We love sailing, we love boats, we love contests and we love prizes. The Restore an Old Boat Contest combines the best of all of these. There is nothing like seeing an old neglected boat be brought back to its original glory. This year we have two very different entries for this contest, both amazing, and worthy of attention, and both earning a prize. Check out the entires and the transofrtions they made on the boats.
Pintail Restoration by Marc Meyer
Came upon a 1971 Pintail that had been stored outdoors for many years. The previous owner had tried unsuccessfully to repair several areas of outer hull damage. The balsa inner core flooring had become rotted due to water intrusion from the damaged outer hull. The entire fiberglass flooring was removed, the balsa core was replaced, the new flooring was put down, and all exterior fiberglass hull damage was repaired. Oxidized deck and hull rubbed out and waxed to bring back original teal color. Repainted steel centerboard and built new rudder and tiller. The boat was sailed for the first time at the 2021 CreekFleet Summer Solstice Regatta and took 2nd place!
View the full restoration here: https://summersailstice.com/contest-entry/contest-entry-20210626
Neal Harvey s/v Harvest Moon
Originally named s/v Rasputin II she was built in Darwin Australia in 1973. She was a ketch, launched in 1974. She was custom built. In the 1980’s she was in the Mediterranean, and in the late 1980’’s in Denmark. She spent a decade in the US Virgin Islands, before coming to Beaufort NC in the 1990s. There she sat on the hard, in use for 17 years. Since she is custom-built, she is a “one of a kind.”
In 2011 I bought her and reconstructed her. Interior and out. I returned her to the water on 5/28/2017. This was a massive project. The hull had holes in it, the rudder was useless. All interior systems and navigation equipment were replaced. New rigging, etc, etc, etc. I can go on for days.
Since returning to the water she participated in the summer Sailtice in 2019 and 2021. She has now in excess of 4,000 nm under her keel since splash in 2017. Including one offshore passage of 620 nm and spent the winter of 2019-2020 in the Bahamas.
She was renamed s/v Harvest Moon in 2017 after the Native American tradition of celebrating the fruits of their efforts after harvesting their crops.
View the restoration: https://summersailstice.com/contest-entry/contest-entry-20210625-0