Under the auspices of the North American One-Design Association, the group contracted with Morgan Yachts in Clearwater, Florida, to build the hull and deck. To maintain strict structural quality control, the association employed Maurice Declercq to oversee production. Between 1978 and 1981, Morgan Yachts produced approximately 45 hulls of the North American 40, beginning with David Howell’s hull number one, "Decision". Far from being a stripped-out racing shell, the design was conceived from the outset to offer an honest, comfortable interior that would welcome a cruising family between campaigns, establishing a highly successful dual-purpose legacy that endures today.
Design Brief & Interior Layout
The core mission of the North American 40 was to balance uncompromising offshore performance with livable, high-quality cruising accommodations. This dual-purpose intent is immediately evident upon stepping below deck. While contemporary competitors of the era often sacrificed interior comforts to save weight, Dick Carter insisted on an authentic cruising cabin. The interior of the North American 40 is characterized by extensive, hand-rubbed teak joinery and a warm, traditional atmosphere. It was designed to comfortably sleep up to eight people, featuring a private V-berth forward, an enclosed marine head with a sink and shower to port, and a spacious main salon.
The salon utilizes a convertible U-shaped dinette opposite a straight settee, providing excellent social space and secure sea berths. A dedicated navigation station sits adjacent to a robust galley on the starboard side, positioned near the companionway to optimize ventilation and allow the cook to easily communicate with the cockpit crew during passages. Storage is abundant, with lockers and drawers integrated beneath the berths and settees. This thoughtful arrangement allowed owners to transition seamlessly from intense weekend distance racing to relaxed coastal cruising, distinguishing the North American 40 from the more spartan, single-purpose racing machines produced by other builders of the late 1970s.
Sailing Performance & Handling
With a length overall of 39.73 feet and a waterline length of 32 feet, the North American 40 exhibits an authoritative presence in a seaway. Under the skin, the yacht carries a displacement of 17,477 pounds, of which 7,900 pounds is lead ballast, yielding an exceptionally high ballast-to-displacement ratio of 45.2 percent. In physical terms, this high ratio translates to outstanding stiffness and stability. The boat stands up to its canvas beautifully, resisting heeling in heavy air and demonstrating a powerful righting moment. With a displacement-to-waterline length ratio of 238.11 and a Comfort Ratio of 27.0, the North American 40 behaves as a moderate-displacement cruiser-racer with a predictable and sea-kindly motion. Unlike ultra-lightweight racing sleds that bounce violently in chop, this hull possesses the mass required to punch through head seas with momentum.
Driving this hull is a powerful masthead sloop rig with a Sail Area-to-Displacement ratio of 18.43. This generous sail area provides excellent light-to-moderate air speed, while the stiff hull shape allows the boat to carry a large genoa long after other designs are forced to reef. The Capsize Screening value of 1.94, which sits safely below the offshore limit of 2.0, underscores its structural suitability for challenging offshore passages. At the helm, the deep fin keel and skeg-hung rudder provide highly responsive tracking. The skeg-hung rudder is a vital design choice, offering structural protection for the rudder shaft and superior directional stability compared to a balanced spade rudder. However, because the design was drawn during the transition of the IOR era, it retains a moderately pinched stern and a wider midsection. Downwind in heavy seas, this underbody shape can make the boat tender and prone to rhythmic rolling if over-canvased. Under these conditions, the North American 40 demands active, skilled sail trimming and precise driving to prevent round-outs, though its handling remains far more predictable than the radical, un-skegged pure racers of its time.
Variations & Configurations
To preserve the integrity of the one-design class, the North American 40 was built with strict uniformity in its structural specifications, leaving very little room for alternative configurations. Unlike many production boats of the era that offered shoal-draft or wing-keel options, all North American 40 hulls were equipped with a deep-draft fin keel drawing 7.08 feet to maximize lift and upwind performance. The rig was strictly configured as a high-aspect masthead sloop with a robust, double-spreader aluminum mast, a design selected because it was strong enough to be sailed without running backstays under normal conditions.
