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Bruce King 41ft Ketch Sophie Wackles, previously "Unicorn"

Tom Simmat

New Member
My wife and I are the new owners, custodians of the 1975 Bruce King ketch Sophie Wackles a truely beautiful mahogany yacht. We found a thread on this forum May 11, 2011 with posts by Martin King. She was sailed to Australia about 2013 by the previous owners. We are undergoing an extensive but gentle refit and rebuild. There is a lot of old redundant electronics and other over specified stuff on board which we are taking out. We want to take her back to Bruce Kings' original concept a basic nice yacht. The mahogany hull is still very sound, and all the original joinery below is in excellent condition, but the cabin sides need replacing and also some minor ply bulkheads and deck areas including samson post.
We need to pull the masts out and replace the standing and running rigging. The original rigging plan seems to have been retained. There is a compression spa between 3/4 up the mizzen and the main mast back stay. To keep the mizzen stable fore and aft the back stay has to be bar taught, which I don't believe is good for the mahogany hull around the chain plates. We intend to replace this with fore and aft mizzen lowers.
Are any of the Ericson Boats ketch rigged and have a similar compression spar arrangement?
Does "Warm Rain" which I believe is a sister ship have this arrangement.
Any help would be appreciated
Tom
 

Dave G.

1984 E30+ Ludington, MI
My wife and I are the new owners, custodians of the 1975 Bruce King ketch Sophie Wackles a truely beautiful mahogany yacht.
Congrats ! Welcome to the sight ! Wish I could help you with some related info but alas I have none. Please keep us updated on your progress and pictures pretty please.
 

Tom Simmat

New Member
I will try and send some photos of Sophie Wackles Bruce King 41ft Ketch. I am not good at that; Any way if they are posted, At Anchor you can see the mizzen spa to the mainmast backstay, on the slip and an interior. We have left the wood stove inside but not yet used it. It can be cold enough here but worried about soot on the sails and cabin top.
 

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Dave G.

1984 E30+ Ludington, MI
Thank you, she is gorgeous ! I would be hesitant also about using the wood stove for a few reasons but maybe you can fit an alternative in the same location if heat is needed.
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
We had a wood stove on a Herreshoff when I was a kid, and I don't remember any soot issues. Here is the Charlie Noble.

bros tinafixed_HQ.jpg..TinaPS_HQ-1.jpg

I added the photo under sail because, as Chris commented below, it was a beautiful boat. Herreshoff Design #30, a little bigger than the H28. All wood. Sitting headroom. Canoe stern. No lifelines. Canvas decks, which leaked despite her overall perfection of maintenance. A family of four cruised for weeks with no complaints about tight spaces. Spaces? There were none to complain about....
 
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PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
I just joined here to comment on Unicorn. I bought her in May 2013 in Marina del Rey. She had what looked like a birdcage built over the cockpit. I left the marina one night in order to be at Ventura to haul her out the next morning. Once outside the breakwater there was a 6ft sea running with a very short interval. The mizzen mast was pumping severely as the backstay of the mainmast was attached by a rod to a point about15 feet up the mizzen. I was scared it would self destruct so pulled down really hard on the mizzen sheet and the allowed the topping lift to contain it a bit. It was solved to some degree in Ventura by putting a jumper stay on the mizzen and adding dyneema stays that were positioned forward to the deck near the mainmast lower shrouds. These were used independently depending on which tack the boat was on. This system held for the Pacific crossing 2 months later. The birdcage and canvas went straight in the nearest dumpster while I was waiting for the travelift. It probably cost 10k. I noticed people scrambling to retrieve pieces of it. It was at that moment that Unicorn and I bonded. And she was about to be released into the Pacific and a real adventure. She'd had one before when she sunk in Mexico after hitting a reef and was later retrieved by the owner and restored by Drisscols? yard in San Diego.
I wanted to keep the name Unicorn but it was not allowed for Australian registration so that's how she became Sophie Wackles. I picked a name that they couldn't fail to pass. But she's still Unicorn and always will be.
The Pacific crossing was not uneventful but that's another story. She's not set up for singlehanding...... something I knew before I left but had to go anyway. Here we are 10 years later and I can still find the scars. I turn 80 next year. Feel free to comment. John.
PS. Jesse and Pickles are parrots.
 

PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
That soapstone fireplace polishes up beautifully. When I sold the boat to my ex wife it didn't look like that. She's a very busy woman unfortunately. The cabinet on the portside has some well done etched glass with a Unicorn. The bronze ports are not original and the gold plating is coming off in places. Whoever put them in cut into the mahogany strip along the cabin sides. Not sure what that piece is called. I'm glad she's being saved, went to a caring owner. You can't see it in the photos but she's got a scaringly large cockpit. Needs much larger cockpit drains. I took 6 buckets with me for the Pacific crossing..... just in case some got thrown over the side when trying to save her. Got caught in the Tasman but she is surprisingly dry.
 

Craigb

New Member
Interesting to see pictures of inside Unicorn. I am the owner of Taurus, a 34' cutter of similar design. Same soapstone fireplace. Interesting to see how similar they are.
 

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PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
I'd be happy to be 56 again. Thought I was old then. Turn 80 next year. I might be able to dig up some photos of the inside. They'd be be actual photos so I'd take a pic of them. J
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I'd be happy to be 56 again. Thought I was old then. Turn 80 next year. I might be able to dig up some photos of the inside. They'd be be actual photos so I'd take a pic of them. J
Ditto. :)
I enjoyed my mid 50's,, and had noticeably more energy than I have these days, pushing 80.
 

PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
Interesting to see pictures of inside Unicorn. I am the owner of Taurus, a 34' cutter of similar design. Same soapstone fireplace. Interesting to see how similar they are.
 

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PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
In the last photo you can see some blackening of the mahogany trim in the front of the cabin std side. That was there 10 years ago and is now a little blacker although the leak is fixed I believe.
 

PicklesandJesse

Junior Member
Yes, I blame my ex wife for that. She owned it when the photos were taken. The dream and the reality. She was/is a very busy woman. I nearly bought it back off her but Tom saved me and bought her. Unicorn not my wife!!!
 
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