Deceased , Historic

Carl

Alberg

1901 - 1986

The following was excerpted from albergsailboats.org:

Carl A. Alberg was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1900. He was one of the most prolific yacht designers of the 20th century, with at least 56 designs to his name.
Alberg’s career coincided with the newly developing fiberglass boat-building techniques beginning in the late 1950s, and the founding of Pearson Yachts, one of the pioneers in the field. Thousands of boats designed by Alberg were built by Pearson and others, and most are still sailing to this day. Among his most well-known designs are the Pearson and Aeromarine Triton, Bristol 27, Pearson Ariel, Commander, Ensign, Alberg 30, Alberg 35, Alberg 37 and many of the Cape Dory designs.
The vast majority of his designs were built in the U.S. where he spent most of his life. He was adamant about what he considered a good, safe design and resisted the trends toward fin keels, spade rudders and flat bottoms. His designs are typically recognizable with long, graceful overhangs, low-slung sheerlines, narrow beam and sweeping full keels that are cutaway in the forefoot, designed to the CCA rules of the 1960s. It has been said that Alberg had but one boat design and simply scaled it up or down as needed.
Andrew Vavolitis of Cape Dory Yachts said, “I always asked Carl to design me the beamiest and shallowest boat possible. Then he’d go away and what he came back with was what we used. Of course, it was never as beamy or as shallow as we liked. He never compromised his design principles.”
Carl passed away on August 31, 1986 at his home in Marblehead Massachusetts. His 56 designs resulted in over 10,000 boats. This site is dedicated to Carl Alberg and the graceful, sea-kindly boats the “stubborn Swede” designed that have brought generations of sailors so much enjoyment.
Carl Alberg’s yacht plans and drawings are now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

Anecdote

The following was excerpted from Sailing, published in February, 1984:

Describing his design philosophy Alberg remarked, “Contrasted to the modern IOR boats where you have six gorillas sitting on the weather rail with their feet hanging outside trying to keep the boat upright, my boats are strictly family-cruising boats. In all my designs I go for comfortable accommodations and a boat you can sail upright without scaring the life out of your family or friends. I gave them a good long keel, plenty of displacement and beam, and a fair amount of sail area so they can move.”

List of Alberg Designed Sailboats

1935 Malabar Jr. (1939)
1938 Coastwise Cruiser
1946 US One-Design
1946 Hinckley 21
1955 Sea Sprite 23 (Daysailor)
1955 Sea Sprite 23 (Weekender)
1958 Pearson Triton 28
1959 Alberg Odyssey 30
1960 Pearson Electra
1961 Alberg 35
1962 Pearson Ariel 26
1962 Alberg 30
1962 Pearson Ensign
1963 Douglas 22
1963 North American 22
1965 Pearson Commander 26
1965 South Coast 21
1965 South Coast 23
1966 Bristol 27
1966 Bristol 19 (Sailstar Corinthian 19)
1966 Corinthian 19 (Sailstar)
1966 Hawk 16 (Pearson)
1967 Typhoon 18 (Weekender)
1967 Alberg 37
1968 South Coast 22
1970 Alberg 22
1970 Alberg 23
1972 Kittiwake 23
1975 Cape Dory 28
1976 Cape Dory 30
1976 Alberg 29
1976 Cape Dory 30 Ketch
1977 Typhoon 18 (Daysailer)
1977 Cape Dory 27
1978 Cape Dory 36
1978 Eclipse 6.7 (Southcoast)
1978 Northbridge Eclipse (Southcoast)
1980 Cape Dory 33
1981 Cape Dory 22
1981 Cape Dory 25D
1982 Cape Dory 45
1983 Cape Dory 31
1984 Cape Dory 40
1984 Typhoon Sr (Cape Dory)
1984 Alberg 34
1984 Cape Dory 26
1985 Cape Dory 330
1986 Cape Dory 32
1992 Robinhood 36
1996 Robinhood 40

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