Bear 23
Description
The Bear 23 (commonly known as the Bear Class or Bear Boat) is a classic wooden one-design sloop sailboat originally designed and built in the early 1930s for San Francisco Bay sailing conditions. Conceived by Ernest Nunes and Marty Martinson of Nunes Boat and Ways Company (Sausalito, California), with plans reviewed/revised by renowned yacht designer John Alden of Boston, the first keel was laid in late 1931. Built primarily by Nunes Bros. Boat and Ways (and a few others) from the 1930s through the 1960s, it's a heavy, sturdy wooden boat (around 5,000 lbs in just 23 feet) optimized for the Bay's strong winds, chop, and tides—often described as "built like a brick" with exceptional durability and seaworthiness for its size. Production was limited to around a few hundred hulls (estimates vary, but active class fleets remain in the San Francisco Bay Area today, with ongoing restoration and one-design racing). It's a cult favorite among wooden boat enthusiasts, with a strong class association and history of class competition.
Construction Details
| Designer | Ernest Nunes |
|---|---|
| Builder | Nunes Boat and Ways Company (Sausalito, California) |
| Length | 23.000 ft |
| LOA | 23.000 ft |
| LWL | 18.060 ft |
| Beam | 7.000 ft |
| Displacement | 5000 lb |
| Max Draft | 5.000 ft |
| Year Built | 1931 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 21.58 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 7.33 ft |
| p | 27.50 ft |
| e | 13 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.58 ft | 7.33 ft | 27.50 ft | 13 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Bear 23 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 27.5 ft - (8382 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 13 ft - (3962 mm) |
| Leech | * 29.79 ft - (9080 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 87.98 ° |
| Diagonal | * 30 ft - (9144 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 6 in - (152 mm) |
| Area | 178.5 ft² |
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Bear 23 - JIBSAIL
| Luff | * 18.23 ft - (5557 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 9.81 ft - (2990 mm) |
| Leech | * 15.67 ft - (4776 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 8.43 ft - (2569 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 12 ° |
| Area | 76.83 ft² |
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Bear 23 - GENOA
| Luff | * 21.65 ft - (6599 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 11.92 ft - (3633 mm) |
| Leech | * 20.28 ft - (6181 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 11 ft - (3353 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | 119 ft² |
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Bear 23 - SPINNAKER
| Stays | * 21.65 ft - (6599 mm) |
|---|---|
| MidGirth | * 13.19 ft - (4020 mm) |
| Foot | * 13.19 ft - (4020 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | 242.73 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.