Design and Construction
The Folkdancer is longer than the Nordic Folkboat from which she descends, but she retains a far from plump hull form. She measures 27 feet overall, with a 19-foot-8-inch waterline, a 7-foot-6-inch beam, and 4 feet of draft.
Parker gave the Russell Marine boats a distinctive split sheer, gaining accommodation space forward while keeping the cockpit lower. The short counter stern meant the rudder wasn’t transom-hung. Yachting Monthly also notes the break in the sheerline, flush foredeck, and extended transom as features all her own above the waterline; the Folkboat ancestry shows mainly below.
Hurley Marine moulded the hulls, which were described as sound, although the Russell Marine fit-out was plain. Hurley Marine moulded the sound hulls, while Russell Marine provided the plain fit-out. At 5,040 pounds all-up, with a 55 percent ballast ratio in iron, the Folkdancer sits squarely in the Nordic Folkboat’s moderate-displacement camp. Compared with something like the Nicholson 26, she is lighter and has sleeker underwater lines.
Rig and Handling
Parker chose a masthead rather than fractional sail plan to secure a better handicap under the RORC rule of the era in which the boat was born. Yachting Monthly characterizes the rig as conservative and, with a ballast ratio above 50 percent, describes the yacht as extremely stiff.
The Folkdancer was regarded as a proper sea-going yacht, with more emphasis on performance and handling than accommodation. The extra space created by the split sheer only partly offsets that bias.
Accommodation
Despite her lean hull, the Folkdancer is surprisingly spacious below. A short coachroof and the raised sheer forward provide reasonable headroom.
Two layouts were offered. The simpler plan has a basic galley, five berths, and a heads between the forward V-berths. The other trades one berth for an amidships WC compartment and a larger galley aft. Yachting Monthly’s description of four or five berths matches these plans and notes that the layout allowed reasonably comfortable living despite the performance-first brief.
Verdict
The Folkdancer deserves her reputation as the unsung hero of the Folkboat dynasty. She combines a sound hull, stiffness, moderate displacement, seagoing manners, and useful space below, with more accommodation than her narrow entries suggest. This 1960s Parker design best suits sailors who value handling over gloss.
Pros
- Folkboat descendant with a proven racing pedigree; Norsue won many trophies
- Sound, Hurley-moulded hull
- 55 percent iron ballast ratio and extreme stiffness
- Masthead rig chosen for an RORC-era handicap advantage
- Sleeker underwater lines than the Nicholson 26
- Split sheer provides more space forward while keeping the cockpit lower
- Choice of two accommodation plans
Cons
- Plain Russell Marine fit-out
- The performance-and-handling brief gave accommodation a lower priority
