Old Town Sail Sled

[mariola01]

Hello,
I recently aquired an Old Town Sail Sled and I want to restore it to its original condition but can't find much in the way of pictures. I know it never appeared in any old town catalogues and a quick search of the web didn't turn anything up. It appears to have been stepped for two masts at some point. There is a mast hoop attached to the deck combing at the bow and a mast step in the stern section as well. All I have is the hull with a forward deck in place. No masts, no rudder, no leaboards, just the hull. Can anyone give me any pertinent info? Pictures?

 

[Benson Gray]

I have always wondered about these but never seen one. Can you post the serial number and some pictures? What is the inside diameter of the existing bow mast hoop and the stern mast step. Does the mast step have a square or round hole? The information at http://www.dragonflycanoe.com/otacc/ may help you recreate some of the parts for your rig.

My guess is that it had a pair of lateen rigs like the sailing canoes as shown at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1665&d=1151334414 but it could also have had gaff rigs like the dinghies. The Sail Sled records that I have seen are all from 1929 which is before most of Old Town's more unusual sailing experiments.

John Alden designed an interesting decked canoe for Old Town with two sails in 1932 as shown in the image below and another twin sail design is shown at http://forums.wcha.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1066&d=1136757320 from some company records in 1931.

Please tell and show more about your discovery!

Benson

 

[mariola01]

sail sled photos

Well, I found a client who has hired me to restore the sail sled. I started today and decided to post some photos. There are some mysteries nagging at me though. One of the biggest is this. My sled has a mast hoop attached to the deck combing but no step under that. It has a mast step in the stern and there is an original thwart just forward of the step but no hoop or strap to hold the mast to it and no indication of any chaffing or rubbing on the thwart where a mast may have rested. The thwart is just a straight stick it's not the mast partner type of thwart. I have seen photos of one other sail sled but it was rigged for a single lateen rig. That rig appeared to be stepped amid-ships. Not all the way forward as the hoop on the combing suggests for my sled. My best guess so far is that someone working on the sled previously removed the internal keel and reinstalled it backwards so that the bow step ended up in the stern. crazier things have happened.
A second mystery is the remains of some long gone piece of iron hardware in the middle of the canoe (just forward of the center) If my theory about the internal keel (from here after refered to as the keelson) is correct, than the correct placement for my rusty metal hardware is just aft of the center of the boat. Does that make any sense to anyone? Any one have a guess as to what that may be? More photos to come.

 

[Benson Gray]

These pictures are great! It is nice to finally see one of these. I agree that the internal keel was probably reinstalled backwards at some point. You may find some extra screw holes if you take this one off and all of the screws are not completely symmetrical. The mast might have needed to be more forward if it had a larger sail than the other one. My guess is that the missing iron hardware was probably a jam cleat or pulley for the main sheet (which might also have been necessary with a bigger sail). A similar pulley recently sold on eBay at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180163499761 in brass. Please post some more pictures after your restoration and of the other sail sled. Thanks,

Benson