Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Its getting Warm Again!
Last Sunday - April 20th - I was able to get the boat out for the first time at Shawnee Mission Lake. Although I only had a limited amount of time, the weather was good and the wind was strong. I almost forgot how much fun sailing is. For those of you that may be wondering, the lake is filled again. The Marina is not complete, but the ramp and dock are in working order. If any fellow snipe owners come across this site, especially those in the Kansas City area, I'd like to get a group of fellow snipe owners together for a race this summer!
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4 comments:
You boat looks nice! Snipe rigging photos are incomplete on the web. I have been trying to figure out the correct rigging to keep the boom connected to the mast. I went to Jacomo last weekend and I think we have it now. We are planning on racing with the Jacomo club as I was a member there and raced a Windmill in the early '80s. Great group and challenging lake.
Kevin - Great blog. I just bought an old Lofland Snipe here in OKC. Needs to be totally re-rigged, etc. I'll investigate your blog further but I'm looking for some Snipe rigging diagrams to get started. I'll have to come up and meet up with your fleet there to get some ideas. Do you know of any Snipe activity in OKC?
Kevin,
Check out my Snipe restoration blog,
http://marksnipe.blogspot.com/
Snipe info: There were 4 Snipe fleets in Kansas City at one time: Lotawana, Quivira, Weatherby, and Jacomo. The last most active was on Jacomo in the 90’s. These were all top sailors having moved into the Snipe from the 470. They were trying for the Olympics in the 470’s. The people are still around and the boats are mostly stored. Some of these folk move to Clinton and now race Thistles. I had an older Snipe but I weighed too much for it although I enjoyed the boat. I brought the first Thistle into the area. Contact Bob Hyland at 816-363-1656. Bob will have much information on Snipes and Snipe sailing.
Parts: For Snipe parts and advice contact Sailing Supply in San Diego. This is now owned by another company, but the original owners are still there. It was founded by small boat people, and half the family races Snipes. Jerilyn Biehl, SCIRA intranational Secretary, is the daughter of the founders. Her son was racing a Snipe. Sobstad’s loft is above it. This is the loft that George Szabo works out of. Anything you need to know or buy about a Snipe you can get from this shop, including made to order rigging. Ask George sometime about test sails. I bought a nice set from him once for about half price.
Rigging: If you can’t get together with Bob I can help you. The only tricky parts are the traveler and the pole launcher.
Sailing and Racing: SM Lake has a nice club but can be a very tough lake to sail, almost dangerous with any wind, as you can get 90° to almost 180° shifts. Clinton is about the best for conditions, but it is a bit of a ways to the new sailing area, and they are a bit too serious for those that are just out for a good time. I still sail on Jacomo even though most of the other Thistles moved to Clinton. Clinton offers much better sailing and more competitive Thistle sailing, but Jacomo is closer. If not closer to where you live, then it is closer to other things, such as work, other people, etc. Jacomo races on Sundays at 1:30. SM and Clinton race on Saturdays. I find the Sunday racing much more convenient.
History: The top Sniper worldwide at one time was from this area, Eddie Williams from Lotawana. Another was Ted Wells from Wichita, who wrote the book Scientific Sailing. That boat has some excellent Snipe comments and pictures of older boats.
You can contact me for more if you wish. We are sailing this Sunday on Jacomo. You will need a permit for the day ($17), or you can get one for the season for only $40.
Ron Schauble
913-696-0825
RWS35@kc.rr.com
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