Here we chronicle stories about owners engaged in the rescue, resurrection, refit and restoration of Morgans that have fallen on hard times; Morgans suffering storm damage, mishap or neglect. Progress reports sharing photographs, details of how it is being done, where to find parts and services , improvements and modifications and costs relating to individual cases and circumstances as told by owners undertaking the work

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Help us locate and report the stories of any of these RRR cases and information regarding Morgans  damaged that could be candidates for restoring or saving  especially any that might be about to be destroyed as junk left by recent hurricanes.

We want to record all lost or beyond repair Morgans.

Look at that topside job Dick did himself,
as good as when she was new.

Here he has the deck house and new toe rails done, new hatches, ports, pulpit and lifelines ... even had her out for a joy sail!

Then the big blow!

SABRE pulled up her pilings and blew onto the beach, ... mostly superficial damage but heart rending just the same.

So when I visited with Dick lately he clearly has not been deterred because he had all put back in good order ... was planning on going out for a sail soon ... might have her in the Morgan Invasion at DIYC in April 2007 just to show her off ...

Watch for the full story of Sabre's saga on this page and, ... the story of her design, build and racing history under Morgan Custom Classics soon.







Sabre when new ...

Sporting her famous BLACK spinnaker

A letter to the Columbia 40 web site correcting an error in a story there failing to correctly report the final SORC standing for SABRE 1964 ...
 

More to come soon ... Ed.

 Known RRR cases we are collecting stories and photographs for publication.

    SABRE - Custom Morgan keel/center-board sloop, prototype of the Columbia 40
    TIGER CUB - Custom 28' Morgan K-CB sloop, prototype of the Columbia 31
    M-40 Pilot House - Located in Canada

 SABRE, 38', Morgan Custom Classic.

As reported earlier Sabre had fallen on hard times. Lately Richard Dungan of Bradenton, Fl, the man I had designed her for reacquired her and undertook a complete refit doing most of the labor by himself - at 77 Dick and I are the same age. As you will see from the photos her retrofit was not going to be a trivial task.                
Well Dick got started with the old girl in the shape as shown above and all went well until Dick required an operation and while under the knife it was discovered he needed repair of his Descending Aorta as well.
Of course this interrupted his restoration efforts for a bit and, as fate would have it a hurricane came while he was bed ridden and Sabre was safely moored at a neighbors home. Of course many were required to evacuate so Sabre was left to fend for herself with Dick on the mend in the hospital. No one knows just how it happened but below are pictures of subsequent events, ... The first set shows how far Dick's work had progressed before the hurricane and the lower ones show her after she went on the beach.

  

From: Caroline Bass
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Subject: Sabre

Hi,

I am the daughter of Richard "Dick" Dungan who was the original owner of Sabre. I thought you would like to know that one year ago Sabre was located by a friend of his on Anna Maria Island on the west coast of Florida. My dad immediately went to see the gal he loved so much. Sabre looked pretty sad and was in a real state of disrepair. It looked like she had been through some rough times.

My father, Dick, re-purchased Sabre and for the past year has been labor intensively, single handedly restoring Sabre from top to bottom. This morning when I spoke to him he was in the bow with epoxy. This, for him, is the ultimate labor of love.

I saw your website today for the first time. It was amazing to see the picture of Sabre front and center. As a little girl some of my fondest memories include Sabre. Many summers were spent in the Bahamas with her and many weekends were spent laying out her sails on our yard to dry.

Just a bit of clarification, I believe Sabre was 1st in Class C and 2nd overall in the SORC. Just trying to give credit where credit is due.

The restoration of Sabre, according to my dad, will take about three years. He is bound and determined to take her for a sail prior to October 13th.

I thought it would be nice for your team to know that some 40 years later that Sabre still floats and her bow is still beautiful as ever. Sabre is in the Manatee River in Bradenton, Florida. I've included some pictures as part of this e-mail.

Kindest Regards,

Caroline Dungan Bass