The standard auxiliary engine was a Perkins 4-108 marine diesel engine, a reliable four-cylinder powerplant that offered sufficient horsepower to propel the moderate-displacement hull at hull speed. While the structural fiberglass bulkheads and primary cabin layout remained consistent across all 45 hulls, minor variations exist in the final woodwork and cabinetry fit-out. Some hulls were delivered as factory-completed yachts by Morgan, while others were sold as bare shells to be finished by original owners or custom yards, leading to slight cosmetic differences in teak detailing and electronics installations on the secondary market.
Known Issues & Triage
Prospective buyers of a North American 40 must focus their inspection on the typical aging characteristics of late-1970s composite construction. The most significant area of concern is the balsa-cored fiberglass deck. Over decades, water can migrate into the core around heavily loaded deck hardware, such as the stanchion bases, sheet tracks, chainplates, and the massive aluminum toe rails. If the bedding compound has failed and leaks have been ignored, the balsa core will rot, resulting in soft spots and delamination. A thorough moisture meter survey and sounding with a phenolic hammer are critical triage steps.
Additionally, the solid fiberglass hull laminate is highly robust, but hulls of this vintage are susceptible to osmotic blistering if they have not been treated with an epoxy barrier coat. Because of the boat's high righting moment and deep draft, the keel joint must be scrutinized. Hard groundings can put massive leverage on the keel sump; the fiberglass structure around the keel bolts should be inspected for stress cracks or signs of compression, and the external joint should be examined for separation. Finally, the chainplates pass through the deck and bolt directly to structural bulkheads; any evidence of water intrusion at these pass-throughs must be addressed immediately to prevent wood rot in the load-bearing bulkheads.
Modernization & Upgrades
Modern owners of the North American 40 have focused their refit budgets on adapting the boat for shorthanded sailing and enhancing modern cruising comfort. In the rig department, many veteran racers and cruisers have retired the massive, overlapping genoas of the 1970s in favor of modern, high-aspect non-overlapping headsails, supported by the addition of asymmetrical spinnakers flown from removable carbon fiber bowsprits. This modification dramatically reduces the physical effort required to tack and trim, making the boat easier to manage with short-handed crews.
In the engine compartment, replacing the original Perkins 4-108 with a lighter, modern Yanmar or Beta Marine diesel engine is a popular upgrade that improves fuel efficiency, reduces noise, and sheds weight. Along with engine replacement, owners frequently replace the aging black iron fuel tanks and copper water lines with custom aluminum or roto-molded plastic tanks. On the electrical side, installing lithium iron phosphate battery banks has become a standard modernization project. This allows owners to dramatically increase their house battery capacity for modern refrigeration and electronics while saving substantial weight, which can then be offset by removing unnecessary lead-acid weight from the ends of the boat.
The Verdict 2
The North American 40 is a historically significant, beautifully built racer-cruiser that represents the pinnacle of late-1970s dual-purpose design. For the sailor who values sailing sensations, structural integrity, and the capability to face heavy offshore conditions, this Dick Carter design offers an exceptional blend of speed and comfort. While its deep draft and active handling characteristics downwind require a skilled hand, it remains a highly competitive and deeply satisfying yacht to sail, frequently outperforming modern production boats in offshore campaigns today.
Pros:
- Outstanding upwind performance and exceptional stiffness due to a high ballast ratio.
- Sturdy solid-fiberglass hull construction paired with a protective skeg-hung rudder.
- Warm, functional teak interior that provides genuine cruising comfort and excellent sea berths.
- Active racing pedigree with a proven record of winning major offshore distance races.
- Deep 7.08-foot draft restricts navigation in shallow coastal cruising grounds and shoaling inlets.
- Pinched stern design can lead to rhythmic rolling and tender handling downwind in heavy seas.
- Age-related vulnerability to balsa-core deck rot and osmotic blistering requires diligent maintenance.
- The powerful masthead rig and sail plan demand physical effort and a well-coordinated crew to manage in a blow.
