Be wary of folks who profess their faith when asking for something, I guess someone doesn't want us reminded of Bobby Sands, and speaking of iconic...
Back when we we're living on a peniche outside of Paris and looking for a boat to buy there were only two boats, of the new variety, that we considered and both of them were designed by Philippe Harlé...
One, the Fantasia (an evolved version of the famous Sangria/Sangria NV) I've talked about before, was both too expensive for us at the time and actually seemed bigger than we needed. For those who keep track of such things, the Fantasia was was all of twenty-seven feet long.
The truth is, the boat we really wanted was the Philippe Harlé designed Tonic...
It was pretty much love at first sight...
It was small and simple but it was comfortable and fit like a glove. Which, I might add, considering that I'm 6'5", is not something that was easy to find in boats at any size.
Of course, in those days, I had fewer guitars...
Harlé got it right because he put in everything a couple might need and left off the stuff that was surplus to requirements. No rocket science involved, just good simple boat design. It should be noted though that Harlé was a true master of the form and, as a real sailor/cruiser himself, he knew what worked and what didn't.
Looking for used examples of the design I notice two things... One, that not a lot are for sale and two, they have held their value far more than a lot of other boats from those days. Both positive factors in my book.
Well, as it happened, we decided to build rather than buy but I've always wondered what would have happened and where we'd be today if we had purchased a Tonic and pointed it towards the Caribbean...
Listening to Lee Michaels
So it goes...
