Dragonera was Joel’s largest design when he began working on her drawings in spring of 1992. Client Bruce Stevens said he wanted a fast and easily-handled boat of about this size, and essentially left the other decisions to Joel. Dragonera benefited from Joel's recent trials and tribulations of having to prepare shop drawings for a couple of big sailing yachts the yard had built to plans of other designers- designers who hadn't done much thinking about streamlining the building process. Joel always brought a builder's perspective to whatever he drew, but he was especially determined to make Dragonera's construction as trouble-free and efficient as possible.

The drawings for the bulkheads, for example, specified where the plywood was to be scarfed, and occasional perspective sketches helped the workers better understand complex assemblies. Joel depicted items that needed special attention on sheet after sheet of detailed drawings.

Joel, his son Steve, and the boatyard crew built Dragonera in only about a year in spite of her size. With only the barest of sea trials, Dragonera set out for Bermuda where she encountered a fierce Gulf Stream gale that required heaving to under staysail and reefed mizzen for some twenty-one hours. That she came through undamaged except for a bent stern pulpit speaks volumes about her sound design and construction.

Written by Maynard Bray