Per Buch's Sails in B.C.

I received these pictures from our new friend Scott in Vancouver. The following text was from the same email:






This is my boat, her name is TRIO. She is a Nordic Folkboat built in 1948 in Copenhagen Denmark. She is the second oldest folkboat in North America, the oldest is in the marina right next to my moorage (FD 36.) As far as I am concerned she is the most beautiful boat in the whole world, no joke. I became her owner the end of August this year, and have had to wait until now to sail her due to her lack of sails. I purchased a set of hardly used North Sails from San Francisco and had a customer of mine haul them up on the plane for me, he basically made my whole entire year. This weekend was our first weekend with enough free time to actually get out sailing and there was plenty of wind to keep us thouroughly entertained. Saturday morning I woke up on the boat at 6:30 AM to a stiff southwesterly, blowing 27 knots. Andrew Dean and Frank Parish came for the shakedown cruise. We sailed off the mooring and had quite an adventure, she handled it all with stride, even my poor gybing ability... we suffered a minor broach, got a little wet and gave us all our wits about us. needless to say it was fun, the sails where perfect, and fast. We went out three times this weekend and so far I can't believe how blessed I am to have this little boat in my life, she is so forgiving and easy to sail.

And from a later email about the same weekend of sailing:

...I did have alot of backstay on, I was forward taking the picture and then went back and let it off a bit, she seamed to like that better, I had both ribbons flying for most of the day, winds where steady at 17 to 20 knots. It was my dads first time sailing too so we all had alot of fun. I don't have a traveller, just the blarney post and I am gonna keep it that way, keeps the cockpit nice and open for cruising and camping. We where out on Saturday and it was wailing out, thirty knots, I would have felt better having a reef in, seamed a little over canvased (understatement) kept it sheeted out a bunch and played with the backstay and found a comfortable place. I played around with the wind on my beam and then had to come right up because of some swell, we worked our way out past oak bay golf coursewhere the old rich people where actually trying to golf... and the wind through Juan de Fuca straight was coming up and up big fetch and lots of gusts... but she handled it so well, we never heeled over so far that the deck was in the water, but she did seem comfortable with it just above the bottom of the sheer plank. We all got our bums wet sitting on the rail. Andrew and frank are big guys and I was glad to have them there they seamed to bring her down a bunch. I had to gybe in a nasty swell to get home, three to four feet, quite long though. I have never done it and didn't have any crew on board who knew much outside of head knowledge. We had the wind on our quarter and I kept trying to bring it right behind me but the swell kept pushing it on our quarter no fun... boom came around a bit too soon on a gust and we dug in and laid over hard for about two seconds until the sheets on the main kicked out and she stood up. Scared our wits into us and the shit out of us, didn't break anything, just felt stupid and spent the rest of the day trying to do it right, took it alot slower.. finally got it figured out and gybed over nice and flat and clean and reached back home on the swell I swear to god she was surfing... water flying out off the bow and the boat picking up and out like a magic carpet. My friend andrew brought his GPS and it said 6 knots. I just know I was going so freaking fast, left the backstay loose like you said but not too loose, it makes me nervous about breaking the top of the mast. I've got to get my boom vang more solid, have a reef put in the sail and get a longer whisker pole before we go out like that again. until I am more confident having that much canvas up. I have a friend thomas who is considering getting his brothers folkbboat... he is awsome to have on board, focused and has alot of experience with the conditions on this coast. Might be good competition... though Trio is very very fast. She seams to relish in the windward work and I could actually tell she had a better tack, so I adjusted my shrouds and that seamed to bring it up a bit... that mast is solid down low and pretty flexy higher up. it seams like the sails fit really well. I am really liking having it on a mooring keeps the air moving through it and she isn't pushing up against the dock, we just sail on and off rarely use the huge ass outboard that sends the balance all off. It blew fifty knots plus here last night and into today, we went down to see how she held up and she was snug as a bug in a rug, though some other boats actually came off their moorings, tragic. I hope you like the pictures, we'll get you more soon, of various north coast folkboats and maybe a little mid winter racing action, it's gonna get cold here soon but I am not gonna let that stop me. they are such forgiving boats, and so well balanced. too fun.say Hi to the family, you guys should come visit, you could take Trio camping if you wanted. lots of places to go.

Peace,
Scotty.



For more about D 55 - Trio see a previous entry: Who Bought Per Buch's Sails.