In those days , the leanest and the fastest of these yachts were built to restrictive handicap rules, and given letters of the alphabet to designate their class. Rumor has it that our subject became the W -Class because all of the other euphonic letters had been taken, a measure of just how far this sport has come over the span of a mere century. Two of the yachts will be built by their promoter to jumpstart a racing fleet. The other will be built by Taylor Allen, not far away at Rockport Marine . The full plans, which I have access to, are a rare example of the sort of completeness of detail that comes with having actually built boats.
Construction is in cold-molded, epoxysaturated wood, and is very light.
Half of the 53,000-lb. displacement will be accounted for by the lead ballast bulb alone. The result will be a yacht with a very low center of gravity, which, combined with heart-shaped sections, will generate sufficient stability to stand up to its powerful sailplan. The performance numbers speak volumes. Most often this is done by combining a long waterline, to increase the fraction's denominator, with a low proportion of ballast to reduce the total weight. The elusive ratio of sail area to wetted surface, which most designers hoard as a closely guarded secret, is given as 2.87.