“Alden Fiberglass Boats” List

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Re: Information on Mistral 981-A

Thanks Bill,

The other two named Mistrals, as yet not connected with design letters, were listed as sloops from new in Lloyds Register of Yachts (U.K. version).

Can you supply the basic dimensions shown on the bottom right hand corner of your drawings? And what are the "drawn by" initials there?
 
Feb 22, 2006
30
Mistral Drawing information

Iain,

You asked: "Can you supply the basic dimensions shown on the bottom right hand corner of your drawings? And what are the "drawn by" initials there?"

For the Mistral, 981, the basic dimensions are shown as: LOA: 36' 4" ( though one drawing has it as 36'6"), DWL: 26' 6", Beam: 10' 6", Draft: 4' 9". All the drawings are marked as "DRN By: E. S. A few of the drawings have on them "TR by : RLB."

For the Zephyr, 959, the drawings show the basic dimensions to be: LOA: 36'4", DWL: 25' 0", Beam 10' 6", Draft 4' 0". These also are marked as drawn by E. S.

Let me know if there is any other info you would like me send.

Bill
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Re: Mistral & Zephyr Drawing information

Thanks Bill,

I had the Mistral and Zephyr mixed up before - now corrected.

Interesting to see the 1' 6" difference in DWL between them.

Sail Area and displacement would be interesting extra input.

After that I think that's enough data for the purposes of this list.

Would be nice to start connecting more boat names to numbers...
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
“ALDEN FIBERGLASS BOATS” LIST, Jan 14, 2007 update

Thanks to great help from “southport” and “rjoconnell” I’ve now been able to place a finisher with all 54 Challenger Alden numbers, and names (past and/or present) to all but 3.

All that remains is for more Challenger owners to join the forum and bring boat histories up to date.

And: any more Zephyr, Mistral and Caravelle owners out there?
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
“ALDEN FIBERGLASS BOATS” LIST, Jan 15, 2007 update

Niels Helleberg at Aldens and Bill Merrick of 981A have helped fill in Zephyr and Mistral gaps and other tweaks.
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
“ALDEN FIBERGLASS BOATS” LIST, February 1, 2007 update

Embedded link to vessel web site added to Alden number.

If a boat/ site owner wants this link removed please let me know.

Iain
 
Dec 17, 2006
5
949O

Small correction on 949O listing.
Halmatic and Saybrook do not need the question mark, as both are definite
We are not located in Belfast. Home port is Bangor, Me; usually moored in Bucks Harbor, Me

I appreciate the info you have listed, and have enjoyed the site.

Dan Cassidy
s/v Fleana
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
949O & Numbering

The “[#?]” after Halmatic and Saybrook refers to the yard contract numbers. The Halmatic number may be on an aluminum plate on the inside of the transom and should be a value +/- 1000. It’s there on my Caravelle but as there’s no aft deck hatch I haven’t been able to overcome space and slight claustrophobia problems to see it properly. It would be interesting to hear from those owners who have been able to supply a Halmatic number where they found it. Tom Young (949Y) has always been mystified at his “917Y” Alden plate. I think that might be something a previous owner had made – possibly an amalgam of her Halmatic number with her 949 series letter? All this may see a bit nit-picking, but I feel that it’s important to be able to properly identify the provenance of a boat that may have changed names many times. I’ve started an off-line list that includes “official registration/ doc. number” as well.

Do you know if any archives have survived from the Saybrook yard that might reveal her contract number there? I’m also interested to know the proper name of that yard: is “Saybrook Marine Company” correct?
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Ton up

The 100th update slipped through without me realising! Thanks to everyone for help...

But statistics for boats remaining unaccounted are:

Challenger: 24 of 54

Zephyr: 7 of 10

Mistral: 6-7 of 11-12

Caravelle: 4 or 19

Any ideas?

Iain
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Soon it will be 2 years since I started this doodle. Whilst it seems to be a pretty accurate account of the four types and has been regularly tweaked and updated, it has been a bit stale for a while regarding any new info on boats so far unaccounted for in modern times.

