45 foot 1970's IOR racer stored in a barn for 25 to 30 years

[Russel2]

Hello everyone.

I recently found this 45 foot fiberglass sloop in a barn near London, Ontario, Canada. It was stored in the barn for the past 25 to 30 years. Unknown designer, builder, make, model or year. It might be a one off custom, built and sailed during the early 1970's on the USA east coast. Does anyone know this boat, or anything about it? The various pictures are just after the boat was pulled from the barn before it was trucked to Bayfield, Ontario on Lake Huron.

Because everything about this boat is a mystery, I have decided to name it MYSTERY.

Please check out each picture in my album, because each picture has it's own narrative about MYSTERY.

I will be refitting the boat to sail on the Great Lakes during my retirement. Any information about this boat would be greatly appreciated. If any one has any questions, I will attempt to answer them and will take additional pictures after the snow melts. At the current time MYSTERY is tarped and covered with about two feet of snow, so there be no additional pictures until spring when I can start the refit.

Cheers, Ric

[roverhi]

No picture came through. Might want to post photo again.

[Jim Cate]

Pix are in his profile albums.

Wonder what construction she is? Looks (from a distance) to be in reasonable shape for such long storage. will be an "interesting" project for you, Ric. Ann and I cruised for 17 years and 86,000 miles in an old IOR one-tonner, so we know it can be done. I look forward to hearing how your project goes.

Jim

[wingssail]

I don't see any photos of the keel? or close ups of the stern., These areas can give a hint of who the designer is.

I don't see the typical pinched stern of early IOR boats.

I'm wondering what the actual age of the vessel is. It does not look like a early 70's IOR race boat, nor an older CCA design.

However the steeply angled bow tells a story: this is not a design created a lot later than 70's. Also, close up photos of the blocks and winch handles, etc, can date a boat nicely. Those 35-3speed genoa winches would be lovely.

Yes, a Mystery.

It is surprising you don't know more. Most old boats I have poked around in have had a drawer somewhere full of papers.

[Island Time O25]

HINs were first mandated in 1972. So it may be lurking somewhere at the transom. Or in its absence the hull is pre-1972. Homemade hulls were assigned HINs starting with "Z" I believe.

[carlosproa]

Originally Posted by Russel2

Hello everyone.



I recently found this 45 foot fiberglass sloop in a barn near London, Ontario, Canada. It was stored in the barn for the past 25 to 30 years. Unknown designer, builder, make, model or year. It might be a one off custom, built and sailed during the early 1970's on the USA east coast. Does anyone know this boat, or anything about it? The various pictures are just after the boat was pulled from the barn before it was trucked to Bayfield, Ontario on Lake Huron.



Because everything about this boat is a mystery, I have decided to name it MYSTERY.



Please check out each picture in my album, because each picture has it's own narrative about MYSTERY.



I will be refitting the boat to sail on the Great Lakes during my retirement. Any information about this boat would be greatly appreciated. If any one has any questions, I will attempt to answer them and will take additional pictures after the snow melts. At the current time MYSTERY is tarped and covered with about two feet of snow, so there be no additional pictures until spring when I can start the refit.



Cheers, Ric

No pictures? What album?

[chrisr]

sweet looking boat...much too nice to be a genuine IOR racing design.

definitely looks worth some effort & cash to restore

cheers,

[Russel2]

Hi All, Ric Here,

The boat was basically an estate sale.

1) Just click on Russel2 to see my album of pics of MYSTERY.

2) Click on each picture to see it's narrative.

3) On the stern view, the port corner shows that there is a heavy Stainless corner weldment fitted. The view of the starboard corner of the transom is obscured. I am planning on removing the aft starboard corner fitting in the spring to see if there is a HIN number underneath it.

4) The gentleman farmer went sailing during the summer on the Great Lakes while his crops were growing.

5) His wife vaguely remembers him stating that he bought the boat somewhere on the US east coast when he was driving to Florida one winter.

6) The gentleman farmer was old school and kept all of his paperwork in shoe boxes in the basement. His wife has about 50 years of boxes to go thru. She has promised me that she will call me about any boat documents she may find, even if it is years from now.

