Article by Dave Zeiger
Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. —Cesar A. Cruz
Yes, but is it ART??? Toward a Square Boat Aesthetic
This is a photo of a chaotic jumble of forks, welded together.
THIS is what the National Endowment for the Arts is wastin' our hard-earned, tax-payer dollars on... an UGLY mess o' flatware???
De gustibus non disputandam, it is often said... There is no disputing matters of taste. Often said, but seldom does the observation rule the debate.
An Illustrative History
A friend and his daughter (then eight years old) built themselves a BRICK, a small boat designed by Phil Bolger. It is essentially a rectangular box with a rockered bottom, and a mast stepped on one gunnel. They brought it to a messabout which I attended, and sailed gleeful circles around a fleet of its fellow small boats, many of outstanding reputation.
Not long after, they moved out to Mystic Seaport, where HMS ROSE (the tall ship, starring in the movie, Master and Commander) was lying.
They sailed up to her, one fine day, and struck up a conversation with a young man at the rail, who turned out to be ROSE's Engineer. He looked down from his rail and nose, taking in their BRICK, and allowed as how that Bolger guy was about the worst thing to happen to boats.
Taken aback, my friend rallied and leapt to Bolger's defense.
Function sparred with Form. Cannonballs of wit flashed between the two men. They grappled, exchanged broadsides. Thrust! Parry! Riposte! Each was pinked and bloodied, but neither gave an inch.
Finally, near exhaustion, my friend landed the fatal thrust!
"You do know...," he gasped, "You do know that ROSE was designed by Phil Bolger?" (True fact)
"What? WHAT??? NOOOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!!!"
The moral of this story is... um... Don't judge a boat by it's sailcovers? Don't square off with a Square Boater?? The ROSE is a Rose is a rose, but a BRICK does the trick???
Square Boats are fast, cheap and easy to build. They perform reasonably to quite well. They can keep the sea. Most importantly, they get some of us—who wouldn't otherwise get ourselves onto the water - down to the sea in a ship.
Viewed in the right light, a Square Boat is a Thing of Beauty. •SCA•
An “artistic” touché!
It seems that both Phil Bolger and Bill Short (designer of the 12-foot San Francisco Pelican, which I enjoy sailing) may have shared the same ideals, with regard to simplicity, ease of build, and seaworthy function can still be hoots of fun if not quite "artistic".