This year the evergreen Dragon, the world’s most widely used keel-mounted monotype, blows out 90 candles. At 8.90 meters long, trailerable, it is a 1929 design that was the brainchild of Norwegian Johan Anker, who wanted a sailboat to be used in the northern seas for recreational purposes: that’s why it has berths. At first it was built of wood (and for a quarter century was chosen as the Olympic class). Beginning in 1970, it began to be made in a fiberglass version as well, until more than 6500 were launched worldwide.
THE SECRET OF SUCCESS
From October 5-13, San Remo will celebrate “the year of the Dragon” with the 90th Anniversary Regatta. Some time ago, the very president of the San Remo Yacht Club and great Dragon enthusiast, Beppe Zaoli, had told us the secret of the success of this boat that knows no old age. “The unique aspect of this class is that it is very active all over the world. The reason for so much success, in my opinion, lies first of all in the beauty of the hull lines. Moreover, it is a boat that allows it to be carried by sailors of all ages, which means that great champions who are no longer very young find themselves racing on the Dragons. Among the crews entered in the Dragon regattas we can count at least 20 Olympic medalists.”
AN IMMORTAL CLASS
This class owes its immortality to the passion for a certain type of sailing that is disappearing and to which many enthusiasts would like to return: “A class made up of racers who like to sail and race the way they used to and who are able to give themselves rules on the water without needing to argue on land. I am convinced that the style of this boat, its elegant and timeless lines, convey an almost poetic way of doing things to the crews. This poetry is what is perhaps most lacking in the sailing world today, a value to which it is absolutely necessary to return.”
