Mosquito is for sale.

Tags: Farr 40

Rick,
 
I have sold Firefly locally so there is no need to list her on the website.

Bob Minelli

Tags: Sold

Hi Rick,

Here are a few pictures of some Saturday racing in Pictou N.S. Oh Chute (Ian Wallis) and Mac-a-tack on a close reach out the harbour. Three of us (the third boat is a Tanzer 26, Titan - Bill Stright) raced to a mark about 3 miles out. We all rounded the mark within a boat length of each other. Great race until the wind piped up to 15+. A bad sail change ended our chances of a top 3 finish. The helmsman on my boat, Mac-a-tack, is my 14 year old son Ryan. He does a great job on the helm when we are shorthanded and I need to fly the chute.

Thanks,

Shaun MacDonald
K25-026

Tags: Pictou, Oh Chute, Mac-a-tack

From Chris Becker in Ohio. I'm hoping Chris is the fellow with the nice smile and dangly earrings.

We'll have to get them up next year for some racing. Encouragement is always welcome.

I've owned hull #22 for about 7 years now.  I'm on the owners list on the site under Aeolus. The boat name is actually Sledgehammer. We dominate down here in Ohio. :) Looking for some real one-design competition. We're interested in coming up next year for some regattas. Basically need to know the drill, accommodations available, parties to be had, etc. Attached are some pictures of us on the Wednesday night beer can race at our club.

Thanks,
Chris Becker
Columbus, OH

Tags: Sledgehammer, Ohio, Regatta

Check out this project. The result looks pretty impressive. I'm a bit behind with this as it was originally sent to me on September 9^th.


Hi Rick:
 
I have had the boat completed for almost a month now and have raced it every Thursday and every other Saturday out of Shelburne Harbour.

I have also attached a few pictures of Namesake.  The first one is just after I got her home and removed the keel.  The second is of her with the deck off and the new fibreglass bulkhead installed, and the final two are of the finished product.  I have many more pictures if you are interested.
 
Thanks for all the help,
Kirby M. Nickerson

Tags: Namesake, Repairs, Boats

Rick, I've done it, I went and purchased Red Shift.  In all likelihood I will be renaming it to Loki.

Dad (yes, he volunteered to help!) and I trailered her home and 24 hours later, she is sitting in my driveway (I rented a truck from Carter Ruck Rentals).  I am running around to get her rigged up as fast as possible to get her in the water as fast as possible (insured and registered of course).

I thought I would email you, because I know you would be excited to hear this!

Simon~

Interesting. Simon and Andrew on the same starting line. I can't wait to see how the brotherly love plays out.

Congratulations Simon, and welcome to the fleet.



Ruck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ruck can refer to a contest for possession in different forms of football.

• Ruck (rugby union) - contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player
• Ruck (Australian rules football) - aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen at a bounce in the centre of the ground or ball-up around the ground.
  

Ruck is also English working-class slang for a fight, derived from 'ruckus' and possibly also from the earlier meaning of 'ruck' - an unruly crowd or throng of the ordinary masses of the people.

Sounds about right.

Tags: Simon Krall, Red Shift

Rick, kindly reduce price again on my Kirby 25 (#66) to $4,500.00 Canadian.

Thanks, Jim Cobbs

Tags: Red Shift, Boats For Sale

Last week in the Niagara Cup Regatta, Ruby Tuesday was dis-masted.

I am relaying information kind of second-hand so bear with me.

Apparently is was blowing about 30 knots when they abandoned racing for the day. On the way in to safe harbour the starboard inner shroud broke and the mast snapped at the spreaders. They managed to get everything cut loose and nobody was injured. That's the good news.

The mast, backstay, runners, forestay, blocks and mainsail were lost. The boom was saved.

Chris is working on getting the required parts but it's not inexpensive and it's going to take time.

All hands on deck to help Chris and his crew to put the boat back together, mmkay?

Tags: Ruby Tuesday, Apple

Rick, please reduce the price on my Kirby 25 (#66) to $5,000.00 Canadian.
 
Thanks, Jim Cobbs

Tags: Red Shift, Boats For Sale

Royal is for sale.

This boat has the dubious distinction of being the last known Kirby 25 ever produced.

And get this…she's never been raced.

Scoop it up.

From Chris Pomroy.

Has now been sold, to an enlightened gentleman in NS. Could you please indicate on Boats for Sale.
Thanks for your help. Took a long time, but eventually came to pass.

From Richard Osborn.

Greg Tress in Barrie has purchased Panic and she is being delivered on the 19th to Barrie.
 
