[Leica] SAILING PAD - Stone Horse

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

That said, the Stone Horse is my favorite pocket cruiser. She's great?
fun to sail and perfectly suited for the waters of the Bay and the?
Sound.?
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The Bayfield sloop is a pretty little boat. Where did you sail her??
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Regards,?
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Dick?
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On Aug 29, 2009, at 11:16 PM, Sonny Carter wrote:?
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> Love the Stone Horse shots. I usta have a little Bayfield sloop,?
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Dick, Sonny, and other sailors on the LUG.?
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Indeed, the Stone Horse is a lovely little boat. Did you know that it is 
older than the Leica? The Stone Horse was designed by Sam Crocker, a well 
known boat designer, in 1923. His sailboat designs were considered very 
seaworthy and featured a flush deck with relatively high hull sides. This 
type of construction put all the accommodations inside the hull and 
eliminated the deck house, a source of weakness in small boats. The Stone 
Horse has been made for the last few decades by Eady and Duff and is still 
as popular as it was 50 years ago.?
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How do I know this? I owned and rebuilt and sailed a prototype of the Stone 
Horse in the early 60s. Back in the days before computers and tank testing, 
boat designers built smaller versions of their boats to test them out before 
releasing the final plans. As our engagement gift to each other, my wife and 
I bought a early, smaller version of the Stone Horse that had been blocked 
up in a Staten Island boatyard for the pr
evious 20 years. The papers showed that it was designed in 1921 by Sam 
Crocker and built by Sid Davis, a Long Island, NY boat builder. The boat had 
been owned and sailed by a young man before WW2 and was stored in the yard 
when he was drafted. Unfortunately he never made it back. The yard owner 
couldn't bear to scrap it so it sat in a back corner until we found it. By 
the time we got it, the planks had opened up so far that you could sick a 
finger between them. We stripped the boat, repaired the woodwork, 
fiberglassed the exterior, and in general put it in good conditions. It 
sailed wonderfully.?
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Right now I own more boats than I own Leicas but that Stone Horse prototype 
was my favorite. I'll post some pictures of the boat and rebuilding process 
if I can find them. But when you see the pictures, please be kind. The were 
taken 46 years ago with a 1/2 frame camera.?
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Larry Z?
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