Enterprise Measurements

[Adamastor]

I'm about to take delivery of an elderly wooden Enterprise of indeterminate age, the intention being to do a concourse-grade restoration ASAP and sell my floppy, leaky, 70's-vintage Rhodesian-built GRP Entie with totally enclosed side-decks in order to fund the project.
Ent measurements have been the topic of some discussion here at MAC, and I believe there was some departure from the prescribed measurements some time in the 70's. Dimensions were pushed around within the tolerances, and some designs were faster in certain conditions than others.
My "new" boat was exquisitely built by a master-craftsman in Durban, most likely in the late 60's- the fwd thwart position is still right under the kicker, and the jib fairleads are in the middle of the side-decks, so the boat is likely built to the original Holt measurements. The builder was one of the original South African surfboard-builders in the days of ply boards, a guy called Finn Anderson. When I mentioned that to two luminaries from days gone by their opinion was that if an Anderson was still around it would be like owning a Wm Fife, in Enterprise terms, at least!
Are there any easy measurements which quickly indicate whether the boat is likely to be original Holt or a later interpretation?
I'll post some pics as soon as I collect her- she's currently lurking at a dam called Vogelvlei, right in the middle of Nowhere on the way to Hell-and-gone, so this weekend will be an epic mission with a flatbed trailer and my regular crew to get the boat back to my office warehouse.
If any kind souls have any thoughts, besides a gallon of petrol and a Zippo, for restoring wooden Enterprises, I'd love to correspond, so feel free to PM me...

[poacher]

The problem was with the beam at station 2 and 4 ( both where the building frame should have been ), crafty builders put their frames at station 1 and 3 where the measurment points were and made station 2 very narrow to bring the jib sheeting angle closer to the centreline and station 4 wider for better power sitting out and to improve the planing.
If you get a measurement form, check station 2 at deck level, approximately where the shroud plates are, to make sure it is woide enough.

[sam mason]

There were a few oddly shaped enterprises about in the late 60/ early 70 numbers in the mid 13000, 14000 15000 range. Not all builders did this . Poacher is absolutely correct in what he says about sections 2-4. In their day they were quick but also in their day they were new with all the best gear and tended to find their way into the right hands. There is nothing you can do about it and you cant have a certificate withdrawn retrospectively so I wouldnt worry. Check across the sheerline at section 2 2388mm from back transom and the beam should be 1519mm - 1545mm but I would have thought it would be more or less as plans. Mason Bacon were the main offenders with some visably narrower than others and some of the other top builbers pulled them in a bit but I dont know if the practice spread much beyond Grimsby.
Enterprise restoration is quite straight forward. You need a current rule book, a GOOD timber supplier and a lot of patience. Good luck
Sam

[jpa_wfsc]

I recall the association changed the rules to outlaw the 'slenderprises' from open meetings, but they were and still are OK for club racing...

They were not that much quicker: and did not look very nice.

[sam mason]

Quite right. As from 1978 all boats at INTERNATIONAL events had to measure to the current rules but older boats including the "slenderprise" could continue to race at national level. The "slenderprise" , as stated was not that much faster than the standard model in fact in big wind there were controll problems downwind. Having said that Riot E13537, generally held to be one of the quickest in its day, reappeared in the mid 90s and was still competitive.

[Adamastor]

I spoke to the National Authority yesterday, and asked for the registration details for my "new" Entie- she is E11575, apparently built in 1965. She weighed in a few lb over the regulation 94-odd kg, and is definitely NOT a Slenderprise. Would you good folk be interested in me putting together a blog on the restoration? (There's a hidden agenda here: I will probably be asking for extracts from the plans, and other Secrets from time to time) Thus far, there's been an interest shown by the Viadana agents, as well as Awl-Grip who may supply a paint-job. Should I "sell out" and do a modernisation with newish technology, or do I do it all the hard way?
Neil

[Max McCarthy]

The hard way would always feel the best in the end, and most likely look the best too.....l know which one I would choose if I had the option!

[Rupert]

Love to see a blog, please! Be sure to include pictures of nice warm weather - it is all iced up here!

As for "selling out" or "doing it the hard way", it all depends upon what you want to do with the boat afterwards. If the plan is to do her up as she would have been in 1965, and sail her in a fairly gentle way, there are fine examples in the cvrda to take inspiration from, such as Merlin 6 or Peter Vinton's Enterprise. This would be what you call "doing it the hard way".

The "sell out" option is to keep the old hull looking beautiful, but to put on newer fittings, mast and sails that can take the strain of all weathers. Not as authentic, but a very valid way of keeping an old boat afloat. This has been my preferred way of doing things, as I race the Firefly and Minisail in modern club handicap fleets as well as classic ones.

Apart from in the time spent looking for old fittings, I'm not sure there is any time or effort difference between the 2 ways of doing things (unless you are Chris Barlow, doing up a boat like Merlin 16, Gently, when there is certainly a time and skill excess involved!), and, of course, there is a whole lot of overlap, too, in what you choose to keep or change. In the end, it will depend on your personal feelings on all this - there is no right on wrong in it.

[PeterV]

As Rupert says, it depends on what you want to do with the boat when you've finished. My boat (3761, built 1960) was in very good condition with no need to replace any woodwork. Like yours the fixed fairleads were in the middle of the sidedecks. I had a selection of wooden masts and booms, a very good set of 1965 sails but also a new Superspars mast and Proctor boom so I decided i wanted to sail the boat in 'original' condition with the wooden mast as well as club racing with the new spars and a newer set of sails. So I put a set of sliding fairleads on the sidedecks according to the current rules and put a tail block on the original kicker then led the kicker back to the helm position. This now gives me both options with little alteration to the boat. Doubling up on the kicker power means I cannot pull hard on it when using the wooden spars but the boat works well in both guises. If I took the club racing more seriously then I'd put a new centreboard and rudder on it as well but it does pretty well with the original.
I've found in the past that in a class like the Enterprise which hasn't had any significant step changes in performance an old boat with sorted controls can be very competitive with a decent set of sails and my Ent seems to be confirming that.