Richard
 
Elvstrom Sobstad
Barrie Ontario Canada

Chaos has been sold!  New owner is Dan Jones in Owen Sound!  I'm going to miss my K25!
 
Daryl Baxter

Thanks for the update Daryl. Welcome to the fleet Dan.

This one courtesy of "Eagle Eye Lanning", who we'll henceforth refer to as "The eel".

Trade Winds is for sale. I have no idea what hull # this is but it appears to be located in Shédiac, New Brunswick.

You can see it here.

Bernard Dumas has purchased hull #201 from Jacques Charbonneau. The boat has been renamed "Pop Start".

Let's all welcome Bernard and his crew to the fleet. Whoopa!

Our friend Chuck Lanning, who seems to have some sort of radar when a Kirby 25 goes up for sale, sent me a link to the listing for Sarcasm.

Yes, our current NA Champ is for sale.

You can also see it here.

On Ne Sait Jamais is for sale. It looks like a brown hull. I hear they're the fastest colour.

Something about the heat adsorbing properties of brown and the resulting reduction of liquid tension. Apparently they can actually repel water if it gets hot enough. No kidding. Ask Bender. They've watched us float past them on many occasions. It's like they had an anchor out or something. It's the brown.

Chaos is for sale.

Update: Boat has been sold to Dan Jones in Owen Sound.

Our friend Matt Symington sent along these sweet pictures from Key West. Melges 32.

Panic has been reduced to $8,900.00

And the owner said he'll deliver the boat.

Update: Boat has been sold to John and Richard Osborn from Sobstad in Barrie. It is now called "STONKIN”.

More good news for the fleet. Another boat out of Hamilton.

My girlfriend - Sheri Woods - and I finalized our purchase of #148 named "Ominous" just a couple of weeks ago...so we're co-owners.

We're the fourth owners of this boat, although it's a bit of a "buy back" since Sheri's father was the original owner.  Unfortunately the most recent owners used it as more of a weekend/cottage cruiser and neglected some of the maintenance so we've got a lot of work to do.  In particular we have to address what I've gathered is a common problem with the bulkhead.  Am not sure if a paid membership provides access to any more photos of either original looking interiors/bulkheads or repairs in progress?...but that's our top priority at the moment.  
 
We do intend to compete in our local club races...and Youngstown Levels as a minimum...other "away" regattas are uncertain for our first season...although an open regatta at Dalhousie might not be too hard to manage.  Relating to my earlier comments about the maintenance history of the boat we likely won't have much in the way of competitive quality sails for the first season either...but will be learning the boat and eager to learn from other K25 sailors about what works and what doesn't.  Royal Hamilton has a large and competitive Shark fleet...and a handful of J24s...so we're a little bit on our own with the Kirby.
 
Thanks for your great work with the website by the way.  Next to the dedication of some of the more active members, this is probably the greatest asset of the K25 Class Association.
 
-Morgan

Thanks for the kind words. If you search the forum you will find a few discussions about the bulkheads. Paul did his last year and if you start a discussion I'm sure that you will get some good feedback and tips for your bulkhead project. Good luck and we'll see you at the Levels.

This one slipped through the cracks.

Rick:

Hull 96 (formerly "Dead Sexy") completed her trip to Ottawa today where she
joins Gabrielle, Wave, Blue Streak and Dynamo Hum.

(New name to be decided (with the appropriate ceremony of course).

We're too busy to drop her in this month but we'll be ready in the spring!

Chuck Lanning
Ottawa - NSC

Welcome to the fleet and hopefully we'll see you at the NOD.

Hi Rick,

I just wanted to let you know that I am the new owner of hull #58. The new name on the boat has yet to be decided. The boat will be sailed out of Bronte.
 
Regards, Jamie MacCorkindale

Congratulations and welcome to the Kirby 25 fleet.

Panic is for sale. It looks like a nice boat.

Update: Boat has been sold to John and Richard Osborn from Sobstad in Barrie. It is now called "STONKIN”.

From Ted,

Hey Rick,

It took me 2 looks but i found 5. Damn merkins. Not sure if they are the same as your 5.

1…Deck winches…check
2…Through-hull for running backstays…check
3…Backstay whip…legal
4…Second set of spreaders…check
5…Stanchion height…appears to be legal

Cheers,
Ted
Azura-K25
LMYC

From Joe,

Rick,

Wind Indicator…check
Masthead Spinnaker…check

Joe

Matt has also told me that they have an oversize spinnaker pole and that the keel, rudder, and cockpit have been modified. This boat appears to be quite pimped out. Nice sails too.

