Yak

Design 1479 Alembic

I very much wish we had an image of this attractive cutter. According to the designers comments she was designed for optimum upwind ability. She was built of wood by Chapman & Kalayjian of Costa Mesa, California and launched in 1960. It is interesting that she is strip planked.

Designed for a chemical researcher, her name is unique. The word alembic is today almost obsolete. It is an ancient device used for distillation. Apparently a logo representing an Alembic was placed on the mainsail and a plaque as follows was affixed to the main bulkhead: Alembics were tools of the alchemists of early days used to derive essences of material things like flowers or spirits of wines and in like way this ship Alembic will now serve to develop the spirit of man and sea.


Someone made the following sketch in the technical files, which is a facsimile of the logo used on the sail.


Here is the general arrangement plan.


Here's an early article about the design.