Re: Looking at a used P-15

Gordon (hlg@pacbell.net)
Thu, 29 Oct 1998 17:48:30 -0800


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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>I am presently looking at a used Potter in my area with the hull number 305.
>Is this a 14 or 15? Any idea when this boat would have been built? I noted
>the mast is wood, I believe the newer boats are aluminum tubing. Is that
>correct? The boat is in fair condition, hull appears sound and looks good,
>wood work needs refinishing, needs new rudder, has a trailer needing new
>tires and a 2 HP kicker motor. Anyone care to take a guess at an estimated
>value?
>
>Regards
>
>Charles McKinnie

It's a second generation gunter rig P14. You should have two wooden spars
besides the mast. It was probably built around 1970. All the gunter rigs
and the first ("Mk I") non-gunter (aluminum mast) potters had smaller,
three-sided mainsails and nonoverlapping jib and were sold as 14 ft boats.
The Mk II and subsequent Potters, with the larger 4-sided main were
marketed as 15 ft boats, reportedly because they included a fiberglass
motor mount in the longth-overall dimensions. All P14s and P15s have the
same size hull, about 11-1/2 feet at the waterline.

Hard to say about the price. It might depend on whether you or the seller
consider it a classic or just an old boat. I would guess it would go for
around $1000. The biggest advantage of the gunter rig, besides its classic
look, is the ease of lowering and raising the sail. The original HMS Marine
instructions for rigging and sailing the gunter rig Potter are on the WWP
web page, and the first page of a brochure showing #300 is on the Potter
Yachters web page.

Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA