History of US-160

Andy Green and PlasTrend

US-160 was built by PlasTrend in April of 1967.  Located in Fort Worth, Texas, PlasTrend was the brain child of a remarkable engineer by the name of Andy Green.  When he worked for General Dynamics, he was deeply involved in the relatively new field of composite construction of advanced aircraft.  Through his work on aircraft, Andy became a leading expert in composite construction.

In his spare time, Andy worked on building a Flying Dutchman at his home, using his knowledge of composite construction to make the boat exceptionally strong and stiff.  In addition to working on his own boat, Andy found time in 1962 to design and build a revolutionary race-car chassis for Chaparral Cars in Midland, Texas.  A totally composite construction, the chassis was so much stiffer and lighter than a conventional metal chassis that General Motors sent a special team of engineers to inspect the chassis and try to figure out how it worked.

In the mid 1960s, Andy quit his job at General Dynamics and started PlasTrend to work full time on his own projects, which included composite work for a variety of car companies and more work on sailboats.  In partnership with Ted Turner, Andy began building International Tempests, which at that time were an Olympic Class sailboat.

PlasTrend did not build many Tempests, but the quality of construction was excellent.  The boats were stiff in all the right places and very competitive.  Butch Ulmer, the founder of Ulmer Sails purchased a PlasTrend Tempest and sailed it in the North American Championships in Detroit in 1968.  With a black hull, the boat was striking in appearance, and Butch named the boat “Black Power.”  According to Butch, who loved the boat, it was faster than any other boat in the regatta.

Despite the responsibilities of owning and running PlasTrend, Andy Green stayed active in sailing and racing sailboats.  With his partner, Ted Turner, Andy sailed his Flying Dutchman in the 1968 Olympics.  In addition, he set the offshore racing course record from Galveston to Port Aransas.  To learn more about Andy Green, go to http://www.chron.com/class/cars/featurevehicle/050204.html.

The First Rebuild

In October of 1973, Jim O’Hara purchased US-160 from the original owner and moved the boat to Annapolis, Maryland, where he actively sailed the boat in the local Tempest fleet.  Jim did not have to go very far to find a very capable crew.  His son, Tom loved sailing Tempests, and the father and son sailed many regattas together.

By the late 1980s, Mader Boat Works in Germany had become the dominant Tempest builder.  The new boats were exceptionally well made, and they featured a spinnaker launcher, which was not part of the original Tempest design.  The Mader spinnaker launcher looked very similar to the launcher used on 505 sailboats.  This was not surprising because, in addition to building Tempests, Mader also made 505s.  Several Tempest owners in the Annapolis fleet owned the new Mader Tempests, and they were winning most of the races.

In January of 1989, Jim decided to upgrade US-160.  A boat shop in Millington, Maryland added a spinnaker launcher, using parts provided by Mader.  In addition, the boat was repainted, a new mast was purchased and rigged, and a stainless steel keel plate was fabricated.  To complete the rebuilding effort, a new trailer was built, copying the design used by Harbeck, the German trailer manufacturer.  Unfortunately, Jim passed away before the rebuild was completed, and he never saw the rebuilt boat.

After his father passed away, Tom began sailing US-160 with his sister Brigid, who proved to be a very adept skipper.  Together, Tom and Brigid won many races and both became very active in the Annapolis Tempest fleet.  Tom became the Fleet Captain and worked very hard to keep the fleet growing and active.

Adding a Stainless Steel Keel Blade

In 1997, the leadership of the Annapolis fleet talked to all active Tempest sailors, both in Annapolis and in California about doing a group purchase of stainless steel keel blades for their boats.  The stainless steel keel blades would greatly reduce the time and effort needed to care for the keel blade, which on almost all Tempests was fabricated from carbon steel.

Quotes were obtained from a machine shop in Baltimore, Maryland, and an order was eventually placed for thirteen stainless steel keel blades.  To make sure the new blades did not corrode, they were fabricated from the more expensive type 316 stainless steel.

Annapolis Fleet Folds in 2003

When the Annapolis Tempest fleet folded in 2003, I received a phone call from Tom. He was selling his boat.  Would I be interested in buying it?  Naturally, I was very interested.  We settled on a price, and Tom trailered the boat to Dallas, Texas, where we met, and I became the new owner of US-160.  From Dallas, US-160 was trailered to the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, California, where we are in the process of building a small Tempest fleet.

Second Rebuild for US-160

When US-160 arrived at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, it joined two, older Mader Tempests, which are being actively raced in local regattas.  After carefully inspecting the boat, the decision was made to rebuild the boat one more time, to make it look as much as possible like the two Mader Tempests.  The goal was to have three Tempests that looked the same, were rigged the same, and used the same fittings.  This would help to ensure that all three boats were equally competitive.

We are documenting the rebuild of US-160 by taking numerous photos, which are being posted on this web site.  These photos provide a detailed look at the rebuilding process, including both the boat and the trailer.  The hull and deck are ready to go, the trailer has been upgraded, and mast is almost finished.  At this point, we are ready to start rigging the boat.  We will take additional photos as we rig the boat.  Please check back to this web site for updated photos.

I want to thank Nick Brulois for adding captions to the photos.  This makes them much more informative.  Additionally, I want to thank Rick Nelson for operating this web site, and making it possible for everyone to follow the work on US-160.

Dominic Meo III

April 12, 2008