Nordic Folkboat

A design by committee that turned out to be one of the best small keelboats ever drawn — and whose authorship has been argued about for eighty years.

Origin

The Royal Gothenburg Sailing Club wanted more room than a Dragon with modest accommodation; the Scandinavian Yacht Racing Union ran an open competition backed by Sven Salén

Competition

58 entries by the 15 May 1941 deadline; no single winner chosen

Resolution

Tord Sundén was engaged to synthesise the finalists; plans published without designer credit

First boat

Keel laid October 1941 at Arendal, Gothenburg; launched 23 April 1942

Displacement / Ballast / Draft

4,255 lb / 2,205 lb iron / 3.92 ft

Fibreglass

From the mid-1970s, to designs by Erik Andreasen and Sven Svendsen; 950+ GRP boats by 2001

Bay fleet

Svend Svendsen moulded the Bay's first fibreglass Folkboat in 1975; the international association reported 110 US boats, largely on the Bay, in 1994