International One Design

Description

The International One Design (IOD or “Inter”) is a 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m) classic one-design keelboat commissioned in 1936 by Cornelius Shields Sr. specifically to bring big-boat thrills and strict one-design racing to private owners at a reasonable cost, using the lines of Sigurd Herbern’s revolutionary Norwegian 6-Metre “Saga” as the starting point and adapting them into a Bermuda-rigged sloop with long overhangs, low freeboard, and a full keel drawing 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m). Built to exacting standards—originally in mahogany planking on oak frames (1936–1960s), later in cold-molded wood/epoxy and finally fiberglass (approved 2008)—every IOD is required to weigh exactly 7,100 lb. (3,221 kg) with 4,400 lb. of lead ballast, carrying about 436 ft² (40.5 m²) of sail on a tall wooden or aluminum spar. Crewed by 4–6 (often 5), the boat is famous for its exquisite balance, fingertip helm, and ability to plane downwind in 15+ knots while still pointing remarkably high upwind. Only about 200 hulls have ever been built, yet the class remains one of the most active and competitive classic fleets in the world, with strong centers in Northeast USA (Northeast Harbor ME, Fishers Island NY, Marblehead MA, Long Island Sound), Bermuda (where the class originated the famous King Edward VII Gold Cup match-racing event), Norway, Sweden, San Francisco, and the UK. Supported by the tightly run World Class Association (iodwca.com) that still mandates annual weighing and measurement, the IOD continues to deliver champagne sailing and some of the closest racing on the planet nearly 90 years after its launch—often described as “the most beautiful one-design ever drawn.”