Re: More Info On The C-type Potter

hlg@pacbell.net
Tue, 3 Aug 1999 23:52:14 -0700


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Steve,

I don't think there is any question that C-type Potters were built only in
the UK. See the brochures on the Potter Yachters web page at
<http://songbird.com/py/oldbroch.html>. The C- and D-type Potters had a
step in the forward part of the cabin, and the mast is stepped on the lower
step instead of the main cabintop. That is unlike any U.S. built Potter
made by HMS Marine or its successor, International Marine. I own one of the
first generation of U.S. built Potters (1967) and am familiar with all the
versions that followed.

The C- and D-type Potters were built on the Isle of Wight under two or
three different company name. They were of fiberglass and thus not the same
as the original Stanley Smith Potters, which were of plywood. Numbering of
U.S.-built Potters seems to have begun at about #150, but I don't know if
there is any continuity in the numbering between U.S. and U.K. Potters.

It's my impression that manufacture of the C and D types took place on the
Isle of Wight sometime after HMS Marine began making boats in the U.S., and
I think the U.S. Potters were the first to be made of fiberglass.

There are photos of your boat, "Mydaoff," on the web page at
<http://songbird.com/py/pics/Ctype.jpg>. For some unknown reason, it was
sold as a "Glass Slipper" (and has a slipper emblem) instead of a "Potter"
but is clearly a C-type Potter. Please see the web page for more
information. Note that the same photo is on brochures for both the C-type
Potter and the C-type Glass Slipper. Perhaps a new manufacturer didn't
acquire rights to use the Potter name and therefore had to rename the boat,
but that is just speculation on my part.

I'm a little confused, since the photos have your name on them. Didn't we
have a long thread some time ago about "Glass Slippers" and other C-Type
Potters? Didn't you send me the photos and the "Glass Slipper" brochure
that is now on the PY web page? It clearly indicates that your boat was
built on the Isle of Wight. Perhaps you weren't on the e-mail list at the
time and missed that discussion.

In any case, you should keep the boat. You have one of the very few
UK-built Potters in the U.S. I would like to see it, but you're a long way
from California.

Incidentally, that stepped cabin may be a better design than the U.S. built
Potters. It has less windage (from the side), and the upper interior space
forward on the U.S. version isn't very usable anyway.

I heard once there was a British Potter located on the Napa River here in
the Bay Area. Does anyone have any knowledge of that one?

Harry Gordon
P14 #234, Manatee
Mountain View, CA

>When I posted the ad for the C-type Potter I promised to post any
>information the owner/seller sent to me. I just got the following note from
>him and am posting it as promised. I'm sure he will appreciate any
>information anyone can send to him. Please copy such to either the list or
>to me. [note: he is is also now receiving the digest]
>
>Thanks in advance for any help you can give him -- dwf
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Brup@aol.com <Brup@aol.com>
>To: dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us <dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us>
>Date: Tuesday, August 03, 1999 19:01
>Subject: Re: Your Boats & Watercraft Classified Ad
>
>
>>Dennis,
>> Thanks for your response and maybe you can help me. I have
>>been trying for about three years to determine how this boat got to the
>U.S.
>>and I cannot verify that fact. I have been told by a few people that own
>W.W.
>>Potters that they think it was built there because of the plate on the
>stern
>>and the low hull number.
>>
>>
>> I have made repeated requests to International Marine for
>any
>>information and was told that they do not keep records of the older
>Potters.
>>I have even gone as far as going on line with a Rescue Unit on the Isle of
>>Wight to get any information from the local people. All they could tell me
>>was that the "Potter company left years ago."
>> If I have one of the Potters that was built in the U.K. I
>will
>>not sell her. I would rather use her as a "floating museum" and would like
>>to, when my schedule permits, sail with other Potter owners.
>> I bought this boat from a gentleman from Duxbury, MA. which
>is
>>south of Boston. When he sold it to me he told me the boat was "at least
>>thirty years old" and even put it on the bill of sale. I have since
>attempted
>>to contact him without any luck. My Potter is almost in the same condition
>as
>>the day I bought it. The only changes I have made was to replace the
>porthole
>>windows because they were "cloudy and cracked."
>> I will continue to look for information from any source
>to
>>verify when and where this Potter was built and let you know when I can
>>confirm the date and place of manufacture. I have other pictures or if you
>>wish I can make and send you a video of the boat. Any help would be greatly
>>appreciated.
>>
>> Steve Oliveira
>> C-14 # 79 "Mydaoff"
>> Fall River, MA.
>>Brup@aol.com
>>