Builders

Over 300 boatbuilders have tried their hand at the Dragon, principally in its earlier, wooden, days. Some only built one Dragon but several built 100s and many built dozens. The list below contains the most prominent builders. Click on the links for more information. If you want more, take a look at Mikko’s List which contains all known builders.

The class owes a particular debt to Borge Børresen, who managed the construction transition from wood to GRP immaculately so that both constructions competed, and still do, on equal terms. Other builders who were particularly successful internationally with wooden boats include Anker & Jensen, Pedersen & Thuesen,  Abeking & Rasmussen, Bjarne Aas and Savell. Since the introduction of GRP construction Petticrows have taken the lead from Borresen as the major builder in the class, followed by others such as Doomernik and Vejle Yacht Services. During the 1980s Peter Wilson also built a number of GRP boats in the UK. The competition among  builders, sailmakers and sailors has meant that equipment has been continuously improved so that a modern Dragon is now one of the most sophisticated racing boats to be found.

Things to Explore

The Finnish Dragon sailor Mikko Jaatinen obtained yacht registers from as many national class associations as possible and carefully entered the shipyards and boats. As he explained to us later, the winters in Finland are long and dark and such work is just the right thing to shorten the waiting time for the next season. The list may not be entirely complete or 100% correct, but we don’t want to withhold it from our readers. Dubious or unverifiable entries are marked with a “?”. So, there is still a wide field of activity for dragon researchers. If you have feedback, let us know.

An article published in the 2021 German language Dragon magazine (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary).

An article published in the 2014 British Dragon Association yearbook.

Prominent Dragon Builders

Dragon Builder	Location	Years Active	Dragons Built
Abeking & Rasmussen	Lemwerder Bremen, Germany	1934-1971	148
Anker & Jensen	Vollen Asker, Norway	1930-1953	69
Barnett	Sydney, Australia	1958-1965	24
Bjarne Aas	Fredrikstad, Østfold, Norway	1939-1968	62
Bonnin	Arcachon, France	1950-68	74
Børresen	Vejle, Denmark	1935-present	760
Brites	Lisbon (Santos), Portugal	1949-1963	19
Camper & Nicholsons	Gosport, UK	1947-1959	21
Chang	Hong Kong	1985-1995	31
Glas	Possenhofen, Germany	1967-present	216
Godsil/Miller	Seattle WA, USA	1974-1978	16
Johansson	Goteborg, Sweden	1928-1948	32
Kolbjørnsvik	Arendal, Norway	1931-1962	31
Lallow	Cowes, UK	1949-1969	21
McGruer	Clynder, Scotland	1936-1951	46
Müller	Spiez Thurensee, Switzerland	1946-1962	24
Pedersen & Thuesen	Bramdrupdam, Denmark	1952-1970	62
Petticrows UK	Burnham-on-Crouch, UK	1988-2021	800+
Petticrows POR	Cascais, Portugal	2021-present
Roland	Kristiansand, Norway	1937-1951	47
Savell	San Diego CA, USA	1963-1968	13
Spocé Enterprises	Rochester NY, USA	1978-1981	9
St. Georges	Aldeburgh, UK	1978-1994	45
Van De Stadt	Zaandam, Netherlands	1935-1961	35
Westermoens	Westermoens, Norway	1951-1952	14
Woodnutt	Isle of Wight, UK	1938-1959	19
Wirz	Steinach Bodensee, Switzerland	1961-1983	69