CLASSIC SIX METRE NEWSLETTER

60. USA 51 Totem (A.E. Luders, 1930), by Jesse Smith (U.S.A.)
Totem has no original plans so we used some high tech gear to find her history. She had
stretched sides and hogged ends, so we decided to shoot a cloud of points from a high tech
computer laser that we then plugged into CAD drawings.
From there we searched for what was most likely her original shape. With the original boat
in the computer, a little historical referencing, and a bit of artistic fairing, we were able to
come up with her 1930’s self.
It’s really amazing. With all of the moulds in place in relation to her keel and back bone, we
can remove all the unusable wood leaving a record of the negative space. And then replank
and rib what is basically air. Anyway, I get a kick out of that.
Totem and I are presently based at Westport , Massachusetts, but we’re unsure how long that
will be our base. We are maybe headed back to Rhode Island in the next couple of years.
(Editor’s note: the restoration Web site is www.concordiaboats.com/projects_totem.html and
Jesse Smith’s blog is at web.mac.com/annice/iWeb/Site%203/Blog/Blog.html.)
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