AL MASONFor over 60 years, Al's superb craftsmanship, meticulous attention to every detail, and the remarkable seaworthiness of his award-winning designs have deservedly earned Al a place of honor as one of the 20th century masters in the field of naval architecture. Acutely aware of how much pleasure Al's designs have given their owners over the years, his work continues to be available to those individuals who appreciate a quality design. Al preferred to design small boats (20-45 feet) that the average individual would have the means to build. Since he did all of his work by hand on a drafting board with india ink on linen paper and a slide rule for calculating, he often spent upwards of six months on an individual large design (35-65 feet). The smaller designs averaged about three months each. Al frequently mentioned that the greatest praise a yacht designer could receive was the absence of his designs on the resale market. To him, this indicated how pleased the owners were with his designs. Al noted that it was not at all unusual for people to have owned a particular design of his for ten, twenty, even thirty-plus years. In fact, many owners maintain meticulous provenances for these special members of the family, and participate in exclusive rendevous which continue to be held all over the world throughout the year for authentic A. Mason-designed boats.
Here are just a few of Al Mason's fine designs; just click on the thumbnail to see a complete description and/or more pictures of any individual boat.