Dear Rick:

My wife (Stephanie) and I are the proud new owners of “Spare Change” which we’re keeping in Chester Basin, NS.  I was surfing the web today and found your web site.

Mike

Congratulations on your new boat and welcome to the Kirby 25 fleet.

Matt Simington sent us these great pictures of his boat "Run".

I asked Matt what the deal was and he replied that he and his brother own the boat and they were racing in a "Lady Skipper" race and the young lady driving the boat is his wife's sister. This is a rather nice looking boat but if you study the pictures a little closer you will see some obviously "that's not allowed" things.

I've seen at least five, can you find them?

Good new for the Dalhousie fleet.

UnderCover has been sold to a local owner.

Rumour has it that he speaks a strange language familiar to the down-easters, from some place called New Found Land or something.

They finally surfaced.

HI Rick,

I have just joined the Kirby website.

Myself and two other Padron cigar smoking friends of mine are the new owners of Status Symbol….name to change soon to StillPoint.

Kevin MacIntyre


The new owners:

- Myself
- Forrest King...a reformed speed boater turned sailor.
- Bill Cowper....a high energy newbie sailor that is learning fast!

Sounds like these guys might have good taste, or just be party animals. For those not familiar with the stinky world of cigars, Padrón is a premium brand.

Welcome to the fleet men.

Hull number 55 is for sale.

Update: Boat has been sold to John and Richard Osborn from Sobstad in Barrie. It is now called "STONKIN”.

More than a few people have emailed me asking for the whereabouts of Radical. I have a few pictures of Radical but the previous owner has requested that I not pass them around. If someone finds the boat and takes some pictures please pass them along.

The last thing I heard was that the boat is currently in the possession of:

Brother's Roadside Assistant

(416) 702-2911

Hot off the press.

Hi Rick.

I am the new owner of Radical. The bad news is that after picking up the boat the trailer came off on the 407 and the boat was written off by the insurance company. The boat is still in Toronto and will be moved to Coburg sometime this week. Everything is still with the boat such as the motor, all sails, furling, mast, boom etc. I am looking to sell it as a package deal. Know anyone who would be interested?

J KirkHoward
River Control Operator
Mactaquac G S

So I guess we won't be seeing Radical at the NOD. Let the scavenging begin.

Price reduced on hull #160, Under Cover.

They don't come much cheaper than this.

Update: Boat has been sold and moving to Dalhousie.

I received this email from Nova Scotia.

Status Symbol is in the water in Bedford at BBYC, not sure owner.

Cheers,
Andre Corkum,
Halifax, NS

It turns out that Andre doesn't own a K25 but he has sailed with Alex Ritchie out of RNSYS on Yellow Kirby.

I do not not know Alex's hull number, but he did win his class at Charlottetown Race week last year sailing against a couple of Kirby's including Collen Campbell from RNSYS.  Alex sailing in Chester Race week in 2004 in the Kirby Class was maybe 3rd, the name of the boat then was CAPS.
Cheers,
Andre

I couldn't find any reference to "Yellow Kirby" but I did find "Caps" in the owners list, without an owner, so now we have one more piece of the owner list puzzle. Thanks for the information Andre. You win spy-of-the-month.

And appears to have lived up to its name and actually taken quite a journey.

Hi Rick,

This is a great site! I have been checking in regularly and did buy a boat through this website last month. Hull 124 is now at the Pelican Yacht Club in southern Manitoba. I am looking for a replacement mainsail halyard. Is there a supplier in the Toronto area that you would recommend? I am in town for a seminar on the 26th and could arrange to pick it up. Oh yeah, this is my first (!) boat and today was first race day at the yacht club and we finished second (only three boats) but at least I know we're in the class. The halyard started to shred but held together for now but I need to replace it. Also I need some advice on ways to keep me on the rail at the helm (flat is fast!) I seem to be a little short for the boat! I'm thinking of a stop of some kind on the seat next to the traveler (maybe a brake pedal! -I'm a mechanic so that appeals to me).

What have others done?

Thanks and keep up the great work.

Kevin Cameron

I offered my old wire/rope halyard to Kevin but if anyone has any advice for him he started a thread in the forum.

Dwight Backman sends us this note:

Rick ,

Here are a few pictures of Sting and Head Games (Terry Schnare) sailing off Chester. These were enlarged to about 4 ft by 10 ft to cover a wall at the Halifax Boat show this February.

Regards,

Dwight (Sting)

Head Games is now Spare Change and is currently listed for sale.

Enjoy.

