45 foot 1970's IOR racer stored in a barn for 25 to 30 years

[Russel2]

Hi All,

Here is a short summary of the thread so far.

I recently found an 1973 Etchells 46 in a barn near London, Ontario, Canada. Please see the attached pictures taken just after the boat was pulled from the barn. Yes, the deep fin lead keel is not on the boat. The boat is sitting on it's F/G hull keel stub on the trailer to reduce the highway load height. Note that the bottom tip of the skeg hung rudder is touching the grass in the pasture.

The Etchells 46 was designed by Skip Etchells and built by Tillotson-Pearson Inc. It appears that only two Etchells 46's were ever built. The first one was built for Everett Pearson about 1971 for use as his personal boat. Everett Pearson named his boat FANTASIA. Everett Pearson probably sailed his boat called FANTASIA in races around Boston and possibly on Newport to Bermuda races and the SORC. The second Etchells 46 built is the one that I found in the barn.

Tillotson-Pearson Inc. might have also called the Etchells 46, a Fantasia 46 or a Tillotson-Pearson 46.

The Etchells 46 that I found, was stored in the barn for approximately 30 years. It is complete with all of the spars and rigging. The history of the boat is unknown. I have hauled it to Bayfield, Ontario on Lake Huron. I am planning on refitting the boat and sailing it on the Great Lakes. Although the boat's hull appears to be black in the pictures, it is actually a very dark blue. This second Etchells 46 is the same as the first boat built, Everett Pearson's FANTASIA, with the following factory modifications, an IOR type bustle was incorporated at the rudder post and there is no companionway in the cockpit. In addition, entry to the boat is though a midships sliding hatch down a ladder over the midships engine box. A full suite of Barient 20, 26, 32 and 35 winches are on deck, similar to boats of the early 1970's. I am calling the boat that I found in the barn "MYSTERY" because I do not know any of her history.

To the best of my knowledge, and research at this time, Skip Etchells only designed the two 46's and Tillotson-Pearson only built the two of them in the early 1970's. FANTASIA was built first and then "MYSTERY" was built. The boat that I have appears to be a factory built/modified version of the first built Etchells 46. There may have been additional Etchells 46's built that I am not aware of at this time.

I would be interested in learning about the history of both of these two boats.

If you sailed on, docked beside or have any knowledge of Everett Pearson's Etchells 46 named FANTASIA, please post it on the board for all to see.

In addition, If you sailed on, docked beside or have any knowledge of the dark blue, modified Etchells 46 that I call "MYSTERY", please post it as well on the board for all to see.

Thank you!

Ric

[Russel2]

Originally Posted by SV Siren

You might want to post this out on the Sailing Anarchy forum group...there are a ton of former racers who know more than anyone, old racers, collectively...just be prepared and have thick skin, as they are a raucous bunch..

Hi SV Siren,

Thank you for your suggestion about Sailing Anarchy. I have started a thread over there as well. The members on Sailing Anarchy have now reported that MYSTERY is actually an EP 46. There were three EP 46's built by TPI. The names of the boats built by TPI were FANTASIA, TANTRUM and HOKULELE. So which one of the original TPI boats did I find in the barn?

MYSTERY is still a mystery.

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

I have learned that Tillotson-Pearson Inc. built three 46 foot long sailboats that were sold as the EP 46. The first EP 46 built was Fantasia, built for Everett Pearson. The second EP 46 was Tantrum, built for Ronnie Boss who ran the AT Cross pen and pencil gift set company. Tantrum sailed out of East Greenwich YC. The third and last EP 46 built was Hokulele. She was built for Stan Livingston who kept her in Bristol. The EP 46 was one of the first built balsa-cored/vacuum bagged boats. The EP 46 hull was also one of the first boats built that had a band of carbon fibers running the full length of the hull along the centerline from the forestay down through the keel sump and then rearward to the stern and the backstay to stiffen the hull.

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

The EP 46 built for Everett Pearson named FANTASIA had a hull color that was a light powder blue. FANTASIA was sold to Hasting Harcourt in California in the spring of 1975. Hasting Harcourt changed the name of the boat to WHISTLE WING. The attached photo's upper sailboat shows WHISTLE WING in California. Her IOR rating was 39.5.

