It's been reported to me that PearsonYachts was among the builders of the Sea Sprite, but that may not be the case. It's also been reported to me that the Sea Sprite is not among the boats listed in Pearson's 25th Anniversary brochure. (See http://www.geocities.com/sailapearson/25years.html for the brochure.)
It could be that the brochure neglected the Sea Sprite (as it did the Pearson 365 Pilothouse) or it could be that the initial report was wrong. If anyone has further info, please leave a note here.
Mystery solved..in regard to the "rumour" that the Sea Sprite 23 was once built by Pearson. It turns out that is partially correct.
The Sea Sprite 23 was once was built by Pearson.....not Pearson Yachts, but Clint Pearson.
According to "Heart of Glass", by Daniel Spurr:
p.124 "Clint Pearson left Pearson Yachts in 1964 and bought a small Rhode Island company called Sailstar Boats, which later evolved into Bristol Yachts."
- p.134 "Sailstar Boats... produced mostly daysailors dating to about 1962. Clint continued with these, including the 17-foot Explorer and Pioneer and the 19-foot Orion. In 1965 he advertised the 14-Meteor, 17-foot Defender and Starfire, and the 19-foot Voyager.
As he gained momentum and began to think of building larger boats, Clint went back to the well, so to speak, retaining the services of well known designers, a tactic that had worked so well at Pearson. The 22 1/2 foot Sea Sprite (1964), by Sailstar but built earlier by others, including American Boatbuilding, was designed by Carl Alberg. Patching together a complete line, he also marketed a number of boats built by others, including E. Farnham Butler's Amphibi-Con, built of wood by the Mt. Desert yacht Yard in Maine, but of glass by Sailstar, the 5-0-5, Tallstar, the 11 1/2-foot Little Bear and others.
In 1966 marine surveyor Paul Coble, desgined the 24-foot, 7-inch Corsair, the largest boat bult to that date by Sailstar. It had a shippy look with a full keel and a cabin that slept four.
Renaming his yard Bristol Yacht Company, Clint quickly expanded the fleet, so that by 1966 he offered the Bristol 27 by Carl Alberg, the Bristol 29 and 33 by neighbor Halsey Herreshoff, the Bristol 31XL, 32 and 39 by Ted Hood, and the Bristol 35 by John Alden. Again, all big-name designers."
etc., etc.
Fair Winds, Ron Davis CptinRn"at"yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/CptinRn http://www.geocities.com/SailaPearson http://www.geocities.com/AtomFour S/V "Mystic" 1975 Pearson 28
There were two models of Sea Sprite 23, a daysailor and a weekender. The daysailor compared to the weekender much like the Ensign compared to the Pearson Electra. The daysailor does not have a self-bailing cockpit, the cabin is smaller and further forward and the mast on the daysailor is stepped on the cabintop versus on the deck in front of the cabin.
According to the Seasprite web site, the 1968 bylaws of the Seasprite Association states that the only recognized builder of the Seasprite shall be Seasprite, INC Oak Hill RD North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Clark Ryder built the last Seasprite in July of 1986.
Is there a Sea Sprite 22 with a swing keel. Some one has tried to sell me such a boat with a clinker effect hull?!?