Dragon Class
As summer winds down here in Canada, we are feeling a little nostalgic and thought we would highlight one of the classic boat classes from our ‘Sailing Vessel Class Insignia’ poster.
The Dragon class is a one design keelboat designed in 1929, with simple, elegant lines evocative of her larger cousins the 8mR and 12mR. As you may have noticed from our previous blog posts, there seems to be a magic combination for sailing vessel classes to remain healthy over the decades: evolving class rules to meet new technological advancements and allowing for a diverse mix of sailors to successfully sail it. Both of these elements create accessibility which allow new sailors to enter the fleet.
The Dragon is no exception to this. While it debuted in 1929 and was the Olympic keelboat class from 1948-1972, it remains a healthy class still built and sailed today. Originally a wood-plank hull, the class allowed glass-reinforced plastics (GRP) in the 70’s and introduced a genoa and spinnaker post WW2 to keep it competitive with new classes. Strict class limits on the overall weight of the 4 crew (285kg) and limited hiking allow for mixed teams and a greater breadth of ages to sail it competitively.
This is a beautiful boat and hopefully you will get to see one cross your hull in the near future. Lots more great reading at the links below:
https://www.yachtingworld.com/yachts-and-gear/breathing-on-the-dragon-class-65530