When the selection committee of the American Sailboat Hall of Fame considered boats for induction this year, one boat was an instant consensus pick. No question, no argument, no doubt. No wonder--it was the Cal 40, the boat that changed everything.

When I assigned a young staff member to write a profile of the Cal 40 and told him that when it was introduced in 1963 it was considered a radical and possibly dangerous racing design, he gave me one of those "jeez, he's lost it" looks. I couldn't blame him. The Cal 40 doesn't have the predatory look of today's ocean racers, no angles, sharp edges or towering fractional rig. But, make no mistake, it was a predator, one that preyed on conventional thinking.

The Cal 40's gently dipping sheerline, curve spoon-bow, counter stem and squatty sailplan gave it a deceivingly soft appearance. But there was nothing soft below the waterline. In an era of wineglass-shaped hulls with deep, stack bilges, the Cal 40 had a shallow dinghy-like hull with firm cheeks. The keel was a fin. The rudder-gasp!-was not attached to the keel, and this was heresy.

Conventional wisdom made the rudder a hinged extension of the keel. On the Cal 40 it was a freestanding spade at the end of the waterline. What it did back there was to give the helmsman exquisite control of the boat, particularly in fast off-wind sailing. Perhaps the reason it had not appeared earlier on big boats was that offshore boats of the time were rarely in danger of going fast enough to need a spade rudder.

The Cal 40 needed it. While other displacement boats were at the mercy of the law of hull speed, the Cal 40 thumbed its nose at it. The shape of the hull and its appendages combined with relatively light weight gave the boat the ability to get up on the waves and surf. Sailing 40-foot boat had never been so thrilling. Just how thrilling was evident in a photo that appeared on the cover of a new magazine called SAILING in 1969. Our covers weren't glossy then; they weren't even printed in color. But the cover, featuring the Cal 40 Melee, is still one of my favorites.

The boat, embraced in great plumes of pure white spray, is locked onto an enormous wave, surfing to the finish of the Miami-Nassau Race. Though the wind is so strong the boat is carrying a poled-out genoa instead of a spinnaker, the three visible crew members look nonchalant as they enjoy the ride of their lives on a boat that is in perfect control. Sailors like to cultivate a swashbuckling image, but as an establishment they tend to be conservative. And so when the Cal 40 appeared it was ridiculed as some sort of wacky California take on sailboat design and criticized as unseaworthy. The rudder would break off; the keel would drop off; the hull would fail.

None of that happened; there was no chance of it happening. The Cal 40 was a carefully engineered, strongly built fiberglass yacht. It was only somewhat lighter than other 40-footers but the difference was accentuated by its long waterline, which yielded a displacement/length ratio of 250 at a time when the norm was more like 330.

The boat was thought of as a downwind machine, but in fact it was an all-around boat, fast on any point of sail. The best indication of that is that Cal 40s won both the Transpac Race, mostly a surfing contest, and the Bermuda Race, usually an upwind slog. In the 1966 Bermuda Race, five of the first 15 places overall were won by Cal 40s. Cal 40s won three consecutive Transpacs in 1965, '66 and '67. Incredibly, 22 years after it was designed, a Cal 40 won the 1985 Transpac.

No production boat has ever dominated racing the way the Cal 40 did, yet it would be wrong to classify it as a pure racer. Classify it instead as, simply, a good boat. Long after its racing heyday, the Cal 40 delights its owners as a safe, comfortable, easy-to-handle offshore cruising boat.

The Cal 40 was not chosen for the Hall of Fame because of its racing record. It was chosen because it propelled big-boat sailing to the future. Sailboat design was progressing in microscopic increments until the Cal 40 took it on a great leap forward. It leapt so far that today's fastest racing boats are refined Cal 40s with fin keels, spade rudders and shallow hulls, free of rule induced distortions. They are far more sophisticated in many ways than the Cal 40, but you could say that, essentially, they were designed 33 years ago.

The designer of the Cal 40 is Bill Lapworth. His creation now has a place in the American Sailboat Hall of Fame and he, retired and living in Virginia, has, in the minds of knowing sailors at least, a place in the pantheon of the world's most influential sailboat designers. There are some revered names in that group, but Lapworth may be the only one about whom it can be said -- he changed everything.

-- Bill Schanen
Editor and Publisher, Sailing Magazine

THE SAGA CONTINUES...

You have read the preceding article, "The Boat that Changed Everything: The Cal 40." This fine boat was the forerunner of the Cal 46.

