Phil Bolger - Sharpies

Sharpies

Bolger put a lot of thought into relatively cheap, high-performance boats. He is well known for designing a series of single chine sharpies, typically long and narrow with a flat bottom.

Sailing sharpies give reasonable performance for the amount of sail they carry because of low to moderate displacement and light weight(by traditional standards) overall. However they have well known limitations when constructed along traditional lines. Modern sharpies such as the Kirby designs have overcomes many of these deficiencies. Power sharpies can use low-horsepower motors (see, for example, the Bolger Tennessee, and Sneakeasy designs) yet reach planning speeds in sheltered waters but pound in a seaway.

One design family is sometimes called Square Boats. Bolger reasoned that a simple rockered bottom and vertical sides gives the most volume, and form stability, on a given beam. After experimenting and studying traditional sharpies and the writings of small-boat historian Howard I. Chapelle, he decided the chine line should represent a regular curve without breaks, changes in radius or straight sections. Chapelle had decided, after documenting traditional New England sharpies, on a slightly different chine profile which Bolger felt was inefficient and prone to causing steering difficulties.

Both designers thought traditional rigs and boat types were suitable for small yachts, especially sailing boats. For a small Chapelle sharpie design, see http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/chapelle/index.cfm. Here the chine profile begins straight, becomes a circular section, and then the radius increases(i.e. becomes flatter) toward the stern. Generally, Chapelle noted that the transom should not drag when the boat is loaded, and the foot of the stem should not be immersed. Bolger agreed on these parts of the sharpie concept. More modern designers have the forefoot in the water to overcome the annoyance of hull slap at anchor. In traditional Sharpies with 2 inch thick bottoms this was less of an issue due to the better acoustic performance of the thick solid wood compared to modern lightweight ply and epoxy construction.

Squaring off the bow and stern give the longest useful waterline and the masts are usually as far forward and aft as possible. The bow on these designs is sometimes cut off and blunt and the sterns are vertical. An open bow can allow passage to land if the boat is beached, space for holding anchors and cables, or clearance to step and unstep a mast. Oldshoe, Micro and the AS29 and AS39 are well-known examples. (Very short sharpies like the Oldshoe and Micro are something of a contradiction in terms but nevertheless are fun to sail. A relatively large number of Micros have been built.)Open bow boats are unsuited to open waters or rough seas.

In the past decade, many rare or even never-constructed Bolger sharpies have been "built" using 3D boat design software and images are available on the Web.