So here is a sub list in the same format of boats I hope you might know something of, especially current and previous names not listed here.

Grateful for any help - and also in updating info on the others, especially info on URLs for photos either in the public domain on the web or that owners would be prepared to allow links to from online albums.

Send info by PM or "reply".

Iain

ALDEN CHALLENGER

Alden #/Year Built/Original Rig/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Orig “”('s)/PRESENT “”/Home Port (default USA)
(* after last name = not known if this is present name)

949B/1960/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Field[#?]/Penobscot/Dog Watch*
949D/1960/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Aylette/Marcie III*
949E/1960/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Tyo*
949K/196?/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Carillon*
949M/1961/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Derecktor[#?]Carina III/Keewaydin*
949S/1960/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/LeComte[#?]/White Wing/Dealer’s Choice*
949V/1960/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/LeComte[#?]/Sara/Snark*
949AA/1961/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Palmer Johnson[#?]/Peleia/Barbara(Tristan Jones?)/Reverie*
949CC/1962/Yawl/Halmatic[#]/LeComte[#]/Nimbus/Unicorn*
949DD/1961/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Field[#?]/Scylla/Meridian of Greenwich*/(orig North Wales,U.K.)
949FF/1961/Yawl/Halmatic[#]/LeComte[#]/Lorelei*
949GG/1963/Yawl/Halmatic[1098]/Field[#?]/Mimiverre*/(orig. Hamble,England)
949MM/1962/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Twilight/Insurgent/Greystoke/Palaemon*
949OO/1963?-68?/Yawl/(Halmatic[#1148]/E. Wade/”?”/orig. England)
949PP/1963/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Tupsi Da/Cu Mara*
949RR/1963/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/”?”
949SS/1963/Ketch/Halmatic[#]/MacLachlan[#?]/Steinvora*/(orig. Kingston, Ont., Canada)
949TT/1963/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Snowflake*
949VV/1964-71?/Yawl/Halmatic[#1168]/Duncan[#?]/Lyra*/(orig. Cowes, England)
949YY/196?/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Blue Magic*
949BBB/196?/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Field/[#?](Originally England [Ocean Youth Club])
949DDD/1966/Yawl/Halmatic[#1203]/Souter[#?]/Petard*/Kiel,Germany[R. Engineers YC](’80)


ALDEN CHALLENGER NAME ONLY (not yet connected to an Alden #)

Present “”/Year Built/Original Rig/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Home Port (default USA)

ALLIANCE/196?/Yawl/?[#?]/?[#?]/Marion,MA


ALDEN ZEPHYR

Alden #/Year Built/Original Rig/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Orig “”('s)/PRESENT “”/Home Port (default USA)
(* after last name = not known if this is present name)

959A /1961/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Field/Tadpole/Irondequoit III*
959B/1961/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Halmatic-Field/Zephyr/Fanny/Maven*
959D/1961/Yawl/Halmatic[#?]/Derecktor/Serendipity*
959E/1961/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Halmatic-Field/Zephyr*
959H/1962/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Molich[#?]/Vanity*/orig. Copenhagen, Denmark
959J/1962/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/?[#?]/Field[#?]/Black Magic*/(orig. Kalundborg, Denmark)
959K/1963/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Halmatic-Field/Wahoo/Istar/Bandito/Felicity*


ALDEN MISTRAL

Alden #/Year Built/Original Rig/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Orig “”('s)/PRESENT “”/Home Port (default USA)
(* after last name = not known if this is present name)

981C/1965/Sloop/Halmatic[#]/Field[#]/Galliard/Makai*
981F/1966/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Moody[#?]/Sonsie*/(Orig. Hamble,England)
981G/1965/Sloop/Halmatic[#]/Field[#]/Ti*(Halmatic demo. boat, orig.England)
981H/1966/Sloop/Halmatic[#]/Field[#]/Vedra K/True North*/orig. England/Halifax.N.S.(’80)
[?981(M)/1968/Sloop/Halmatic[#?]/Halmatic or Field/?/?]

