Gouden Drake's hull size is close to Design 618, but she is a little beamier, for more space and buoyancy to support the additional weight of steel construction.  Her clipper bow is similar to that on Thunderhead and Vagabondia, both designed a year or two earlier.  The high deck, pilot house, and ketch rig imply ocean cruising. 

She has an expansive interior.  The high, flush decks permit two double cabins forward of the main cabin.  She also has a comfortable galley and a good chart table, with quarterberth for the navigator.  To obtain these facilities, the head was kept small.  She has a viable forepeak for a paid hand or extensive stowage.

In October 1973, Philip Rhodes wrote a letter to an owner of a similarly sized Rhodes boat and commented, "GOUDEN DRAAK is now being prepared for [a trip around the world], and I know that she will be a very good boat for it."   The trip lasted from 1973 to 1977.  She spent many of her years on Chesapeake Bay.