Classic Pond Yachts
36r 'Merganser'
A Tucker Duck design.
I bought this boat recently as I do not have a 36r model, we still race 36r's at Gosport so my intention is to sail her there, and see how much faster the more modern boats are!. Merganser was designed by H B Tucker, built by J Adams and first registered on the 14 April 1956, sail number 853, the first owner was Mr G Bush who was a Doncaster MYC member. She was transferred to Leeds and Bradford club at some stage then re-registered to G Bush she was owned by him until 1974. More work to do looking at National championship results to see if more info available.
Tucker designed several 'Duck' designed models, along with some other designers. The idea was you design a boat with the waterline needed, ie a 36r would have a 36inch waterline, you then cut off the overhangs, this will give a big boat for its size, but waves cause issues. A very successful full size yacht design was 'Myth of Malham' a design by Laurent Giles under the owners ideas for the design, John Illingworth, Myth was a very successful boat built in 1947, maybe about the time Jemmima Duck, Tuckers Marblehead design was being designed, interesting???
I have a few jobs to get her sailing, the top of the mast had been broken and a poor repair done. Here the new mast has been planed and sanded to shape, the old top mast was to short for the sails so I made the new one longer. I have cut the old mast down for a B rig.
Here the old top mast has been machined to fit the mast to take the B rig. Now needs varnishing.
The deck hatch has been replaced and needs to be varnished, there is a bit of damage to the hatch, but she is nearly as old as me, so not a problem, to me anyway.
An interesting thing about Meganser is the bowsprit, the rules do not allow the rigging/sails to be mover outside the length of the boat, the bowsprit is to try to stop any damage in a collision with the bank, not sure how it will work with other boats? the bowsprit runs under the forestay and is held with elastic so it she hits something it will slow the boat to avoid damage.
The above pictures show the bowsprit extended with rubber bands fitted, the rubber bands removed and the bowsprit aft, there is little damage on the bow, so maybe it works ???
She has some nice sails, one cotton/cambric type main sail, with sail number 853, it is in very nice condition, sadly no jib.
She has two other suits of sails, main and jibs, these are Varnished Terylene, they are a little shorter on the boom, but I think they will work to get her going, I will make a new boom for the shorter sails, I can then get some new bigger sails made if she needs them and use the rather nice longer boom.
The above pictures of the B rig, in nice condition and some age, the cut down repaired top mast will fit these sails. The pictures below show some of the running rigging hooks, I have seen these type of fittings in some very old manuals, nice fittings!
She also has a top suit of seemingly unused Varnished Terylene, I will see how she goes with these to start with.
She also came with a windvane, it took a couple of evenings getting the tacking setup to work, but now ready to go, I have made a feather for it, probably a bit bit, but I can always cut it down!!
Jobs to do- Finish mast work, varnish top masts etc - Varnish the deck hatch, I will fit a caulk seal to stop water getting in, varnish the vane feather, then rig A and B rigs ready for test sail.