Buckeye Lake, Ohio, and on other waters of the East and Middle West. 

 Pehcan kits have been sold to amateur boat builders as far east as Larch- 

 mont. New York, and as far west as California. Price of boats is $495, 

 kits $185, plans $10. 



VITAL statistics: L.O.A. 11 V; beam 4'/"; draft without center- 

 board 6'\ with board 2'6"; sail area 62 sq. ft.; weight 140 lbs.; trailable; 

 racing crew, two. 



PENGUIN 



This iiV2-foot cat-rigged dinghy is one of the largest classes in the 

 world, with sixty-six hundred altogether, all but two hundred of which 

 are in the United States. The heaviest concentrations are on Chesapeake 

 Bay, Barnegat Bay, Long Island Sound, in Southern California and in Chi- 

 cago. Otherwise they are well scattered along the coasts of the United 

 States and the Great Lakes. The principal overseas fleets are at Rio de 

 Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Penguins have sailed on the waters of Tokyo 

 Bay, the Canal Zone, the Philippines, and England. One of the founders 

 of the class attributes its success to the "smartness-cost ratio."* 



It all started on the Potomac River in the fall of 1938 when William 

 W. Heintz, a well-known Chesapeake Bay skipper decided that he'd find 

 a boat for his son which was inexpensive, easy to make, and as safe as a 

 small boat could be. Joining five others with similar thoughts, the group 

 wrote to naval architects for ideas. They liked best a design submitted by 

 Philip L. Rhodes, showing a plywood boat with a chine and arc bottom, 

 and a smart sheer. Six plans were bought and six boats were built in Arling- 

 ton, Virginia, and other basements during the winter of 1939, with seven 

 more recruits joining in the racing that summer. A Penguin Class Dinghy 

 Association was formed, which later had the prefix International. 



Stephen Leacock once wrote a story about parents monopolizing the 

 children's toys at Christmastime. Apparently that is what happened in the 

 Penguin families, even though the season was different. Some of the parents 



* "The Penguins Get Around," an article in Yachting (May 1947) by the late Malcolm Lam- 

 borne, Jr., has been most helpful. 



156 THE SAILBOAT CLASSES OF NORTH AMERICA 



