• Cotton Blossom II power reaching.. Photo © James Robinson Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
  • Jour de Fete to windward of Leonore. Photo © James Robinson Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
  • Cotton Blossom II. Photo © Douglas Cole. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to the Q Class Website


The Universal Rule of Measurement, introduced in 1904 saw the birth of the Class Q. It was the first class to get started, followed by others such as the J, M and R classes. From 1904 until 1937, at least 16 of these boats were built. While originally intended for sailing in the USA and Canada, leading designers worldwide (Charles E. Nicholson, Tore Holm, and Johan Anker) were retained to develop the lines for the Q Class.

After World War II, racing in the Q Class essentially ceased, as it did for many fine designs, and the boats were dispersed over a wide area, with many falling into severe disrepair. But by the 1990s, these great boats were being rediscovered. Some have been beautifully restored (such as Cotton Blossom II, now called by its original name Leonore), and Falcon II (now named Jour de Fete). Another wonderful old Q-boat, Robin, has been shipped to the yard of the same builder who restored Falcon II, and is available for restoration. Other Q-boats are still sailing.

With the dramatic growth in classic sailing around the world, it is now an ideal time to reintroduce the Q Class. We’ll urge you to sign up for our occasional news updates, and we invite you to restore or even build a new Q-boat. Most of all, we hope you enjoy this site and the wonderful boats represented on it. Thanks for joining us.

The Q Class Yachts Team.