Restoring Dragons – the Rules
Class Rules and Plans as well as the Measurement Form are available for download on the IDA website. If you’re doing a restoration and want your Dragon to be officially registered with the Class you will need to comply with the Class Rules and get a measurement certificate from your national organization. This is only necessary if you plan to race your Dragon in official regattas, but is highly recommended to confirm the market value of your Dragon. Measurement consists of a large number of specific measurements of the deck, hull, mast and rigging, a number of specific weight measurements including weight distribution and hull shape measurements (compliance to a template at various stations). The Dragon Class maintains one of the strictest set of measurements in one design racing, which is one of the reasons you still see restored old Dragons competing successfully at the national level. The IDA has recently updated their rules for Classic Dragons which explains the rules for restoring older Dragons.
Recent Restorations
Restoration of Mistral CAN118
Restoration of Hubris USA144 – Wooden Boat Magazine July/August 2014
USA2 Singoalla – 1947 Geruldson restored by East Passage Boatwrights, RI
Pedersen & Thuesen Website – a number of European restorations
Resources
BDA Classic Boats – Information on restoration of wooden dragons. There are a couple of links to good articles as well as some email links for people who are willing to correspond on questions about restoring wooden dragons.
Boatbuilders Specializing in Restorations
Woodwind Yachts in Ontario has a good description of restoring Chimaera.
Pictures of the restoration of Argo III are also available. Argo III is a 1958 Boressen that was originally at the Royal St. Lawrence YC in Montreal, then RCYC in Toronto, then BYC in Ottawa. The Canadian entrant in the 72 Olympics used Argo III to qualify. She was recently restored by Woodwind Yachts and is again in Toronto.
Kraus Craven Boatbuilding in California did the restoration on USA312
Center for Wooden Boats, Seattle – good contacts if you’re restoring a wooden Dragon.
East Passage Boatwrights restored Singoalla, USA2 recently and has a number of good photos on their site.
Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding – offers workshops and programs in wooden boatbuilding.
Rigging
Seaview Boat Yard in WA has done work on some of the local Dragons.
Finishing
native brightworks in WA specializes in quality wood finishes and restorations