First designed in the early 1930s, Luders are quickly making a comeback as a popular racing boat.

Elk Spar & Boat Shop has been involved in the revitalization of the L-16 racing fleet on Mount Desert Island for the past ten years. Due to the efforts of a few dedicated individuals who could remember the heyday of L-16 racing in the MDI area in the 1950s and 1960s, the fleet went from a few scattered boats around the island in 2003 to 20 boats on the line in 2014. ESBS has had the pleasure of restoring and repairing nine of those boats.

Although the hulls were wonderfully built by US Plywood and Allied Aviaiton for the Luders Co., the hot molded, cross-directional veneers were suseptable to rot along the hull and keel joint. Every wooden restoration has involved replacing the rotten veneers and fiberglassing the hull to keep the veneers dry. Interestingly, although the specializing in wooden boats, two of the most satisfying restorations we did were to Andvari and Domino, two fiberglass boats in deplorable shape.