The Riptide 35 was my first design for Jonathan and Libby McKee of Seattle.  The concept for the 35 was conceived by Jonathan during a long and uncomfortable distance race on an ultralight 50 footer.  He realized that a high percentage of the sailors on board were there purely as human ballast.  His design brief was for a high performance racer/cruiser capable of blistering speed on the race course (Jonathan is an Olympic gold medalist in the FD class and a silver medalist in the 49er class).  The boat was intended to be sailed only by the number of people required to handle the boat.  In addition the boat also needed to have reasonable accommodations for family cruising with standing headroom, galley and enclosed head.  She is capable of being sailed to a large percentage of her potential with a crew of two or three persons.   Both Riptide 35s raced in the ’98 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii with crews of four and placed 1st and 2nd in class, beating all but one (turboed) Santa Cruz 50 over the line.

-Paul

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