History

The Ajax 23 is a

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

designed by Oliver Lee in 1967. It is a 23 ft boat sailed by 3 people. The Ajax 23 is built out of GRP and built by Halmatic. Roughly 60 boats are in existence with 1 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

another in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and the rest split between sailing on the

River Orwell The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England from Ipswich to Felixstowe. Above Ipswich, the river is known as the River Gipping, but its name changes to the Orwell at Stoke Bridge, about half a mile below where the river beco ...

at Woolverstone near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

at the

Royal Harwich Yacht Club The Royal Harwich Yacht Club is a UK sports club for sailing and other waterborne leisure activities. History Founding and early history Annual regattas at Harwich providing racing events for both yachts and working boats had been organised ...

and in

St Mawes St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carri ...

, Cornwall.

National Championships

The National Championships for the Ajax Class take place in the summer each year, and are alternately hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club (racing taking place in Dovercourt Bay) and St Mawes Sailing Club (racing taking place in the

River Fal The River Fal () flows through Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordere ...

estuary). The National Championships at St Mawes generally precede Falmouth Week, which also includes class racing for Ajaxes.Yachts and Yachting Magazine coverage of Ajax Racing at Falmouth Week 2021
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Related Designs

* The Ajax is similar to the, smaller and more numerous, Squib which Oliver Lee later designed. *

Achilles 24 The Achilles 24 is a British sailboat that was designed by Oliver Lee and Chris Butler as a cruiser-racer and first built in 1968.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 154-155. Houghton M ...

Is a small cruising yacht based on the Ajax. This was designed by Oliver Lee and Chris Butler as a cruiser-racer.

References

{{reflist, 33em

External links

Royal Harwich Yacht Club Official Site

St Mawes Sailing Club Official Site

Ajax Class Association Web Site
Keelboats 1960s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Oliver Lee