Improbable

[Guest]

not doubting your ability in the slightest, its all about what you want it for and there is no right answer. What i found was a lot of people had advice for me on what to do but none had time or money to invest into their versions of what my projects should be.

 

[Haji]

not doubting your ability in the slightest, its all about what you want it for and there is no right answer. What i found was a lot of people had advice for me on what to do but none had time or money to invest into their versions of what my projects should be.

Full disclosure is that it took me 13yrs to finish & launch Rumbleseat. Had a great many participants in that project (although not near so many as with Ocean Planet!).  Then we had a hell of a lot of fun with her. Sold in 98 to Robin Tatersall in the BVI.  Here you see what I did to the underbody....

 

[Cal20sailor]

Haji, 

One of my early memories of reading sailing magazines (and I read them all multiple times) was an article about the concept, development, and performance of Improbable.  My favorite part of the article is that they launched and rigged the boat (maybe to be measured) and there was no time to sail.  The 'guys' were supposed to pack it up for shipment but under the guise of checking to make sure the sails fit, they all of sudden filled and even bigger bs, the claim was that the engine was running and they didn't want to damage the cooling system, they cast off the lines and went out for a few hours.  They were using a 2x4 as a makeshift tiller and the elation at the boat's performance was apparent.  The fact that I remember the article from 45+ yrs ago is a testament to the excitement about the boat.  

Do you remember the article and could you remind me who wrote it and where it appeared?  

Thanks and good luck.  

 

[Haji]

Haji, 

One of my early memories of reading sailing magazines (and I read them all multiple times) was an article about the concept, development, and performance of Improbable.  My favorite part of the article is that they launched and rigged the boat (maybe to be measured) and there was no time to sail.  The 'guys' were supposed to pack it up for shipment but under the guise of checking to make sure the sails fit, they all of sudden filled and even bigger bs, the claim was that the engine was running and they didn't want to damage the cooling system, they cast off the lines and went out for a few hours.  They were using a 2x4 as a makeshift tiller and the elation at the boat's performance was apparent.  The fact that I remember the article from 45+ yrs ago is a testament to the excitement about the boat.  

Do you remember the article and could you remind me who wrote it and where it appeared?  

Thanks and good luck.  

Wow, I wish I knew!  Great stuff.  I'll have to ask Commodore or Skip about that. 

 

[Rasputin22]

Haj,

    I knew Tats well and sailed and raced with and against him in the VI. He was going to deliver my first daughter (water birth) but all of a sudden the BVI stopped letting pregnant liveaboard moms from St John into their country in the third trimester! He still would have sailed over from Tortola to do his first waterbirth but Mom was not encouraged by that timeframe. I was vaguely aware of your efforts with the 30 Square and Tattersal carried on your tradition. I used to enter my 45' trimaran in the singlehanded divsion in Foxy's Wooden Boat Race and it was tough to get beaten by that splinter. I called it the trimaran that lost its amas. 

 

[Haji]

Haj,

    I knew Tats well and sailed and raced with and against him in the VI. He was going to deliver my first daughter (water birth) but all of a sudden the BVI stopped letting pregnant liveaboard moms from St John into their country in the third trimester! He still would have sailed over from Tortola to do his first waterbirth but Mom was not encouraged by that timeframe. I was vaguely aware of your efforts with the 30 Square and Tattersal carried on your tradition. I used to enter my 45' trimaran in the singlehanded divsion in Foxy's Wooden Boat Race and it was tough to get beaten by that splinter. I called it the trimaran that lost its amas. 

Yes, Rumbleseat/Diva was definitely a monomaran...;-)

 

[Cal20sailor]

Wow, I wish I knew!  Great stuff.  I'll have to ask Commodore or Skip about that. 

Working from memory, my best guess is that it might have appeared in One Design and Offshore Yachtsman and doing a search, I found that MikeR on this site had several hundred back episodes that covered that time period and  I believe from that thread they went to Clean.  I recall that the article recounted the '71 Montego race so probably appeared 6mos to a year after the race.  You might reach out to Clean and see if he could look through the '71-'72 issues.  It was a well-written article and it would be fun to read it again.  

 

[Imbekkable]

 

[Imbekkable]

Goodday all,

Am new here and still finding out how this works but Iread your posts with lots of fun and interest.

Haji, sorry for your loss.

But then, what do you all think of this pic in my earlier post? anybody recognises the hull? 

 

[Haji]

Goodday all,

Am new here and still finding out how this works but Iread your posts with lots of fun and interest.

Haji, sorry for your loss.

But then, what do you all think of this pic in my earlier post? anybody recognises the hull? 

Hi Imbekkable,

Is that a cruising version of Improbable?  Mull design?  Tell us more!

