Larry's pretty little boat!!

The weather here in Texas was absolutely perfect yesterday so I took the boat out for a spin. I ran across an old friend(the boat) while out there and snapped a pic. Boomarang is the name of the boat and I t used to belong to a close friend of mine, Doug, who also happens to be the cofounder of this forum. I have spent many trips cruising along with Doug and Boomarang and it is great to see the boat in such caring hands with its new owner!!! The boat looks great Larry!!!!

I always suspected Boomerang was Doug's old boat but never thought to ask. Larry does a great job looking after her.

Look'in good Larry!

Do you have a white caprail?

What a beauty. I'm kinda smitten with that hull anyway, but the paint is perfect with the style.

With four more stays, one could have a fore-and-aft (two sail) rig!

Thanks everyone for the compliments! I do try to keep the boat 'yacht proper' and I'm glad to know it shows.

Too funny, yesterday I thought I had Galveston Bay to myself, absolutely spectacular day. Then in the distance, I spotted a fast-moving cruiser with a bone in her teeth headed my way. I altered course to give him room and who do you suppose came up on the radio . . . . it was John hailing Boomarang by name. Small world. Thanks for the picture!

Eric, the teak cap rail was removed and the hull fared and finished in the same non-skid that was applied to the decks. It does give it a clean look and is easy to maintain.

Mark, the stick is so short that no lowers are required for adequate stiffness. The uppers are led aft of the mast step, similar to dinghy rigging. It is rigged with a high-clewed jib and a loose-footed main, sheeted tight. Both are small sails, but do provide some measure of roll damping.

Again, thanks for the kind words. They keep me motivated!

Larry

Baker said:

The weather here in Texas was absolutely perfect yesterday so I took the boat out for a spin. I ran across an old friend(the boat) while out there and snapped a pic. Boomarang is the name of the boat and I t used to belong to a close friend of mine, Doug, who also happens to be the cofounder of this forum. I have spent many trips cruising along with Doug and Boomarang and it is great to see the boat in such caring hands with its new owner!!! The boat looks great Larry!!!!

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Yeah, what's Doug up to these days John. Does he have another boat - is he the Doug on the forum occasionally or it that another Doug.

I am assuming Boomerang is a Vega 30 motor sailor? I can't tell you how much I lusted for that boat decades ago. I may still have the paper brochures tucked away somewhere. How many were built?

Love the Navy top on the bridge. Handsome.

The boat is a Fales 30. I do not know if they have a name for it like "Navigator" was one of the names for the Fales boats. RJ, if you are not familiar with Fales, it is a long story and one that can even get heated for the Willard faithful.

Doug is really gearing up for retirement so the boat thing is On the back burner for now. Not sure he will ever own a cruising capable boat again. But we shall see.

Regardless of the name/builder, I'm assuming it's from the same set of molds?

Reuben,

Here is a link to a more detailed post about the Fales 30. I believe Boomarang actually started life as a Fales 30 Caribe, and was subsequently modified by Doug who removed the flybridge as part of a major refit. You are correct in that it is a Vega 30 clone, but not a motorsailer. The Caribe had a very short rig and was incapable of actually sailing. It is just a steadying rig.

Larry

LarryM said:

Mark, the stick is so short that no lowers are required for adequate stiffness. The uppers are led aft of the mast step, similar to dinghy rigging. It is rigged with a high-clewed jib and a loose-footed main, sheeted tight. Both are small sails, but do provide some measure of roll damping.

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Larry, let's see her under sail, please.

markpierce said:

... let's see her under sail, please.

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You first.

The boat in the photo might be located under the sail but it is hardly "under sail."

Mark,

I don't currently have any pics of the steadying sails rigged. When I first bought the boat, I modified it to carry a jib in addition to its existing main. I had heard the rig was so small that it actually did little to reduce roll, and provided absolutely no propulsive power. The jib is also small, high-clewed and made almost no difference. I don't even bother to use them anymore. Maybe one day I will find myself facing a beam sea and wind where I will try again. I'll get pics if I remember. Most of my boating is solo so the less I have to fiddle with, the better I like it, especially if there is little to be gained.

Larry
m/v Boomarang

Larry, I don't use my sails very often because I'm nearly always heading directly into or away from the wind. With a beam wind of 10 knots, my sails add about a half knot's speed (6.5 versus 6.0 knots) to the boat, assuming I'm not already near hull speed.

RickB said:

You first.

The boat in the photo might be located under the sail but it is hardly "under sail."

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For your info RickB, the boat's not a motorsailer. (Yes, you already knew that.) It is not designed to operate under-sail-only for normal circumstances.