Muriel C17

Muriel was a product of the turn of the century engineless era and is very deep and beautifully balanced.

Designed and built by Mitchie Lacco, she was launched in 1917. Her original owner, Gus Johnson, sailed her for only eighteen months before passing her on.

The second owner, Andy Johansen renamed the boat “Muriel” after his sister who loaned him the money to buy her.

“Muriel” stayed with Andy until the 1980’s, a period of over sixty years. In her working life, “Muriel” wore out twenty-eight mainsails and she has sailed well in excess of 300,000 miles – not bad for a boat that measures just 26′ by 10′ by 33″.

Like most of her type, “Muriel” is gaff sloop rigged with a loose footed mainsail. Her wooden mast is 5″ in diameter, tall and stayed by a cap and lower stay. There is no running backstay. The jib is set on flying on a long bowsprit.

When Tim Phillips bought “Muriel” from Andy Johansen, her hull, typically planked in full length New Zealand Kauri, was in good condition but there was still three months work to bring her back to original condition.

Not much to say.

TBA

 Muriel and Surprise C14 are still racing at SSCBC