Corky the sailing inner tube

A fellow on rec.woodworking who goes by the name of Jack-of-all-trades (JOAT) posted this link a day or so ago and I just spotted it. I absolutely couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it after more than fifty years. When it was published in 1950, I was a seven-year-old who was already in love with sailboats. My father helped me build it and my mother sewed the sails. At that young age, I was already studying the rudiments of boat design, and I worked out a yawl rig for it. I designed a swiveling combination rudderpost - mizzenmast, added a bowsprit, and rigged it as a yawl with jib, mainsail, and mizzen. The sails were navy blue muslin. The boat is long gone, of course, and I never had a photograph of it. Now that I have the plans again I'll build another one someday, just for fun, and try to find a young child to give it to.

I've looked for this plan for years and had almost given up on every finding it. Bless you, bless you, bless you for preserving it.

I am 63 years old, and remember when most of the magazines contained plans for boats, patios, hot-houses, etc. I build my first boat from magazine plans when I was 14 years old, and build two more later in life. The Corky article had that look and feel of those plans in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's.

I have attached a picture of a Corky I finished yesterday for my two grandsons, and thought you might like to see it. I have a 26 foot sailboat which we sail often, so I added a daggerboard (keel) which slides through a slot in the bottom board so that the Corky would actually sail properly. I'll let you know how it sails very soon.

Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane!!