Restoring 8' Penn Yan sailing dingy

[itswindy@gmail.com]

Hello,
I am restoring a Penn Yan sailing dingy and could sure use some help with original photos, hardware sources, info on the sailing rig, center board, rudder, etc. I've posted photos and questions on Picasa (hope it works!):

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sred...RgCJe8npH2wL63jQE&invite=CJfa_eUL&feat=emaill

It would also be wonderful to get some help identifying the boat. It appears the serial number stamped on the stem is CX551 or possibly CX554. I got a bit of help on the Penn Yan Antique Boat Owners Club site where a gentleman said it is a CX Aerodinghy 8' 8" x 44 x 16 Composite Mahogany 1939-1947 Does anyone know what "Composite Mahogany" refers to?

Contact info for folks who might be sources for original photos, info or hardware would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
-Brad

 

[Kathryn Klos]

The information you were given is the same as that on the dragonfly site-- see www.dragonflycanoe.com/id/ and scroll to Penn Yan on the left. The "CX" designates the model as an "Aerodinghy 8", with composite construction and mahogany trim. I don't know what composite construction means, other that what the Wikipedia says: "Composite construction is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft, watercraft, and building construction. There are several reasons to use composite materials including increased strength, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability." Maybe someone else here can weigh-in.

It's possible the boat was built in 1955 if 551 or 554 indicates the year followed by the order of construction. There are no existing records for Penn Yan boats, as they were destroyed when the factory closed. There is a fair degree of information coded into the serial number, but some of that is up to speculation.

Very cute boat-- would look sweet when rigged for sailing! Penn Yan has a good reputation and it would certainly be worthwhile and fun to get this little boat into the water and sail her!

I'll look through information we have. The WCHA Assembly has taken place near Penn Yan, and we've stopped in the historical society there only to find out that we knew more about their boats/canoes than they did... they copied our stuff instead of the other way around. So, you've probably come to the best place for information.

Kathy

 

[Kathryn Klos]

Found this image posted in another thread... you might try using the "search" function (above) to find older discussions.

 

[itswindy@gmail.com]

Thanks for the info Kathy. Wasn't aware of the search function. I'll see what else I can find.

 

[Jbeals]

Brad,
Cool boat! I am working on an old row boat too.
I have no d\idea who built her.
http://tinyurl.com/3xv4v7v

A lot of my wood looks like yours, aged.
A build date of 1939-1947 fits my thoughts about my boat.
I have not found a mark on my boat at all.
But I will re-double my effort after seeing your SN stamp.
Also the seat cleats are very similar.
How wide are the ribs on yours?
Have you decided about replacing the broken ribs?
All the best
James

 

[itswindy@gmail.com]

James,
Your boat is beautiful! Very interesting design.
The ribs on mine are about an inch wide and the planks are a bit over 3-1/2" wide. I just got the white cedar yesterday for the ribs and planks. My guess is that I will replace 18 ribs and probably 60-80% of the planking. I also will likely replace both the inwales and gunwales. I wasn't going to replace the inwales but they are bad enough I might as well. So basically I am using the original boat as a mold!

Where did you find you boat? How long is it?

The best,
-Brad

 

[Gil Cramer]

I don't have access to all of the 1950's Penn Yan catalogs, but I have not seen an aerodinghy with a dagger board in any of the catalogs. The earlier yachtsman dinghies did offer a sailing model complete with dagger board and rudder.
The CX model is the 8' aerodinghy. The two digits after the CX designated the year built if it were built after WWII and before 1957. After 1957 the numbers had no meaning. If the first two digits represented the year, there would usually be a space between those digits and the remaining digits. Because your serial number is quite low, I would guess that it was built after 1957.
The dinghy had mahogany rails, deck, and seat frames with doug fir plywood seat inserts. You are likely correct in your assumption that the seats are not original. Composite construction is typical w/c canoe type construction except the covering was aircraft grade "A" cotton and the filler was airplane dope. Your dinghy probably has fiberglass on the exterior. Most do because the grade"A" didn't hold up well. The sand cast seat braces were stained mahogany and were 3 or 4 different lengths for different locations on the the different seats. The transom was 1/4" doug fir Plywood. The transom braces were bent oak stained mahogany. The planking and ribs were likely western red cedar
If you email me @ woodencanoeshop@yahoo.com I'll try to send a photo of an older Penn Yan sailing dinghy. I'm not sure whether your dinghy was built for sailing at the factory or whether it was converted later.

 

[Jbeals]

Brad,
I am balking at the prospect of replacing ribs.
May have to do one or two any way.
I will be interested in how you go about this.

My boat is 13" long and 4" at the beam.
Ribs are about an inch, planks are many varying sizes and tapers.

This boat has a long story behind it.
It was abandoned in my friends (Tom) pond, after someone striped the canvas, and coated the outside with tar! Another friend (Prudy) saw the boat and and convinced Tom to pull it out so he could fix it up.
He did a lot of work and got most of the tar off and ran out of steam.
The boat sat in his basement for 15 years! I have tried to get the boat for at least 10 years! Finally Prudy realized that he was not going to get back to it, and gave me the boat to finish. There is more to the story, pre-taring, but most of the folks that could know it have passed, and I may never get the whole story.

Brad, are you going to keep the centerboard and retain the sailing capability?

James,
Your boat is beautiful! Very interesting design.
The ribs on mine are about an inch wide and the planks are a bit over 3-1/2" wide. I just got the white cedar yesterday for the ribs and planks. My guess is that I will replace 18 ribs and probably 60-80% of the planking. I also will likely replace both the inwales and gunwales. I wasn't going to replace the inwales but they are bad enough I might as well. So basically I am using the original boat as a mold!

Where did you find you boat? How long is it?

The best,
-Brad[/QUOTE]

 

[Gil Cramer]

The cedar transom and shape of vertical transom brace indicate that the dinghy was probably made in the 1940's.