The CCA produced my favorite boats of all time. A design era(50's, 60's) that was long and often radical, as were the times.

NOVA, launched in 1961, shows some of the division(I believe), in the industry at the time.

It had been 3 years since S&S launched FINESSTERRE, the fat beamy centerboarder that was mopping up on the race course. Yet NOVA is still old school, not beamy, softer bilges, more 'traditional' lines. She is spartan below in comparison(to the new beamier CCA boats), reminds me of a Concordia, 20 or more years behind in design.

While NOVA is a little dated for my taste, she had some interesting innovations. A welded aluminum cockpit for one. Designed as a weight saver(she is a heavy boat even by CCA standards), you'd never know it looking at the boat. I only noticed the sole of the cockpit has a wooden grate. All the top surface is wooden and varnished(not done much on the east coast-teak left raw for lower maintenance).

One design element that kept catching my eye on NOVA was the topside turning flat at the sheerline-running inboard, and then the toe rail. An attempt to make her look thinner, still? I wouldn't be surprised if some eyes at that time, were offended by the new wide decks on similar 38'ers.

A friend came by (that knows more about boats, especially wooden boats than anyone I know), and pointed out subtle differences between West and East coast builders at that time. Most obvious was the teak decking which is tight seamed with no caulking. Overall, you could see there was a difference between the coasts.

The attached article twice mentions 'designed for 'Southern Calif. conditions' Reading between the lines, this sounds like a statement of one camp as to the virtues of this older approach. In this exact tumultuous time snap shot, fiberglass, like a hoodlum, was muscling into this ancient industry. Yet NOVA was built of wood and described as if fiberglass didn't even exist. NOVA was a sight on launch day, 1961(as were the dated spectators in suits), and she is a sight today on Rockport Harbor. Open the article to see her hanging in the air.

http://sparkmanstephens.blogspot.com/2011/02/design-1628-nova.html