The R-Class Racing Sloop Directory

About R-Class Yachts

The R-Class yacht design is based on the Universal Rule and was popular during the 1920's. Over the last decade many R's that were thought to have been lost have reemerged out of workshops all over North America looking as good as new.

Two predominant styles of restoration are evident: classic restorations with wooden spars and booms and "classic" sails, and the racing restoration with self tailing winches, aluminum masts, and modern sails.

Racing Fleets

There are currently 4 main fleets of R's actively racing:

The West Coast - Featuring boats like Lady Van and active restoration programs.

Lake Erie - A dedicated fleet maintaining the racing tradition.

Lake Ontario - Home to the annual LYRA regatta and the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup.

New England - Continuing the East Coast sailing heritage.

Our Mission

This website is an attempt to have a central database which lists all the currently active R's and to help those who are interested in restoring an R locate the remaining boats.

If you have information about an R-Boat that is sailing at your club or is sitting disused in a barn, back yard, garage, field or parking lot, please feel free to contribute what information you may have.

Each boat has a detail page with pictures, notes and comments. You can click on the name of a boat in the directory to visit the detail page.

The R-Class Rule

The R-Class rule was known as the 20 footer, for boats measuring into the universal rule below a total rule measurement of 20' where all measurements were in feet and pounds.

On Lake Ontario, the Lake Ontario R-Class association developed their own updated version of their local rule. This version is used to measure in boats on the lake for the many annual regattas where they race level.

The highlight being the annual LYRA regatta where the R's have perpetually raced for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup since it was deeded to the class in 1926.

📄 Lake Ontario R-Class Rule (Updated 2013)

There is demand among owners to develop a revised version of the rule that might apply to boats from all over which would offer an opportunity to organize racing with more of these lovely boats.