Bill Lapworth, designer of the Cal 40, has a long-standing reputation for designing sleek, beautiful hulls, which are also fast. So, when he was approached by Hale Field, who wanted a pilothouse sloop, capable of navigating the canals of Europe with their shallow depths, narrow widths and low bridges, he set forth to design a boat which would satisfy all the requirements.

The pilothouse/galley was designed to have good visibility. The main salon was aft, and low, near the waterline to be cool in the hot European summers, and there was a fireplace for cold evenings. The forward guestroom was small, "So that guests would tend not to stay too long."

The mast was on a tabernacle to be eased down to enable passage under bridges. The heritage of the Cal 40 design concepts was carried on with a roomy hull and a similar sail plan. The shorter rig on a larger hull, produced a boat more easily handled under cruising conditions.

Bill Lapworth commented, "It is a pleasure to design a yacht for an owner who knows rather closely what he wants when the association commences, particularly when such an interesting and unusual vessel such as Fram is contemplated. Fram is intended to be a floating home for extended periods, and for this reason may seem unusual to those who think only in terms of passagemaking or summer cruises." What Bill Lapworth did not mention was that this shallow draft, fairly narrow beam boat, was designed to be a very seakindly, fast motorsailer.

Her owners: Hale and Gingerlee Field
Her designer: William Lapworth
Her builder: Willard Boat Works

Jensen Marine had been building smaller cruising and racing sailboats: Cal; Ranger; O'Day, etc. When they explored the market in the early 60's, they realized that there was a growing market for larger cruising boats. Jack Jensen's cruise to Alaska aboard Fram convinced him that here was a boat that could be easily handled by two people. It also had all the features of a large, comfortable world cruiser.

Jensen Marine purchased the right to build and the hull, which they used as a plug, from Willard Boat Works. They made some modifications such as adding a dinette, lengthening the deck house, shortening the forward cabin, and putting sea berths in the owner's cabin--one on either side. It was called the Cal Cruising 46, or CC-46 for short. They made it so livable that Jack Jensen, President of Jensen Marine, built one for himself in which, when he retired, he sailed more than 110,000 miles. His boat hull (#3), named Satori, is now owned by Tom and Bobbie Vandiver who have added a substantial number of sea miles to her logs.

By the best estimates, there were 15 CC-46's built. It is difficult to arrive at any conclusion of their order of building because the hull numbers were not assigned in chronological order.

The Cal 2-46 modification of the CC-46 appeared at the Long Beach boat show in 1970. All but her exterior configuration had been changed, and judging by the long lines of those waiting to see her, she was the Queen of the Show. The engine room had been moved from the stern to midship. The aft cabin had been moved aft(er). The engine room on the starboard side was entered from the new passageway on the port side. The main salon had been enlarged, as was the forward cabin and head.

Charlie Thomas, President of Jensen Marine, with a work force of 200-300 people, was producing several other classes on separate production lines at the Costa Mesa, CA factory. A combination of good design and production efficiency brought the cost of building down to meet a competitive market.

Jensen Marine attempted to keep the boats uniform in design and amenities so, when a client asked for a modification, it was declined. But the next batch of boats got that modification. They were listening--but slowly!

Jensen Marine produced approximately 95 Cal 2-46 hulls. The CC-46 double lower shrouds were replaced by single lowers and a foredeck baby stay. Some versions were built as ketch rigs with shorter main booms, and a mizzenmast stepped in the aft cabin. Still later, double lowers were again used instead of the single lowers/baby stay configuration.

The Cal 3-46 (or Mark III), continued with the same hull design, but with a redesigned interior. In acceding to the marketing 'experts' (overriding Bill Lapworth's wishes), gone were the large salon windows. In their place were smaller windows--black, to give the house the sleeker appearance of the popular new European look. The galley was moved from the main salon to the passageway (an excellent modification). The engine room entrance was now through the stall shower in the aft head. The main salon, now devoid of the galley, became a sitting/dining salon with large navigation station. The materials used were more 'state of the art'; Lucite, glass and soft carpeting.

At least 5 of the Cal boats were finished by owners who applied their own modification to the interiors. 'After market' modifications continue to this date (1998). Based on the same wonderful hull configurations, they are now seen with pilothouses (hard dodgers), transom entries, swim platforms--the list keeps growing.

Some of the famous Cal 46 boats (am I kidding--they are all famous!) have interesting stories connected with them and their owners. One such boat, Fram was sold to Howard Wright who was so enamored of the concept, he commissioned the building of an enlarged version, a Cal 55.

And the story goes on. The boats pass from owner to owner, each adding a chapter to their history. They endure--hardy, seaworthy and beautiful--our Cal 46's.

Barbara and Bob Sharp
'WINDROSE'