looking for member 1974SuperPorpoise and info on that model of boat

Tom Feldpausch

New Member
Back in August 2009, a new member from Allendale, MI posted on here about his "new to him" Super Porpoise. I have the same model boat and am looking to bring it back to original condition. Does anyone know this individual, or if he is still on this forum? I live in the same general area and would like to compare the hardware on his boat (excellent original) to mine (well-used not sure how original), plus get a copy of his owner's manual. Thanks in advance for any leads.

Tom Feldpausch
Hastings, MI
 
Tom,

I don't know this member's name (can you search the Forum files for it?) but I have owned several Super Porpoises and recall that they were made in Dowgiac, MI not too far from you. There are a lot of SPs in your area - maybe post a CraigsList ad or two and see if you can find a good one to inspect.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I'm pretty sure that the bow handle on my Porpoise 2 was chrome-plated brass, and not the cheaper chrome-plated zinc that is offered today. Mine was bolted on, and couldn't swap it out. :(

The Porpoise tiller had a nifty piece of hardware to which you secured your mainsheet. :cool: The tiller would always return to your hand when pulling on the other end of the mainsheet. (No 3-loop bridle on the Porpoise 2).
 
My first Super Porpoise washed up on a Lake Michigan beach and was rescued by the director of a girls camp near Glen Arbor, MI. I bought it when nobody claimed it, made repairs, and sailed it on Crystal Lake an hour south of where she washed up. It had several cool features, the true self-bailing cockpit, the aforementioned mainsheet-to-the-rudder-head rig, and the big hunk of lead inland into the rudder blade that used gravity to keep the rudder in the "down" condition when sailing. Then the boat tried (but failed) to kill me in a line squall a few years later - see story:
Duckworks Magazine - An Encounter with Lightning

Finally the hull of the SP was destroyed in an ice off the cottage roof incident, slid down a Lake Michigan bluff, and ended up found again on a beach only a few miles from where it first washed up! The Benzie Co. (Michigan) Sheriff found the (second) wreckage, and ended up calling me (my name and telephone number were on the Michigan boat registration) to find out if I had been sailing it when it washed up the second time, a nice touch. With the hull gone, I ended up selling the rig to a guy with a hull but no rig. I didn't tell him about the triple curse associated with the first hull...

Alan Glos, Recovering SP Sailor
Cazenovia, NY
 
My first Super Porpoise washed up on a Lake Michigan beach and was rescued by the director of a girls camp near Glen Arbor, MI. I bought it when nobody claimed it, made repairs, and sailed it on Crystal Lake an hour south of where she washed up. It had several cool features, the true self-bailing cockpit, the aforementioned mainsheet-to-the-rudder-head rig, and the big hunk of lead inland into the rudder blade that used gravity to keep the rudder in the "down" condition when sailing. Then the boat tried (but failed) to kill me in a line squall a few years later - see story:
Duckworks Magazine - An Encounter with Lightning

Finally the hull of the SP was destroyed in an ice off the cottage roof incident, slid down a Lake Michigan bluff, and ended up found again on a beach only a few miles from where it first washed up! The Benzie Co. (Michigan) Sheriff found the (second) wreckage, and ended up calling me (my name and telephone number were on the Michigan boat registration) to find out if I had been sailing it when it washed up the second time, a nice touch. With the hull gone, I ended up selling the rig to a guy with a hull but no rig. I didn't tell him about the triple curse associated with the first hull...

Alan Glos, Recovering SP Sailor
Cazenovia, NY
Alan, thanks for the great story. I bought my SP from a young man for $150 and have gotten a lot of fun out of this boat! My 10-year-old son now loves sailing, which is an experience I never really had as a child.

Thanks also for the idea of searching craigslist locally. You are right. I am pretty local to where these boats were made. I'll see what I can find there.

On a related note, I lost a rudder assembly recently and need to find a new one. It never really occurred to me that my rudder assy would sink if the pin came out, which it did in a recent capsize in rough water (I should have used better judgement). My older son told me that he saw a later SP (not SP II, from what I understand) that had a cotter pin hole drilled in the rudder mounting pin from the factory. That would have been useful in my recent turnover!

If there are any other Super Porpoise owners out there that would have a scan of their owner's manual that they'd be willing to share, I'd love to hear from them. Thanks in advance!

Tom
 
Back in August 2009, a new member from Allendale, MI posted on here about his "new to him" Super Porpoise. I have the same model boat and am looking to bring it back to original condition. Does anyone know this individual, or if he is still on this forum? I live in the same general area and would like to compare the hardware on his boat (excellent original) to mine (well-used not sure how original), plus get a copy of his owner's manual. Thanks in advance for any leads.

Tom Feldpausch
Hastings, MI
Did you try a search of the 9 pages of Super Porpoise entries?

If your contact has kept his email address here at this forum the same, you can start a "conversation", and include other contacts/respondents:

Search results for query: Super porpoise
 
I think I have a set of SP spars (mast, booms and related hardware) but they are for sale as buyer picks up on Cazenovia, NY only as they are too long to ship. Let me know if you are interested.

Alan Glos
 
I'm pretty sure that the bow handle on my Porpoise II was chrome-plated brass, and not the cheaper chrome-plated zinc that is offered today. Mine was bolted on, and couldn't swap it out. :(

The Porpoise tiller had a nifty piece of hardware to which you secured your mainsheet. :cool: The tiller would always return to your hand when pulling on the other end of the mainsheet. Because of that innovation, there's no bridle or traveler on the Porpoise II.

A caution:

Don't cut a rear inspection port into the center of the rear deck. The center line has a wide strengthening rib, and you'd be compromising the support of the rear deck if you put weight on it. I'd suggest cutting two 4" ports.

For a center of the 4" cutout, place your elbow at the edge of the rear deck, and "imagineer" that you'll be restricted to that "elbow arc" for pulling out soaked foam. :cool:

>
 
:oops: The above note was meant for Porpoise II sailboats, exclusively.

Who's got a pair of Sunfish (or Porpoise) bow handles? I need two—promptly! :confused:

.
 
L&VW,

I can sell you two use Sunfish bow handles for $18 + $7.50 for a USPS Small Flat Rate box, probably the best shippng value. Reply if you are interested.
Include full name and shipping address, I seem to have misplaced both from our last deal.

Alan Glos
 

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