Phantom has won two National Championships, an ILYA Championship, and many other races and events. All this with sailing just four or five regattas per year, and no other sailing at all. This boat is tuned, honed and immaculate. In its entire life, this boat has had fewer hours of use than the typical I-20 would get in one or two seasons of racing.
The list of equipment includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Teflon hard-coated bilgeboards
Faired and painted rudders, with custom tillers, tiller crossbar and tiller extensions
8:1 Custom Cunningham to skipper on both sides
6:1 Custom Backstay to skipper on both sides
12:1 Custom Vang to skipper on both sides
Custom internal spinnaker halyard to skipper, along with custom halyard take-up reel
Dual Ritchie SS2000 compasses
Two extra airbags
Custom gear bag
Envelope cover
Full deck cover
Regatta boom cover
Custom I-20 trailer with custom molded bunks
Custom winch to assist with putting on and taking off the envelope cover
Complete suit of Quantum sails, new in 2007 and in perfect condition
Contact John Spargo at jspargo (at) spargoconsulting.com or 319-three nine three-0171.
Mooch’s foster mom sent the following to prospective adoptors Stew and Karen upon reading their application:
My name is Trish I am Mooch’s foster mom. I looked over your application and I am very interested in talking to you. Let me take this opportunity to tell you a little about Mooch. Mooch has been with my family since August. Mooch is surrounded by people and pups of all ages and does wonderfully. On a regular basis he goes on play dates with up to 17 other dogs and has no issues getting along with anyone he meets, sometimes he will bark to say hello. He has a super soft coat, big brown trusting eyes, and a super sweet disposition.
Trish bids Mooch adieu before the morning drive
Mooch came to us and was a very scared puppy he has come so far. Once you gain his trust he will do what ever you ask of him. When he first came to us it took a few days for him to come around us and about another two weeks to trust us completely. We’re not sure of what has happened to Mooch prior to him coming to us but we get a strong feeling that something has happened. He would rather you sit still and he will come and check you out with a sniff, then a little rub, and a nose push. Once he feels that he can trust you he completely gives himself over and wants nothing more than to be with you. He will greet us at the gate happily sitting to be the first to receive our attention. He gets super excited but knows he is suppose to sit to get attention.
Mooch loves to go for walks. Each morning my husband and I start off the day with a walk and he knows this routine quite well. The minute you go to where his leash is kept he becomes very excited and will take hold of your finger or hand and pull you towards the door. I do have to say every once in a while if your not fast enough he will herd you by a gentle bite to your rump (it’s not even hard enough to leave a mark). He is a great car rider. He will look out the window, and likes to stick his nose to the crack to get fresh air.
Mooch is the type of dog that wants nothing more than to please his people. He knows a couple commands: sit, come, paw, off, no, up, crate up, and he is working on other ones. He is smart and catches on fast. He loves to run, chase, and play. He can climb trees especially if there is a brown four legged tailed friend up there (we don’t say the “S” word). He will climb the tree on command if you pat the tree and tell him up. He hasn’t had the opportunity to go swimming yet but he will play in the hose, rain, and snow with out hesitation. He is completely house broken and hasn’t had a single accident since he has been here. The only thing he has chewed up other than his toys is a few socks, but he loves chew toys, balls, antlers, pop bottles, and tug toys. He is completely crate trained, he likes his crate if the other dogs are getting into something that they are not suppose to he will run to his crate to show he’s not involved. We currently have him sleeping in his crate when we go to bed and while we are gone. He is quite in his crate even when your home and he can see you. He knows that he has to be quite and sit for us to let him out and he does this happily. Our older dogs roam the house at night while Mooch and Udaya are crated and this doesn’t create an issue what so ever. We do this so his furever home doesn’t have a problem and they can decide which they like better. We do suggest that he is crated until he is used to his home for comfort reasons. We trust Mooch completely to be left free but until he has proved himself to you and learned your routine I recommend it.
Mooch has lots of strong qualities and is such a sweet boy but I do have to tell you he can climb and jump our fence and he is able to sit on top of the fence to watch the world. Now Mooch is NOT a runner and even if he climbs the fence he only runs the fence line and then climbs back over. He hasn’t ever taken off and has been able to do this since September. Our back yard backs up to two schools and he sees tons of kids, people, and dogs. Mooch will sit perched on the fence to see what is going on and sometimes he jumps to get a better look but if someone approaches him he jumps right back over. Other than this I can’t think of a bad thing to say about Mooch. He shows no signs of aggression towards anyone or anything. Your able to take food out of his mouth, put your hands in his bowl, mess with him while he is eating, take an antler or any other object away from him. He is willing to give any item to another dog, if another dog walks up and wants his food he gladly shares food, toys, and people. He is submissive to other dogs even when backed into a corner we have never seen him react aggressive regardless of situation. We have had him around children as young as 2 and he did very well, they ran all around him and gave him treats. We’re able to rough house with Mooch and when we want to stop he stops right away.Once you have read about Mooch and if he sounds like the match for you Please call me. He is a doll and we love this little guy, if we didn’t have our legal limit we would gladly keep him. 🙂 I hope to hear for you soon, if your intrested please call or email either email address with a good time to call. Thank you both for taking the time to read about this little guy.
