| Author | Message | ||
     Deborah Davenport New member Username: Ddavenport Post Number: 16 Registered: 04-2001 Rating: |
The factory built the 9.1 SE after it had significant success with the 7.9 SE. The first 7.9 SE was Little Feat, which won MORC nationals two years in a row, the first year as a factory boat, and the second year with a mainly amateur crew - only one sailmaker on board - from Cleveland. Little Feat was a fixed keel fractional rig 7.9, with extra stiffening and vacuum bag layup. The factory was surprised at the price premium they were able to get for the 7.9 SE, so they decided to try a 9.1 SE. The first one, #114, Sailin' Shoes, was built in 1986. Sailin' Shoes has an outboard, lowering her weight by about 825 lbs., hence the much lower PHRF rating. She didn't place well at MORC nationals in 1986, so the factory was pessimistic about their ability to get the price premium for the vacuum bag layup. I'd be very surprised if there were more than one or two built and sold before the factory quit building sailboats completely at the end of 1987. Paul Alexy might know more about that last production year - he was a 9.1 dealer then. The other person to contact is Joe Heslin, who owned Sailin' Shoes until recently. My thought is that the PHRF rating comes with too great a liability: I'd be unenthusiastic about the hassles and limitations of an outboard on a boat the size and weight of a 9.1. |
