Evening star., 1960-06-14

Nevertheless, there wa
of conventional wooden plank
ing, this boat had a fiborous-
glass hull, the first of a line of
reinforced plastic cruisers
planned by Chance and ASSo-
ciateS of Waldorf. Md.
The company. which entered
the pleasure boat field this
spring after 10 years of design
ing, developing and manufac-
turing plastic craft for the
Coast Guard and Navy. is Of
fering line of cruisers rang
ing from 81 to Al feet. 1t will
be known as the Sea Fleet.
Plastic Fire. e-Retardant
In addition to the hull, the
new cruisers bridge top. trunk
top and fore deck are all made
of the same fibrous glass bond
ed with flre-retardant Hetron
354, a product Of the Durez
PlasticS Division Of the Hooker
Chemical Corp. at North Tona-
wanda, N. Y.
Built for Jesse Hartman of
Stamford, Conn, who plans to
add a flying bridge and use
her for offshore fishing, the
boat has a beam Of 12h feet
and a draft of 3 feet. Twin
275-horSepower Chris Crafts
should give her a speed of 30
miles per hour. John r. Rig
gleman, jr., vice president and |
chief engineer of the Waldorf |
company, said.
Steering is hydraulic and for
safety the boast has a fume de-
tector system as we'll as blow
erS.
FOrmica Used Inside
The cockpit is covered with
Nautolex. the U. S. Rubber Co.
product which resembles ma
hogany planking. Cockpit and
bridge trim are mahogany while
much Of the interior is finished
with formica paneling in a wal
nut grain.
There are ample storage COM
partments. wardrobe. stainless
steel galley with electric refrig-
orator, shower in the head
which has a stainless steel
lavatory and hunks for four.
Total price was $500
Completion of this fibrous
glass cruiser is further evidence
that plastics have come of age
so far as beat construction is
concerned. Fiberglas outboards
have been increasing annually
and although there are other
f1berglas cruisers on the market,
they are not too common.
Among other new products
important to boatmen is the
Arkay Transistor Inverter which
makes it possible to use many
standard home appliances, in
cluding portable television, in
their craft. The device converts
the energy from a 12-volt ma
rine battery into lis volts of
alternating current. Inexpen-
sive, the unit is the size of a
cigar box and operates without
moving parts or batteries. It is
available in kit or pre-wired
form. Manufacturer is Arkay
International, Inc, of Jamaica
N. Y.
Two companies are now put
ting out modeStly-priced auto
matte pilots for pleasure craft.
Applied Electronics Co. Of
South San Francisco is Offer
ing its new Apelcse electronic
pilot which controls vessels as
small as 80 feet in length.
The device is completely
transisterized and has an ex-
elusive course memory" de-
sign. allowing dodger action up
to l70-degree sweep without
loss of course.
Bendix is making an auto
matte pilot called the Dart
which can be installed by a
boat owner as a do-it-yourself
project. 1t is designed particul-
arly for outboardS and inboards
up to IS feet in length.
The Dart uses less than 2
amperes of current and can
be over-ridden by the boats
operator without disengaging
a clutch or switching off the
pilot for lodging maneuyers.
y 4
The Rsytheon Co. has lust
introduced a new 40-fathom
depth finder for offshore use.
The Holiday Mark II has a s.
inch dial with patented light
trap and may be mounted in
several positions.