oyster sharpies attracted attention in the 1870's, and
in the next decade many yachts were built on sharpie lines, being rigged
either as standard sharpies or as sloops, schooners, or yawls.

Oyster tonging sharpies were raced, and often a sharpie of this type was
built especially for racing. One example of a racing sharpie had the
following dimensions:

Length: 35'
Width on deck: 8'
Flare, to 1' of depth: 4'
Width of stern: 4-1/2'
Depth of stern: 10"
Depth at bow: 36"
Sheer: 14"
Centerboard: 11'
Width of washboards or sidedecks: 12"
Length of rudder: 6'
Depth of rudder: 1'2"
Height of foremast: 45'
Diameter of foremast: 6"
Head of foremast: 1-1/2"
Height of mainmast: 40'
Diameter of mainmast: 5-1/2"
Head of mainmast: 1-1/2"

The sharpie with the above dimensions was decked-over 10 feet foreward
and 4 feet aft. She carried a 17-foot plank bowsprit, to the ends of
which were fitted vertical clubs 8 to 10 feet long. When racing, this
sharpie carried a 75-yard foresail, a 60-yard mainsail, a 30-yard jib, a
40-yard squaresail, and a 45-yard main staysail; two 16-foot planks were
run out to windward and 11 members of the 12-man crew sat on them to
hold the boat from capsizing.

[Illustration: FIGURE 10.--North Carolina sharpie under sail.]

Figure 3 shows a plan of a sharpie built at the highest point in the
development of this type boat. This plan makes evident the very distinct
character of the sharpie in model, proportion, arrangement,
construction, and rig.[8] The sharpie represented by the plan is
somewhat narrower and has more flare in the sides than indicated by the
dimensions given by Kunhardt. The boatmen at New Haven were convinced
that a narrow sharpie was faster than a wide one, and some preferred
strongly flaring sides, though others thought the upright-sided sharpie
was faster. These boatmen also believed that the shape of the bottom
camber fore and aft was important, that the heel of the stem should not
be immersed, and that