For Sale: Classic Marblehead BlackWatch (Sold)

John Stoudt is selling a classic Marblehead (sail number 2279) built as a prototype on Long Island. It prowled the waters of Long Island and Conservatory Waters (Central Park) in the mid-1980s much to the chagrin of other model yachtsmen and women. He restored this boat to its original condition and sailed it at one of the sail-ins in Central Park – “oh, wow, there is BlackWatch!”. This boat was remembered by John Tucker and Jon Elmaleh. The story is that when this boat first appeared at Central Park to compete, certain skippers, who are very competitive, could not beat this boat. One particular skipper, who will remain anonymous, went home, and built another classic M class boat, and then another, and another before he could beat BlackWatch occasionally. When the restored boat appeared at the Waters recently for the sail-in, he came over and said, “you have BlackWatch, that boat was so hard to beat in the day.”

The hull was cleaned, faired in, and repainted. The graphics were custom made to replicate the original graphics. The material used is a special vinyl that would take the curve of the hull as it was applied. The hatch did not fit tightly on the boat. A hatch cowling was installed, and a fitted hatch cover made incorporating the original flat cover. Each of these parts was made using the ammonia bending technique described in recent issues of The Model Yacht.   The original deck fittings, that were worn out, were removed, and all of the holes in the deck were filled and faired in. An entire new rig was made for the boat including custom sails (Icarex) identical to the originals with the unusual mainsail luff shape retained. Because of this unusual mainsail shape, the boat is fitted with a back stay adjuster. New electronics were installed in the boat, which has sailed numerous time in vintage nationals and other regattas. It is still a very fast, competitive boat.

The boat is complete with electronics, including a FlySky radio and receiver and a travel stand. The sails are custom, made from Icarex, a high-performance material.

John is asking $1,500.00. He can be contacted at jstoudt309@gmail.com or 610-316-8695.

The boat is located in Chester Springs, PA 19425.