Build Underway: New 95-foot Contemporary Classic Yacht by Langan Design Partners
After more than a year of collaborative and singular work, we’re thrilled to announce that construction has begun on our latest design—a 95-foot sailing yacht that’s both modern and classic. Today’s press release describes Project Ouzel in broad strokes and names the companies collaborating on the new yacht. You can inspect design renderings and photos […]
Minnehaha Wins Golden Globe with New Rig and Chainplates
Kirsten Neuschäfer, winner of the Golden Globe Race, adopted a conservative approach to keeping her mast in place for the solo race alone around the world. Langan Design Partners were pleased to help out. Last spring, a Cape George 36 named Minnehaha sailed into Les Sables d’Olonne, France, on a mere whisper of wind to […]
How effective is a centerboard on a classic yacht?
In naval architecture, intuition is tricky. Unless you’ve spent time digging into an issue, don’t take anything for granted! We were recently reminded of that after studying the effectiveness of the centerboard on the classic Olin Stephens design, Black Watch. After several seasons of getting hit with what felt like a very tough rating in […]
Spirit of Bermuda Sails Home Once Again
The Sail Training Vessel Spirit of Bermuda raced from Newport to Bermuda for the fourth time, finishing the 635-mile race in an elapsed time of 92 hours, 25 minutes, 9 seconds. As the sole entry in the Spirit of Tradition division, she crossed the starting line alongside the fishing schooner Colombia and both reveled in […]
SSV Tabor Boy: Two Generations of Inspiration
by Sam Howell. In 1978, I transferred to Tabor Academy for my final two years of high school. That brought me the unique opportunity of sailing on Tabor Boy, the school’s 92’ schooner. Originally built in 1914 as a Dutch North Sea pilot vessel, both hull and rigs were fabricated in steel. Forty years later, […]
STV Vela wins Antigua Classics Seaworthiness Award
Congratulations to STV Vela (LDP design #47), winner of the Arne Frisell Trophy for seaworthiness and timeless tradition at the 2022 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. We’re thrilled that hundreds of young adults will have transformative learning experiences while onboard, and so grateful to our friends at Seamester for their vision to build STV Argo (now […]
Bluenose II – Days away from sailing

From a design perspective, this project had its challenges: very few people still have the experience working with a such a large wood rudder, and most classification societies have long stopped adapting their rules to account for wood rudders for vessels of this size. For this new rudder, we approached ABS and asked that the […]
AXIA Competes in St. Barth Bucket Regatta This Week
The St. Barth Bucket Regatta kicks off this week and we are excited to see the 123-foot aluminum yacht AXIA competing. Two years ago the owners of AXIA hired Langan Design Partners to undertake an optimization review of Axia’s appendages, which turned into a major refit. From 2014 to 2015, we completed a series of […]
Snyder’s Shipyard Featured in South Shore Breaker
Great article in the South Shore Breaker featuring Snyder’s Shipyard and its legacy. We’re honored to be working with the shipyard on a new wooden rudder for the 161-foot schooner Bluenose II (rudder highlighted in the article).
Zing III is now sailing in Rio harbor
After a short commissioning period in Santos (Brazil), Zing III has made her way to her mooring and can be seen sailing in Rio harbor. Regularly topping 20 knots her canting keel gives her all the power she needs to blast out to the islands in record time. She is proving a blast to sail, […]