land, Mich.), and Driscoll Custom Boats (San Diego, Calif.)- Albert P. 

 Peloquin is Secretary of the International no Class Yacht Racing Associa- 

 tion (505 S. Birney, Bay City, Mich.). Prices are now about $2000 for new 

 boats, $600 to $1500 for used; kits are $500 to $1000. Compared to the 

 prices of other boats her length, these are low; Stars, for example, cost al- 

 most twice as much. 



VITAL statistics: L.O.A. 24'; waterhne 24'; beam 4V; draft 

 (keel) 2'3"; sail area 180 sq. ft. (spinnakers used); weight about 1000 lbs.; 

 trailable. 



OPTIMIST PRAM. 



Photo by 



Morris Rosenfeld. 



OPTIMIST PRAM 



These sprit-rigged Optimist Prams are about as simple and inexpensive 

 as it is possible for an 8-foot children's sailboat to be. I first saw them being 

 raced at Clearwater, Florida, by some of the tiniest children I had ever 

 seen sailing a boat; it gave me the feeling that here was the ultimate for 

 very young children at low expense with safety. 



Ernest Green, a member of the Clearwater (Florida) Optimist Club 

 conceived the idea of a "water-borne soapbox, or as it simply had to be 

 called— orange crate." He took the idea to Clark Mills, a Clearwater de- 

 signer and boat builder, who came up with a pram which was easily built 



152 



THE SAILBOAT CLASSES OF NORTH AMERICA 



