Dolphin24.org - A Website For Dolphin Owners and Others Interested in this Classic Design

From: ronbreault
Sent: 7/13/2014 10:55 AM
To: Steinhilber, Mark
Subject: Re: Dol Fyn

Hi Mark

Here's the latest http://www.dolphin24.org/DOLYFN.html How can you tell Dol Fyn does not have a lazerette?
Also, note the fittings on the aft top edges of the house. The uneven spacing/size of the cabin top handhold rail openings would be a closer, except no pictures showing them for Rascal.

From: Steinhilber, Mark
Sent: 7/13/2014 3:24 PM
To: ronbreault
Subject: Re: Dol Fyn

Yes, those are them cam cleats we had for spin halyard, pole lift, pole downhaul, on the aft edge of the cabin top. They led directly from racelite cheek blocks on the mast, no turning blocks on the cabin top because of the hatch rails.

We took the clam rails off to paint and rebed after a few years. When we did, we cut out the spaces between the fasteners to make better handholds. They were unevenly spaced. Dol Fyn rails show that spacing.

As for the Lazerette, I'm guessing it is not there, but if it is, It may appear to be a more recent install, possibly like the forward hatch replacement. The bow pulpit having been replaced makes sense because the old one was one that went together with set screw fittings that didn't make it as sturdy as one would like. But it was low back aft to allow the Genoa to be a deck sweeper when trimmed.. We cut the heavy bronze gearshift lever off and replaced it with lighter stainless tubing and knob. Otherwise the handle would look like the heavy gearshift on the port side of the cockpit. The throttle was the bronze type that had the semi circular arc of teeth and handle had a spring loaded nylon detent. It was up high on the starboard side of the cockpit tub. It would catch loose. Clothing and go full throttle at inopportune moments. We had the tall oval white Perko ventilators on the fantail just like Tiki. Other earlier Odays and even Lunns often show with the low profile bronze thread perko ventilators. See Redheads, Dauphine, and Black Dolphin as the Lunn example. The picture of Dol Fyn with the bottom stripped is very interesting. It goes to show the quality of resin and gel coat and their resistance to blistering. The centerboard is also stripped of paint and I see either bronze or grey blue bondo. I would expect one would find the leading edge rounded and the trailing edge sharpened. It also appears that it may still have about 10 gallons of bondo applied to the sides to give it more of a foil shape. I know where and when that was done at Niantic!

From: Steinhilber, Mark
Sent: Mon, 7/14/2014 6:08AM
To: ronbreault
Subject: Re: Dol Fyn

Ron:

After much further study…. The clam rails with the cutouts can be seen in the Rascal photos showing me in the olive drab fouls, the picture next to that with my dad sporting a tan. That photo also shows the Corsair compass in the cabin trunk on the stud side facing aft. The boom crutch has been replaced as have the brackets on the port side. But one of the old mahogany brackets has lived on and is now installed on the starboard side as either a hand hold or as a winch handle holder…also note the placement of the phenolic cam cleats and that the two on the starboard side are farther outboard and don’t have fairleads.

The port side profile picture of Rascal with the blue and white spinnaker also shows the cabin top railing with the cutouts. That side shot also shows the old and uniquely shaped bow pulpit, the white perko bronze thread white rubber ventilators. No lazarette in that shot, Not Sure if Dol Fyn now has the lazarette hatch now or not, but those look to be the very same ventilators and they are located exactly the same as seen in pictures of Rascal, Trump It, and even Tiki #28. Really makes me think Trump It / Rascal / Dol Fyn was class number 27. I see that Tiki is an O’Day built for Oday. Perhaps Trump It?

Rascal Dol Fyn was the last Marscot? I also note that all the other earlier Marscots like Shaman, and Sloop Du Jour have the lower profile white ventilators. They also have the Aqua colored formica in the interior and there are slight differences in the Galley. Rascal /Dol Fyn have no installed icebox, but do have the port locker for an ice chest underneath where the stove would normally be. It looks like Dol Fyn now has a single burner stove forward where the one piece plastic sink and integral water tank used to sit in a cutout. Back to the cabin top hand rails. Shaman, a later Marscot at #25 had the same screw locations in the cabin top hand rails. I’m pretty sure my dad and I had studied the modifications seen on the Sachem’s Head YC Dolphins during Happy Hour at the Block.Island. Marina during Off Soundings. Both Rachel K and Shaman had the rails cut out to give better hand holds. Shaman also had a Corsair compass mounted in the same location. The compass may have been a common item or option on these later Marscots and then the two O’Day (not Marscot) O’Days, 28 and 29. Really thinking Rascal was #27. Where is #26????

