Production
George Owen was a professor at MIT’s Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering between 1915 and 1941, designing more than 200 sailing boats and commercial ships. He was also a competitive sailor and conceived the Tech Dinghy for student competitive sailing at MIT in the Charles River, which is adjacent to the MIT campus.[1][2]
The design was first constructed from wood by Herreshoff Manufacturing in the United States, starting in 1935.[1][3][5]
The design was next built by the Beetle Boat Co in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In 1958 the company started building them from fiberglass instead of wood, one of the first boats to use the then-new material.[1][6]
The design was also constructed in Canada, by Paceship Yachts of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, although they went out of business in 1981 and production had ceased by that time. This manufacturer created the Intercollegiate dinghy, based upon the Tech Dinghy for use in racing between universities.[4]
The boat has gone through several redesigns over time, including being modified for sailing in rougher conditions in the Midwestern United States. In the 1970s it was modified by Halsey Herreshoff working with the MIT sailing director, Hatch Brown. This version made the boat faster, less prone to ship water and more forgiving to sail for beginners.[1][3]
The sixth version of the boat, marketed as the Turbo Tech, was drawn by Penn Edmonds during the early 1990s and is 100 lb (45 kg) lighter than the previous generation. This version is now produced by the current builder, Whitecap Composites of Peabody, Massachusetts.[7][8]
