Luders 16 by A. E. Luders

The Luders 16 is the smallest of a series of yachts designed by “Bill” Luders, in which beauty was one of the primary design objectives.  Created a bit later than many of the designs on this site, she has a definite air of modernity about her, with her steeply angled, shapely ends, relatively high freeboard, distinctive cabin trunk, and rounded transom.

Small and light for this general shape, she has a delicacy of appearance that we find very appealing. Her relatively high freeboard gives her cockpit a little more depth and her cabin a little more headroom than one might expect in a boat of this size. You sit down inside the boat and have a clear passage into the cabin, which gives a great feeling of security. The boats customarily carry a pair of pipe berths in the cabin, over a small bench on either side. Sitting on the benches one has sitting headroom under the side decks, which is very rare in a boat of this size and type, and is a great addition to her comfort and utility.

Deeply V’d sections mean she will have the best possible motion going to windward in a chop, and will not pound. These characteristics will make her faster, drier, and more comfortable sailing to windward in those conditions, compared to many other boats.

The L16 started life as a more conventional plank on frame boat, and was modified into its current form when it became one of the first keel sailboats to be built using “hot molded” plywood construction, differing from cold molded construction only in the use of earlier glues, which required heat to cure. Our version would be cold-molded using epoxy glue, and would (unless otherwise agreed) follow current racing practice in the use of aluminum spars and tasteful modern hardware. The interior of this boat is frameless, and thus very smooth and easy to clean and maintain. Most owners would want the interior to be finished bright, which we think would be a warm and rather stunning look much in keeping with the style of the boat. Maintenance characteristics would be very favorable, and we would predict a very long lifespan for the structure.

L16s are still raced in Northeast Harbor, Maine, and in Chicago.

Fast, pretty, nimble, easy to handle, useful as a small cruising boat, and requiring little strength to sail, an L16 would be a delightful and versatile boat.