The Hughes 48, also sold as the North Star 48, is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a cruiser and first built in 1970.
[1][2][5][6] The design was built by Hughes Boat Works in Canada, starting in 1970, but it is now out of production.
[1][2][7][8] The Hughes 48 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim.
It has a centre cockpit, a masthead yawl rig; a raked stem; a raised counter, angled transom, a skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a wheel and a fixed, swept fin keel.
[1][2] The boat has a draft of 7.00 ft (2.13 m) with the standard keel and is fitted with an inboard engine for docking and manoeuvring.