Peterson Maxi Maxi MORC

[12 metre 657]

No, that is not a typo.

Stumbled across a CL ad for a Dencho 33.  Ad says it is a Choate built Peterson 33 and from the few photos is definitely a MORC rather than IOR style boat.  Ad included an image of an old Socal PHRF cert listing the Mfg type as a Dencho 33 and the designer as Peterson/Choate. 

The yacht name on the cert is listed as "Calais", which matches the name of the boat in the photos.

Under Adhara 30 in Sailboatdata it mentions that one stretched 33 ft version also came from the same mold.  So the above info appears to ring true.

What I do find odd is that if it were a stretched Adhara 30, I would expect there to be more stern overhang than the photos seem to indicate, assuming the boat was stretched by extending the stern.  Unusual topside paintjob, or maybe poor WordArt editing.

Anyways, below is a photo of the boat.  

Anyone have any info on this boat they can share?

[Editor 1,238]

Nope. The Peterson Maxi Morc boat was 30 ft and looked nothing like that. It looks like this.

[Jaded 8]

I sailed on the boat for a few years when it was new. It came out of the same mold as the 30 with lots of modifications. Same rig dimensions. Quick upwind. Doesn’t do anything bad. Solid performance. Had an outboard when new. Owner installed a air cooled inboard with belt drive just before he sold the boat. The boat was a little asymmetric in the stern. 

[Editor 1,238]

The Peterson Maxi Morc boats were awesome.

[Jaded 8]

[silent bob 1,266]

I believe this boat raced out of Ventucky in the late '80's to mid '90's under the name of "James Earl"  I's been in King Harbor (Redondo Beach/Los Angeles) for quite a while.  I believe it was donated to the youth foundation several years ago.  It's in pretty rough shape.  

[12 metre 657]

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

I sailed on the boat for a few years when it was new. It came out of the same mold as the 30 with lots of modifications. Same rig dimensions. Quick upwind. Doesn’t do anything bad. Solid performance. Had an outboard when new. Owner installed a air cooled inboard with belt drive just before he sold the boat. The boat was a little asymmetric in the stern. 

Thanks for the info Jaded.

Wondering if you know anything about the alleged extension, which I assume was to the stern - rather than a midship chop and fill.

Was it a fair extension?  i.e. above the waterline.

In addition, the PHRF cert lists displacement as 6700 lbs, which is quite a bit more than  indicated for the standard one.  Sailboatdata lists the Adhara 30 at 4800 and the Pinnacle 29 at 5600.  Although who knows how accurate any of those numbers are.

One last question, what was the interior like?  A lot of MORC boats of that size like the Santana 30/30 GP and J/29 have minimal headroom.  The photos of this one look like it would have more headroom - but possibly just an illusion.

[12 metre 657]

32 minutes ago, silent bob said:

I believe this boat raced out of Ventucky in the late '80's to mid '90's under the name of "James Earl"  I's been in King Harbor (Redondo Beach/Los Angeles) for quite a while.  I believe it was donated to the youth foundation several years ago.  It's in pretty rough shape.  

Yeah, she looks to be in rough shape judging from the few photos.  Sure looks like it was a nice boat in it's day though.

[@last 42]

4 hours ago, silent bob said:

I believe this boat raced out of Ventucky in the late '80's to mid '90's under the name of "James Earl"  I's been in King Harbor (Redondo Beach/Los Angeles) for quite a while.  I believe it was donated to the youth foundation several years ago.  It's in pretty rough shape.  

From the far distant past memory (always a sketchy proposition!) I think the owner (nice younger guy back then) was from the Midwest and purchased/raced the boat out in Cali after moving there.  I think if I remember correctly it was named after his dad.  

[nota 88]

7 hours ago, Jaded said:

I sailed on the boat for a few years when it was new. It came out of the same mold as the 30 with lots of modifications. Same rig dimensions. Quick upwind. Doesn’t do anything bad. Solid performance. Had an outboard when new. Owner installed a air cooled inboard with belt drive just before he sold the boat. The boat was a little asymmetric in the stern. 

aircooled and belt driven

any idea what motor ?

I have seen real cheap china aircooled diesels in the 8 to 12hp range on line

but never seen one in person or if they will work on a boat

[nota 88]

https://czhiearn.en.made-in-china.com/product/kbrEItCMOpcx/China-High-Quality-15HP-Single-Cylinder-Air-Cooled-4-Stroke-Diesel-Engine-HR198FA-.html

 

link to what I saw on line

no idea if good bad or what

sure can't beat the price !

