Sweet and easy to sail. Atlantics will do 6½ knots without planning and are extremely sate, steady, and seaworthy in heavy winds and seas.
 
OVER-ALL LENGTH: 3O½ FT. BEAM: 6½ FT. DRAFT: 43/4 FT. DISPLACEMENT: 4,559 LBS. SAIL AREA: 385 SQ. FT.
 
One of the largest, fastest, and best known of the one-design racing yachts regularly seen on Long Island Sound from mid-May to mid-October is the Atlantic Coast One Design. It is still going strong despite the fact that it is 23 years old. Due to its perfect suitability to local waters and its sound construction, the class will last indefinitely with proper maintenance. A sweet, easy boat to sail, it can do QV2 knots without planing and is extremely steady, safe, and seaworthy in strong winds and heavy seas. It is a keel sloop with a Marconi mainsail, a loose-footed jib, a parachute spinnaker, a standing backstay (no runners), and a large open cockpit. Although a crew of two can easily handle it in moderate weather, up to five persons are usually seen aboard.

It is one of W. Starling Burgess' most popular racing designs. Ninety-nine boats, numbered 1 to 100 (No. 83 was never assigned), were built in 1929 by Abeking & Rasmussen, of Bremen, Germany. Their one-design features are strictly guarded for purposes of fair sport and economy by the Atlantic Class Association, which has a well-attended annual meeting in New York City and sponsors a championship series of five races over three days in mid-August, in which three or four dozen yachts usually participate. About 89 Atlantics were still afloat in 1951. The principal fleets are now at Pequot Yacht Club. Southport, Conn. (19 boats); at Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club, Long Island (19 boats); and in the Western Long Island Sound group (about 27 boats) racing in the YRA circuit Saturdays and Sundays. This latter group includes Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, SeaclifT Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, and several others. There are also small fleets at Kollegewidgwok, Blue Hill, Maine, and at Niantic Bay, Conn. The latest class champion is Joseph F. Watkins, of Pequot Yacht Club, who defeated 28 opponents in the 1951 Championship Series. The 1952 series will be held by Pequot.

The boats' dimensions are: over-all length, 30½ ft.; water-line length, 21½ ft; beam, 6½ ft.; draft, 43/4 ft.; displacement, 4,559 lbs.; ballast, 2,200 lbs.; and sail area, 385 sq. ft. The superior quality of their construction is indicated by the following original specifications:

Planking: 5/8 in. single-thickness mahogany without calking.
Decking: 9/16-in. canvas-covered white pine.
Frames: 11/8 –in. to 1 ¾-in. oak on 8-in. centers
Deck beams: 3/4-in. elm.
Keel: white oak.
Stem: 2¼-in. natural-crook hackmatack.
Transom: mahogany.
Floors: 7/8-in. oak.
Knees: hackmatack.
Fastenings: yellow metal.
Fittings: bronze.
Ballast: 2,200 lbs. of lead.
Deadwood: longleaf yellow pine.
General trim: mahogany.
Cockpit flooring: teak slats.
Mast and boom: hollow box-section spruce.
Spinnaker pole: solid spruce.

The original cost of an Atlantic in 1929 was from $1,800 to $2,000, delivered in New York, including sails. Some yachts in good condition are now available at about $1,800 or less apiece with several good suits of sails.

The present officers of the Atlantic Class Association are Charles E. Ames, Chairman; Hoyt O. Perry, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer; Theodore R. Reyling, Chairman of the Rules Committee; Charles T. Corning, Delegate to the YRA; and V. W. Loomis, M. H. Tuttle, F. J. Huttrer/ and C. A. VanHagen, Jr., Members of the Rules Committee.

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