The San Juan 24

A fast Quarter-Tonner that can still compete in PHRF, but numerous problems with construction quality would steer us elsewhere.

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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Clark Boat Co. jumped on the trailer sailer bandwagon, and became a successful player in this decade-long market. Earlier, Bob and Carol Clark built Lightnings and ThistIes, and later, with the business in the hands of their son Don, the company built boats as large as 34 feet. The last boats came out of the shop in 1986, the year the company went out of business.

While the San Juan 21 trailer sailer really established the Clark Boat Co., it was the more performance-oriented boats such as the San Juan 24 and 7.7 that gave it the reputation of a successful builder of faster, under-3D-foot boats.

Darrell Nicholson
Darrell Nicholson is editor emeritus of Practical Sailor. He is a longtime liveaboard sailor and has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans. A winner of dozens of writing awards in disparate genres, he currently edits Marine Electronics Journal for the National Marine Electronics Association. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license and sails his S&S-designed Yankee 30, Opal, out of St. Petersburg, Florida. He can be reached at darrellnicholson.com.

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