Moore 24
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The Moore 24 is a type of sailboat.
Designed by Santa Cruz, California surfer/sailor, George Olson, it is one of the first ultralight displacement sailboats, or ULDBs entering production in 1972. This design, along with the Santa Cruz 27 and Olson 30 changed the world of performance sailing with their breakaway downwind speed. Well-founded rumor has it that George Olson was going to abandon the mold to the prototype Moore 24, Grendel, with a wild ride down a hill (in the mold of course) when it was rescued by Ron Moore and put into production. To improve on the sailing characteristics of Grendel, Moore used jacks to pry apart the original narrow-beam hull tooling, increasing the maximum beam by about one foot to 6'8". This resulted in the characteristic asymmetry of the Moore 24, where one half of the boat is about 2 1/2" wider than the other. Despite this irregularity, Moore 24s appear to sail similarly on each tack.
This fiberglass sloop is used primarily for racing and fast daysailing. In the late 70's, a Moore 24 was sailed by a couple from California to Hawaii, thus demonstrating its seaworthiness. In the 1980 Singlehanded Transpac, three yellow Moore 24s were entered in the biennial race from San Francisco to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii, sailed by Lester Robertson, Bob Boyes, and Chuck Hawley. It is said that, under the right set of conditions, a Moore 24 could beat a Transpac 52 to Hawaii, although that set of conditions ranks 3 standard deviations away from the mean.
Construction
The Moore 24 is constructed of vacuum-bagged fiberglass and balsa composite hull and deck structure with a Bruynzeel plywood interior. Of particular interest is the main bulkhead, which has a circular passage allowing access to the forepeak. The original hulls were partially cored in the bow and aft central portion of the hull. Later models had a complete balsa-cored hull. There are two quarterberths aft, and the forepeak can be outfitted with cushions to create a small double berth. The keel is constructed out of 1,050# of lead, covered in resin and gelcoat, producing an appendage that flows seamlessly from the hull. While bolted in place, the keel is not easily removed. The rudder is a fiberglass and foam sandwich with an aluminum rudder shaft. The precision of the finishing of the rudder and keel is a testament to the skill with which these boats were built.
The hull has a few design themes which make it stand out in appearance. The bow has a slight hollow, and the side view shows a reversed sheerline which maximizes interior space (such as it is). The original version had a flush deck with a small footwell for a cockpit with no coamings or seatbacks. In the late 80s a "Sport" model was introduced with a low-profile wedge deck. Four Sport models were purchased by the UCSC Sailing Program as one-design trainers.
The aluminum mast has a single set of spreaders, and is supported by 1x19 standing rigging. Originally the boats had double lower shrouds, but many have been converted to single lowers to allow the mast to bend more when racing. The rig is described as 15/16ths, meaning that the jibstay attaches about 18" below the masthead. This increases the power of the adjustable backstay to control the bend of the mast, and therefore the fullness of the mainsail. While the mast and boom were sourced from a number of companies, most of the later boats had spars from Ballenger Spars[1], a local sparbuilder.
Approximately 160 Moore 24s have been built.
The Express 27 was greatly influenced by the Moore 24.
The Moore has won the Pacific Cup a race from San Francisco to Hawaii, as well as being a class and or division winner multiple times.
