una rig. Not the one you sailed, I assume. This one does look somewhat like a Lark (without the Sky), but the cockpit is different, and the freeboard appears lower.Is it a SKY lark?
we used to sail one in the 70's ..
The "11 72" on the transom plate is likely the building month and year. The "73" stamped on the mainsail makes then sense, too. Why wouldn't the sail be original? The patina on the cringles certainly matches the age of the hull. No other markings on the sail?A couple more pics
i dont think the sail is orginal
Ok, fine. In my definition, a "ripoff" would be something like a near-copy, necessarily featuring most key technical solutions. Anyway, the Single Manufacturer One-Design concept was already out there by 1971, thanks to Sunfish and Hobie Alter (and even Paul Elvstrøm), although the Laser was the first with a worldwide spread.By "Laser ripoff", I mean the concept of lasers, off the shelf mass produced.
That's very kind of you and thank you for taking your time to do that, will look up the info. and i'm sure it will be helpfulI think I found it!
It's a Sesame.
The Sesame is a singlehanded sloop designed by former aerospace engineer Allan J. Arnold in Lakewood, California, in 1971. Arnold designed also the Sea Spray cat, which is still raced in parts of Western Canada and the US.
Some 80 Sesames were built by 1974 by Seahorse Sailboats in Downey, CA. Obviously it was no great success. The hull looks very nice, but the rig was a weird choice for a singlehander.
Sources: sailboats '74 by Yacht Racing magazine, January 1974 issue of Motor Boating & Sailing magazine, and sailboatdata.com.
You're welcome, but I have to say that there isn't much more available than what I already wrote - it's a very obscure little class from half a lifetime back.thank you for taking your time to do that, will look up the info. and i'm sure it will be helpful
Looks like it's simply asymmetric, with one cheek only. You probably need to have all the bolts extra tight to minimize slop. Doesn't look very practical. Would like to see what's on the other side, though. Too bad Souzag can't show us. Is joecffv still reading this...?Never seen a rudder stock like that. How does it work?
14 % shorter than a Laser, but 20 % lighter and 32 % more sail area. Should be faster in most conditions. Identical beam means more hiking leverage is needed, though.I’ve got one ... I used to race against Lasers, unofficially, and always beat them.
I wouldn't call it "innovative" to slap a similar rig on every boat you design, regardless of the number of people and hulls it's supposed to propel... but that's what Allan Arnold apparently did. Having a headsail on a singlehander is a strange choice, certainly making tacking harder and downwind technique trickier. The only other comparable boats that come to mind are the International Canoe and the South African Dabchick, and they're outliers in other ways, too.Unlike a Laser, they had a roller furling headsail, (I said they were innovative…) which helped upwind.
Sounds like not enough buoyancy forward. I understand this is one the reasons the D-Zero and Melges 14 (both designed initially/primarlly for small lakes) didn't do well at the Olympic singlehanded trials a couple years back. But the hulls of all three sure look coolIf you weren’t sitting as far back on the stern as you can, they would pitch pole.