MS 206

Posted on May 7, 2022 by ronnydg

Early may 2022 another dishdecked Sprite surfaced.
A friend and vigilant MS fan, Robert, found on E-Bay the MS Sprite and posted the ad on our trusted Google groups Minisail page.
Shortly after the current owner (Matt-W-s) posted the ad on Fb ; Titled Please see this listing for my late father’s mini sail.

Let me go slightly off-topic for a moment.
My father passed away recently also. Me and my sister are now looking at an inventory that’s virtually worthless. His books, his kitchen (he was a cook), the old car, the pré-war furniture, name it, it’s there.
The value of things is only contextual.

As is the value of this wooden Sprite 206.
It’s listed at £26. I guess if it was MS 209 it might have been £29. The minimum threshold value.

But look it’s all there: Hull, mast, boom, sail, rudder, daggerboard.
No sign of ropes and pulleys, but every dingy owner has a box of spares (or two) of these laying around.

Looking at the pictures the restoration could (and might) result in a near complete rebuilt with little of the original wood remaining, but it’s all there. And really it’s not difficult to replicate and/or put together the parts.
Bill of materials for this project, count roughly €1.000 to €1.500 to remake this boat as new (epoxy, varnish & paint, wood, new sail, hardware & strings, tarp etc…).
Depending your likes it could be a workout tool or a showroom boat, no matter, the award for saving this item and taking it out on the water will be a thing for you to cherish and is your very own boat (with history).

If I hadn’t two of these already I would be on the road to get it.
To the one considering reviving MS206: I’ll make you a sliding seat for free.

Hanging on the garage wall.

Posted on June 13, 2018 by ronnydg

A rare garage-find this Sprite. It’s the third one I know of since more than 10 years.
The E-bay listing titled “Original wooden hulled minisail. 13ft 6ins long. Hardly used.” comments:
Original version of wooden hulled minisail (complete with mast etc.). 13ft 6ins long. Has spent most of its life hanging on garage wall unused. Photos taken in about 1966! Difficult to photograph hanging on the garage wall.
Makes me wonder how many more garages in the U.K. have one hanging in the ceiling!

Interesting photograps: It’s sail reefed, the way to mount oars, the steep mast rake angle.
Two oars? There must be a system/way to attach the rowlocks we can’t see there. Still a pair of holes in the gunwales might do, I love it.

Here is why: Ever tried to sail out of a narrow (maybe moored yacht infested) channel in any Minisail? I did many times and have the oars please, if not these aren’t the most sexy apparatus on a racing dingy, they are cool and very smart.

All is well

Posted on October 17, 2016 by ronnydg

Not really on a global scale but it’s well in my boating micro-environment, indeed a bit of a nuisance for this blog: not much to report about.
Meson 2287 is now water tight, the centerboard slot gasket is a fine addition, and she goes like the clappers once the wind picks up. Mind she’s a handful to keep upright in shifty conditions. In 4+Bf she sails best with the centerboard half-way down and that’s not a lot to dampen any heel. Add to that the light weight (hardly no inertia moment at all) and the plank acrobatics.
Picture following: Nice run upwind riding the plank 1/2 extended. A wind shift forces to let go the main and slide in gently and rapidly both together. By the time you recover balance the following shift kicks in and blows you over. That had me swimming a few times.
This part of the learning curve now mastered (well a bit) I am confident the little witch has some more tricks to throw me off I need to find out about.

Let’s hope for a not too cold winter so I can get her out plenty before the next season begins.
Some weeks ago the Merlin Rocket 2482 and Minisail 9000 were out together on the pond. With hardly any wind we at least had the time to take a picture.
(MS 9000 had the plank removed for that day and somehow didn’t carry the right sail.)