Ranger 12'

[Bryson]

New to the forum, I as well am a new owner of a Ranger 12’. It was gifted to me by a former boss of a father in law, so initially I accepted the offer of the “small sailing boat” sight unseen just to honor my father in law’s gift. He fix the trailer and put new tires on it, then showed up at my house after towing it from Wenatchee 3 hours away!
I learned how to sail in the Minto ranger, so when I saw it, the little boy in me giggled. I was thrilled. I still had reservations, but as he unload all of the accessories and I realized it was almost sail ready, those reservations evaporated.
The tiller rudder combo needs the cap reattached and the cleats for the halyards are missing. That’s about it for projects. It came with sails and wood spars?(the boom and mast are wood).
So Evan S if you need sails to get a stencil from, I am just south about an hour on fox island.

 

[jssailem]

Welcome to the forum Bryson... Being a “Father in Law” I can understand your trepidation at the man showing up with a “gift”. But in this case it looks like you are one very lucky son-in-law.

Have fun on your new boat. Share your ideas with us here. So much fun.

 

[Tojan]

I came across this forum while researching my newly acquired Ranger12. I acquired this cutie from a neighbor who was moving away and needed to find a new home for his sailboat that has not been actually in the water for several years. At the time I loved the idea of a small project boat, with boat itself being in pretty good condition with I think, all of the proper parts, the trailer not so much. At this point I’m looking to find a new home for this boat that I think after reading this thread is way to cool to just put on Craigslist for sale. Is there somewhere out there where a person could offer it up to someone that wants to restore it to its rightful condition? I’ll be moving away myself soon and can’t take it with me.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

@Tojan where do you live. I wouldn’t mind a ranger but not enough to travel 100’s of miles.

 

[Tojan]

I’m in Kirkland.
How can we meet up?

 

[PNW Sailor]

Greetings - I recently picked up a Ranger 12 built in Kent, WA in 1978 and loaded on a Little Dude trailer. It had a single owner and kept in relatively nice condition throughout. Yet, the trailer needs a lot of replacement and upgrades to make it road worthy for road trips. I'm replacing the complete axle and some other hardware. I'm replacing the original rigging with a traditional sprit rig using solid Douglas Fir for the mast and solid Sitka Spruce for the yard and boom. I designed the sails with the help from Sailrite and just received the kit with the Tanbark material. Looks really nice. I'm also replacing the rudder with a kick-up rudder I'm building out of Marine Ply, Okume and Ash for the tiller. I've got the cockpit primed and ready to paint but it's been too cold for that. So I'll be wood-working until it gets warmer.

Cheers!

 

[justsomeguy]

So if you're interested post a reply.

While we're glad for your new project, you should know that sales in the general forums are discouraged.
There's a classified section in which you could post your stuff for sale.

 

[Waco]

SInce this is the definitive source for Ranger 12's on the internet I'll post my few pieces

 

[Waco]

 

[Waco]

 

[Waco]

Greetings - I recently picked up a Ranger 12 built in Kent, WA in 1978 and loaded on a Little Dude trailer. It had a single owner and kept in relatively nice condition throughout. Yet, the trailer needs a lot of replacement and upgrades to make it road worthy for road trips. I'm replacing the complete axle and some other hardware. I'm replacing the original rigging with a traditional sprit rig using solid Douglas Fir for the mast and solid Sitka Spruce for the yard and boom. I designed the sails with the help from Sailrite and just received the kit with the Tanbark material. Looks really nice. I'm also replacing the rudder with a kick-up rudder I'm building out of Marine Ply, Okume and Ash for the tiller. I've got the cockpit primed and ready to paint but it's been too cold for that. So I'll be wood-working until it gets warmer.

Cheers!