Go read Lady, Orin Jones’ O’Day that sailed with the Sachem’s Head fleet. Why is she listed as a Lunn with no known hull class number? Good Question!! Lady also used to race in those same Off Soundings. They think her number used to be 26 or 27. And they said she was an O’Day. I think we now may know which boats were 26 and 27. I definitely think I see lots of bondo auto body filler on the sides of the centerboard in the photo of Dol Fyn with the bottom stripped. Amazing if it has stuck with no blistering after all these years underwater…. I also mentioned that the gas tank vent was on the upper part of the port transom, with a little upside down v-shaped cover. I think I see it on Dol Fyn. I don’t think any other O’Day has it. I remember that Her Ladyship and other Lunns have a loop of copper tubing on the outside of the teak cockpit coaming. My dad and I made that mast screw jack that’s still under the arch seen in the pictures inside Dol Fyn. We had seen Jim Kurt’s mast jack while in Block Island at one Off Soundings. Ours ended up looking very similar to Rachel K’s mast strut. On Rascal we cut a hole in the cabin floor and the aluminum tube goes down and lands on the keel in the bilge ahead of the centerboard trunk. Also note the added thickness block on the arch with the bevelled edges.

I remember my Dad wanted to add thickness to better support the entire mast step fore’n’aft. Still there on Dol Fyn. Both Rascal and Dol Fyn had the same main bulkhead mast arch. I believe the shape changed from semi circular arch seen in #1 through #15. I think the shape changed on #16 as the old pictures of Mele showed the more open, but thicker design. I went back and looked at the old picture of Trump It that I found and is now on her page. You can see the Corsair compass in the bulkhead and the white ventilators. Also, the big chromed brass or bronze gearshift lever can be seen sticking straight up. We adjusted it 90 degrees so that it pointed toward the bow. Down was then for forward gear, and up would put the engine in reverse. We eventually cut the handle down and made it with a smaller piece of stainless tubing and a hard black ball on the end. Might still be there. It originally looked like the gearshift seen on Rachel, a 1963 O'Day owned by Matt Struve in Wilmette. She still has her PW27. Same picture also shows the throttle I previously talked about. A real clothing catcher. Perhaps it is still on Dol Fyn. Also see the same gearshift lever on the port side of the cockpit tub on Enough. Why is she listed as Lunn 216? her unusual winch brackets on either side of the cockpit suggest she is an early Marscot, perhaps 6,7 or 9. engine gauges suggest Lunn. If the rails and cockpit is teak; it’s a Lunn. Wood that goes from varnished to black is probably mahogany and not teak….Webmaster Note: On Sept 10, 2012 DFI Homer Lange reported that based on his visual inspection, Enough is a Lunn Dolphin, hull #216 according to the nameplate.

Hundreds of details tell me Dol Fyn is Rascal. Perhaps the Bondo is the most compelling…. I’m now 56, Rascal is 54…. I’ll bet many of the heavy glass Marscots will outlast me…sad what happened to Darwin, prophetic even…. wondering if Shaman made it out of the marsh (Not Yet) and if Tiki ever got her deck put back down…. Conch Pearl looks like she’ll be pretty nice! And Savili looks good in green, but she really begs for a diesel. I’ll bet some of that 7k Awlgrip that Savili has can go a good 20 years…. You know it can be brushed on and tipped to look almost sprayed. When done outside, I never really noticed the fumes except for the toluene used as a cleaner. Did some touch ups on my awl gripped J24 a few years back. I used an organic cartridge mask respirator like what we used to enter the tanks of product supertankers…. I’ll propose that the evidence suggests:
Shaman #25
Lady #26
Rascal #27
Tiki #28
Gem #29 Need to find / place
#1, Lezah having first of their kind port lights and wood main hatch.
#2, the Miami Boat show boat, with white plastic port light frames and wooden main hatch.
#3, could be the Glover’s Dolphin, with white plastic port light frames
#6, 9, 17 could be Elizabeth or the Alabama boat. Maybe Enough.
#7 where is Jato now? Good Question
#8 where is Glimpse now? Another Good Question
#14 where is Peridot now? And, Another Good Question
#22 where is Unicorn, Prim, Flipper now? Unicorn, Prim and Flipper are the same boat, and she is missing