[1][2][3] The design was built by the Clark Boat Company in Kent, Washington, United States from 1981 to 1982, but it is now out of production.
It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars, a raked stem, a reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel.
The boat is also equipped with a boom vang, an internal mainsail outhaul and an optional jib headfoil (a headsail airfoil-shaped reinforcement).
The standing rigging is of steel rod and there is an adjustable split backstay to shape the highly flexible mast.
[3] In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this San Juan is designed for racing, and accommodations are somewhat austere.