by William Atkin
"Mabel" is a famous little boat. As RUDDER magazine's Lark has become a classic in cat boat design, little Mabel has become a classic in small flat-bottom dinghy design. Her plans have been published the world over. They were first shown to the boating public in MOTOR BOAT magazine, affectionately known as the old green sheet, when Billy Atkin was doing a series of designs for that paper, some twenty-four years ago. Later these
appeared in the well-loved magazine FORE AN' AFT with an article in connection with her building by Mr. Weston Farmer. Later "Mabel" showed up in a book published in 1937 entitled MOTOR BOATS written by William Atkin. And recently, while at the National Sportsman's Show, Mr. Al Mason showed me plans of "Mabel" in a current copy of a Norwegian yachting paper he had with him. It is evident that "Mabel" is a famous little boat. This little dinghy was designed by William Atkin, in the Mizzentop at Huntington, New York, in October, 1924. She is just as "cocky" and practical today as she was twenty-eight years ago. There have been many, many sets of blueprints of "Mabel" sold and sent out to all parts of the United States, to the Philippine Islands, England, Germany, Australia, Holland, and to far off India and China. And, during the years past, many letters with photographs enclosed have come back to the office of Atkin & Co. praising the performance of the little boat. So, it may not be amiss to show the drawings of "Mabel" once again, accompanied by photographs of a very recent edition that was built in the Dinghy Shed behind the office of Anchordown. Mr. Farmer wrote, "You might call "Mabel" a toy if you didn't know her capabilities. You could call her a little work boat or just a son of a gun of a good dinghy, and she would be aptly sufficiently described".
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