[Jaded 8]

Extension was added to stern. Had a little bit of reverse rocker, about 3/4”. Owner had it faired in some but could always be better. Boat was weak off the wind. About same speed as a Olson 30. Interior was nothing special. Similar to other 30’ race boats like the J’s and Santana 30/30. Engine never worked to its potential. Belts always wearing out and extremely loud. Don’t remember the brand but was very light. Owner was super nice guy. Moved back to Michigan and worked for S2 doing industrial design work. 

[ROADKILL666 533]

I loved the MORC boats.They gave me great memories of my dad and I racing together.

[StarWalker 3]

I sure miss that boat. Shame to see what's happened to it. I bought it new from Steve Rock down in San Diego. It sat unfinished for years. And then Steve and Dennis Choate hatched a plan to get it ready to sell. It had some boat build issues that we rectified over time. But it was very fun to sail and we had our fair share of success. Yes the transom was extended which resulted in the need to be faired. Also needed some stiffening in the rear end and rudder bearings installed. The helm would freeze up under load until I made those improvements. She was a bit sluggish off the wind until we went with a penalty pole. that livened things up a ton.

The inboard installation was of my own design. Used a very lightweight 12hp gas motor from Subaru mated to a Yanmar transmission that I machined down for the application. I offset the motor and transmission to keep the CG down and the shaft angle shallow. Never got the drive belt working well as Jaded (is that you BD?) mentioned.  Ran out of time. Switched to a chain drive in the interim. Worked but was loud and messy. Was also working on water cooling the exhaust to keep it cooler as well as quiet it down. That was in process when I sold it. Gerry, the guy who bought it from me replaced it all with a Brown (?) system. Not sure how that worked out for him. It looks like the pic shows an outboard so I assume he gave up.

Lot of great memories and friends made on that boat.  

[sunseeker 458]

On 5/28/2021 at 4:22 PM, Editor said:

The Peterson Maxi Morc boats were awesome.

Wasn’t there one called Perfect Stranger?

[12 metre 657]

1 hour ago, sunseeker said:

Wasn’t there one called Perfect Stranger?

Here you go...

[Jaded 8]

14 hours ago, StarWalker said:

I sure miss that boat. Shame to see what's happened to it. I bought it new from Steve Rock down in San Diego. It sat unfinished for years. And then Steve and Dennis Choate hatched a plan to get it ready to sell. It had some boat build issues that we rectified over time. But it was very fun to sail and we had our fair share of success. Yes the transom was extended which resulted in the need to be faired. Also needed some stiffening in the rear end and rudder bearings installed. The helm would freeze up under load until I made those improvements. She was a bit sluggish off the wind until we went with a penalty pole. that livened things up a ton.

The inboard installation was of my own design. Used a very lightweight 12hp gas motor from Subaru mated to a Yanmar transmission that I machined down for the application. I offset the motor and transmission to keep the CG down and the shaft angle shallow. Never got the drive belt working well as Jaded (is that you BD?) mentioned.  Ran out of time. Switched to a chain drive in the interim. Worked but was loud and messy. Was also working on water cooling the exhaust to keep it cooler as well as quiet it down. That was in process when I sold it. Gerry, the guy who bought it from me replaced it all with a Brown (?) system. Not sure how that worked out for him. It looks like the pic shows an outboard so I assume he gave up.

Lot of great memories and friends made on that boat.  

I’m DK. Hope you and the family are doing good. Miss sailing with you on the 33. Good times 

[silent bob 1,266]

13 hours ago, 12 metre said:

Here you go...

Totally different boat.  Much later design and much better built.  Crazy story about the builder/owner.  Maybe @Nick G can chime in?!

[StarWalker 3]

10 hours ago, Jaded said:

I’m DK. Hope you and the family are doing good. Miss sailing with you on the 33. Good times 

Hey DK! Good wow! cool to see you here. I don't log on often but just happened to see this post. Family's well. Hope the same for you. Sure miss sailing with you guys too

[Cal20sailor 3,481]

I raced on a Pinnacle 29 for several years, it was great fun.

[JeffC55 0]

On 7/15/2021 at 7:33 AM, StarWalker said:

I sure miss that boat. Shame to see what's happened to it. I bought it new from Steve Rock down in San Diego. It sat unfinished for years. And then Steve and Dennis Choate hatched a plan to get it ready to sell. It had some boat build issues that we rectified over time. But it was very fun to sail and we had our fair share of success. Yes the transom was extended which resulted in the need to be faired. Also needed some stiffening in the rear end and rudder bearings installed. The helm would freeze up under load until I made those improvements. She was a bit sluggish off the wind until we went with a penalty pole. that livened things up a ton.

