so that it is easy to escape a knockout. Price new is $1890, secondhand 

 about $1600. Kits are not available. 



VITAL statistics: L.O.A. iG'g'"; waterline 16'; beam 6'3''; draft 

 w^ithout centerboard 7'', with C.B. down s'g''; sail area 145 sq. ft. (spin- 

 naker allowed); weight 580 lbs.; trailable. 



DRAGON 



After slow going in North America for a number of years, two circum- 

 stances have combined to put Dragons on the map in America: first, the 

 fact that in 1948 Dragons became an Olympic class; second, the publicity 

 arising from the fact that Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, be- 

 came an enthusiastic Dragon racer. The Dragon is a long, narrow, rakish- 

 looking 29-foot keel sloop, with a high and narrow Marconi rig leaving 

 considerable deck room beyond the sails at each end. Slow in light winds 

 under working sails, she is at her best in strong winds and rough, choppy 

 waters, though not a dry boat under such circumstances. With a genoa 

 or spinnaker she is said to "come alive" even in light winds. 



In 1928 Johan Anker, the great Norwegian designer and builder, designed 

 the Dragon as an inexpensive boat for the Twenty Square Meter Class, 

 suitable for the turbulent North Sea waters. She became a one-design class 

 and spread to Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Low Countries, England, 

 France, and Italy. Early efforts to import several into the United States 

 did not meet with much success, and in the Olympic Games of 1948, the 

 American crew, selected without Dragon experience, came in eleventh out 

 of twelve.* 



* Information from "The International Dragon in America," by Garrett Horder, Yachting, 

 January 1956. 



56 THE SAILBOAT CLASSES OF NORTH AMERICA 



