Pearson 26/26OD History at AYC, the Road to One-Design

As far as I can tell, Dr. Byron Kocen was the first P26 skipper at the Austin Yacht Club. At the time he raced his boat in a handicap system called MORC (Midget Ocean Racing Club) which was based on measurement similar to IOR (International Ocean Racing). In the late seventies MORC was replaced by PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet) Under MORC, designers were able to take advantage of the rules and create “Rule Beaters”. PHRF seemed fairer since it was based on the actual performance of each boat. During that period, most of the boats were called Racer/Cruisers, as were the P26s. One could take the family on an over night cruise on Saturday and race it on Sunday. The Pearson 26 remains as one of the last true Racer/Cruisers. John Vance sailed his Pearson to many victories in the eighties and even won a series without flying a spinnaker against spinnaker boats. He was the main reason that I bought a Pearson.

Throughout the eighties and nineties, more and more P26s showed up at AYC and the idea of forming a one-design fleet arose. The idea being whoever crossed the finish line first, won with no handicap adjustments required. By the late 2000s, the idea seemed within reach, but we needed the commitment and skill to run race committees as part of the fleet rotations for series races. Luckily we had Dave Weeks, a veteran of the PRC, to serve as Fleet PRO.

In 2018, I attended the U.S. Sailing Symposium in Florida and while there, sought out experts in the area of one-design sailing. Gary Jobson and Dave Perry were very gracious with their time and offered sage advise as to how to go about forming the fleet. Later on I sought advice from Dick Tillman and Farley Fontenot .

They all offered three “must dos” to be successful:

1 Have strict rules (no mylar sails)

2 Help the inexperienced sailors improve and keep the pecking order fluid

3 Never introduce handicap adjustments (keep true one-design)

Stick with these guidelines or the fleet will fall apart!

Now we have twenty two boats in the fleet. Our experiment into one-design racing has survived and the future looks good!