The inboard installation was of my own design. Used a very lightweight 12hp gas motor from Subaru mated to a Yanmar transmission that I machined down for the application. I offset the motor and transmission to keep the CG down and the shaft angle shallow. Never got the drive belt working well as Jaded (is that you BD?) mentioned.  Ran out of time. Switched to a chain drive in the interim. Worked but was loud and messy. Was also working on water cooling the exhaust to keep it cooler as well as quiet it down. That was in process when I sold it. Gerry, the guy who bought it from me replaced it all with a Brown (?) system. Not sure how that worked out for him. It looks like the pic shows an outboard so I assume he gave up.

Lot of great memories and friends made on that boat.  

What makes the boat look rough is the owner who donated it to our program used vinyl for the yellow and red hull stripes. The vinyl is sun aged and needs to be removed/replaced. If we were going to keep her, we would probably strip the decorations from the hull.

She is a beautifully balance boat and fast. Very little helm pressure in all wind conditions. Fun to sail.

[floater 696]

On 7/15/2021 at 7:33 AM, StarWalker said:

She was a bit sluggish off the wind until we went with a penalty pole.

I'm just guessing this isn't the same pole..

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/boa/d/hermosa-beach-dencho-33/7418942576.html

[Remodel 838]

According to this ad, the PHRF buoy rating was 72. Around here, that's a J-35. Is this boat as fast as a J-35?

[12 metre 657]

7 hours ago, Remodel said:

According to this ad, the PHRF buoy rating was 72. Around here, that's a J-35. Is this boat as fast as a J-35?

Well, the Davidson 30 Star Dancer had a PHRF of 74 post MORC mods (rig bumped a couple of feet IIRC). Photo below.  Very nice looking boat.

So I can see how a modded Peterson MORC - Maxi could be assigned a PHRF of 72.  I don't know if it is as fast as a J/35, but the former owner told me he won a fair amount of hardware with the boat.

[Remodel 838]

1 hour ago, 12 metre said:

Well, the Davidson 30 Star Dancer had a PHRF of 74 post MORC mods (rig bumped a couple of feet IIRC). Photo below.  Very nice looking boat.

So I can see how a modded Peterson MORC - Maxi could be assigned a PHRF of 72.  I don't know if it is as fast as a J/35, but the former owner told me he won a fair amount of hardware with the boat.

Very nice.

I have a friend looking for just such a boat. The deal breaker will be that he has to race heads up with a well sailed J-35 and a not so well sailed Schock 35. I'll recommend that he at least look into it.

[Crash 1,007]

10 hours ago, Remodel said:

Very nice.

I have a friend looking for just such a boat. The deal breaker will be that he has to race heads up with a well sailed J-35 and a not so well sailed Schock 35. I'll recommend that he at least look into it.

In many ways, it comes down to what is his racing style or approach.  After years of racing on a friends FT 7.5 in a PHRF fleet of 30-35 footers, I can say it can be done.  While you are always “out-waterlined” and you have to keep a clear lane, you are also more maneuverable and will accelerate back to speed quicker.  So if you are aggressive on the starts, and can keep your air clean and sail your race, you can do great.  If you get buried on a start, and force to tack to clear your air, and then are out of phase, it can be a long painful day.

[Remodel 838]

11 hours ago, Crash said:

In many ways, it comes down to what is his racing style or approach.  After years of racing on a friends FT 7.5 in a PHRF fleet of 30-35 footers, I can say it can be done.  While you are always “out-waterlined” and you have to keep a clear lane, you are also more maneuverable and will accelerate back to speed quicker.  So if you are aggressive on the starts, and can keep your air clean and sail your race, you can do great.  If you get buried on a start, and force to tack to clear your air, and then are out of phase, it can be a long painful day.

Well, that's sailboat racing in a nutshell isn't it?

I'm just concerned that at that rating, the bigger boats will kill it upwind. Since they'll be essentially racing level, it makes it a tough sell.

[Cal20sailor 3,481]

1 hour ago, Remodel said:

Well, that's sailboat racing in a nutshell isn't it?

I'm just concerned that at that rating, the bigger boats will kill it upwind. Since they'll be essentially racing level, it makes it a tough sell.

I think you'll find the opposite.  You just don't want 12-16.  Upwind, you'll find a window where you will be scary fast.  Downwind will be the Achilles heel, MORC boats were designed to go deep but max out pretty quickly in any breeze.  Like crash said, a 2nd row start can't happen.

[Mulligan 49]

It’s going out for a sail in King Harbor, right now!  

[12 metre 657]

15 minutes ago, Mulligan said:

It’s going out for a sail in King Harbor, right now!  

Nice.  

I half thought of making an offer last summer but the transport costs to PNW, spartan interior, and lower than expected headroom weighed too heavily on the negative side of the ledger for me. 

The topside graphics didn't do the boat any favours either, although the entire exterior looked like it needed refreshing anyway. so not really a factor in the end.

Now if I lived in Socal it may have been a different story.

Good luck with the boat.