Sailing Canoe term

[Benson Gray]

Is there anyone here who is particularly good at reading cursive handwriting? The build record below is for a "Centerboard Sailing Special" but I can only guess the last word on the model line. It appears on other records during this era but I can' t match it with any terms from the sailing pages in the catalogs. What do you think it is?

Benson

 

[Michael Grace]

I think it may be "Froling" as in Hilding Froling who was a hull designer in the early 1900s, a member of the ACA, and an avid and successful canoe sailor. He was apparently well known and respected, as his name and testimonials were used in Valspar ads in major boating magazines of the time.

Here is a story published in the July 1949 issue of Yachting, in which Froling is mentioned:

http://intcanoe.org/en/dca_hist_yachting_07_1949.php

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Could be, I suppose, although it kind of looks like the spelling at the end is "lnig" or "luig". I can't think of any common sailing term that might look like that.

 

[Dan Miller]

I agree with Michael. All my references to Hilding Froling are about his experience in decked canoe sailing. I'm not sure what he would specify for an open sailing canoe.

 

[MGC]

A centerboard with 42 inch mahogany decks! That was one heck of a canoe.

 

[Dan Miller]

For sailing on Long Island Sound.

 

[Benson Gray]

Thank you all, I was not familiar with Hilding Froling. This has been an interesting rabbit hole to chase down. He appears to be best known for decked sailing canoes as Dan mentioned and shown below from 1917. The Eastport Sentinel reported in August 23-30, 1939 from Lubec, Maine that "Hilding Froling of North Lubec has been notified that the decked sailing canoe he designed last winter which was built by the Peterborough Ontario Canoe Co., has won three straight races for the National Championship and the American Canoe Association Challenge Cup."

This canoe probably looked similar to the one shown at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/14821/ with 48 inch decks. The sail rig may be shown at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/26441/ or https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/26858/ from some old factory records which have no other identification. Another mystery,

Benson

 

[Dan Miller]

Just for kicks, here are drawings from an article in Rudder, May 1918, showing a decked canoe designed by Froling.

 

[Benson Gray]

This last rig looks similar to the one at https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/1066/ in some other unidentified factory notes.

Benson

 

[Dan Miller]

That sketch also shows a sliding seat, though it looks a bit too far forward to me.

 

[Benson Gray]

That sketch also shows a sliding seat, though it looks a bit too far forward to me.

I agree, a number of basic balance mistakes were made during this period. The canoe shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/46941/ shipped in 1927 and no complex calculations are required to see that the sail is not well aligned over the centerboard.

Benson