Fishtown Tricks & Tuckups

The crew “laid out to windward,” hooked to their “hikers” and “tuckups,” to counter-balance their huge sails against capsizing—their red and blue “Garibaldi” shirts atop bright yellow, green, blue, black hulls with contrasting trim. Competing against Gloucester and Smoky Hollow (Southwark), the champion 15’ boats of Fishtown, circa 1875, are described in a wonderful article entitled Fishtown Tricks—The Delaware River’s 15’ Flyers, in the May/June 1999 issue of WoodenBoat, by B.A.G. Fuller.

Races amongst 122 boats; including thirty mile, six hour sails, to Chester and back for $100 purses; it was “no place for cowards or lazy men.” “Dispatching crew was common leaving only the skipper and the ‘twine sharp’ who handled topping lifts, halyards, and the sheet. Without crash boats, it was up to a spectator steamboat to pick up those dispatched. Otherwise it was a swim to the beach and a long walk home.”

“Fishtown Tricks could win a close light-air race. Despite prohibitions against sculling with the rudder, fanning a sail, and paddling, a wary eye needed to be kept. Fishtowners might smuggle a few metal pie plates onboard in their shirts, useful as paddles that could quietly sink if approached by judges, who covered every race.”

Amongst the nautical details is a snapshot of an earlier Fishtown where: Jesse Deputy, a boat building eccentric spiritualist sleeps on wood shavings above his workshop; Marlborough Street saloon keeper, gambler and master sailor Capt. Bill Flick pilots DADDY FLICK to victories in big-money races in Baltimore; the piers, boathouses and sail lofts which surround Albert Dager’s Treaty Tree Hotel, where racing rules are established.

Tuckup replicas have been built and prove quick and easy to sail, by one to five, whether with racing or pleasure rigs. Weighing around one hundred pounds, they handle easily in and out of boathouses, or from trailers, and are narrow enough to row well (out from port, for cruising, when wind dies—no need for an expensive, noisy and smelly outboard). Author Ben Fuller ends by describing his dream tuckup, full of construction details and…”she’d have a flashy paint job, a fancy name on the stern—and plenty of wear.”

-Reviewed by Torben Jenk, May 1999.
-----
All information believed accurate, please send corrections and additions to:
Ken Milano, kennethmilano@verizon.net
Torben Jenk, torben.jenk@verizon.net