Description

Alera is the lead boat of the first one-design class designed for the new Universal Rule of yacht measurement, commissioned by the NYYC and devised by NGH. A one-design class is a series of boats that are built to be identical to allow racing without the need for handicapping time allowances. Many yachting historians consider the NYYC 30s to be the most successful one-design class of all time. Twelve of the 18 still exist and most are still sailing, including Alera.

The production speed of this class of 18 boats was astonishing. Alera was built in 35 days and each of the following 17 were completed in succeeding one week intervals. This speed was made possible by the HMCo system, evolved years earlier, of designing interchangeable parts that could fit on future boats, especially one-design boats. In this case, HMCo had three hulls being built over molds while other components, such as deckhouses, spars, hardware and sails, were being fabricated by other craftsmen.

Within ten years of their first one-design, HMCo had honed a system of design and construction that was approaching mass-production, in an industry dominated by custom work. This speedy construction is especially amazing when considering that HMCo was simultaneously building at least six other significantly larger vessels that were mostly custom designs. In a little over one year, about 300 workers completed 27 boats from 43' to 111'.