Special 7.9

[Jerryd]

Hi Folks,

There's a guy here in town who is a well respected national racer who has a 7.9 for sale.

Its supposedly a Tall Rig, fixed keel boat, with an epoxy hull. Does that make sense and if so, how did they perform?

Thanks
Jerry

[sycmcsa]

Hoopers Yachts in the Twin Cities area had one on the brokerage lot for awhile back that sounds like the one you are mentioning. Completely bare hull interior with a massive aluminum sub floor structure, masthead, fixed keel, epoxy (kevlar?) hull. Bill Hooper said it was built for MORC.

[Jerryd]

Yes, that's exactly what this one looks like. I thought someone here might know more about it. Especially from a performance standpoint. It seem to be a very unique model with little information on the Internet about it.

Jerry

[sycmcsa]

It was a cool boat. I don't think they have it anymore and must have sold it? I know the "standard" masthead/fixed keel model is faster than the frac/daggerboard model so I would imagine this one is even faster than both (bare interior, 100% ballast in keel, stiff as hell). Not trying open a can of worms by saying one model is faster than the other, just going by the PHRF numbers assigned in the book.

Were is this one located?

[Tom Elsen]

Hi Jerry
There were two Fixed Keel models built. The standard FK and the FKSE (masthead). I think only four or five of the latter ever left the factory. I'm not positive about the hull construction. But if I had to bet, I'd say that there aren't any exotic materials used.
There is one other custom boat floating around somewhere. That one has a re-done custom keel and rudder. The thing is a killer.
The issue with the factory boats is the keel. It's an older design and not so hydrodynamically efficient. Not terrible. Just not great. Could be an Interesting PHRF boat.
Good luck.

[Jerryd]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the reply. That helps a lot. When you say the FSKE keel model is masthead. Do you mean masthead jib versus a standard fractional rig? Is there nothing such as a Tall Rig in this model? Sorry if that's a dumb question, but I know nothing about the 7.9 or S2's in general!

By the way, this has an aluminum frame structure on the cabin floor the sling is attached to. Stiffening?

Where's that "custom" boat located?

Thanks
Jerry

[Tom Elsen]

Hi Jerry
No dumb question at all. This is a rare item
The FKSEs I've seen have a two-spreader rig.
The forestay runs to the top of the mast (masthead).
Not 100% certain about the mast height but AFAIK all are the same, that is with a max luff on the mainsail of 29.4 feet. There are "tall rigs" on other S2 models.
I believe all versions of the FK masts are keel-stepped, not deck-stepped.
The custom boat was modified by the second or third owners, sometime in the early 90s I think.
It was sailed out of Detroit. But, again this was a custom mod.
I'd view all of the FK models as racing project boats. Possibly fun for handicap racing. Likely responsive to / requiring some handicap-related tinkering or mods (with the exception of the custom boat). Likely to have modest residual value. Just MHO.

[LarryE-old]

Hi Jerry
There were two Fixed Keel models built. The standard FK and the FKSE (masthead). I think only four or five of the latter ever left the factory. I'm not positive about the hull construction. But if I had to bet, I'd say that there aren't any exotic materials used.
There is one other custom boat floating around somewhere. That one has a re-done custom keel and rudder. The thing is a killer.
The issue with the factory boats is the keel. It's an older design and not so hydrodynamically efficient. Not terrible. Just not great. Could be an Interesting PHRF boat.
Good luck.

I believe the boat, with the custom keel and rudder, is Rugger.
Sailed against them at KWRW in 2000, in a stock 7.9.
Wicked fast boat, sailed well below their PHRF #.

[John Spierling]

Rugger is located in Michigan, it is "just" a FK MH 7.9 modified. It received a new Henderson Keel and Rudder in the early '90s. The boat you are describing is the original "Little Feat". I believe that only two of these were built, the other one was called "Ariba, Ariba"(originally out of Port Huron) and I believe it was destroyed in a hurricane in the Carolina's in the early 90's. Little Feat was MORC Champ in 1985. Both of these boats had an aluminum H-Frames and were Vacuum Bagged epoxy hulls, with double spreader masthead rigs.

[Jerryd]

I've been doing some more research and found that the boat was made along with Little Feat and Ariba,Ariba. Its original name was Miss Grace. It was built of the same construction as the other 2. I guess it has some possibilities as a PHRF racer. I wonder how it would perform against some of its contemporaries??

[Tom Elsen]

Check the P dimension (essentially the mainsail luff length). If it's more than 29.4 feet then this is indeed a "tall" rig.
As far as the performance, if I remember correctly Little Feat won the MORC champs in both '85 and '86. S2 was always good about build quality, so unless somebody hacked up the boat it should go pretty well. Like I said, it could be a fun handicap racer / project.
Depends on what you're looking for. If it is a tall rig and a MH, my bet is you should get ready for a handful when the wind gets beyond 15 kts. With a MH kite and a longer pole, that thing could smack you pretty hard.
Also from what I've seen these things are really hard to sell.

Does anybody know if Jeff and John still have Rugger? I know Jr was active in the T10 s for a while.

[dave]

Just for clarity's sake, the P is 29.5':
2.5.
SAIL SPECIFICATIONS: Note: The head, tack, and clew of any sail is defined as the intersection of the projected
sides, except for the heads of the mainsail and jibs. (See Definitions) The intent of the sail weight restrictions is to
insure that the sail is of sufficient strength and durability to be used at the upper wind range (i.e. 18 Knots
apparent wind for the #1 genoa) and last for at least two racing seasons.
The Base for all sail measurements shall be the following:
P = 29.5' (29' 6")
E = 12.25' (12' 3")
I = 30.5" (30' 6") Class reps: this should read 30.5' not 30.5" !
J = 9.5' (9' 6")

I tend to agree on the tall rig MH. Even without sailing one and even though the special build may be lighter, the 7.9 hull shape aft just wants to dig a deeper hole and pull a bigger wave with more horse power, and that makes a boat which wants to oscillate. Making the chute larger AND hooking it to the masthead (a longer lever) without increasing the mainsail size will make this situation even worse. The 9.1 was a good example of this. A great boat downwind until hull speed is reached and then things just go from fun to lots of work to a little scary really fast with increasing wind speed!!!

[John Spierling]

Rugger is still in Detroit. John and Jeff still race it, as well as their T10.

[Tom Elsen]

Thanks John. Glad to hear that.
Sorry for the typo Dave. Fat fingers and tiny keyboards.

[dave]

Tom, no problem here, just making sure that everything was legal!

I feel your pain: I play guitar, bass and drums and the former two are not easy with relatively short fingers and fat finger tips for a large hand!!!!