7) When the boat was put in the barn, it was cleaned and tarped to keep the farm dust and dirt off of it.

8) There is no documentation any where on the boat.

9) See the keel narrative. The keel was scrapped. However I have an exact template of the keel bolt locations on the keel stub and its profile and dimensions.

10) No sails, therefore no sail number or insignia.

11) The boat was freshly painted just before it was stored away. Therefore there are no registration or license numbers and no name.

12) However, there is a virtually brand new Perkins Prima M60 installed in the boat that has 52 hours on it. I believe it was a replacement about 1990 for the original engine. I was told that the owner would spin it up once a year to keep it lubricated and free turning. I can manually turn the crankshaft.

13) The boat had the new engine fitted and the boat's hull was repainted about 1990.

14) The boat was then put in the barn to have the wiring and instrumentation redone.

15) Every year life, work, the farm and family kept the owner busy and the boat sat safely in the barn all these years. It was always going to be sorted out next year, about thirty years in a row!

Ric

[Drumroll30]

Possibly Whitby 45?

[Russel2]

Hi Drumroll30,

Your suggestion about the 1968 C&C designed Whitby 45 is very good. I checked out sailboatdata. I had not found the Whitby 45 prior to your post. Only 2 or 3 of the Whitby 45's where built. Beautiful lines on the Whitby 45! However while the Whitby's stern counter rises gracefully up from the waterline, MYSTERY's stern counter starts abruptly at the IOR bump or knuckle at the rudder post and is parallel to and about 10 inches above the water line. MYSTERY's rudder post is vertical on a skeg. Both boats have very similar shear lines, however the decks cabin shape and companionways are different. And of coarse the interiors are very different. The Whitby's I=54, P=47, J=17.5, E=18.75 are also different from MYSTERY's I=53, P=49, J=19.4, E=15. Although both are very similar they appear to be slightly different boats. The keel weights are identical at 11,500 pounds, so the Whitby 46's displacement of 23,800 pounds gives me a good indication of what MYSTERY's unknown, displacement might be. Thanks for that information. Since the IOR rule came into existence in 1970, I still think MYSTERY was designed in, or soon after 1970. But the 1968 Whitby 45 might very well been known to and used as a starting point by the designer of MYSTERY.

I am hoping that someone from the past that built MYSTERY, sailed on her, or had knowledge of her, sees the pictures of her and can provide some of her history to me.

Thank you for your post, Ric

[Paul Howard]

Those swept back keels were a signature of C&C designed boats from the 70's, though the rudder is very different. Go to the Sailboat Data website searching for Whitby 45, a C design, one of the C's of C&C.
This could have been a Canada's Cup racing boat and, if so, could have been built by Bruckman's Yachts of Mississauga, long known as the C&C Custom shop, but now defunct.
Boats such as Maurader, still sailing out of the National Yacht club, Toronto, and Evergreen, Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, would be similar examples.

[Drumroll30]

Originally Posted by Paul Howard

Those swept back keels were a signature of C&C designed boats from the 70's, though the rudder is very different. Go to the Sailboat Data website searching for Whitby 45, a C design, one of the C's of C&C.
This could have been a Canada's Cup racing boat and, if so, could have been built by Bruckman's Yachts of Mississauga, long known as the C&C Custom shop, but now defunct.
Boats such as Maurader, still sailing out of the National Yacht club, Toronto, and Evergreen, Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, would be similar examples.

Bruckman's is still in business.

[Don C L]

The keel was scrapped? Are you sure? I would suspect the owner had it removed and stored somewhere along with the sails. A boat in this condition with no keel and sails doesn't make sense.

[zstine]

Very nice find. We enjoy our '75 Tartan 41 IOR boat. Sails great!. The bow thruster is unusual for an IOR boat of that era. Either an aftermarket add on, or the boat was not designed as a serious IOR race boat.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by Don C L

The keel was scrapped? Are you sure? I would suspect the owner had it removed and stored somewhere along with the sails. A boat in this condition with no keel and sails doesn't make sense.

+1
Who scraps a keel unless it was to be melted and recast.