Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-31
NEW CLUB HERE
FoIdboot
Fonciers
Organize
BY CHARLES COVELL
outdoor Editor

L
outdoor Editor
Unload some carrying
bags from your station
wagon, couple a frame
work of ash and aluminium
together, stretch a skin OF
canvas and rubber over it,
blow up the Sponsors and,
presto, you have a l7-foot sail
boat.
It sounds easy and certainly
looks easy. 1t is a sport that
has led to the foundation Of a
new club which so far has held
several outings on the Potomac
and Chesapeake Bay and is
busy making plans for others.
The boats are Klepper fold
boats, made in Germany. They
come in two types. the Aerius
Flagship, a slender sailing craft
which seats two, and the Mas
ter Dinghy, a 12-foot boat that
can be used with sail, oars or
outboard motor. The Aerius
Flagship is much more popular
locally.
Prominent in promoting the
new organization is Sergt. Rob-
ert c. Wishart and his wife.
Alice, of 2730 Richmond high
way, Alexandria. Sergt Wish
art. stationed at Fort Belvoir,
had sailed off Hyannis, Mass.
They wanted a boat. but be-
cause they travel frequently.
needed one that could easily be
transported. So they bought
an Aerius.
Complete in Carrying Bags
The boat comes complete in
three carrying bags plus a cou-
pie Of utility bags. BY way Of
demonstrating its ease of as
sembly, the Wisharts drove
their station wagon to the bank
Of the Potomac, hauled out the
parts and put their Aerius to-
gether in short order. Sergt.
Wishart said it can be done in
about 20 minutes.
The wooden framework I'M
folds and is fastened with
aluminium snap-lock fittings.
Ribs are of f1ve-ply ash. Over
this the skin is stretched. The
top is heavy, dark blue canvas
and the bottom a thick layer
of rubber.
On each side are air tubes
or sponsors which are pumped
up and make the craft unsink-
able. The WiSharts said that
before using their boat they
tested it in a swimming pool.
Though the boat was filled with
water. it still supported their
weight. In addition, they could
empty it of most of the water
without hailinp
LeebOards Stabilize Boat
Two plywood seats and two
swivel backrests complete the
interior and then leeboards are
added as stabilizers. An alumni
mum rudder completes the boat.
The mast is then installed
along with the cotton main
sail and jib. Two light, double
blade paddles help when the
breeze fails.
Some of the Aerius owners
have small cupboard motors,
which they use on their sail
boats with a side mounting
bracket.
The WiSharts have owned
their boat since late May and
have few complaints except a
slight sluggishness in lacking.
That the Aerius is Seaworthy
was proven by DR.. Hannes
Lindemann. a German physi-
clan, who crossed the Atlantic
in one in 70 days in 1857.
Four FOldbOats at Outing
Four foldboats took part in
the weekend outing, their
owners driving to the Selby Bay
Yacht Club and assembling and
launching their craft. They
sailed out through the South
River to the Bay and back and
then had picnic lunches ashore.
One enthusiastic sailer, A. L.
(BilD williams, continued along
the western shore as far as the
Bay Bridge.
On June % an outing was
held at Goat Island on the
Potomac. Boats were launched
at the foot of Prince street in
Alexandria and then sailed
across the river.
Mrs. Wishart is secretary of
the new club, known as the
Capitol Foldboaters, and Alvin
Macomber of Takoma Park,
treasurer. Meetings are held
the third Monday of each
month at Arnold's Hofbrau,
1924 Pennsylvania avenue NV.
Chairmen are rotated at each
session, and those for the next
two meetings are Trevor Hill of
Hyattsville and Eric Weren of
Gaithersburg.