"Dashing Wave"
1970 Mariner 32, Hull# 19
Owners: Raymond Massey - Buffalo, NY - USA
I bought Dashing Wave in 1987.She was originally located in Mystic Connecticut under the name Sabine. She was brought up to Buffalo by previous owners in the 1970's and where she has remained. When I bought Sabine she was in a deplorabale condition. Dry rot had eaten away below the teak cockpit deck so that it appeared that only the teak planking was holding it together.Many of the bulk heads were rotted along with the cabin sides. It seems that although the previous owners loved the boat, they did not have the skills to maintain her, which I suspect is a common tale with most of the Mariners, especially the 32's.
After two months of intense work, the cockpit
was rebuilt and the teak deck laid. I used 1/2 plywood, glassed on both
sides and laid the teak deck using no screws but simply bonded the teak
with black polysulphide. The theory was, no holes - no leaks. I have got
over twenty years from this deck but it is now in need of replacement with
new teak. The side decks were replaced along with the cabin sides and much
of the aft cabin bulkhead. At the time I tried to remain true to
the original materials. In retrospect this was a mistake. Lately I have
learned to replace structural wood members, wherever possible with high
density foam sandwich. For example, I have replaced the wood toe rail (under
the teak caprail) with this high density foam sandwich and it has been trouble
free ever since. With so much of the boat rebuilt back in 87, I gave her
a fresh start with a new name, Dashing Wave after the Donald McKay clipper.
In our first years of use, my wife Gayle and I took the Dashing wave around Lake Erie, and the following years up to the North Channel on Lake Huron. She proved herself a good cruising boat and the pocket ketch design received much attention wherever she went. Around about this time we sanded all the teak down to a smooth finish and coated it with Tuff Shield a varnish like coating. The teak bright work on these Mariners is a treat for the eyes.
In 1989 we entered the Lake Erie Interclub Race.
This is a five day race going from port to port around the eastern end of
Lake Erie. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the camraderie and with this
incentive we began to race Dashing Wave not only in Regattas but in Wednesday
night round the mark races here in Buffalo. Buffalo, due to the fact that
the marinas are all very close together has a very large racing fleet. On
some nights the fleet can be over a hundred boats which under PHRF are divided
into fleets with similar ratings. The Mariner 32 for eastern Laker Erie,
which is considered a light air area is given a PHRF rating of 240. The
result is that I am racing against boats in my JAM fleet such as Catalina
30's and Newport 30's, etc. In the early years we did very poorly, after
all the Mariner 32 with its ketch rig, full keel, shoal draft, trailing
rudder and very heavy displacement is the antithesis of a cruising racer.
It is a little like racing a cow in the Kentucky Derby. However, with persistence
we were able to make her into a fast cow, and more competitive each year.
A major improvement was stripping down the bottom to the glass, fairing
it and the keel, sanding it with 400 grit wet sand paper. This plus VC17
made a drastic improvement in light air. Secondly was getting new sails
with racing in mind and learning everything I could about sail shape and
aerodynamics. I and some of my crew took the North U Fast Course,
along with tactics, etc. In short learned everything we could about making
a boat go fast, along with racing rules, etc. I was very lucky in having
a crew who was also interested in the challenge of squeezing out performance
from this old girl. The effort was reflected in the results as each year
the Dashing Wave steadily worked her way up the fleet until we were placing
almost every week. We won boat of the year for two years in a row in the
Buffalo Harbor Sailing Club against some really tough boats and smart skippers
(Redwing 30, Catalina 30, Newports Cal 25's etc.) Our weakness of course
was getting a shoal draft ketch to windward so that we could stay withing
striking distance for the downwind leg (which was our speciality). We worked
very hard in improving the Dashing Wave's windward ability so that on some
nights we were up in the top two or three boats rounding the windward mark.
During these years we continued to compete in the yearly Inteclub Race.
Under the Offshore Rules we carried a spinnaker on both the main and mizzen
masts. We became quite deadly on a reach or a run. We won many flags and
under PHRF, at least three times, placed first in a fleet of 60 to 65 boats
(including 50 footers)
This, 2009, will be the first year since 1989 that i will not be racing the Dashing Wave. After many years of hard racing, some of it in high waves and winds, the old girl was in need of some major repairs and refit. It seemed like everything went to pieces at once at once, from the cabin top near the dorades to the galley counter, the list went on and on. It took some two months of all but living in the boat yard, but at last she is back in the water and my friend Eileen and I plan on taking her cruising this summer. So there are davits on the stern for the dingy and open seas calling .
I would like to add a later chapter with some
of the improvements that I have made to the Mariner 32 that I believe would
be of interest to
anyone that wishes to improve the safety and seaworthlness of this boat.
Good luck and fair seas....Ray Massey
I have mentioned some of the racing record of the Dashing Wave so that other Mariner owners can see what a remarkable design that Bill Garden gave us. With a smooth bottom, good sails and trimmed right the Mariner 32 is caperable of some amazing performance. Below are some photos from Dashing Waves campaigns.
Dashing Wave Stern. Shows the Dashing wave in the Interclub Race from Pot Dover Canada to Port Colbourne Canada in 1999. We won overall on this leg. The photo is taken from Frolic a J30.
Awards 1 shows the skipper and crew.
Dashing Wave race 2 shows us the following
year when we once more won
the same leg but in light conditions.
Inter 1996 shows me in center and wife Gayle to my left. We were particularly proud of the first in the Long Point Bay race as this involved a long windward leg.
Me at helm shows a typical Wednesday night start,
Dashing Wave crossing the finsih - Wed night.
Gayle and me at North Channel
Me at wheel with Tyke.
Rebuild 1 shows the cockpit and quarterdeck removed in 1987.
