.gif)
Sharpie (boat)
Encyclopedia
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
s with flat bottoms, extremely shallow draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
, centerboards and straight, flaring sides. They are believed to have originated in the New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
region of Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They were traditional fishing boats used for oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
ing, and later appeared in other areas.
New Haven sharpies
These were long boatBoat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s, about 27 feet or so, crewed by one man and rigged as a cat-ketch
Cat-ketch
A cat-ketch is a sailboat that is rigged as both a catboat and a ketch. Specifically, there is larger mast stepped at the very bow, and a smaller mast further aft. It is different than a standard ketch rig because there is no jib, and the foremost mast is further forward than most ketches...
, with three mast
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
steps; one at the bow
Bow (ship)
The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
, one amidships
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
and one in between. Typically, in the summer, two masts would be stepped: one at the bow and amidships. In the winter, when heavier weather was expected, a single mast would be stepped in between. Larger versions, up to 35 feet, were crewed by two men. The New Haven models were typified by plumb bows with the heel of the stem sitting just out of the water, and rounded counter-stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
s.
Although most sharpies were rigged as a cat-ketch with free standing, sprit rig
Spritsail
The spritsail is a form of three or four-sided, fore-aft sail and its rig. Unlike the gaff where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a spar or spars named a sprit...
s, larger versions - especially those found in the Carolinas
The Carolinas
The Carolinas is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the states of North and South Carolina. Together, the two states + have a population of 13,942,126. "Carolina" would be the fifth most populous state behind California, Texas, New York, and Florida...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
- used stayed gaff
Gaff
-Pole-shaped devices:* Fishing gaff, a pole used in fishing* Gaff or hakapik, used as a seal-hunting weapon* Gaff rig; A fore-and-aft sailing arrangement where the sail is held up by a spar called a gaff-Ankle-worn devices:...
schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
rigs which included a jib
Jib
A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...
.
The sharpie type migrated south and west to other regions where shallow water prevented deep-draft vessels from operating, including Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, the Carolinas, the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
(Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) and Florida.
The classic sharpie could be thought of as an elongated flattie skiff. Short sharpies and flattie skiffs tend to merge together, especially in workboat designs, since there's a practical minimum beam and displacement for a working boat. Many sharpies, like skiffs, did not have the New Haven counter stern.
Egret
Sharpies were introduced to Florida in 1881, when Commodore Ralph MunroeRalph Munroe
Ralph Middleton Munroe was an American yacht designer and early resident of Coconut Grove in south Florida. His home, now The Barnacle Historic State Park, is the oldest house in Miami-Dade County still standing in its original location.-Early life:Munroe was born to Thomas and Ellen Middleton...
brought a 30-foot sharpie to the Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
area of Florida. Several years later, the Commodore brought his 33-foot Kingfish to St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. Perhaps the most famous of sharpies was the Commodore's Egret
Egret
An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Many egrets are members of the genera Egretta or Ardea which contain other species named as herons rather than egrets...
design, now immortalized in plans available from WoodenBoat
WoodenBoat
WoodenBoat is an American magazine that has been published since 1974. It is written for owners, admirers, builders, and designers of wooden boats. Its publication marked the start of a trend — a growing interest in traditional boats and boat building techniques and the development thereof...
magazine. The Commodore designed Egret in 1886 and had her built on Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
and delivered to Key West.
Egret was unique in that she had higher, flaring sides than the typical sharpie and was double-ended. As with a dory
Dory
The dory is a small, shallow-draft boat, about long. It is a lightweight and versatile boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. They are easy to build because of their simple lines. For centuries, dories have been used as traditional fishing boats, both in coastal waters and in the...
, this meant more stability as she was loaded and the ability to run before a following sea without waves breaking over the stern. These attributes contributed to behavior that led the Commodore to call the Egret a "sharpie-lifeboat". Modern designers sometimes refer to the design as a 'shorie' - a cross between the sharpie and the dory.
Throughout the late 19th century, the Commodore and others helped to evolve the type. Thomas Clapham used a v-bottom in his "Nonpareil sharpies", and Larry Huntington introduced a rounded, arc bottom that has been used by modern designers like Bruce Kirby and Reuel Parker. Some believe the Chesapeake Bay skipjack with its v-bottom may have evolved from the early sharpies. Whatever the case, Chesapeake sharpie skiffs were common, especially in the smaller sizes, because of easy and cheap construction.
