Charles William Lapworth (12 December 1919 – 3 April 2006) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Architecture, Occupations ...
who designed a large number of
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
s, many of them for
Cal Yachts. He was active as a designer from the early 1950s until the 1980s. Described as "one of the foremost West Coast naval architects in the post-World War II period", he has been nominated to the US
National Sailing Hall of Fame The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating i ...
.
Early life
Born on 12 December 1919 in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
. He went to the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, completing a degree in
marine engineering and naval architecture. He went on to serve in the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as an officer in the bureau of ships at
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
. He later served at naval repair base at
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
.
Professional life
After the war Lapworth moved to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and became partners in a yacht design business with Merle Davis in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In less than a year Davis had died, leaving Lapworth to run the business alone. He earned some income by doing
marine surveyor work.
He soon progressed to sailboat design work, drawing new rigs to update some west coast racing sailboats. He designed new rigs for the sloop ''Patolita'', later renamed ''Serious II''. He also designed the conversion of the
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Morningstar'' to a
ketch rig and the schooner ''Queen Mab'', which was converted to a
staysail
A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose Sail components#Edges, luff can be affixed to a stays (nautical), stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast (sailing), mast to the deck (ship), deck, the b ...
schooner.
Lapworth also competed as a racing
sailor
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
The profession of the s ...
, sailing
International 14s. He completed in the class championships in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
in 1948 and in
Montreal, Quebec in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in 1949.
He created a series of custom boat designs for light displacement
racers that quickly developed a reputation for winning races, or at least placing highly in them. His early boats included ''Flying Scotsman'' and ''Nalu II'', a boat that won the
Transpacific Yacht Race Class C four times and overall once, in 1958. He designed the second-place overall Transpacific winner in 1961, named ''Ichiban'', a sloop. By 1958, 70 of his wooden
Lapworth 36 design had been produced, but the age of wooden sailboats was at its end.
The new material to construct boats from was now
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
and Lapworth started drawing boats taking advantage of its strength and lightness. His skills attracted the attention of Jack Jensen of
Jensen Marine
Cal Yachts (also known as Jensen Marine and Cal Boats) 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 ...
, who walked into Lapworth's office and asked him to design a new line of fiberglass sailboats. The deal was closed with just a handshake and became one of the longest and most successful commercial sailboat building relationships, lasting until after Jensen died in 1980.
Lapworth's first design was a sloop. Jensen had intended to call it the ''Lapworth 24'', but Lapworth had previously designed a boat with that designation for another customer and so they decided to call it the
Cal 24
The Cal 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) racer and first built in 1958.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 278. Internatio ...
(for California) and the line became the
Cal Yachts brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of Jensen Marine. The most successful was the
Cal 20
The Cal 20 is an American sailboat, that was designed by C. William Lapworth and first built in 1961.
Production
The boat was built by Cal Yachts in the United States from 1961 to 1975, but it is now out of production.
The Cal 20 was seen by ...
, of which more than 1,900 were built.
His 1963
Cal 40 design was noted for its speed and race-winning history.
Personal life
Lapworth married his wife, Peggy, in 1966 and at the time of his death they had been married for 40 years. They had five children, Barbara Burman Rolph, Charles William Lapworth III, Robert Lapworth, Jr., Susan Cohl and Kim Sorenson. They also had five grandchildren.
Lapworth's favourite of his own designs was the
Cal Cruising 46 and he owned and sailed one for many years.
His
obituary
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
noted his sailing skills, stating, "as a shipmate Bill was absolutely tops to sail with; a consummate helmsman and extremely valuable tactician; always sought as a crew on major races. He also sailed on boats not of his own design, providing these most useful characteristics to their owners. His designs gave him a primacy never before achieved by a naval architect as yet on the west coast. His calm demeanor was a most recognized characteristic and his evenhanded nature fostered only the best in his fellow sailors."
Death
Lapworth died on 3 April 2006 at age 86 and was
buried at sea
Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries.
Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many different location ...
on 7 April 2006 from the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, in
Balboa, California
The Balboa Peninsula (also referred to as "Balboa" or "the Peninsula") is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named after Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific ...
.
Boat designs

Lapworth designed a large number of sailboats, many of them for Cal Yachts:
*
Lapworth 32
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...
- 1951
*
Lapworth 26 - 1953
*
Cal 24
The Cal 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) racer and first built in 1958.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 278. Internatio ...
- 1958
*
Gladiator 24 - 1958
*
Lapworth 24 - 1958
*
Lapworth 39 - 1959
*
Lapworth 40
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...
- 1960
*
Metcalf - 1960
*
Cal 20
The Cal 20 is an American sailboat, that was designed by C. William Lapworth and first built in 1961.
Production
The boat was built by Cal Yachts in the United States from 1961 to 1975, but it is now out of production.
The Cal 20 was seen by ...
- 1961
*
Cal 30 - 1961
*
Islander 44 - 1962
*
Lapworth 50 - 1962
*
Cal 28
The Cal 28 is an American sailboat, that was designed by C. William Lapworth and first built in 1963. It was originally marketed as the California 28.
Production
The boat was built by Cal Yachts in the United States between 1963 and 1969, but ...
- 1963
*
Cal 40 - 1963
*
Endeavor 26 - 1963
*
Cal 25 - 1965
*
Newport 16
The Newport 16 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Bill Lapworth as a daysailer and a pocket cruiser and first built in 1965.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 33 and 47. International M ...
- 1965
*
Cal 48 - 1966
*
Cal 2-24 - 1967
*
Cal Cruising 46 - 1967
*
Cal Cruising 36 - 1968
*
Cal 29 - 1968
*
Cal 34 Cal or CAL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty
* "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov
* ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...
- 1968
*
Cal 2-30 - 1968
*
Cal 21
The Cal 21 is an American Trailer sailer, trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a Cruising (maritime), cruiser and first built in 1969.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 90. Interna ...
- 1969
*
Crown 23 - 1969
*
Cal 39 - 1970
*
Calgan 23 - 1970
*
Lapworth 48 - 1970
*
Cal 27
The Cal 27 is an American sailboat, that was designed by William Lapworth and first built in 1971.
Production
The boat was built by Jensen Marine in the United States, who completed 306 examples between 1971 and 1974. It is now out of product ...
- 1971
*
Cal 33 Cal or CAL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty
* "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov
* ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...
- 1971
*
Cal 43 - 1971
*
Cal T/4 - 1971
*
Cal 2-46 - 1971
*
Cal T/2 - 1972
*
Cal 35 Cruise - 1973
*
Cal 3-30 - 1973
*
Cal 2-27 - 1974
*
Cal 2-29
The Cal 29 is an American sailboat, that was designed by William Lapworth and first built in 1971.
A special cruising version was designated as the Cal 2-29.
Production
The boat was built by Cal Yachts in the United States, between 1971 and 1 ...
- 1974
*
Cal 3-46 - 1975
*
Cal 2-34 - 1975
*
Crown 28 - 1976
*
Cal 2-25 - 1977
*
Cal 34-III - 1977
*
Cal 39 Mark II - 1978
*
Cal 31 Cal or CAL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty
* "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov
* ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...
- 1979
*
Cal 35 - 1979
*
Martinique 25 - 1979
*
Neptune 16
The Newport 16 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Bill Lapworth as a daysailer and a pocket cruiser and first built in 1965.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 33 and 47. International ...
- 1981
*
Cal 39 Mark III - 1983
*
Cal 3-27 - 1983
*
Phoenix 12 - 1983
*
Gloucester 16 - 1986
See also
*
List of sailboat designers and manufacturers
This is a list of notable sailboat designers and manufacturers, which are described by an article in English Wikipedia. Sailboat design and manufacturing is done by a number of companies and groups.
Notable designers
Sailboat designer articles i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapworth, Bill
1919 births
2006 deaths
American naval architects
Architects from Detroit
Military personnel from Detroit
University of Michigan alumni
Bill Lapworth