SHIPNOTES,SEAPORT &MUSEUMNEWS Philadelphia, Built to Sail! The original Philadelphia , a gunboat in the Benedict Arnold fleet of 1776 that fought the British on Lake Champlain, was lifted from the bottom of Lake Champlain in 1935 (see Sea History 53) and is exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution. But now a Philadelphia replica, under construction for the last three years at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Basin View VT, has been launched. Much is being learnt about vessels of her type. "First of all," says museum director Art Kohn , "getti ng to know the boat as a sailing vessel is a new relationship after three years of seeing her as a stationary object. Part of what we ' re learning is the pragmatism of the original builders who rigged it just enough to get it to the battle. But it sails quite well. "
The 53-ft single-mast "gundolo" carries a square rig mainsail and topsail. The unusual-looking vessel will be the centerpiece of the museum 's education program and will make summer tours of Lake Champlain sites. (LCMM, Basin Harbor VT 05491)
Oldest CG Cutter to Retire For 49 of her 51 years active service, the Coast Guard 's oldest cutter, Fir, has gone about her business from her Seattle WA base. She was decommissioned on October 1, but her hometown does not want to let her go. The Coast Guard is working to get the Fir historic landmark status and establish an endowment to cover the annual costs of operating her as 32
History Sets Sail in a New Age Clipper Ship Thirty-six thousand square feet of white Dacron sail bellied out over the sparkling waters of the Solent on a rare day in May 1991. The 360-ft, four-masted barkentine Star Flyer, the first commercial square-rigger to be given a "Plus 100 A-1" rating by Lloyd 's RegisterofShipping since 1911 , was about to make a crossing of the Atlantic to enter cruise service in the Caribbean. This tallest of the tall ships (her masts rise 226-ft) had crossed the English Channel from Belgium, where the yard of Langerbrugge in Ghent had built her in a record 14 months. Since she was launched one cold Saturday in January, riggers, joinermen, electricians, and welders had taken those fast lines inspired by Donald McKay 's 19th-century clippers, built for cargo, and worked into her steel hull a late 20th century luxury vessel. Why should thi s anachronism happen? How could it happen? Several years ago owner Mikael Krafft, yachtsman and shipping entrepreneur, reached back into his past in Mariehamn, Sweden, when as a boy he had climbed aboard the decks of the fourmasted bark Pommern, part of the last famous fleet of sq uare-riggers that made up Gustaf Ericsson's grain fleet. He brought a crew together, including the young naval architect Robert McFarlane, to help realize that dream. Together they and others designed this sai ling ship, one with old-fashioned lines and a traditional rig but able to be sailed with modern ease. She 's fast, easy, and sea-kindly. Under sai l, the 3,000-ton Star Flyer can exceed 20 knots, partly because of her length-to-beam ratio of 6: 1. The barkentine ri g allows her to be sailed with a crew of only six, thanks to her electronic-hydraulic rollerfurling yards for the five courses of squaresails, the rig's only salute to the modem age. The remaining eleven sails Uibs, fishermen, staysails, and spanker) are all fore and aft, easily handled. And should wind fail , her auxiliary diesel engine can push her at 12 knots, or, when powered by one of the electric generators, 6 knots. A bowthruster allows her to dock on her own without the aid of a tug for those times when she comes into her home port, St. Martin. She will be anchoring routinely, thanks to an 18.5-foot draft that allows her to seek out small harbors to drop her two 3,000lb. high-tensile stockless anchors. It is down to the sea again for new sai ling ships. In the last ten years some notable hulls have been launched. There is the electronically automated sailing cruise ship Wind Star. And, to speak just of barkentines, there are the training ships such as Bulgaria's Kaliakra, and Poland 's Orp Iskra, recently launched. And following next year in Star Flyer's wake will be a sister ship that Krafft has designed to enter the cruise trade in the Mediterranean. Tall ships are again coming down the ways , answering in growing numbers the wild call , the clear call of the running tide. JAMES S. DEAN a museum. Lake Union or the Seattle waterfront are the preferred sites for the proposed floating museum. Two distinct advantages the Fir has over many other historic vessels are her mint condition, and her dedicated following of volunteers to act as docents. Built in 1939, she is the nation 's only surviving lighthouse tender. Contact ENS Dan Travers, USCGCFir(WLM212),2700W.Commodore Way, Seattle WA 98199-1234.
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SEA HISTORY 59, AUTUMN 1991