This paper presents the analysis, design and performance of an axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) machine with an ironless stator. The topology has a large airgap length and zero core losses. A machine model that uses both lumped magnetic circuit and finite element method results is used with a multi-variable optimization algorithm to obtain the optimum machine dimensions. Special attention is given to the magnet interpolar gap to ensure a certain minimum plateau width for brushless DC operation. The large airgap length allows several approximations to be made that simplifies the machine model. A prototype machine is constructed and evaluated. Measured results of the armature reaction effect in the large airgap are given and discussed.