 | |
| Name | Snark |
|---|---|
| Boat | |
| Crew | 2 |
| Hull | |
| Hull weight | 43 lb (20 kg) |
| LOA | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Beam | 3 ft 2 in (0.97 m) |
| Sails | |
| Mainsail area | 45 sq ft (4.2 m2) |
The Snark is a line of lightweight sailboats, at its introduction a two-person, lateen-rigged sailboat manufactured and marketed by Meyers Boat Company of Adrian, Michigan.
The Snark was conceived and marketed by Snark Products, Inc. of Fort Lee, New Jersey and was marketed with numerous slight variations, most prominently as the Sea Snark, Super Snark and Super Sea Snark. Other Snark models include the Sunchaser (4-person, made in lateen and sloop-rigged versions), and the Sea Skimmer (board-style 2-person sloop-rigged). Among discontinued Snark models are the Triumph trimaran, the Mach I, the Sundancer and the Sea Swinger.
Meyers suspended production of all models in about 2018 and as of 2023 there has been no resumption.
The sailboat was marketed heavily in numerous co-branding campaigns. The New York Times reported that the Sea Snark outsold all other sailboats in 1970[1] and that over 48,000 Sea Snarks were sold in an 18-month period in 1971 via a mail order campaign with Kool Cigarettes.[2] By 1973, over 200,000 Sea Snarks had been sold[3] and The New York Times reported that by 1976 that Snark had built more sailboats than any other manufacturer.[4] The manufacturer currently estimates that nearly a half million[5] Sea Snarks have been manufactured since 1958.[6]
Noted for its 11' expanded polystyrene hull and marketed as "unsinkable", a 1971 Popular Science reviewer doubted there was a sailboat "more foolproof".[7] Originally, the purchase of a Sea Snark included a 16-page booklet on "how to sail",[8] and a 1975 Popular Science article described the Sea Snark as the least expensive and lightest sailboat on the market.[9]
- ^ "Advertising: D.D.B. Becomes Own Client". The New York Times, Philip H. Dougherty, November 11, 1971, p. 69.
year ago the agency acquired Snark Products Inc., Fort Lee N.J. And Joseph R. Daly, president of the agency, will be happy to tell you (as he told us yesterday) that the low-priced Snarks outsold other boats last year. The company more than tripled its sales to $3.33 million, and expects to make more money this year than it did during its 10-year history. Those figures all have to do with the sale of its Sea Snark ($119), Sunflower ($199), and the Triumph ($349) all sailboats, but does not include sales by Sears of the private-label Jetwind.
- ^ "Advertising: D.D.B. Becomes Own Client". The New York Times, Philip H. Dougherty, May 2, 1978, p. 49.
Incentives can run from the products of Al's Goldfish Lures... to Snark Product's sailboat, which once went for $88 for Brown and Williamson's Kool cigaretttes. 48,000 were sold over a period of 18 months.
- ^ "Ohio Firm Chooses Beach". Virginia State Chamber of Commerce, 1973, Volume 40, p.36. 1973.
Snark Products Inc., a builder of small sailboats, is moving its U. S. manufacturing operations from Port Clinton, Ohio, to Virginia Beach. The North Bergen, N.J.-based firm is a subsidiary of Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Inc., a New York advertising agency. More than 200,000 boats of its first model, called the Sea Snark, have been sold to date, Mr. Bruce said.
- ^ "There is a Small Sailboat for Everyone". The New York Times, January 11, 1976, p. 15, author R.G.B.
The Snark people (makers of the Sunflower, Mayflower, Wildflower and all the little Snarks) have undoubtedly made more sailboats than anyone else.
- ^ "Snark". Meyers Boat Company.
- ^ "Sea Snark (Super Snark)". Sailboatdata.com.
- ^ "Sea Snark". Popular Science, November 1971, p. 131.
- ^ "Snark Products". Motorboating, January 1969. January 1969.
- ^ "Set Sail for under $1000, Swimsuit Sailboats". Popular Science, June 1975, p. 66. June 1975.