2016-07-21 by Marty
I knew Sidney Blinder. A lot of people have good things to say about him. I knew him because I was the sabot measurer. The plans he was responsible for didn't match his boat.

He took the old Windward Sabot and the El Toro and attempted to build one boat that measured into both classes. He oversaw altering the Windward Sabot building plans to help in that effort. This eventually ruined the Windward Sabot class as most boats were built by Sidney, and none measured correctly. The builders of home made boats, that WERE built to the plans were screwed (I was one of them).

I measured one of Sidney's original boats built in the 50's. It had the same bad measurements the new ones had, he just kept building the same hull, they never measured into any class.

It is as simple as holding a tape measure up to the bow and measuring corner to corner, then looking at the plans to see what it should measure. Missed it by a mile in both classes. People bought the boats and wanted to race, so the US Sabot was born, being neither a Windward Sabot or an El Toro. For some idiotic reason Catalina built them after Sidney passed on. The foam core construction makes for a delicate boat that won't last if kept in a garage.

Sid wasn't good at exact measurements, or boat building in general, but a good guy.

Thanks
Marty

Date Posted: 2016-07-21
Comment ID: 670
Posted By: Marty
Sailboat ID: 328
Sailboat: US Sabot / Naples / Windward / El Toro Sailboat by