Cheers,
Ric

[JPA Cate]

Wow, Russel, that's time travel for sure! How long since you've seen a blooper in action?

Ann

[Russel2]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Wow, Russel, that's time travel for sure! How long since you've seen a blooper in action?

Ann

Hi Ann,

1973 is the short answer!

I was foredeck crew on a 43 foot IOR boat during the 1973 sailing season on Lake Huron. As a young fellow, hoisting and setting the blooper with the chute was just more foredeck fun to keep the young guys on deck busy. But it sure looked wonderful, except when it was in the water of course.

The whole project with MYSTERY is a trip down memory lane for me.

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

This photo of WHISTLE WING (ex FANTASIA) at anchor around the corner from the Las Hadas Resort, Manzanillo in Mexico, shows that she has a single spreader mast. Please see the attached photo below of WHISTLE WING. Assuming that the mast was never replaced, then when she was originally built as FANTASIA, she was rigged with the same single spreader mast. When TANTRUM and HOKULELE were built at TPI, were they originally equipped with single spreader rigs as well? Were all three EP 46's rigged identically with single spreader masts?

I am asking the question above because MYSTERY has a tapered double spreader aluminum mast built by HOOD. There is a small 1“ x 2” blue and white oval HOOD label plate riveted to the front of the mast about gooseneck height. The mast has a typical 1970's elliptical section with an external mainsail and trysail track and of course the spinnaker pole track, reaching strut fittings and Barient winches. The standing rig is NAVTEC rod rigging. The NAVTEC rod is unusual because it is all streamline or elliptical in cross section and positioned to be aligned fore and aft. In addition, the boom was manufactured by a different company. The boom was built by Bay Sailing Equipment, Fall River, Massachusetts. Please see the attached photo below of the label that was affixed to the boom. The boom might be a replacement for the original, because Bay Sailing Equipment was first opened in 1976 by Frank and Adeline (wife) Colaneri in 1976 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Frank made all of the spars and rigging for the Tartan 10 class racing boats which were first built in 1978. They probably did spars for a lot of other local boat builders as well. However Bay Sailing Equipment did not exist at that time TPI was building the EP 46's, So I think the boom is a probably a replacement boom built at a later date for MYSTERY. In addition, is the tapered double spreader HOOD mast a replacement mast as well?

The history of MYSTERY is still a mystery!

Cheers,

Ric

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Russell,

Our first Insatiable (a Palmer Johnson Standfast 36) was built in 1974. Also an IOR design. She had a single spreader, single spreader, keel stepped, thick oval section mast. It had single lowers and a baby stay. As it eventuated, the rig as built was vulnerable in ways we didn't realize. The mast fell down one night, while we were hove to, waiting for some seas to go down, predicted for the morning.

When we went on deck, we found the mast broken off about 10 inches above the deck, and a whole lot of wreckage hanging over the side. All we found suggested no wire had broken (all were intact), but the clevis pin was there, rolling around on the side deck between the chain plate and the toe rail. [We jettisoned everything, cut the staysail sheet and the mainsail sheet, and sank it in the Tasman Sea.]

When we were getting the replacement mast, the engineer at the spar shop told us that it was the loading, with the main double reefed, and the staysail that was the problem; and told us they wanted to build the new mast as a double spreader rig. There was no extra charge, and her new mast was with the double spreaders, and a lovely thing it was. Maybe something like that happened to MYSTERY, but they had someone else supply a boom, rather than the spar maker who provided the mast. Or, maybe the Massachusetts Bay boom was original? MYSTERY's providing you with a whole pocketful of questions, isn't she?

Cheers, mate.
Ann

[Russel2]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hi, Russell,

Our first Insatiable (a Palmer Johnson Standfast 36) was built in 1974. Also an IOR design. She had a single spreader, single spreader, keel stepped, thick oval section mast. It had single lowers and a baby stay. As it eventuated, the rig as built was vulnerable in ways we didn't realize. The mast fell down one night, while we were hove to, waiting for some seas to go down, predicted for the morning.

When we went on deck, we found the mast broken off about 10 inches above the deck, and a whole lot of wreckage hanging over the side. All we found suggested no wire had broken (all were intact), but the clevis pin was there, rolling around on the side deck between the chain plate and the toe rail. [We jettisoned everything, cut the staysail sheet and the mainsail sheet, and sank it in the Tasman Sea.]