ALDEN CARAVELLE

Alden #/Year Built/Original Rig[trunk config]/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Orig “”('s)/PRESENT “”/Home Port (default USA)
(* after last name = not known if this is present name)
(trunk config: w = wood; stfg = stepped fiberglass; fg = straight fiberglass [NB: “?” = poss. trunk config. errors in
list ex Alden: “!” = def. error in Alden list – what is shown here is correct])

992K/1967/Sloop[stfg]/Halmatic[#?]/Halmatic/Trotolla*/(orig. Italy)
992N/1971/Yawl[fg]/Hodgdon[#?]/Hodgdon [4201]/Chaser*
992Q/1973/Sloop[fg]/Hodgdon[#?]/Hodgdon [4204]/Lady Alice*
992R/1973/Sloop[fg]/Hodgdon[#?]/Hodgdon [4205]/Chic*

ALDEN CARAVELLE NAME ONLY (not yet connected to an Alden #)

Present “”/Year Built/Original Rig/Moulder[#]/Finisher[#]/Home Port (default USA)

SARASEA/197?/Sloop/Hodgdon[#?]/Hodgdon [420?]/FL(Jordan Yacht, 2002)
 

Tony.c

.
Jul 16, 2007
2
HI
I am the present owner of a mistral 36 called Oleander (981/J) and her current location is Malta, but we are hoping to bring her back to Scotland this summer.
Her origanal name was "Oleander of bosham" but since May 2003 we decided to drop the "of bosham" as she was based in Inverness, Scotland.
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Re: Mistral 981J "OLEANDER"

Many thanks Tony. List updated. I'd wrongly assumed the Mistral at National Boat Sales was 981H (originally and maybe still "Sonsie"), because of her Scottish name. At least it's a good Scottish word that well sums up these boats. See here

Are you be able to set off early to try to avoid the Portuguese Trades? Or will you have to slog it out? I once managed to gybe round Cape St. Vincent and reach all the way to Cork. But that's rare.
 

Tony.c

.
Jul 16, 2007
2
Hi
I am hoping to reach the Atlantic leg by mid May, hopefully this will be early enough but with todays weather patterns, we can can only wait and see.
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Re: “Alden Fiberglass Boats” List - Mistral "OLEANDER"

Fair winds!
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
This list is now 2 years old; during its lifetime it has accounted for:

33 of 54 Challengers built

3 of 10 Zephyrs built

7 of [probably] 11 Mistrals built

14 of 18 Caravelles built

I've now highlighted boats in bold type where intelligence has been received during the 2 year life of this thread - in the hope of prompting news of the others...

All updates and intelligence reports welcome, either by "reply" or private message.

Note: Depending on how you're set up for reading the threads, you may have to go to the opposite end of the thread from this post to find the List.

Happy Christmas,

Iain
 
Apr 7, 2006
103
Iain-

Just a thought- Could boats be tracked through a 1961/62 Llyods Registry of Yachts? I cann't find it on line but the one at our local yacht club did have TARNA/MUSKRAT listed with owner, etc.

Right now the club is under snow/ice and I'm not sure I can get in till spring.
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Hi "southport". While being helpful - and fascinating - historically, Lloyds Register of American Yachts doesn't help to confirm the present day existence of the "missing" boats; I believe publication ceased in 1977.

From the lists that you and others kindly supplied 2 years ago I'm sure that the list on this thread is now definitive regarding boats actually built to each design, with the exception of a possibly built 1968 Mistral that appears in the Alden design office lists. I've kept the question mark after the 54 built Challenger total, but think that's the definitive figure.

21 out of 54 Challengers not accounted for is a lot in this electronic age, but it means there are a lot of nice surprises still to come! These boats surely don't just disappear; they're rather solid.

One that surprises me is the 949AA, the 1961 Palmer Johnson Challenger, launched as Peleia (home port Naperville,IL), that became famous, or infamous, as Tristan Jones’s Barbara, and was later renamed Reverie. I wonder what happened to her?
 
