Questions on 1913 Old Town Sailing Canoe

[Boatnut]

I am considering making an offer on a 1913 Old Town sailing canoe. SN 23596 (Benson previously sent me the build sheet on this boat.) It appears that this was built as a sailing canoe because it has the bow seat with the hole for the mast, cleats on gunwales and a unique stern setup. My first question has to do with the latter. As you can see from the attached picture, the aft end of the stern deck is several inches forward of the stern stem of the boat. There was apparently some type of assembly that attached the rudder to the stern and perhaps avoided the need for gudgeons. Can anyone explain what this devise would have looked like and/or send me photographs of it?
The current owner of the canoe has all of the rigging minus the mast. I’d appreciate any information on the diameter and height of the mast And a picture of what the original mast looked like.
Thanks very much for any help on this.
Matt Lutkus, aka, “Boatnut”

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[Benson Gray]

The pictures and information at the first link below show the evolution of the Old Town sail rigs in the catalogs. One from 1913 would have had no rudder. The first rudder was shown in 1917 and the style of gudgeons changed over the years. The stern deck in your pictures appears to have an ordinary case of tip rot. The second link below has some suggestions about how to fix this. The pictures at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/46941/ plus https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/46942/ and https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/46972/ show how the mast would have looked. I can provide more detailed measurements if you need them. Good luck,

Benson

Old Town canoe sailing rig evolution

The Old Town Canoe Company catalogs show an interesting progression of the standard sailing rigs over the years as shown in the catalog pages attached below. The first sailing canoe was shown in 1907 with tear drop shaped leeboards and no rudder. The next major change was to a more square...

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Rebuild rotted tips

Rebuilding tips of canoes seems necessary so often simply because otherwise well meaning people find it easy to set a canoe on the ground, overturn it, and leave it there. True, the seats and ribs/interior are protected, and dry for when next you use it. But leaving the tips on the ground means...

forums.wcha.org

 

[Boatnut]

Benson, This is absolutely terrific information and right on point with my project. While it initially seemed daunting, the repair of the bow and stern decks seems to be well within my skill-set. A correction from my original message: the serial number on this canoe is 28733. It’s a 1914 Old Town 18’ HW model.
Thank you once again for your help. Matt