George CardasWith excitement and speed the primary objectives, athletic sailing abilities will pay off in the Geary 18, just as in other racing dinghies fitted out with trapeze gear.
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Back in the 1960/70 era there was an attempt to introduce the gearys to the Great South Bay of Long Island NY.. They were cute but came up against the indigenous designed and built Narrasketuck.. 21 feet, broader of beam, also wet but when a “tuck” got up on a plane it sounded like a freight train coming through.. The gearys didn’t stand a chance…
A member of the Coos Bay YC also sails on my local lake (Fern Ridge Reservoir). He says there are still 5 or 6 active Flatties racing on Tenmile Lakes: https://www.coosbayyachtclub.org/
The Laurelhurst Beach Club on Lake Washington still has a fleet of Flatties: https://laurelhurstbeachclub.com/#/activites/
There are a couple in the livery of the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle. Probably rigged to the old rules, since my source says they send inexperienced sailors out in them.
There used to be a bunch of Flatties on Fern Ridge, but it’s been years since I’ve seen even one. That was a fiberglass one sailed by a couple of young fellows. But one of our boating group is restoring a wooden Flattie, so I hope we see theirs on the lake soon.
The original plans by Ted Geary are in Edwin Monk’s book, How to Build Wooden Boats, which is available as an inexpensive Dover reprint, or an ebook: https://store.doverpublications.com/search?type=product&q=edwin+monk
It’s a shame when a class of cheap, fast, and fun boats fades away. What do the newer classes offer that the Flattie doesn’t?
I sailed Ted LaCourse’s Geary 18 on Lake Sammamish every summer in high school, 1963 to 1965, with my buddy Steve LaCourse. We were fearless on a broad reach, riding on the windward planking as long as the mast did not go past horizontal. When we were younger, sleeping aboard overnight was an adventure. It was a great training boat. Always safe. And it taught us how to sail, and how to sail better. Everyone should have the use of one.