Feb 22, 2006
30
Iain,

Great job on the Alden boat list. I just noted that you have established hot links to photos for some of the boats. I was surprised to find two aerial photos of my boat linked. I didn't send them in so I'm a little cureous as to how you got them.

The photos are a great addtion to the boat list. I would like to add some additional pictues of my boat that others might find intersting. How do I get them added to those already there??

Again the list is really cool and from the visit count, a big hit. We had something like this, really a spec sheet summary of all the boats, on an Islander site I used to be a member of and it was very useful. Can I suggest you set this info up on a separate tab for easier reference.

Bill Merrick
S/V Carmina
Mistral 981-A
Seattle WA
 

CaravelaofExe

Alden Forum Moderator
Jan 24, 2006
221
Alden Caravelle 42 / Northern European waters
Thanks Bill,

In nerdish moments I occasionally “Google” search for our four related boat types + known present or past boat names, to see what’s out there. I always assume that links/ photos that already appear on web sites are in the public domain and therefore can be linked. Unfortunately that means that individual photos that do not include the photographer’s “watermark” often appear without credit. I found the photos of your boat (although not named, it just had to be her!) in the gallery pages of a regatta site that listed her in race results. You should be able to see the link to these pages at the top of your browser when the photo is there, and – if using a PC – by right clicking the image and clicking “Properties”.

There was a function on the old version of this forum to set up galleries (seen in my links to 949Z, 949BB & 959G); I think this had to be done via our Administrator, David. But now perhaps the easiest way of adding images is to open a new thread including photos of your boat – using the “Upload attachment” tab underneath the text box. (To find the ideal image spec for uploading, check out the “Properties” of ones that work from previous threads). I can then set up a link to that from the “List” thread. I’ve already done that with some of Tom Young’s great photos of his own boat 949Y, and of 949R and 959F; these ones go direct to the enlarged version photo URL rather than to the thread they appeared on.

Changing this “Alden Fiberglass Boats” thread to a heading (not sure what the proper technical term is for our present two headings, “General Chat” and “Questions, Answers and Advice”) might be a good way of getting some new update input into it. It would need to be done by David – I’ll check it with him.

Meanwhile I have often meant to - and will soon - add links to photos from my archive of images saved from brokerage adverts over the years. These are technically not currently in the public domain and if anyone objected with good reason I’d be happy to remove them.

Iain
 
May 19, 2008
10
Dear Iain: To add facts to your fabulous list, I recently inherited an Alden Mistral 981G ( "TI" ) from my dad who passed away in early 2007. He kept her on a mooring off the west side of Deer Isle, ME, and at times on his mooring in Bucks Harbor, during the summer - winters at Billings Marine. My folks had sailed the Maine coast every summer since the late 70's. He sailed her through the summer of 2006, at age 83. She was his pride and joy.

He acquired her from Ambrose Hardwick, from New Jersey, in 1978. The boat was stored, at the time, in the Essex (CT) boat yard. My dad did not change her name after he acquired her, the superstitious lad that he was.

I see from the listing that she was a "demo" boat - perhaps this is why she has teak decks? Is this common? I have not seen any other teak deck from photos.

I live in Charlotte, Vermont and this fall I had her trucked to Darling Boat Yard so that she is accessible to me - Deer Isle is an 8 hour drive and I could not do her justice.....needed her close by and Lake Champlain offers magical sailing, although not the coast of Maine. She is in seemingly excellent condition but is presently undergoing a bit of a refit:
1. rotted lower compression post at bilge - spliced-in 4 inches - glassed in
2. holding tank installation
3. water tank assessment (moderate blistering ground down to gel coat - repaint with non-toxic paint). Cover was rusted beyond salvage. cut away with new cover built and bolted.
4. cover of fuel tank had been replaced
5. re-wiring - eliminated redundancy and dead wires.
6. new instrumentation
7. other simplification

Although I sailed her regularly in the early 80's until I was married, I am now reacquainting myself with her. I am wildly enthusiastic about my discovery of this website. I am learning from it. I will download some photos when I have a chance.

Anxious to establish some contact with other Mistral owners.

Many thanks.

Regards,

Gregg Marston