Dear Joan,

Thank you for your letter. Unfortunately I have no experience of the Orm boat myself. I got aware of it when visiting the Stockholm Boat Fair in February. It appealed to me by its simplicity, its reasonable price and its ingenious system of reefing.

I am also a strong believer in the standing lug rig, which I have used myself for the last ten years. For comparison I enclose some pictures of my own ship, 15’ x 4’ 4” — 200 lbs, which is propelled mainly by standing lug, alternatively oars when the wind fails. Instead of rudder an oar is used for steering and there is no centreboard. On the same hull I have also tested a gunter lug sail and a Polynesian crab-claw sail. The areas of the different sails vary between 35 and 45 square feet.

I must admit responsibility for giving the Orm people the DCA addresses; in my momentary enthusiasm my first thought was to propagate the interesting design concept to my fellow members. For any inconvenience for you as a consequence of my rash acting I apologise.

I hope that your Greek sailings were agreeable, and I can read all about them later on in the Bulletin. Nils Ruberg