The Ballad Exchange

The Scampi has its fans and is still sailed hard all over the world. Nose-down trim, tho, is part of what made late-period IOR boats so terrifying downwind in a blow. As beams got wider, sterns got narrower, and CofG was raised (to the point racers were gluing lead bars to the coachroof for ratings ...

Glad for you and your family! Good luck! How would your compare Ballad to Albina Scumpi 30, for example this one ? Scumpi has a deck-stepped mast, so one problem less, fin keel and ruder on a skeg which is good. Why Ballad is more popular? As I understand the history, Magnusson built the S30 (Joker...

That's really useful, to see a galvanized (later sail #) truss out of its encapsulation. It looks pretty good! Astonishing they didn't galvanize the early steel. We haven't launched yet, but I believe any mast step solution that drains away water and allows air circulation will last forever if built...

There is a mild steel 'clavicle', or curved transverse beam, running from side to side almost the full width of the main bulkhead. The mast support truss bolts through it, and it is the thing you step over to enter the V berth. There have been reports of this beam failing at the center, again perhap...

Hrrrmmm. Hrrmm? Looks for all the world like either the boat backed hard into something, folding the rudder to the side and levering the skeg forward -- or the rudder got bounced on its bottom a few times. Any corresponding damage visible on the rudder blade itself? Have a peek at the flat bottom of...

Lovely photo essay, Nick. We enjoy the playful colors you find in the Med, the Caribbean, and places like Mexico where we are going. One reason we're tarting up our boat with colors like lime, apricot, chartreuse....I think color makes cold places feel warmer and warm places feel cooler, too. The Ba...

Hi Marius. The worst places for water intrusion on our 1972 Ballad were: mast partners, aft of foredeck cleat, chainplate eyebolts, and genoa tracks. The eyebolts had putty/bog solid cores, but they were often poorly located & the drill missed them. The mast partners had no real protection at al...

Hi Ted. We have vague plans for a similar mainsail increase, and many many IOR-era boats have been modified this way with good resilts. As your drawings show, adding foot & leach to the main does not really upset the sail balance at all if combined with a smaller genoa; so much of the 150% G1 is...

Heavy machinery is definitely an option. My various friends have diggers and forklifts and tractors, but none tall enuf to clear the boat's structure. I could rent, but our town's rental company is a notorious, over-charging monopolist, plus I live 15 miles out of town so the delivery is expensive a...

Hi Mark. Thanks for the link. We're creeping along on the refit: have most of the structural done, the forepeak area completed, new foredeck hatch, etc. I want to get the engine out before starting cosmetic on the main saloon. Still torn on the engine, which is why I've waited so long to address the...