The Albacore was originally designed by British sailboat maker Uffa Fox in 1948. Since those early days the class has spread in popularity throughout Great Britain, Ireland and North America. Over the years a number of builders have applied their talents to producing Albacores. The current ,and only, North American builder of Albacores is Ontario Yachts. OY produces a klegecell foam core boat. The following materials on boat layout and design have been compiled from Ontario Yachts and CAA files.

The Albacore is an excellent boat for pleasure sailing at cottages, training at clubs, camps and associations and is raced competitively by many long time class enthusiasts. The Albacore is designed for an optimum crew of two persons. For instructional purposes up to four persons may be carried. Class rules allow the boat to be raced with two or more people on board. The only restriction in racing is that you must begin and end the race/regatta with the same number people onboard.

The Albacore has a plumb stem forward and flat section aft of the centreboard housing to promote hull planing in winds of 10 knots or more. The forward deck covers the area from bow to mast and the side decks are shaped to allow comfortable (!) hiking. Two hiking foot straps run the length of the interior on port and starboard. The interior is formed by one large flotation tank from the thwart forward and by separate flotation tanks on port and starboard aft of the thwart. Each tank is provided with a drain plug. The boat has been swamp tested with a static load of 660 lbs. The hull is constructed of fibreglass. The horizontal components of the deck and floatation tanks are stiffened with additional closed cell foam panels. Rear bailer doors provide drainage when underway at three knots or more.

A kick-up rudder is used to steer. (Some owners opt for fixed rudders and these can be purchased from various suppliers.) A pivoting centerboard which may be locked up or down by a rope lanyard provides lateral resistance. The Albacore uses two sails, a mainsail and a jib which are usually made of dacron. The mast, boom and whisker poles are anodized aluminum.