Picture 1………Picture 2………Picture 3………Picture 4

I notice that you guys from Chester don't seem to have any friends though, unless you have them hiding below. If you notice in the third picture that Dwight seems to be pointing a little higher than the other two boats. My guess is because he's on the high side and little flatter. Pay attention class, go-fast 101 is in session.

Dwight Backman sends us this note:

Rick,

Status Symbol has been sold. Destination is unknown. I was working at Sting the other night and it went by my house in Chester Basin. No Kirbys in the water here yet. Too bleeping cold and rainy to get them ready.

Regards,
Dwight

The question is, who bought the most expensive boat presently listed for sale? I'm sure we'll find out soon. Stay tuned.

Steve sends this note:

Hi Rick,
 
I'm currently in Vancouver, flying back tomorrow.  God, it's sad to read about the first race in Dalhousie!  Anyway, it looks like Radical is sold - I had a bunch of offers, but a full-price offer from a guy from New Brunswick.  I then gave a local guy (crew on Bender) first right of refusal.  He turned it down, and THEN, 5 minutes after I finalized the deal in NB, he phones me back to say he's changed his mind.  I feel bad - Radical should have stayed in the club.  So, the boat is on its way next weekend.  Looks like a solid deal, so you may as well remove it from the website.  Many thanks.
 
See you around.  We may make it down to the club before our leave date (June 1).

Steve Rigbey

Congratulations on selling your boat Steve. We're sure that it's a bit sad for you but ya-gotta-do-what-ya-gotta-do. We're all better for having known you and we wish you the best of luck with your new situation. We're going to miss you guys. Keep in touch.

New price on Hull #149.

I came across an obscure listing a little while ago on the web and it turned out to be quite old. Dead Sexy had been sold last year. I managed to track down the new owners of the boat, Paul and Jeff Daignault, and was quite excited to find them. It turns out though that Paul has been offered a teaching exchange in Switzerland for a year and wouldn't you know it he jumped at the chance. I mean, why would you, really? Just kidding Paul. We all wish you the best of luck and hope the experience is everything you hope it will be.

However, that means Dead Sexy is for sale again.

Update: The boat was taken off the market and then unexpectedly sold to Ottawa.

Radical is for sale.

Steve and Kathy are moving to Vancouver and want to find a good home for their boat.

Update: Radical is road kill. Last I heard someone bought the carcass so let's wait and see what happens.

Matt Simington from Oxford, Maryland is the new owner of Run.

He sends us this great picture of them on a screaming reach. Looks like a lot of fun.

Won't be long now. I can smell it. Groundhog said so.

This one won't last long. If you are on the fence now is the time to jump off.

Update: Boat has been sold and moving to Dalhousie.

We've had a new addition to our family. Our new baby Jennifer (We'll probably call her Jenny) is quite beautiful. It's really something when they're all fresh and new. We can't wait to see how she takes to her new home. You'll be able to see her sweet smile at the regatta's this year.

If any of you are interested you can see her here.

Terry Schnare from Chester Yacht Club in Chester, Nova Scotia sends us this picture of his old boat "Spare Change".

It's for sale.

Rick,

I moved out of the K25 Class last year after 12 years of ownership. I have tons of pictures but this one has been featured in the local papers several times. It has that magazine look about it. It was taken at Chester Race Week 2004. I especially like it because I am leading the fleet to the windward mark.

The K25 is about the best all-round boat I have ever sailed on. Down the road I can see me back in one. Right now my crew outgrew the 25 (too many) so I moved to a K30 - also a great boat. Oh yeah, I miss the one design part. The new website looks great and I think you guys have a great chance of rebuilding the Upper Canada fleet.

Attached is the photo.
 
Thanks,

Terry Schnare

Thanks for the kind words Terry. It is a great picture!

Jeff Kirby from Wayzata Yacht Club in Wayzata, Minnesota sends us this picture of his boat Cleo.

Here is the only picture we have, so far of Cleo. A bit artsy but nice. We had to add the 1 to our sail number on our main because there is a #32 in our fleet already. Put this on the website when you get the chance.

Have a happy new year,

Jeff

We had the chance so here it is Jeff.

Rodger Welch from Deep Cove Yacht Club in North Vancouver, British Columbia sent us these great pictures of his boat, Flaming Redhead.

The Kirby 25 Class site is great, keep up the good work.

Attached are a couple of pictures of Flaming Redhead for the site. She's hull No.41 racing out of Deep Cove BC. I bought Hi Octane from Derek Wilder in Naniamo and renamed her Flaming Redhead.

Regards,

Rodger Welch

You gotta love that spinnaker.