[1][4] George Owen was a professor at MIT's Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering between 1915 and 1941, designing more than 200 sailing boats and commercial ships.
[1][6] The design was also constructed in Canada, by Paceship Yachts of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, although they went out of business in 1981 and production had ceased by that time.
[1][3] The sixth version of the boat, marketed as the Turbo Tech, was drawn by Penn Edmonds during the early 1990s and is 100 lb (45 kg) lighter than the previous generation.
The sixth generation boats are made from infused vinylester over a Core-Cell foam core, with an inner carbon fiber skin, for improved durability.
It features a spooned raked stem, an over-vertical transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable, lever-controlled centerboard.