Mooch had a great foster home in Michigan where he was being cared for by Trish and Tom and about four hundred thirty seven aussies. Okay, maybe only four aussies. But sometimes it felt like there were a lot more of them and they all seemed to enjoy mixing it up with Mooch. To each of those dogs, we say “thank you!” for keeping Mooch humble and happy.
To Trish, Tom and their two boys, Tyler and Eric, we are very happy to have merged families and look forward to many, many years of membership in the “Mooch Mutual Admiration Society.” We extend a heartfelt thank you for sharing such a wonderful beast and allowing us to caretake this national treasure. We will honor your trust.
With that in mind, we are sharing some photos from our first week with The Amazing Mr. Mooch. Please add your comments to the photos by clicking on them, or you can add comments to this page. Any and all thoughts or recollections are super welcome!
Mooch is more obedient than his ears, which have a mind of their own.
Sit pretty!…in front of the US Capitol (Senate side)
US Capitol grounds early morning, Library of Congress in background.
Eric Hall secures a beautiful, green-trimmed 1975 M20
Echelons of geese honked their way over the autumn fields of Wisconsin as another migration was underway a few hundred feet below. On Dec. 1, a team of “scowvengers” from Scowsailing.com picked their way across the farm fields here to glean the best M20s for rehabilitation and restoration. These boats come from farmer/dealers and boat storage owners who have agreed to unload these crazy fast boats in a state awash in crazy fast boats. Scowsailing.com snaps them up for just a few hundred dollars and then the expensive part: transport to Chautauqua NY for fiberglass work. After refitting for the asymmetrical spinnaker and some basic rehabilitation, the investment in each boat will run between $1900 and $2800.
Looking at these boats can be an archaeological exercise as we search the hull for numbers and other clues that indicate the age of the vessel. Our team was led by Eric Hall, accompanied by his sailing friend Jerry Plachotnik, both of Chautauqua. I flew in from Washington DC. I20 fleets are being incubated in both regions.
Surprisingly nice brightwork on this 1968.
The first of three boats secured on this trip was a classic 1968 M20 with tan highlights and a white hull. This boat sports a gold Proctor spar that will be swapped out with a better replacement. It has serviceable Melges sails. There were a number of details we did not expect. On the port side under the foredeck is a bracket for a wooden drawer. We have not seen these drawers in M20s before, although they are often seen on M16s. The boat also has a stiff deck and hull, with very little sign of balsa core. It is possible these early hulls were not laid up with the balsa cores that often get waterlogged adding uncompetitive weight. The board horns on this boat swing above deck when the boards are manipulated. The condition of the glass on this boat is amazing. A pre-columbian prize of sorts.
A very racy red hull on this classic 1972. Super stiff deck.
A 1972 M20 waited for us on the outskirts of Lake Geneva, where it was abandoned at a boat storage facility. This boat comes with silver Proctor spar and no sails. Combing is gone and the traveler brightwork looks like it needs to be replace. But there was good news about this boat. The decks are very stiff and the hull shows no sign of deterioration or water damage. The protective rub rail along the gunwale is hardly scuffed, which can sometimes mean light use. It can also mean the rub rail was replaced after heavy wear. We think this boat has legs. Like the 1968 hull, it sports a central winch behind the mastwell and board horns that swing above deck. The booms and masts on the deck of the boat were salvaged from a parts barn a few yards away. We also pulled boards from a scow that could not be saved…but will help to restore another worthy scow.
Showing location of factory flotation
Finally, there is Altair. This was a well-cared-for scow that hails from Williams Bay, a boat club on Lake Geneva, home of the Melges Boatworks. The deck on the 1975 has popsicle green trim work and a pristine white hull. The cockpit was filled with leaves when we found it, but the decks were stiff and everything seemed aligned for a terrific restoration. Board horns swing below the decks on Altair and it has the modern jib travelers. Needs sails and boom, but we have plans for bringing these to the boat. Perhaps the most fascinating features on Altair are four what appear to be factory-installed, integrate floatation cells behind the mid-cockpit bulkhead, as well as port and starboard of the mastwell. These will surely keep the boat afloat, and they have access ports. Eric and Jerry packed the bearings on the boat trailer and carefully tied down the pristine black Melges mast. This boat may have moss and lichen on the mohogany tillers, but the fiberglass is perfect.
Melges1 License Plate
It’s no wonder we saw so many Melges boats here in the southern parts of Wisconsin. Lake Geneva is home to Melges Boatworks. As fate would have it, one of the Melges company cars pulled in front of us as we traversed the town of Lake Geneva. We won’t get into the politics of the Melges brand; we appreciate their contribution to the sport. But we also know that introducing the I20 to new regions will take innovative marketing. It will also require more guerilla raids to scow country and the late-night renovations that follow.
Jerry, Eric and I were giddy as we packed up for our separate trips home. Like sugar plums, we had visions of 40-year old boats with asymmetrical chutes dancing in out heads.
Now, the work begins.
Surprisingly nice brightwork on this 1968.
Here’s how we found her…
Kent Martzke after selling hull 72-393
Sold by Ken Martzke
Super clean hull on Altair.
We will be doing some research on who owned Altair.
This mast is a rare perfect specimen
Some clues on former ownership…hull 20485-0575
Lots of leaves, but very clean under it all.
Showing location of factory flotation
Eric Hall secures a beautiful, green-trimmed 1975 M20
