One Design International One Design

ELIDA is the most international of the IODs having flown under 4 flags, Norway, Bermuda, USA and Canada.  

This historic and storied vessel was built 1937, one year after the first hull was completed.  She raced with the first fleet in Norway until 1943 when two Norwegian sailors used the Elida to escape the German Occupation.  The sailors were spotted by a German U-boat and fired upon by small arms fire.  The boat was hit several times amidships but the sailors had sheltered in the bow and stern and escaped injury.  They patched the holes and eventually landed in Wick Scotland.  Three years later the boat was returned to Norway where she resumed racing.

In 1955 Elida was purchased and delivered to Bermuda where she assumed the sail number 10 and raced with the Bermuda fleet until 1973, when she was sold to a Canadian naval officer that moved her to Halifax Canada.  

In 1992 Elida was rebuilt and lovingly restored.  The reconstruction was done according to the original specifications and monitored by the class’s technical committee.  The reconstruction was documented in Wooden Boat Magazine.

Since then, Elida has been in Chester, Nova Scotia, racing in the Chester fleet.  She has been carefully maintained and remains competitive today.