There was mahogany veneer and epoxy resin lying around from another project, so we decided to have some fun with a new design of our own. The idea was to design a small fast boat, fun to sail, simple to sail, light and easy.

The keel had a carbon fin and a lead bulb. The rudder was also in carbon/epoxy, and the hull/deck/bulkheads were polyester PVC-cored sandwich. 

We got some help early on from Doug Peterson (of America’s Cup fame), when he came around, looked at the lines plan and told us: long bow is slow! He continued to teach and support us with advice all his life, and we designed many boats together. Or maybe he just liked Slovenian beer... 

The wooden boat (named Pantoufle because of its coachroof design) was sailing as Doug thought it would sail (“We will be hauling ass!”), and we were very proud of the 2-speed mainsheet (La Rochelle-soul) tuning system. When Doug stepped on the boat he teased, “Where did you get this Mickey-Mouse mainsheet system?” 

Everybody loved the boat—and everybody wanted to have one. And so the 8 m One Design Class was born. She could comfortably sleep four and was well-used for fast cruising during the main (off-race) summer season. We sailed many races, and were pleasantly surprised at how easily the boat handled at high speeds: the Monfalcone-Portoroz race was done with an average speed of 14 knots ... 

Over a hundred were made, first in Slovenia by Drago Vouk and later in Hungary at Lake Balaton. The boats were sold in different countries through different brands (e.g., as Sunbeam 8 m OD in German speaking countries; Sigma 8 m OD in the UK; Shipman 8 m OD in Denmark and Sweden) but were identical and could sail in one-design races together.