Crazy Horse

[HannahJ]

Hi,

I've just bought Crazy Horse (formerly Aquarius) and am interested in anything anyone knows about her. I know she's a Spencer 7 (though admittedly at the moment that means little to me!) and was built some time before 1976 by Barton, but apart from that... I'm also new to the class, so hi

Any clues?

Thanks.

[flatbackcaper]

welcome to the friendliest class on earth

[BenR]

Welcome, I assume you have found Crazy Horse's page http://www.uk-cherub.org/doku.php/boats/1658#section1658

Not a lot of information on there but there should be someone along soon who knows something about her.

What sort of condition is she in?

[roland_trim]

Welcome.
Where are you based and any pics of her current condition?

[Neil C.]

Is there a sail number stamped on the hull anywhere e.g. transom or main thwart? If the suggested number 1658 is correct, that would correspond to a build in the late 1960's, probably about '67 or '68 at a guess. So getting on for 50 years old! The Spencer 7 was a popular design dating from 1964, and I believe many of them were built in the UK from kits. Not sure whether Barton was a pro boat builder or just the amateur builder / first owner. Whatever, you have a very interesting piece of living history there. If she is in need of rebuild / refurbishment, do post regularly with progress on this forum. There is plenty of advice available from lots of people on here, and quite a lot of old sails / spars etc. around if you need any gear.

[HighwaytoHelm]

Is this the boat that was advertised on the Facebook page a couple of months back?  If the photo in the ad was a recent one it looked to be in ok condition,  although it's hard to tell from a photo.

[JimC]

Its a bit before even my time, but AIUI a Barton/Spencer 7 was a UK variant of the Spencer 7 with a pivoting centreboard rather than a daggerboard. As I dimly recall there were Spencer 7 kits about which were labelled as being from Barton. What I don't know is who/what Barton was/were. There's a long established fittings manufacturer called Barton Marine: I don't know if there's any connection, but I suspect not. It might well have been an one man enthusiast type semi business.

[simon_jones]

Hi Hannah, welcome to the class. We also have a classic cherub although ours was built in 1983.
Hopefully we will be holding a sticky weekend soon. (Date tbc) which would be a great opportunity for you to meet other class members. Maybe even bring the boat along to sort out any jobs that need doing.

[HannahJ]

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies.

She is the one advertised on Facebook, and is now based in Cambridge (will eventually be sailed at Hunts). She's not in bad condition, though has a small hole which apparently appeared when her previous owner towed her home, and a few other bits on the hull need drying out and fairing in. The inside seems fine though all the fittings have been taken off. She's going to be a winter project to fill the hole, strip, fair and repaint the hull, and probably a coat of paint on the top.

She's inherited a load of kit (still not sure how many jibs!) along with a mainsail from another Cherub which had to be scrapped (I know the owner of that one too), as well as her own mast and another mast. The carbon mast she was advertised with previously is being kept by the previous owner who is building a Farr 3.7. We'd thought 60s from the description of the design on this website - one of her mains was measured in '76 so figured older than that - good to have a better age.

Interesting point about the centreboard: I have a pile of foils, none of which I'm sure is for the boat (I think there's an Oppie daggerboard in there...) but the likely candidate for a centreboard seems to be a cross with a daggerboard - there's no hole for a pivot, but the case extends well under the foredeck, with I think a pulley system. Anyone any ideas?

I've no doubt I'll be posting for advice once I start working out where all her fittings go and how to put her together - thanks for the welcome!

[roland_trim]

That sounds like a centreboard with no pin in it. Re-rigging them is fun and much easier if you have a small person handy ;-)

[HannahJ]

Born Slippy, yes, I foresee some time curled up with a torch. I'm pretty sure it's not a 'normal' centreboard though as the hole is in the handle where you'd put rope through, not at the point where a bolt would go through the case to pivot round. Maybe it just slides up and down on the slope of the case?

[JimC]

Slliding daggerboard I think they were called. Better idea in theory than practice. Quite common for them to be converted to plain daggerboards.

Twenty five years ago it'd have advised you to convert her to plain daggerboard, it being a straightforward job just putting a false front  and back in the case. But if she's gone all these years with it maybe I'd leave it.

[HannahJ]

Thanks JimC - sounds like it. From what I've gathered from her previous owner, before he got her she was drystored for 20 years so may not have been sailed at all. I'll see if I can work out how the sliding system worked and if it won't destroy the daggerboard, otherwise a false front might do it.

edit - after a quick search, it looks like Huckle (same design, built within a few years) has the same setup - are her owners around here? Or would I be able to contact Jim Champ who wrote the history of her? http://www.uk-cherub.org/doku.php/boats/1494

[roland_trim]

I fear the spare parts you have from ?Nessa are from that ex-boat :-(

Last owner before that was my brother, hence the educated guess on the centreboard. To get it in  start with the boat on the side and approach from the bottom!

[Tim Noyce]

I think actually the spare parts from Nessa are actually that of 2303, a boat which I restored a few years ago. We got a few years use out of it before it went to Nessa and the scouts to get some more use. I fear that the hull eventually died and the spares were kept. The main and jib were in excellent condition when we had it (much better than a lot of sails found on some boats at the nationals!) so they should be worth having.