[1][3][4] The design was built by Continental Plastics in Costa Mesa, California, United States, starting in 1958, but is now out of production.
It has a fractional sloop rig, a spooned raked stem, an angled transom, a keel-mounted rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed modified long keel, with a cut-away forefoot.
Cabin headroom is 60 in (152 cm) and the fresh water tank has a capacity of 10 U.S. gallons (38 L; 8.3 imp gal).
[3] Sixteen year old Robin Lee Graham sailed a used Lapworth 24, named Dove west from California in July 1965, reaching Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands in November 1968 before switching to a Luders 33 to complete the circumnavigation in 1970.
His adventures became regular features in National Geographic Magazine and Graham later wrote a bestselling book about the voyage, entitled Dove.