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CAL 40Click on this image to download the detail page
“"My girlfriend used to crew on her Dad’s Cal 40," the e-mail said. "It looked like this photo of Mirage, can you build it? I want it big... And I would like it for her birthday next month...”Really? Next Month??? Like most yachts that are requested, I first had to see if I could find photos and data on the Cal 40 as it went out of production years ago. In fact, none of my reference books even listed it. So as usual, I hit the web and then library. This time, I hit it big:
At the library I had the good fortune turn up a book with a nearly complete set of plans (only the deck plan was missing) - as well as the full lines plan which, as any yacht designer knows, is usually the hardest thing to ever get your hands on.
So I replied: “Sure I can build it.... But if you want it in a large bottle, I’ll have to stand it upright as that is the only way I can accommodate the tall Bermuda rig. I’ll also have to send you a gift certificate, because, other than to lay the sea, there is unfortunately no possible way that I can have it ready for her birthday. The sea wouldn’t even be dry in time...”
Of course, as usual, it proved to be a little more difficult than simply building it... Original photos of Spirit, while they did exist, somewhere, could not be found. Fortunately, I had plenty of material at hand from my research. All we had to determine was the hull color and the general layout. So color swatches of sample hull color schemes based on color descriptions were e-mailed back and forth until the correct color combination was determined. Then I discovered that Spirit was an early hull, so she matched the plans I had found better than any of the photos of later boats. That helped tremendously. Soon, only a few questions remained. All of which found ready answers. To the question “Wheel or Tiller?” She replied: “Tiller. Dad would never go for the added cost of a wheel...”
Designed by Bill Lapworth, the first Cal 40 slid down the ways at Jensen Marine, Costa Mesa, California in 1963 and no body thought that it would amount to much... In fact, it was even considered a radical, unseaworthy and possibly a dangerous racing design... Designed for long distance, offshore racing, the Cal 40 soon left it’s mark on the ocean racing circuit. For the Cal 40’s were fast. Very fast. And everywhere they raced they left boats bobbing in their wakes. Nicknamed the Roaring 40, the boat became the first US built yacht inducted into the Yachting Hall of Fame, and remains a widely esteemed though rather dated in design. In fact, the Cal 40s have left a whole navy of aficionados - including one sailor I read of who named his infant daughter after a famous Cal 40 racer...
Displacement: 15,500 lbs (7030 kg) Length Overall : 39 - 4" (12 m)
Beam: 11'0" (3.4 m) Sail Area: 700 sq. ft. 65 M2
Scale: 1 in 150 Length of model: 5 inches (125 mm) Model Height: 6 1/4 inches (160 mm) Bottle size: 3 US qt (3 litres)
Model ship photos & text © D.S. Smith 2003
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