Occre Polaris — What real vessel type is she closest to? Looking for accurate references.

[mberg]

Hi all,

Planning ahead, my next build will be to lightly bash the Occre Polaris and I want to anchor the build in a realistic vessel type before I start bashing parts and reworking the deck. Scaling the kit puts her in the ~60–70 ft range, which lines up pretty well with small 19th‑century working schooners - Pilot boats, coastal traders, etc.

So far, the closest real boats I’ve found are:

• Mist of Avalon — similar size and general arrangement, but I haven't found great pics that give me a good sense to compare
• Vega (1892) — Also very close in hull form and deck layout - seems to be operating as some sort of 'aid' vessel, and there are a few videos that can be picked through to capture references.

If anyone knows of a modern reproduction or restored vessel in roughly the same size range, with a similar flush deck and two‑mast layout, I’d love to study photos for scale details.

The purpose would be to get a clear understanding for what is the purpose and how do things work on the boat. I'm not one to blindly build a piece of furnature and not know what the purpose of each component is. For example, the “hatch” between the two masts; is this meant to represent a removable cargo/equipment hatch with lifting rings at the corners? On real vessels of this size, would that be a simple lift‑off cover over a small hold, or something else entirely? Here's a shot of the deck:



Some other things I'm questioning so far:

• The pump could use some work
• The barrel scaling might be off depending on what they would hold
• Some 'rings' may need to be replaced by blocks
• The overall scaling just seems generally off and confusing to me - I'm tracking it at a 60-70' boat, but some of the details feel like they're something of a much larger vessel, some of them, smaller vessel.
• The 'varnished' hull... I think most boats like this would have a painted hull unless much older?

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[JacquesCousteau]

I'm not sure what Occre took as their inspiration for the model, or if there was any particular plan they based it on or if it's just a generic hull and schooner rig. The short, nearly horizontal gaff would seem to place it in the late 1700s or early 1800s or so. Presumably it would be a coastal vessel, as longer-distance travelers in that period would probably have square sails as well, but maybe the company just simplified the rigging.

To my eyes, it has some similarities with the pilot boat Swift, discussed early in the chapter on schooners in Chapelle's The History of American Sailing Ships, but there are some major differences as well. I think the kit could be convincingly modified to represent an early-1800s American pilot schooner--many of which had a similarly simple rig--but it would take some research, including to see if the hull form is close enough, and to see if you need to rescale it. Maybe in Chapelle, probably also in David R MacGregor's The Schooner (which, weirdly enough, includes plans from ModelExpo of the pilot schooner Katy) and Karl Heinz Marquardt's The Global Schooner.

I would not be surprised if a lot of the individual parts are out of scale, many companies do that to save on costs.

 

[mberg]

I have a strong suspicion they got their inspiration from the Artesania Latina 1805 'Swift', description and picture below (although they had a few iterations of this kit, the latest one now seems to be painted). OcCre makes it very clear, however, that this is just an 'imagined design for beginners'. That also lines up with your thoughts regarding an early 1800's American pilot schooner.

I'll have to skim around for some of the references you mentioned, maybe I'll find some inspiration there. As always, I appreciate your knowledge and attention to this field of research

"HISTORY OF A MYTHICAL SHIP: VIRGINIA PILOT BOAT SWIFT
The Swift was an early 19th-century Virginia pilot boat. Lightweight and overpowered twin master ship, it safely guided the largest incoming vessels into port. In short, these types of boats were used to guide large ships in and out of ports. In this case, they helped those on the North American East Coast because they were easy to manoeuvre, fast and light."




Matt