Design No. 56 was the first of Farr's IOR designs following the 1976-77 Rule changes, in which the aft end measurement system was modified penalizing wide sterns. In light of these modifications, and with more aft end changes being mooted to remove the rating advantages of longitudinal distortion (the 'step' or 'crease') in way of the aft measurement points, Farr elected to design logical aft end shapes with no unfairness at the girth stations. He shifted the transom aft and into a nearer upright and more 'normal' angle which made for more deck space. This approach produced designs that were not only good to look at and a pleasure to sail, but also met with unprecedented success on the race track.

The concept of the boat was aimed at better all round performance than earlier IOR designs, with more sail area (at the expense of length) but higher beam relative to length and more stability to still maintain windward performance in strong winds. JOE LOUIS was the first keel yacht by Farr to be built in Kevlar and foam sandwich, which gave better weight concentration to minimize performance loss in waves.

JOE LOUIS won the World 3/4 Ton Championships in La Rochelle, France, in 1977. Production version were to be manufactured in UK, but these plans had to be abandoned with the 1977-78 Rule change lifted the rating 1.5 feet and made a 3/4 Ton rating virtually impossible to achieve and still maintain good all round performance.