I'm at the cabin now preparing it for spring, so today I decided the rig the
Tahoe 10. I haven't sailed it in probably a decade, and I'm 99% sure I was
the last one to sail it.
I had expected that the hull would be ok, but I had fears about the sail and
wooden spars on this cat-rigged, daggerboard dinghy. To my surprise, the
wooden spars, daggerboard, and rudder were in remarkably good shape
considering their neglect. All these parts had been stored under cover,
except the mast, which had been under the eaves of an outbuilding with 25%
of it exposed to rain and weather. There was no finish remaining on this
section. There is no gooseneck - the mast turns with the sail, and the boom
is inserted in a slot within the mast.
What surprised me most was the hull and running rigging (there is no standin
rigging) was in horrible shape. The tarp over the boat had long since
disintegrated, and it was stored with the inspection ports closed. It needs
a few structural repairs to the hull liner/deck and the plywood transom has
severely delaminated.
The sail was tired, but serviceable. I had ripped the sail the last time I
said it a decade before, and had it repaired at that time by Taylor
Sailmakers of Lakeside, MT (now in Kalispell). I'm pleased to see Taylor, a
small loft run by a husband/wife team, is still in business.
There was 5-10 knots of breeze on the lake, which was probably still 10 feet
below full pool, so the usual pebbly shore at full pool was now a
treacherous shore of large rocks.
Still, I haven't sailed yet this season, and I knew you would all want to
know how it sails, so I rigged it to the best of my ability with the few
lines that were serviceable.
Besides the usual controls - a 4:1 mainsheet, tiller with extender, etc,
there was a number of go-fast controls, indicating that HMS probably
intended this to be a club racer rather than just a casual daysailer. These
included a mainsheet traveler system that probably would have worked well if
i had enough usable line to rig it properly. It also had a outhaul system
adjustable on either tack, and a cunnigham/tack control adjustable on either
tack. The wire and rope mainsail halyard, however, was not adjustable from
the sailing position.
This would become important later.
After a less-than graceful-launching including an immediate grounding on the
near-shore rocks, I was off in Tahoe 10 #172. I'm not an experienced dinghy
sailer, so I can't compare its performance to other dinghys, but wow it was
fun. I had forgotten how responsive dinghys are. You don't really have the
option of taking your hands off the mainsheet or tiller to make other
adjustments - it will change directions must too fast. I'm not sure if the
Tahoe was intended to be sailed by one or two sailors, but I sure could have
used a few extra hands.
The buoyancy was a bit better than other dinghys I have sailed, and I think
it could have easily supported another adult. Waves weren't higher than a
foot, and while i was careful to keep my weight to windward, i didn't find
the need to use the hiking strap to get my weight outboard.
After sailing a bit, I decided to come to shore to let my brother aboard.
With the rocky shore I didn't dare sail right onto the rocks for fear of
damaging the uncomfortably thin hull. I tacked back and forth a bit before I
decided to lower the sail and paddle in with the plastic paddle I had
aboard.
I sailed with 30 feet or so of the shore, and lifted the wooden daggerboard.
Then I crawled up front to release the halyard. I pulled the boltrope to
lower the sail. A lot of sail fell into the water, then I leaned over the
edge to gather the sail from the water.
A wave or something must have hit the boat funny, cuz I felt myself go over.
At the instance where I knew I was going all the way over I thought "how
embarrasing." Then when I hit the water I got a little scared, because even
though my head was above the 35-40 degree water, it was very difficult to
take a breath - it was as if my throat or lungs or something had
constricted. I had read about this phenomenon in "The Perfect Storm", but
somehow i didn't think it would happen to me daysailing on a lake.
My brother ran to the shore and started to strip off clothes to come after
me, but I yelled at him to stay out of the water since I figured I'd get
myself to shore but might need his help once I was ashore.
My fears subsided when in my thrashing around trying to drag the boat with
me, i realized I could stand up and touch bottom. I dragged the boat ashore,
picked up the various boat parts that had fallen out and drifted away
(rudder, etc). I ran into the cabin and warmed up while my brother secured
the boat.
Though I am a strong swimmer, I was wearing a PFD and am glad I was. I have
little cold-water experience and don't care for any more :)
Anyways, after drying and warming up I took a few measurements for you.
Tahoe 10 #172
Build date ???
LOA: 10'4"
Beam: 5'2"
Sail foot: 7'7"
Luff: 16' 8"
Sail built by Frank Rice Sail Makers, Newport Beach, CA.
Boom length: didn't measure, but it could support a slightly longer foot.
Mast height: 20', 17'5" is above deck when stepped