|
The Snark is a lightweight, two-person, lateen-rigged sailboat manufactured and marketed by Meyers Boat Company of Adrian, Michigan. The Snark was initially marketed by Snark Products, Inc. of Fort Lee, NJ and has been marketed with numerous slight variations, prominently as the ''Sunflower'', ''Sea Snark'' and ''Super Snark''. The sailboat was marketed heavily in numerous co-branding campaigns. The New York Times reported that the Snark outsold all other sailboats in 1970 – and that over 48,000 Snarks were sold in an 18-month period in 1971 via a mail order campaign with Kool Cigarettes. By 1973, over 200,000 Snarks had been sold and the New York Times reported that by 1976 that Snark had manufactured more sailboats than any other manufacturer. The manufacturer currently estimates that nearly a half million Snarks have been manufactured since 1958. Noted for its 11' expanded polystyrene hull and marketed as "unsinkable," a 1971 Popular Science reviewer doubted there was a sailboat "more foolproof." Originally, the purchase of a Snark included a 16 page booklet on 'how to sail,' and a 1975 Popular Science article described the Snark as the least expensive and lightest sailboat on the market. ==Design== Early Snarks featured an unclad one-piece injection-molded EPS hull and weighed a total of approximately 30 lbs. Later versions featured a vacuum formed layer of ABS (later ASA)〔 bonded over the EPS hull for a total weight of 50 lbs. Snark Products had patented the cladding process (which they marketed as "stronger than fiberglass") to eliminate the possibility of voids within the injection molded hull. Under Snark Products Inc., the technology was marketed as ''Corelite''〔 and is now trademarked as ''Armorclad.'' Snarks (currently ''Super Snarks'') have a monohull length of eleven feet; beam of thirty-eight inches; draft of .17 foot; and weight capacity of 310 lb. Features include a lateen-rigged nylon sail of 45 square feet; aluminum mast, spar, and boom; wood rudder and an integral center sleeve molded into the hull to support a removable wood dagger board. With an overall depth of 12 inches, the sailboat can be stored upright in a depth of 12 inches, and the boat is described as "car-toppable." The boats arrive as a knock down kit in a cardboard box and can be assembled in an hour.〔 The ''Sunflower'' model features yellow ABS cladding as well as a covered foredeck (or "splash deck"). As of 2014, Sunflower had been revised with its hull two inches wider, sides two inches higher, and 23% more sail area (mast 2 feet taller but same boom length) than the currently marketed ''Super Snark.'' Sunflowers were North American Yacht Racing Union (NAYRU) class certified〔 and a Sunflower was displayed along with other American recreational equipment in a 1974 U.S. Information Agency exhibit touring Russia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Snark sailboat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|