Tech Dinghy

[Sailmachine]

I have inherited a 1953 Tech Dinghy, one of 12 boats built for MIT by Beetle Boat in Cape Cod. This boat has a lot of family history so I am very happy to have it. It has spent the past 40 years under an old barn roof in up state New York. I brought it back to NC where I will take her out for some sailing this summer. It needs a new rudder handle but other then that she is good to go. An interesting note is that this may be the first production fiberglass boat. From what I have been told and searching the internet, MIT was working with Corning to develop fiberglass, and while there were a few boats built of this new material in the late 40's boat manufactures did not start using fiberglass until mid to lathe 50's and into the 60's.

[earlylight]

When I was a sophomore in high school (1956) in western NY state a classmate had a Tech Dinghy. I sailed it several times and found it to be great little boat. He kept it at Rochester YC. Those were the days!

[TampaBay]

Cool boat.

[Crazer]

Very cool! A real piece of history. Keep us updated.

[Figment]

Memories of racing those at MIT regattas.

UGH what a miserable boat to race. Should be a pleasant little daysailer, though. :)

[galleywench]

It's been a while since I read the book, but I believe 'Heart of Glass' discusses these dinghies or something similar that Carl Beetle built back in the 50's, I'll have to go back and re-read it.

[BS Smith]

I learned to sail in Rochester YC's junior sailing program, summers '65-'67. Novices started out in Tech Dinghies. Rhodes Bantams were the step up. RYC's Dinghies were sloop rigged and endured all the learn-to-sail abuse kids threw at them. At them time RYC had perhaps ten of the Dinghies.

Be sure to see Sailing and the Tech Dinghy (http://sailing.mit.edu/lts/sailing-book ... the_dinghy) if you've not yet.

[SUNBIRD10201]

Beetle Boats (not to be confused with Beetle Cat!) was located in New Bedford, MA. I think your TECH might be a bit newer than 1953, but I suspect was built before 1960. I am about to aquire what I believe is an older model, around 1953-4 which has slightly different forward deck compared to yours (and every other Beetle-built TECH that I've seen), mine does match a picture that I saw in an old book of sailboat designs, the forward deck is recessed about 6" or so, but the afterdeck is flush with the gunwales just like yours. Your boat looks just like the TECH Dinghies that a few of my neighbors used to have, GREAT little boats.
The first "production" sailboat built by BEETLE BOATS was the 12' Beetle SWAN, which looked like a cross between a classic (wooden) Beetle Cat and an old claw-foot tub. The SWAN was originally built before room-temperature curing resins had been invented, and so was laid up in a copper-lined 2-part mold, which was heated to cure the resin. The SWAN was joint effort between Carl Beetle and the General Electric Corp. whose facilities were used to house the molds. "HEART OF GLASS" a book by Daniel Spurr has a great history of the early efforts by Carl Beetle. I have started a topic in another part of this Form about my "new" TECH, I'll post pictures as soon as I extract my boat from the underbrush behind my neighbor' house.