Howard I. Chapelle
Howard I. Chapelle
Howard Irving Chapelle was an American naval architect, and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.. In addition, he authored many books and articles books on maritime history and marine architecture.-Biography:...
was a particular advocate of pleasure boats based on workboat models and designed many sharpie sailboats, cruisers and yachts. For a typical example, see 14-foot sharpie. With Chappelle's encouragement, S. Owen Davis designed and built a sharpie disguised as a Chesapeake Bay bugeye in the late 1940s (see WoodenBoat Magazine October 1980). This boat incorporated the so-called "patent stern" that was used to provide deck space aft on the canoe-like double enders then working the Bay.
Modern sharpies
In recent years, the sharpie, as with many traditional American small craft, has enjoyed renewed interest as designers and sailors have sought boats with the virtues of shallow draft. However, most are homebuilt or of one-off construction. Exceptions include Bruce Kirby's Norwalk IslandsNorwalk Islands
The Norwalk Islands are a chain of more than 25 islands amid partly submerged boulders, reefs and mudflats along a six-mile stretch and mostly about a mile off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut and southwest Westport, Connecticut, in Long Island Sound.The islands are used for several different...
series of sharpies, Phil Bolger
Phil Bolger
Philip C. Bolger , prolific boat designer, was born and lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began work full time as a draftsman for boat designers Lindsay Lord and then John Hacker in the early 1950s. Bolger also cites being influenced by mentors L.F...
's Birdwatcher, AS-29 and Dovekie and B&B Yacht Designs Core Sound series.
A special place in history is for the former 1956 Olympic Class: 12m2 Sharpie
12 Square meter Sharpie (dinghy)
The 12m Sharpie was designed in 1931 by the Kroger Brothers. The peak of the class was in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. To this day, the original design has been preserved, and the class is sailed competitively in the ,, , and...
.
See also
- Boat buildingBoat buildingBoat building, one of the oldest branches of engineering, is concerned with constructing the hulls of boats and, for sailboats, the masts, spars and rigging.-Parts:* Bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull...
- CatboatCatboatA catboat , or a cat-rigged sailboat, is a sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward ....
- a wider, gaff-rigged variation of the design concept - Center for Wooden BoatsCenter for Wooden BoatsThe Center for Wooden Boats is a museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the maritime history of the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. Unlike most other museums, at CWB the public is invited to touch the exhibits and explore maritime history first hand by rowing, paddling or...
- offers free rides in two classic sharpies, an Egret, and a New Haven type. - SkiffSkiffThe term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
- the general boat type upon which the Sharpie is based
External links
- John's Sharpie for information about the sharpie kit available from Chesapeake Light Craft
- Great Falls Boat Works for information regarding semiproduction custom CoreSound 17 capable of planing speeds to 12 knots and for one off building of other Sharpies.
- B&B Yacht Design for information on plans for the CoreSound and Princess series of Sharpies
- WoodenBoat Publications for sharpie plans and information about WoodenBoat magazine
- Bolger Boats On The Web for a list of Bolger boats (including sharpies) that can be found on the Internet
- Square Boats a web site dedicated to Bolger's boxy sharpies
- Black Skimmer for a brief overview of Bolger's Black Skimmer design
- Shoal Draft Mecca an article on cruising Florida BayFlorida BayFlorida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland and the Florida Keys. Its area is variously stated to be , or , or . Nearly all of Florida Bay is included in Everglades National Park. The southern edge, along the Florida Keys is in the Florida Keys National Marine...
in a Black Skimmer - Phillip C. Bolger a brief biography of Phil Bolger
- Instant Boats for Phil Bolger's Black Skimmer plans
- Norwalk Islands Sharpies One Stop Shop for information about the Norwalk Islands Sharpies
- NIS Boats main agents for Bruce Kirby's Norwalk Island Sharpies
- Microcruising in the Bahamas - several small cruising sharpies designed by Matt Layden - photos, sketches, hints
- http://www.smallsailboats.co.uk/paradox/parindex.htm Paradox a Matt Layden micro-sailboat coastal cruiser - construction photos, owners' photos
- http://www.mermaidresearch.com/ Jubilee, 40’ Cruising Sharpie Ketch designed by Chris Morejohn
- British Sharpie Owners Association The British 12 m² Sharpie Owners Association, web development By William D. Fillingham
- British Sharpies in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Sailing out of the Caicaras Country Club on the Logoa in Rio back in the 1940s through the 1970s; reportedly, the fleet moved across the Guanabara Bay to the City of Niteroi.