Star Class News/History Tags

Thoughts on Boat Renovation by Bill Buchan

HISTORY
THOUGHTS ON BOAT RENOVATION by Bill Buchan This guide to buying an older Star and making it competitive is a result of a project which I took on in 2004. With the recent increase in interest in renovating older Stars I thought the various considerations involved in finding an older boat worthy of ...
bill buchan history star boat design development tuning

The Development of Star Boat Keel

HISTORY
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE KEEL In Star Boats By David Bolles When the Star was designed in November 1910 in the office of William Gardner, there was no thought given to the idea that the Star boat would outgrow its being used as a local New York / New England one-design racer. Wh...
david bolles history star boat design development tuning

GARDNER PLAN of 1910 Star Boat

HISTORY
GARDNER PLAN of 1910, with Specifications and Letter dated 1917 Jim Peters of Cleveland, Ohio, has kindly provided the following historical material: Star Construction Plan dated November, 1910, Specifications for the Star and a cover letter from the office of William Gardner dated March 19th, 191...
history star boat design development tuning william gardner

Francis Sweisguth - Designer and Developer of the Star

HISTORY
FRANCIS SWEISGUTH 1882-1970 DESIGNER AND DEVELOPER OF THE STAR During the winter of 1910-1911 twenty-two Stars were under construction at the boatworks of Isaac E. Smith, located in Port Washington, New York and another 11 Stars, known at the time as “Nahant Bugs”, were being built by...
francis sweisguth george a. corry history star boat design development tuning william gardner

Interview - Some Tips from Bill Buchan

HISTORY
SOME TIPS FROM BILL BUCHAN (Starlights, June 1986) When you were an up‑and‑coming young sailor, what type of training program did you follow? Bill: "It seems as though it's been going on for ever. I've always just been in a sailing frame of mind. Sailing has always been first a...
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“Thoughts on Upwind Speed” by Bill Buchan

HISTORY
SOME THOUGHTS ON UPWIND SPEED by Bill Buchan (PS) (Starlights, November, 1980) Bill Buchan, by a consensus of his major competitors, is the top Star sailor in the world right now. He has won back‑to‑back Bacardi Cups, the 1979 Baltic Regatta, 1980 Spring Championship and the U.S. Olymp...
bill buchan history star boat design development tuning

“Check Your Keel” by Paul Bogataj

HISTORY
Check your Keel Do you have proper keel shape? by Paul Bogataj Are you fast upwind, but slower downwind? Perhaps it is the other way around. There are many factors that influence a Star boat's performance. One of these is the section shape of the keel. A keel optimized for upwind sailing is n...
history paul bogataj star boat design development tuning

Starboat Masts by Richard Gates

HISTORY
STARBOAT MASTS By Richard Gates When Alan Holt and I were engineers in the aviation industry we enjoyed sailing Stars, built our own equipment, and started Spar Tech Co. Alan had already established himself as a talented Star sailor and continued to improve his performance in the Star community.&n...
history richard gates star boat design development tuning

Sail Area Reduction Report by Bill Buchan and Vince Brun, February 1997 Starlights

HISTORY
Technical Committee, February 1997 Starlights Interim Technical Committee Sail Area Reduction Report by Bill Buchan, Technical Committee chairman             The Technical Committee has been requested to conduct a sail area redu...
bill buchan history star boat design development tuning vince brun

Retrofitting the Jib Halyard by John A. MacCausland

HISTORY
RETROFITTING THE JIB HALYARD in order to fly the jib higher by John A. MacCausland One of the things which is happening at the moment is that top guys are carrying their jibs a lot higher than before downwind, raising it almost 2 feet or more off the deck. There are a couple of reasons for this. ...
history john a. maccausland star boat design development tuning

Powering Up by Mark Reynolds

HISTORY
Powering Up By Mark Reynolds When the wind is light and the water choppy, invariably you are looking for power. The number one question is usually "How to keep the crew over the side?". Other than sailing with a super light crew here are a few tips for getting the crew over early and powering up f...
history mark reynolds star boat design development tuning

Rudder Magazine on Stars, December, 1911

HISTORY
ONE‑DESIGN CLASSES (Text and drawings form RUDDER, December, 1911)  POPULARITY of one‑design classes seems to be on the increase, and there are several new classes proposed for next season; one, a class of small schooners. Several of the most prominent classes racing on Long Islan...
history star boat design development tuning

Stars through the Years

HISTORY
  Star of the 1910’s  Spars and Sails: Sliding Gunter Mast, deck to sheave 18'5" Boom 18'42" Gaff (Or Yard) 17'62" Mainsail Luff 7'4" Mainsail Leech 28'6" Mainsail Foot 18'42" Jib Luff 17'9" Jib Leech 15'3" J...
history star boat design development tuning

Birth of the Modern Star, Skip Etchells

HISTORY
SKIP ETCHELLS AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN STAR based on conversations with Bill Buchan and Jane Lawrence Skip Etchells played an important part in birth of the modern Star. In college he studied naval architecture and when World War II began he went to work in Seattle in the shipbuilding industry. ...
history skip etchells star boat design development tuning

History of Mader Star Boats 2003

HISTORY
History of Mader Star Boats By John MacCausland Jul 28, 2003 The history of Mader Star Boats began when the Tempest was dropped from the Olympic program and the Star Boat was added in the fall of 1976. Leonhard Mader, Sr. with the help of Eckart Wagner contacted Bill Buchan. At that time Buchan bo...
history mader star boat design development tuning

Buchan Boats

HISTORY
BUCHAN BOATS From a conversation with Bill Buchan The Buchan family business in Scotland was tied to boats and fishing. In the early 1920’s they immigrated to the Pacific Northwest where they felt that they could continue their trade. Bill's father, while owning and operating a retail fis...
bill buchan history star boat design development tuning

Tuning the Star - Malin Burnham, Lowell North, Bill Buchan 1966-1980

HISTORY
Articles - Malin Burnhan Lowell North Bill Buchan MALIN BURNHAM ON TUNING AND TECHNIQUES (September 1966 / May 1967) Malin Burnham and Lowell North won a Gold Star in 1945 Early in 1966 Malin Burnham gave a series of lectures in Australia by invitation of the Pittwater Fleet and the R...
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Tank Notes on Star Boats, 1941

HISTORY
Tank Notes on Star Boats by Harry A. Hofmann An article on the results of Star tank test that appeared in Yachting in January, 1941 SEVERAL years ago, after Pimm had provoked a revolution in the Star Class, the shape of her hull started a fountain of conjectures on the advantages to be g...
history star boat design development tuning

FLEXIBLE SPARS, A Pamphlet “LITTLE BUT PERFECT”

HISTORY
Pimm, Star # 1078, with Walter von Hütschler and Hans-Joachim Weise, getting ready to gybe around for the start of one of the races at the 1936 European’s. FLEXIBLE SPARS A Pamphlet "LITTLE BUT PERFECT" Describing their Theory and Use by Walter von Hütschler Published and D...
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1941 Tank Test

HISTORY

history star boat design development tuning