PNW - can you post a picture of the sprit rig and new tiller? Thanks, Bill

 

[PNW Sailor]

@Waco

That’s a fantastic diagram of the Ranger 12 rigging! That’s spot on. I actually haven’t set any of the original rigging up or even taken the sails out of the bag yet! I’ve been waiting for some warm and dry weather to lay everything out on the lawn and set it up. Now I’m sure I can do that with the details from the rigging diagram and instructions. Thank you!! John

 

[PNW Sailor]

Here’s some photos of the Ranger 12 conversion still in the works. I’ve tweaked a lot of things since these photos after bending the sails, but essentially it’s same design. Rigging without the boom is much simpler for a lot of reasons. The way spritsails were intended. But I have both options I suppose and I need to get on the water to find out for sure.

 

[PNW Sailor]

More photos of the rudder. The bronze gudgeons and pintles are being cast shortly. Those are the last pieces I need to get her sailing.

 

[Waco]

Here's are some more clues and history on the Ranger 12. Ranger claimed the dinghy used to create the mold was an Adelborough Lapwing designed by Laurant GIles. I believe the mold actually came from an Aldeburgh Lapwing designed by Morgan GIles. The original boat was flown over in the early 70's by Al Teige, a Pan-AM pilot, who brought it back in a 747. Here is the website for the Aldeburgh Lapwings. Aldeburgh Lapwing They appear very protective of their dinghy and probably wouldn't be to impress to learn of the Ranger 12.

 

[Waco]

Pictures of my hull and the orginal sail bag. Mine is number 118 made in 1979 - does anyone have a higher numbered hull? I wonder how many years they made these.

 

[Waco]

Hey it looks great! Very nice work. Thanks for all the photos. What is you sail area now?
I posted more info on the Ranger 12 that you may find interesting. I'm unclear if you are notify when I post in the general string so wanted to give you a heads up. Let's post photos of the dinghies under sail in the spring!

 

[PNW Sailor]

The Jib Sail Area is 14.4' sq. The Main is 59.2' sq. for a total of 73.6' square.
Mast: 11' 5 7/8" (Mast blank - Douglas Fir 12'x3"x3")
Sprit: 10' 2" (Sprit blank - Sitka Spruce 13'x2"x2")
Boom: 8' 8" (Boom blank - Sitka Spruce 9'x2"x2")

PS: Yes I have notifications on for this thread. Definitely looking forward to getting under sail this Spring!

 

[PNW Sailor]

Here's are some more clues and history on the Ranger 12. Ranger claimed the dinghy used to create the mold was an Adelborough Lapwing designed by Laurant GIles. I believe the mold actually came from an Aldeburgh Lapwing designed by Morgan GIles. The original boat was flown over in the early 70's by Al Teige, a Pan-AM pilot, who brought it back in a 747. Here is the website for the Aldeburgh Lapwings. Aldeburgh Lapwing They appear very protective of their dinghy and probably wouldn't be to impress to learn of the Ranger 12.

That's a pretty interesting story.. It is amazing how closely the Aldeburgh resembles the Ranger 12! At least with the Bermudan Rig... Not so easy to tell disguised with the Sprit Rig. LOL!

 

[PNW Sailor]

Pictures of my hull and the orginal sail bag. Mine is number 118 made in 1979 - does anyone have a higher numbered hull? I wonder how many years they made these.

My hull is serialized as 01417.

According to one HIN decoder, "This MIC (RFB) stands for the company name Fluid Motion Llc which is currently Out of Business. This boat manufacturer has other company names (RFB sometimes goes by these name(s) Platinum Marine, Ranger Boat Co, Ranger Fiberglass Boats, or ). This company (Fluid Motion Llc) is owned by John Livingston and is located at 25802 Pacific Hwy S in Kent state of Wa. I... Fluid Motion Llc has started making boats, yachts and other watercraft as of 6/26/1972 and went out of business on (3/27/2001) in the following country: USA. ... The US Coast guard provides this comment about this watercraft manufacturer: 123085 Chg From Type 14 To 11 Name Chg. 990304 Ranger Purchased By Fluid Motion; Old Poc Was Howard Smith. (owner). Tonyford-rni-email-010227-canoe Mfg Pkg Mailed-010302. 03/27/01 Howard Smith Sold Company To John Livingston."

Here's an aerial photo of the company from 2002. There appears to be several 18' hulls to the North part of the yard and two 9' hulls (maybe Minto's) to the East highlighted in yellow.