has built some recently. The hull is of fiber glass, with Styrofoam flota- 

 tion. 



The principal sailing areas are at Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas. 

 There are about forty Mavericks altogether. The skipper of one of them 

 reports on their performance as follows: 



"The boats are perfect as a training boat for clubs or organizations having 

 to sail under heavier than average winds and considerably choppy seas. 

 We have never had one capsize even though weekly they are subjected to 

 dozens of opportunities. Their comparative narrow beam allows extremely 

 good beating-to-windward characteristics but lesser initial stability. Final 

 stability is tremendous. ... It would be debatable whether this, a keelboat, 

 will honestly plane— but, to some sailors who say that Lightnings, Snipes, 

 and so forth plane, they must allow the same ability to the Maverick as they 

 would to the British Flying 15, International 110, and so forth. To those 

 of us who have realistically planed on such as Scows, 5-0-5, Sunfish, 

 Thistles, and Highlanders, the Mavericks do not plane. The growth of 

 the class has been rather slow. I believe this difficulty to lie in its rela- 

 tive trailer-to-water usage and lack of national promotion and advertising." 



There is no class association. Price, new, is $1248, used about $950. 



VITAL statistics: L.O.A. 14'; waterline 14'; beam 5'4''; draft 

 (keel) 3'; sail area 125 sq. ft. (spinnakers used); weight 400 to 450 lbs.; 

 trailable, but not as easily as the Gannet. 



MELODY 



The 10-foot cat-rigged Melody is a pram dinghy, designed by W. G. 

 Ashcroft. The boats are built by the John C. Beery Company (Aquatic 

 Park, Berkeley, Calif.) and also by the Basin Boatcraft Company (601 

 Embarcadero, Oakland 6, Calif.). Built of plywood, Hght, cartop carried, 

 and economical, there are now 230 of them in the San Francisco Bay area. 

 Price is $454 to $475. Kits are $235 to $255. 



VITAL statistics: L.O.A. 10'; beam 4'3"; sail area 55 sq. ft.; 

 weight 128 lbs.; trailable. 



MERCURY (15-Foot) 



This is the East Coast Mercury, a 15-foot sloop designed by Sparkman 

 and Stephens and built by the Cape Cod Shipbuilding Company (Ware- 

 ham, Mass.), principal source of information about the boat. It should not 



racing classes 131 



