Video of Mike Scott's Ames 2 Underway

As promised, here is the video of Mike Scott's Ames 2 sailing with his cutdown rig, a rig which lets him really enjoy the 14 without battling the canvas we put up on these boats when we were young once.

Mike Scott, a transplanted Brit, has been a one-man show in keeping the Classic International 14 flame burning, taking his 14 Obsession to various wooden boat shows and small boat gatherings in the Pacific NorthWest.

Mike said he weighed the hull of Obsession and it only weighed 150 lbs (just under 70 kg.). Not sure why it was so light. When the Ames 2 was designed the hull weight requirement was probably just under 200 lbs. I'll have to do some research on that.

(BTW, that's Mike's wife, Kim, crewing. Mike says she is quite good at it though she doesn't want to admit that this is only one of  many life skills she has acquired over the years.)

Summer of 2015 Update

I haven't posted for a while (actually, it pains me to say, this is the first post in 2015) though Classic International 14 news keeps filtering through at a steady pace.

Out in the Pacific Northwest, Mike Scott has put a smaller 120 square foot rig on his Ames II Obsession. He sent along a video of him and a crew bombing along but I'm awaiting a YouTube link so I can embed it. He reports he is very pleased with the performance of the smaller rig. Mike also picked up a Schock Fairey model International 14 which was lying just up the road from his house. I am awaiting photos of both Classic 14's on the water together.

Mike with Obsession on the beach at some small craft get together.

In March, Jay Hartley of Connecticut sent along some photos of a beautiful restoration he did on USOD no. 282. He also finds that a Classic International 14 has loads of sail. His story on the rebuild:

"Thanks for getting back to me, It was in bad shape then but I traded a 125 Yamaha dirt bike for it about 5 years ago. I live in amston CT but keep the boat in Marlborough. Took me 3 years of on and off work to get it back in the water. When I first got it I took it out on a lake and the lead weight on the center board fell off and almost put a fast end to a nice boat. At that point it came out and got a nice makeover. Do you think the 24'mast is original? It seams to have way to much sail for a 14' dingy and can get a little crazy in winds over 15 mph. Could easily hold two crew on trapies to try and counter the heeling it seams.

P.S. took a week of free diving in 20' of water to find the weight. Learned a hard lesson that time."

Another Pic of "Obsession"

Mike Scott sends along a sailing pic of his recently launched Classic International 14 Ames 2 design which he has named "Obsession". Photo taken at the Lone Lake Regatta in the Pacific NorthWest. Beautiful!

YouTube Head Scratcher Sailing Again!

I mentioned that Mike Scott from the Pacific Northwest had been on a roll recently in acquiring Classic International 14's - see the previous post on the Souter Casson Mk 1. He also bought the YouTube Head Scratcher, the 1980's Ames 2 wood hull that was finished off with a 1960's interior by my good buddy, Bill Moss. The Ames 2 had remained a kit boat for many years, the hull was all in one piece but the rest was a bunch of pieces, mast, boom, sails, fittings, daggerboard, rudder. Mike had the kit and caboodle shipped out west from Vermont , received the lot in June and by the end of July had this unusual bit of 14 history in the water and sailing. Truly a beautiful one-of-a-kind. I've taken the photo from Mike's Facebook page.

Mike has been doing a yeoman's job in finding Classic 14's scattered about the Pacific Northwest. I'll have to put up a post about some of the 14's he has located.