Lines drawing
Designer
Ben Lexcen
(1936 - 1988)
Date1936-1988
Object numberANMS1543[375]
NameDrawing
MediumPencil on tracing paper
DimensionsOverall: 760 x 705
Copyright© Ben Lexcen
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionA Ben Lexcen working drawing of a high-aspect ballast keel for use on a small sailing yacht or boat.
HistoryMany of the world’s top yacht designers still begin a new project by sketching out their ideas on paper. They use either plain drawing paper, a scaled ruler and perhaps traditional drawing curves, or scaled grid paper. By 1983, Ben Lexcen had been designing successful racing boats and yachts for almost twenty-five-years. Using traditional graph, or grid paper was a familiar tool, so this design concept for a high-aspect ballast keel, using this medium, would have been normal practice for him. Scaled grid paper can be ‘Millimetre Paper’, which has ten squares per centimetre, or Engineering Paper, which is usually green, and has four, five or ten squares per inch. The top left-hand corner of this work shows the name CLEARPOINT, in reversed text, (so on the back). This is the name of the paper Ben Lexcen was using at the time.
The overall shape of the ballast keel, with the highest volume at the bottom, suggests this work was made after 1983 and the success of his inverted ballast keel on the Australian winner of the America’s Cup AUSTRALIA II. With a height of 4.7-feet (1.43metre), a width of 17.5 inches (0.44m) at the top and 25.25 inches (0.64m) at the bottom, suggests this is for a small yacht or racing boat.
The leading edge of the keel has a slight angle, making the foot forward from the top. The trailing edge shows a more distinctive angle, but overall, the designer was clearly looking for the best shape keel, with maximum lift and lowest drag, for the yacht. It may be for new yacht, or an upgrade for an earlier yacht or racing boat, already in service.SignificanceThe preliminary design work, carried out by Ben Lexcen throughout his career, was often done on scaled grid paper. It is a quick and easy way to do early work, which would later be used for the final working drawings. This small, high-aspect ballast keel, is a typical example of his project work. It is not known what yacht or racing boat this keel was intended for, but may have been one of several he designed for a specific yacht.
