Old Town Sailing Dingy

[Petoskey Guy]

Over 10 years ago I bought an 11.5 foot Old Town Dingy, Canoe No 112581, 24” Decks, AA Grade (Mahogany trimmed, and all other materials of the “highest order procurable.”), Half Built May 24, 1933, Railed, Varnished March 20, 1934, White top, Emerald Green bottom, Bright Red Pencil line at water line, Shipped April 3, 1934 to Syracuse, Indiana.

It has a sailing rig (mast, boom, rudder, etc.) and Dagger type centerboard. The canvass bottom is off, and a couple of ribs have an old brass repair, but otherwise is in very good unrestored shape. It also came with an old Elto Handitwin outboard motor.

My son started to refinish parts of it many years ago before heading off to college and a full-time desk job. He would love to keep it as a future project but we’re running out of storage space. It was a bit expensive when I bought it but it is really neat, and I had never seen anything like it before… or since.

Unfortunately it’s in storage but I’ll try to find some pictures. Does anyone have any idea how many of these were produced and exist, and a possible value range unrestored and restored?

Many Thanks!

 

[Petoskey Guy]

A restored Old Town sailing dinghy has been for sale on Ebay recently for $5800, if I remember correctly. I don't recall that it ever sold. An unrestored, but restorable, Old Town 11 1/2' sailing dinghy sold at auction in NE Indiana in November 2007 for $100. I would guess that these are the extremes of a dinghy's value.

Thanks for the info. Wonder also if anyone has any experience in how these handle/sail. We have several types of smaller sailboats and love to sail.

 

[Mark Adams]

I have a 14' Old Town sailing dinghy that I just purchased for 900 bucks. It needs canvas, a couple of ribs, and a strip and revarnish. Also a new sail and centerboard. It should be a pretty light restoration, and from what Benson Gray says, it is a pretty rare beast.

HTH

Mark

 

[Robert P. Ross]

Old Town Dinghy

Dear Guy,

The $5800. one on eBay is mine. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=280322368393

I have had several of these over the years. They do sell in good condition from $2500-$6500. I pay between $900. $3000 for restorable boats. A restoration on one today is about. $4000. They are fun to sail and pretty easy to operate. Please feel free to call me I would be willing to help you in any way I can.

Sincerely,

Robert P. Ross
Ross Bros.
PO Box 60277
Florence, MA 01062
413.320.2306

 

[Benson Gray]

Does anyone have any idea how many of these were produced and exist, and a possible value range unrestored and restored? ... Wonder also if anyone has any experience in how these handle/sail.

These are great fun to sail as shown below with my son many years ago. They are not as fast as a longer and narrower boat but you can still have a good time.

The Old Town catalogs listed dinghies in a broad variety of sizes but the nine, ten, and eleven and a half foot lengths were the only ones listed with sailing rigs. The research technique at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/models.html indicates that the nine foot version of the dinghy was the most popular with an estimated 3396 produced between 1906 and 1967 with an average of 55 per year but it is not clear how many of these shipped with sailing rigs. The eleven and a half foot version appears to be about a quarter of this total so it seems likely that less than a thousand were built. It is even more difficult to estimate how many of these still exist. New ones are available from http://www.islandfallscanoe.com/our-canoes.asp?cat=1087 and the previous messages should have already given you some idea of the current market for used ones. Good luck with your restoration,

Benson

 

[MGC]

I owned and restored one of these many years ago. It was a sort of interesting boat. Given the choice of the dingy or a sailing canoe, the canoe always came out on top so I got rid of it. I have never missed it so that must have been the right decision. These are kind of like bath tubs with sails.

It puzzles me to read that anyone would buy these and invest more in them than they sell them for, at least someone that makes a business out of it. R Ross example of his buy/sell leaves him upside down for $2,400+ in some cases. There must be more to that story?

I see these around every now and then for $300 to $900 un-restored give or take. In that case spending a bill to restore it might pan out as a profitable venture. They can go for $2,500 plus in decent shape if you can locate an interested buyer. I'm not at all surprised that the Ebay boat remains unsold even though it really looks quite nice.

 

[Petoskey Guy]

Thanks for the Information

Many thanks to all who responded with information. If we decide to keep and restore it we will need lots of help... and this obviously is the place to get it!

We'll pull it out of storage soon and take a better look at what we have -- but we've been around a lot of boats and assorted watercraft and found this dingy to be beautifully made and structurally interesting. When we want to do some real sailing we take a Laser or Hobie, and would keep this as a relatively rare and compact piece of boating/sailing history that is great to look at and perhaps decent for some modest recreational sailing.

Any additional info is of course appreciated.

 

[Robert P. Ross]

Dear MGC,

Yes there is more to the story. I’m just an honest guy tiring to make a living doing what I like. I have found the best way to operate is to tell the truth. The boats that are pictured above I paid between $900-$3000. and they have sold or are for sale from $2500-$6500. I supplied this information to give an overall view since I’m not sure what the boat in question looks like. Price may vary widely depending on actual condition.

You may be happy to be in such a vessel in small swell or more challenging conditions. Also these boats are great fun with families and small children.

Sincerely,

Robert P. Ross
Ross Bros.
PO Box 60277
Florence, MA 01062
413.320.2306