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The "Grasshopper" centerboard 1/48 by Falconet

W

Walterone

Joined
Feb 27, 2021
Messages
425
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Location
Moscow, Russia
This small vessel originates from the 19th century American oyster boats, which began to be used for racing and, having become popular, grew into a separate class of yachts. It has gained recognition not only in America, but also in France and Russia. The quality of the Falconet kits is already well known here, so let's move straight to the photos.
Scale 1/48, L 427 x W 79 x H 294 mm.1.png2.png3.png
 
Nice model! Allow me to add a little more history on the type: They were called sandbaggers (more on that name later). They evolved from the New York sloop, which was used in the area for fishing and other tasks. The working boats were sloop-rigged in the summer but for colder and windier weather the mast was moved forward and they were sailed as cats. As racing became popular in the mid-19th century, specialty boats were built for racing with large rigs. Races were held around New York and other ports with much betting. The boats were called sandbaggers because they carried large crews of over 10 men who shifted sand bags to the windward side of the boat with each tack. The great beam of these boats meant that the sandbags (and the weight of the crew) had a lot of leverage to keep the boats on their feet and allow them to carry such immense rigs.

Mystic Seaport Museum has a sandbagger named Annie in its collection. That's Annie in the photo below. Fair winds!

Annie-under-sail.jpeg
 
Just so you know, kit's lines are of Mystic Seaport Annie, so if you wanted to built its model - here it is!
 
AndyA said:
They evolved from the New York sloop, which was used in the area for fishing and other tasks.
Click to expand...
Follow up: Attached are lines of a New York sloop from Howard Chapelle's classic book "American Small Sailing Craft." She is the Laura, built in 1867 at Keyport, New Jersey. You can see that the rig was much smaller than the sandbagger's, which was built for racing. Also attached are pics of a half-hull model of same. The model started out as a pond model and the mast step was for a cat rig. Position of mast for the cat rig is shown as a dotted line on the drawing. Fair winds!

ny sloop 1.jpgny sloop 2.jpgny sloop 3.jpg
 
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