If the Balboa 26 had a motto it would echo the original marketing brochures that celebrated the boat’s ability to “go fast, go anywhere.” Designed by Lyle Hess, who in the mid-1970s would become well known for his 28-foot Bristol Channel Cutter design, the Balboa 26 fulfilled a growing demand for an economical cruising boat.

The Yankee 30 was one of many fiberglass boats that was affected by the global oil crisis of the 1970s, which curtailed production. The cost of resin raised boat prices above the budget of average sailors. In some cases builders simply lacked the raw materials required for construction.

The Alberg 29 was designed by naval architect Carl Alberg and built by Nye Yachts in Canada from 1976 to 1985. The full-keel, masthead sloop was made to replace the much-admired Alberg 30, which had been in production since 1962.

Cape Dory 28 Practicality coupled with a sense of style sums up the Cape Dory 28 sloop. This one-design, compact cruiser ranks among the more popular boats in its size and class. 

The sales brochure from 1989 pretty much sums up the Hunter 43 Legend, noting it was designed to exceed the requirements of sailors searching for performance without sacrificing comfort.Schedule

 Clark Mills envisioned a trailerable boat that was easy to rig, simple to sail, and would draw just enough water to make it suitable for breezing across skinny water or spending the night in a gunkhole.ScheduleSchedule

 The 1975 sales brochure described the Westsail 28 as a world cruiser and the boat lived up to that promise. Although only 78 hulls were built, far fewer than the impressively popular Westsail 32, most of the small cruisers are still sailing the far-flung corners of the globe. 

 Sailors who admire the Baba 35 are quick to point out that the bluewater cruiser possesses both beauty and brawn. The full-keel, double-ended cutter was designed by naval architect Robert H. Perry. When it first splashed in 1979, the boat was dubbed the Flying Dutchman.

 Frank Butler had a dream. In July 1969, he designed and built the first Catalina 22 in North Hollywood, California. This petite, family-friendly cruising sloop was his fledgling company’s inau

 Charles “Charley” Morgan Jr. emerged as a top yacht designer and builder shortly after the 1960 launch of Paper Tiger, the 40-foot, fiberglass, centerboard yawl commissioned by New York yachtsman Jack Powell. 

 The J/24’s story reads like the script of a Disney movie. It’s 1975 and amateur boat designer Rod Johnstone is tinkering in the garage at the family’s Stonington, Connecticut, home. 

American yacht designer Doug Peterson gained the attention of the world’s most competitive sailors when he unveiled the one tonner Ganbare in 1973. The 35-foot sloop was innovative below the waterline, and it was praised for its looks and sailing capability. It went on to win the SORC. By 1976, Peterson had designed the Peterson 34, an offshore racer-cruiser.

When Tony Castro designed the Jeanneau Sunshine 38 in the early 1980s, many other naval architects had not yet caught up with the notion that sailors might want a comfortable cruising yacht that was a

The Alden 44 was designed in 1977 and has been turning heads ever since. This capable offshore racer-cruiser has made countless passages and won its fair share of hardware on the race course in its da