History

A design competition was launched in 1928 by the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club (GKSS) in Sweden for an affordable cruising keelboat that was “relatively fast, externally attractive, and seaworthy”. Johan Anker, already an eminent yacht designer and winner that year of an Olympic Gold Medal in the 6-meter class, was the winner, and his one-design entry, based on the 20 square-meter rule, was approved that year by the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, the Royal Danish Yacht Club, and the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club. The first Dragon was built in 1929 and they quickly became popular in most nearby countries. International competition began with the donation by the Clyde Yacht Club Conference of the Dragon Gold Cup in 1937.

The Dragon was the Olympic one-design three-person keelboat class from 1948 to 1972, which saw upgrades for racing with the addition of a genoa and spinnaker, with supporting rigging changes. In 1961 the IDA was formed to formally manage the evolution and consistency of the boat. This era ushered in the biggest expansion of the Dragon Class worldwide with individual Dragons or Dragon fleets on almost all continents.

Modern Dragons

After the Dragon was dropped from the Olympics, there was a lot of discussion about the way forward. Up until this time, Dragons were built of carvel-planked wood, but fiberglass was the newest technology, and the IDA, working with Børresen in Denmark, developed plans for a fiberglass Dragon that would maintain the competitiveness of the wooden Dragons. Despite this important evolution, the Dragon Class died out or was seriously reduced in numbers in many countries once it was no longer an Olympic Class.

After the Olympic period, the Dragon subtly altered its profile to become the keelboat of choice for ex-Olympic contenders and champions as well as other talented sailors looking for strong competition in a non-Olympic Class.  In the mid-eighties, the Class started to grow once more with the emergence of a second major builder, Petticrows under the leadership of Poul Ricard Høj- Jensen, alongside Børresens. By the mid-1990s the average number of boats built each year was 25-30 and the major competitions regularly had 80 – 100 boats.  Even with today’s significantly expanded race program, most of the major competitions have 80+ boats.

The Dragon Class is active in 30 countries in 5 Continents with over 1300 registered boats, and many more used for day sailing or cruising. The World Championships are held in odd years and the European Championships are held annually. The Gold Cup (held annually in certain specified European countries), is unique in that all six races count without discard.

The crew of three or four makes for a tightly knit unit without the need for hired heavyweights. Class Rules ensure level racing, and the ease of trailing makes international competition attractive to all budgets. Spars and sails are easily adjustable while racing, allowing a skillful crew to optimize the boat for any conditions. Dragon races cannot be won by brute strength. The Dragon’s design philosophy has made it a class where extremely close racing is the norm, and where races are won by the crew’s mastery of the conditions and tactics on the course.