Sandbagger boats cut through century of racing

Perched on the side of the boat, her legs and feet sometimes plopping into the river as the tiny craft tottered, 19-year-old Julie Kim Le got a call on her cell phone.

Le, a student at the Charter High School for Architecture and Design in Center City, was playing the role of a crew member on the Bull, a replica of a 19th-century racing boat that was displayed at the Independence Seaport Museum with its twin, the Bear.

During a 2 1/2-hour excursion on the Delaware River the other afternoon, she, nine fellow CHAD students, and two teachers were responsible for everything: hoisting the sails, steering, and even acting as ballast by hopping from one side to the other to keep the boat from capsizing.

Which was when Le's phone rang.

"I'm sailing," she informed her caller. "It's pretty cool."

The students were the latest of the high schoolers, boating enthusiasts, and yacht-club members to visit the Bull and the Bear since the boats arrived at Penn's Landing. (The exhibit closes today.) The boats, which the museum's workshop on the water built in 1996 and 1997, are re-creations of sandbaggers, petite racers that became popular after the Civil War, when gambling on boat races was big business and cheating was rampant.

The model for the Bear and the Bull was the Susie S., an 1869 sandbagger whose original owner was booted from the Bayonne Yacht Club for trying to bribe officials to move the finish line during a race. An aggrieved business partner later shot and killed the owner.

"What I was looking for was a colorful history, a great-looking boat, and a boat with a good racing record," said John Brady, director of the workshop on the water, who oversaw construction of the Bull and the Bear. "The Susie S. had all three things."

Sandbaggers derive their name from the 40-pound sandbags the crew heaved back and forth to prevent the boats from tipping over under their enormous sails. The Bull and the Bear, which a private owner takes around the country for demonstrations, often use water bags, which are easier to collect if they go overboard. They don't sink.

On this trip, the CHAD students and their teachers took the place of the water bags. Whenever the Bull prepared to turn, the students needed to squeeze onto one side of the 28-foot-long boat.

"This is good team-building stuff," said Carl Horrocks, one of two professional sailors who accompanied the students. "They all have to work together to trim the sails and steer and switch sides."

Several of the students had volunteered in an after-school program at the workshop, helping renovate another boat. Their trip on the Bull was partly a reward.

"This is the culmination of all the work we did," said junior Dante Smithson, 17, who plans to study aeronautical engineering after high school.

The voyage also showed the students how sailing and shipbuilding are practical applications of the formulas they've learned in physics class.

"Archimedes to Newton, it's all there," Brady said.

Added teacher Jeff Gerstemeier: "They see more in terms of application. It makes the ideas more worthwhile."

At the journey's outset, some students seemed either teenage cool or apprehensive. By the end, most were laughing and joking.

"It's pretty nice out here, you know?" said junior Ian Kimble, 17. "It's really cool to see how much goes into sailing."

During their heyday, sandbaggers capsized often.

Senior Shannon Pickett, 19, wasn't fazed.

"If I have to," she said, "I'll swim back."