When we were getting the replacement mast, the engineer at the spar shop told us that it was the loading, with the main double reefed, and the staysail that was the problem; and told us they wanted to build the new mast as a double spreader rig. There was no extra charge, and her new mast was with the double spreaders, and a lovely thing it was. Maybe something like that happened to MYSTERY, but they had someone else supply a boom, rather than the spar maker who provided the mast. Or, maybe the Massachusetts Bay boom was original? MYSTERY's providing you with a whole pocketful of questions, isn't she?

Cheers, mate.
Ann

Hi Ann,

Thank you for the valuable information with regard to single verses double spreader rigs.

MYSTERY's rig is set up so that the two spinnaker pole topping lifts at the upper spreaders can also be alternatively used as a staysail halyard(s). There is also a tang fitting for a inner stay or staysail stay just above the topping lifts. This is all backed up with runners at the upper spreaders. I will take all of your comments into consideration when I put the rig back on MYSTERY.

Yes, MYSTERY is an interesting sailboat in many ways!

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

For anyone that is interested.............

Here is the link to picclick where there is a copy of an expired US eBay add listing a 1972 EP 46 for sale.

I believe that this is Everett Pearson's 1972 Etchells 46 (EP 46) originally named FANTASIA. Everett originally sailed his EP 46 on the US east coast around the Boston area. When he sold the boat it went to California. It has had various owners in California and is now for sale again for USD $22,000.



https://picclick.com/1972-World-Crui...889814083.html



Interesting bits and pieces of history eh!



Cheers,

Ric

[Russel2]

For any one that is interested..... here is a copy of the above listing from Picclick

EP-46 Etchells Pearson
built 1972 by Tillotson-Pearson Yachts
Fiberglass hull and deck and carbon fiber backbone grid
46' loa
37' 6" lwl
12' 10" beam
7' 6" draft
19,753 displacement
10,400 ballast

Five sails
Main - excellent
Genoa 150% very good
Jib 120% good
Spinnaker 1.5 oz good
Spinnaker 0.75 oz good

Winches - 9 total
Barient 35 ST primaries (2)
Lewmar 48 ST secondaries (2)
Lewmar 48 ST cockpit reefing (1)
Barient 26 deck (2)
Barient 20 haylard (2)

Engine Yenmar 55 hp diesel (mid 90's 1,000 hrs)

Hull light grey Algrip (painted about 10 years but looks good)

Cockpit cushions - very good
Upholstery - fair/good

AMASTAR should be considered an easy "Project Boat" with a bunch of little cosmetic tasks, nothing major. She is fully functional so you can alternate your weekends sailing and making her look pretty.
Decks need painting
All exterior teak needs to be stripped and varnished
DC wiring and lights need some work
Some interior painting
Replace windows some day, they don't leak and not broken, just look bad
Spinnaker pole needs repair
New navigation lights need to be installed

I bought this boat six years ago from Stanford University with the intention to outfit her as a very fast, short handed, world cruiser but my age (75) and health conditions have caught up with me and changed my plans. I am an experienced cruiser with more than 100,000 miles of blue water cruising with the dream to "go again" and some strong opinions as to the perfect boat to make a circumnavigation. I wanted a fast, strong boat with exceptional sailing characteristics that would also power well because it has been my experience that you spend 50% of your cruising under power.

Her layout is conventional, kind of like a big 35 footer, with a large "V" birth forward followed by a head to port and hanging locker and sail bin to starboard. The main salon has settees to port and starboard with a drop leaf table mid-ship followed by a chart table and quarter birth to starboard with a full "U" shaped galley to port. The cockpit is exceptionally large with the Yanmar engine and Walter "V" drive below. The cockpit lockers provide easy access to the engine and other systems. As a side note. With her large cockpit AMASTAR would make an excellent commercial day sail boat and she was built in the USA.

She is in Alameda, CA at Marina Village. I will be on board for the next five days getting her ready to sell. I think a fair price is about $22,000 which is way less than her engine, sails, winches and lead are worth. She is fully functional and ready to have fun if you don't mind the ugly decks.

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

So the status of the three Etchells Pearson 46's that were built in the early 1970's is as follows:

1) Everett Pearson's 1972 EP 46, FANTASIA, was very recently for sale in the water in Alameda, California.

