For several years now the Feeling Foolish and Final Chapter designs have dominated the National 12 class on the racing circuit. Ten years ago, it was the Phil Morrison Crusader and the Rob Peebles Baggy Trousers designs. While the Feeling Foolish and the Final Chapter are undoubtedly still in pole position, the introduction of a new design – the Annie Apple – has got to be an encouraging sign for the class.

Straight from the drawing board of David Greening (left), the Annie Apple was built by Nigel Waller and launched earlier this year. Greening, who’s been racing National 12s for many years, designed the boat based on the research he did during his yacht design degree. He’s concentrated on the underwater lines to create a low wave-making, chined hull shape with minimum wetted area. He’s also designed the boat with a finer bow than the Feeling Foolish and the Final Chapter. “Although the fine bow will cause the shipping of a fair amount of water,” said Greening, “this should not be too much of a problem thanks to the self-draining, double bottomed floor.” Because her freeboard is about one and a half inches deeper than other modern designs, and the builder has built the double bottom as low as possible, she has a relatively deep cockpit and plenty of headroom.

Waller built the boat using carbon/Kevlar-skinned foam sandwich, and the extra glass and higher density foam on the bottom of the hull should increase the boat’s longevity. She has a gybing centreboard, an Angell carbon-fibre mast and Pinnell and Bax sails.

Although it’s early days and the boat is still in the process of being ‘sailed in’, early results show the Annie Apple has a lot of potential. She is competing really well with the other top designs and in her first open meeting, the Bloody Mary earlier this year, she notched up a respectable third overall in the National 12 fleet.