I first saw a photograph of Bia Anker in Norwegian field in an edition of classic yacht which I was coming through after a scale race in the Lumiitton River and the page opened at a place in Norway where I had lived and worked and had our house in the background and it just so happened that I was visiting was the next morning to give a lecture in university. So when I arrived at the airport I called the owner and he said, oh come down straight away. So I deferred the time of my lecture and went down to the marina and fell in love with the boat and that was all that was to it immediately I'd done the lecture. I called my friends around the South Coast to find a mooring in one of the harbors and the Buelly River harb master found me a slot for a 56 footer. So one of the attractions of Bia Anker was not only his incredible ability as a yacht designer but he was concerned with the beauty of lines which in Bia don't disappoint. Indeed as a boat of such breathtaking and etheless beauty she actually lifts your spirit when you look at her and sail on her and it perhaps the whole idea of it defines the term class a yacht. So Anker's reputation is due not only to his incredible success in international rule designs but his creation of the iconic dragon class one design. Of all designers of his era he was arguably the best hensman. He watched the offerings of Messes 5th and Milne cross the finish line behind him. This feel for a beautiful yacht helped him create some of not only the fastest but the most beautiful design of any period. It's rare to find a boat both so original and in such fine condition. Whilst he's only had a few owners three before we brought it to England the short Norwegian sailing season and long winter spent inside her own boat shed has certainly helped. Her previous owners Norway have cruised many thousands of miles with just two crew. So cruising whether in Norway or the sailing is a delight with just two or three people because the rig design with a inner force day and rarely small gyps and a large mainsaw which can be reaved in stronger winds make for ease of passage and especially exciting racing. So Boja has a keel weight and displacement balance such approximately 50-50 providing an extremely effective sailing burden. A pointing ability with the right sail plan is absolutely amazing and competes on equal terms against the older boats like Gerage from the 1935s and Stormyweller as well as the much newer ones like Sitterweyer and Rupert. If you've got the sail balanced it maintains an absolutely balanced position without touching the helm and anyone who touches it moves it and that slows it down. It finds its own position without any drag and that is incredible.