Class History and Racing Notes

 
Yankees were originally designed as a 3-person boat, and as a step up from the Star class, one which would be sufficiently seaworthy to survive on blustery Buzzard's Bay with its strong currents and wind chop. These conditions would often swamp the MB (Marblehead-Buzzard's Bay) Class that the YOD replaced for local day racing all around New England.

There were 19 proposed designs submitted by the various naval architects of New England. A panel, Herreschoff, Burgess, and Paine, each of whom was involved in designing a boat for the America's Cup in 1937, was in charge of the project. The Yankee was supposed to be affordable, so various elements of construction were considered to save money, for this Volks-boat, a boat for 'everyone'.

The Yankee One-Design was competitive from 1937 through the 1950's, and is now a highly collectable wooden racing yacht because of its history and its exceptional handling under varied conditions.

	Article from Yachting Magazine, April 1937. By W. Starling Burgess, on the birth of the YOD Class.
	History of the West Coast Fleet, by David White, YOD historian.
	Racing notes from the 1952 season in Cleveland. From the 1953 YOD yearbook.

 
As of 1953, active fleets included:

Beverly Yacht Club, Marion, Massachusetts
Edgartown Yacht Club, Edgartown, Massachusetts
Nantucket Yacht Club, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Cleveland Yacht Club, Rocky River, Ohio
San Francisco Bay Fleet