Cal Yachts
Cal 29 Bluejacket in Berkeley YC, race on San Francisco Bay
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Formerly called
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Jensen Marine Corporation |
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| Founded | 1957 in Costa Mesa, California |
| Founder | Jack Jensen |
| Products | Performance oriented fiberglass sailboats and motor homes |
| Brands | Balboa motor homes, Cal Yachts |
Cal Yachts (aka Jensen Marine) was a manufacturer of performance oriented fiberglass sailboats from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Costa Mesa, California, headquartered company was founded in 1957, among the earliest of all-fiberglass, mass-production sailboat builders. Although the brand has been out of production for three decades, the existing fleet is still substantially active in racing and cruising.
Cal Yachts was originally named the Jensen Marine Corporation after the founder, Jack Jensen, a fiberglass boat builder. He sold his company to Bangor Punta Corporation in 1968. Jensen later produced Ranger sailboats and a line of molded fiberglass recreational vehicles called "Balboa".
Nearly 18,000 boats were built under the Cal brand name. There were many different models – the first of the ultra-light, production ocean racers, the Cal 40 was inspired by ocean racer George Griffith, of the Los Angeles Yacht Club. Following Griffith's initial design, the Cal 40 was developed by naval architect C. William "Bill" Lapworth. Griffith sought out Jack Jensen to build the first boat, Persephone, but had to guarantee the sale of ten boats, which was quickly accomplished, even before the first boat was out of the mold. Lofting was performed by Willis Boyd. A major undertaking for its time and radically different from other production racing sailboats with its fin keel separated from a spade rudder mounted well aft, the Cal 40 astonished the yachting community by Don Salisbury's Hull #3 "Psyche" winning first overall in the 1965 Transpac with Griffith aboard. The Cal40 continues to rack up an impressive string of ocean racing victories more than four decades after its initial launch, winning major competitions such as the Newport-Bermuda Race as recently as 2008. Among other ocean racing classics, Cal 40s still compete as a class in the Transpac from Los Angeles to Honolulu and in 2005 recorded 14 entries, more than any other production sailboat at any time in the century-long history of this, America's longest-running ocean yacht race.
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Wikipedia