Bieley B-25 - $3,000 (Costa Mesa)

Up for sale today is the prototype for what became the B-25 one design racing sailboat.
Vapor has an interesting history, but unfortunately none of it is with me.
But if you Google B-25 Vapor, you’ll find evidence that it sailed in the 1999 TransPac Race to Hawaii, and raced very successfully here in Southern CA.
B-25’s are considered to be among the first of the modern sport boats.
Eric Bieley (the boat’s designer) had this boat custom built, I think in 1985.
A year or two later, it then served as the plug for a class of about 25 one design racers, which were called (oddly enough) B-25’s.
These boats have a ballasted dagger board, which simplifies the launching process considerably.
The hull is foam cored with Kevlar skins set in epoxy, inside and out.
The hull itself is solid, with no delamination or blisters.
BUT, it needs a fair amount of work.
The deck and interior need to be stripped of hardware, and it needs to be totally refinished.
The hull is pretty good, but it does have a few areas that need touch-up.
I’ve started sanding out the interior, but it needs more work before it can be repainted.
But the BIG BUMMER, is that a previous owner caulked the dagger board, and it can’t be raised or lowered.
When I bought the boat, that previous owner told me that the caulking only extended an inch or two up from the bottom of the trunk, and an inch or two down from the top.
Unfortunately, that proved to not be the case.
The whole space between the daggerboard and the trunk (about 18”), is full of caulk.
I’ve spent probably 40 hours trying to remove that caulk, and have completed maybe 40 percent of the removal.
After all this effort, and in frustration, I then resolved to fill that space between the dagger board and trunk with epoxy and be done with it.
But cooler heads prevailed, and I’ve been convinced by them to sell the boat as-is, and let someone else have go at it, so the dagger board can be raised and lowered, as the designer originally intended.
The boat comes with a ton of stuff, including a tandem axle trailer, a spare mast, a 50 hour 3.
5 hp Mercury outboard, a Dacron practice mainsail, a Mylar fully battened racing main, several headsails, a roller furling headfoil, several spinnakers, anchors and rodes, etc.
Both the boat and the trailer are licensed in California, and I have a nice big pickup truck that I can deliver it with (up to 350 miles or so).
I have a full inventory list, and a bunch of pictures from the previous owner if you’re interested.
This boat has been in my possession for about 4 years, and all of the pictures are from the previous owner.
I’ve worked off and on trying to free up the dagger board, and I’m pretty much out of gas with this boat.
I originally bought the boat from an aging gentleman up on Lake Tahoe, and now I’ve become the aging gentleman… I bought it for $5000, and I’d be happy to sell it for $3000.
Fixed up this would make a great boat for the Race to Alaska.