Bill Nolan wrote:
>>One P-15 had a centerboard trunk, and one P-15 had a shoal keel. Another
>>photo shows a P-15 with a lateen rig, but doesn't appear to have a name on
it.
>>In another photo the sail number is 1600, the only sail number I could
make
>>out.
Harry Gordon responded with:
>Hmm... I hadn't noticed that there might be two different boats. I had
>presumed he just used two different sail rigs on the same boat. The photo
>of Fearless on her trailer (pg 31) clearly shows the shoal keel, which I'm
>told he had HMS or IM custom build to his requirements. The interior shot
>on page 21 clearly shows a centerboard trunk but is not actually identified
>as Fearless. Perhaps it was someone else's boat. Perhaps it had both a
>centerboard trunk and a keel.
I think Harry is right in that Larry Brown had at least two different boats
named Fearless. In his earlier book "Sailing on a Micro Budget", his boat
is clearly labeled as Fearless, but the hull number is never visible. That
Fearless had a fiberglass motor mount, normal centerboard and multi colored
sails. There is also a picture of a boat with sail 808 (all white)and a
picture of a cockpit of one with a lazeret, but these are not identified as
Browns boat. "Sailing on a Micro Budget" was published in 1984, although I
believe it was based on reprints of a earlier magazine article.
The latter book, "Frugal Yachting" has portions of the earlier book, but
also introduces the shoal keel boat and a lateen rig. It shows a boat with
sail 1600, an adjustable motor mount and detachable ladder. It is also
labeled as Fearless, with different lettering, in a lower position. Both
pictures with the lanteen rig show handles on each side of the cabin door,
while the are absent from the pictures of the standard rig. The picture of
the shoal keeled boat on the trailer has a wide stripe below the gunnel.
The boat with the lanteen has narrow pin strips below the gunnel. "Frugal
Yachting was published in 1994.
So, what year was hull 1600 made? Was it after 1984 when "Sailing on a
Micro Budget" was published? Did Brown extensively modify his original boat
before having the shoal keel boat built, or did he have 3 boats named
Fearless?
Mike Canova
Richmond, VA
Hull #1830 built in 1990