2) Ronnie Boss's 1973 EP 46, TANTRUM, was for sale in 2022/2023 while on the hard having been stripped and requiring a full refit.

3) Stan Livingston's 1974 EP 46, HOKULELE, now named MYSTERY and owned by myself, is located in Bayfield, Ontario, Canada on the hard under going an extensive refit.

Cheers,
Ric

[Russel2]

Hi All,

Here is a quick short summary about the EP 46 to date.

So, first, I found the old sailboat in a barn and bought it on July 18th. of 2019.

Here are the links to the information about the old boat that I found.

My first post on the internet requesting information about the barn boat was more than a year later on December 26th. of 2020 on Cruisers and Sailing Form / Cruisers Forum

Here is the link........

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...rs-244332.html

With the information that I received from Cruiser Forum, I then posted on Sailing Anarchy on January 21st. of 2020 to broaden my search for information about the barn boat.

Here in the link......

https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/th...-racer.220343/

FYI, here is a brief summary of what I have learned about my old barn boat.

There were three boats built in the Tillotson-Pearson Yacht building facility to Skip Etchells' design. The design was originally called a Fantasia 46. Later, the boat was designated as an EP 46. Everett Pearson's 1972 EP 46, FANTASIA, and Ronnie Boss's 1973 EP 46, TANTRUM, were both built according to Skip Etchells's drawings. The third and last boat built, was Stan Livingston's 1974 EP 46, HOKULELE. Stan's EP 46 was greatly modified initially when built in the Tillotson-Pearson Yacht facility and then subsequently, after leaving the factory, had several modifications during the following years in an attempt to optimize it's IOR rating.

When I first bought the dusty old barn boat, there was no name on her. I did not know what she was. So I posted on the internet my questions about the unidentified, mysterious old black sail boat that I had found in the barn. Initially, from the information that I received from the internet, I thought that I had found TANTRUM in the barn. However as time passed and more information came in, I realized that my "barn" boat was different from the EP 46. The mysterious barn boat was shorter, at 45 feet long overall. The mysterious barn boat did not have a spoon shaped bow and instead had a perfectly straight stem at a 45 degree rake. The barn boat's hull sides had a large tumblehome and the beam was a full foot wider than the EP 46. The barn boat's stern counter had a different shape. When my sailing buddies and I talked about the mysterious, unidentified barn boat, we started calling the the barn boat the mystery boat. Later, It was only natural that we named the barn boat MYSTERY. Eventually, I learned from contributor's to the blogs, some of whom contacted me personally off line, that the barn boat was a heavily modified EP 46. I learned that the boat had been changed significantly from the original Tillotson-Pearson Yachts factory build. The bow, stern counter, skeg, rudder, keel, mast, boom, cockpit, deck gear layout, standing rig, engine location, shaft location and interior had been modified so that the barn boat was shorter at 45 feet long with a wider beam at 13 feet. The barn boat had a significantly different appearance inside and out.

Stan Livingston had the following custom modifications done to his EP 46 to create his own custom one off IOR racer which was named HOKULELE.

Stan's EP 46 had a foot cut off of the spoon shaped bow so that it was had a perfectly straight 45 degree rake. The skeg was modified. The rudder was modified. The counter was cut away creating a stern bustle. The boat's beam was increased by one foot by adding a six inch thick tumble home blister to each side of the hull. Yes, at the point of maximum beam, the hull sides are a little over six inches thick. The single spreader mast was replaced with a custom, double spreader, tapered HOOD mast. A shorter boom was fitted and the sail plan was modified to suit. The cabin trunk was extended aft creating a very small ocean going cockpit. Lastly, the interior layout was changed so that the engine was no longer under the cockpit and could be located in the middle of the boat.

With so many changes, the boat is no longer, at first glance recognizable, as an EP 46.

So I have simply started calling the old mysterious barn boat a custom Etchells 45.

To all that read this posting........if you sailed, or you know someone else that sailed in the early 1970's and you have knowledge of or any information about the history of any of the three EP 46 boats that were built, please post the info for all to see. Thank you!

Cheers,

Ric

[Don C L]

Thanks for the update; interesting history!

[psk125]

How is the refit coming along?