 

[Mid]

Mull design?

Mull 42 

https://rondeomnoordholland.nl/wp-content/rnh_uitslag/2018_uitslag_short_handed_orc.pdf

 

[Imbekkable]

Well yes, its an exact copy of yours, also cold molded, but then mahogany. Built in 1989 in The Netherlands after the original drawings of Improbable. I still have the general arrangement somewhere.

 

[Imbekkable]

 

[Haji]

Very interesting!

 

[Imbekkable]

Well yes it is! I have the boat now for 5 years. I found her in the back of a shed and I am almost done with restoring her. Its a fantastic boat, indeed one of the best designs ever. I do quitte some regattas and the rating is a killer but I do always participate for the line honours. 

 

[Haji]

It sounds like the Imbekkable has found a good owner, and you have developed a great relationship...;-). 

 

[Rasputin22]

Thanks Haji,

    For some reason DIVA escaped my memory by name. Probably the most outrageous sailing yacht I've ever witnessed. I think ADRENALIN AGAIN the Gougeon Bros Formula 40 trimaran with the 'walking amas' takes a close second. Monomaran is a perfect description of DIVA. 

    I watched from another boat Tats have his two sons don snorkle gear and swim south through the very narrow passage between Little Jost and Green Cay on a JVD FOXY's Wooden Boat event when they still sailed right around the Island. They would alternate the direction every year and that particular year was clockwise and the whole fleet compressed after a long windward tacking duel up the North side. The bigger boats hit a big hole in the wind (wind shadow from Mt Sage on Tortola) and foul current and the flee just before being able to Green Cay and reach off back to the finish in front of Great Harbour.  Tatterall was sailing his old Herreschoff Ketch and his boys in snorkle gear led them through the coral head infested channel and jumped back on boat as they reached safer waters at Sandy Spit. That got them back into the unusually light breeze and they finished ahead of much larger and faster boats who were livid at Tats 'shortcut. He was protested by several boats for not sailing the course with his little stunt but at what passes for a race committee protest hearing at Foxy's was held he read out the NOTICE OF RACE which said to 'proceed from the start around JVD in a clockwise manner back to the start'. No mention of Green Cay being a mark of the course but it had always been implied since no one with any sense would dare attempt the passage that Tat had used. The protests were tossed in order that the party could begin and there was still a lot of mumbling about his having crew in the water to guide the boat around the numerous coral heads. Tatterall was not the kind of guy to gloat over such success and he knew his rules certainly but I always dreaded going into a protest room in which he presided. 

 

[Haji]

I couldn't have sold Rumbleseat to a more enthusiastic owner than Robin.  He single-handed her well into his 80's.  In 02 when in Antigua for Sailing Week on Ocean Planet, I was able to crew on my old steed for Robin in a couple races.  He nailed every shift off the cliffs as if he had personal control of the weather.  I expressed my amazement, to which he stated, with a wry smile, in his stately British accent, "that's how you beat those big boats, by simply sailing half the distance!"

 

[P_Wop]

Dear Robin!  What a fine gentleman.  I did (well at least half the first race of) the 1981 BVI Spring Regatta with him on that lovely little Hereshoff Galatea of Tortola.  Reason we didn't finish was that we were T-boned by a Moorings boat in the Charter division which was on port,  neatly removing our mizzen rigging by means of their anchor, still on their bow roller.  Robin was livid, but we had some fine parties after (with the scantily clad mostly lady crew, of course). 

Robin loved to steer to leeward, lying down with one toe on the tiller, and a bit of light line led through a small block on the weather rail to pull the tiller the other way if needed.

Then we had to have another drink when we discovered that when Robin had qualified as a surgeon in London by gaining his FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) it was my late father who had given him his grueling final oral examination!  I wonder if they were talking sailing or surgery.  Small world.

Back to Improbable.

 

[Haji]

Can't resist another Robin story...

As you may know, much of the revenue for Robin's clinic was from cosmetic surgery.  At some point "Tits by Tats" was a battle flag created by the crew.  This is one of the reasons (in addition to being a known brilliant sailor) for his familiarity with many of the Rich & Famous, who would go on "vacation" in the BVI and visit Robin's clinic while there.

Anyhow, after one of the races in the 02 Classic Week, we were on Diva rafted next to a big schooner belonging to a friend of Robin's. 1.5 ft of freeboard next to 5ft...  A thinly clad beautiful and well-endowed young female crew member was washing off the extensive varnish work.  

Standing on the deck of Diva in our soaked foulies, we couldn't avoid a moment of mutually admiring the view on the schooner.  That's when Robin looked over to me (and down, being about a foot taller) and stated "You know...not even I can make them that nice"