Firefly (dinghy)
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Firefly (dinghy)
The Firefly is a British sailboat that was designed by Uffa Fox as a one design racer and first built in 1946. The boat was originally named the Sea Swallow. It was an Olympic class and raced at the 1948 Olympics. Production The design was initially built by Fairey Marine in the United Kingdom, starting in 1946. Today it is built by Rondar Raceboats in the UK and Whitecap Composites in the United States and remains in production. Design The Firefly is a recreational sailing dinghy, initially built predominantly of hot-moulded plywood, glassfibre construction was authorized by the class starting in 1965. A rotating mast was introduced in 1970. The design has a fractional sloop rig, a plumb stem and transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centreboard. It displaces . The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. The desig ...
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Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox, CBE (15 January 1898 – 26 October 1972) was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast, responsible for a number of innovations in boat design. Not afraid of courting controversy or causing offense, he is remembered for his eccentric behaviour and pithy quotes, as much as for his original boat designs. Life Fox was born on the Isle of Wight and was raised in East Cowes. He lived for a while in Puckaster on the Isle of Wight. In July 1921, Fox and a crew of nine sea scouts departed for the western Solent in a open whaler under the parental expectation that they were on a camping/sailing trip. He decided to extend the itinerary up the Seine towards Paris. In seven days, they traveled within 70 kilometers of the city when they turned around to return another five days later. After being met by the coast guard as presumed castaways, Fox was relieved of his role in the sea scouts. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in January 1963 when he was surprise ...
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Sailing Dinghy
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle of the boat in the water) * side-to-side balance of the dinghy by hiking or movement of the crew, particularly in windy weather ("move fast or swim") * the choice of route (in terms of existing and anticipated wind shifts, possible obstacles, other water traffic, currents, tides etc.) When racing, the above skills need to be refined and additional skills and techniques learned, such as the application of the "racing rules of sailing", boat handling skills when starting and when rounding marks, and knowledge of tactics and strategy. Racing tactics include positioning the boat at different angles. To improve speed when racing, sailors should position themselves at the windward direction (closest to the direction of the wind) in order to get "cl ...
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Itchenor Sailing Club
Itchenor Sailing Club is a sailing club located in Chichester Harbour which was founded in 1927. History West Itchenor is situated on the prevailing wind's windward shore, in a well-protected position in the harbour. Unlike Bosham, Dell Quay and Emsworth, the village has access to water at all states of the tide. It has been a site of shipbuilding since the 18th century, providing the nation with a number of prominent warships during the Napoleonic Wars. Recreational and competitive sailing has typically taken place adjacent to the shipyard, with such events being organised and recorded by officers of the local customs house at the end of the 19th century. When the harbour's first sailing club was founded in Bosham in 1907, regatta activity moved from Itchenor Customs House to Bosham Sailing Club. The popularity of BSC grew to the extent that its committee thought it necessary to be renamed "Bosham and Itchenor Sailing Club" from 1918. BSC reverted to its original name in 1922. ...
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National Maritime Museum Cornwall (8794)
The National Maritime Museum, Cornwall is located in a harbourside building at Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth in Cornwall, England. The building was designed by architect MJ Long, M. J. Long, following an architectural design competition managed by RIBA Competitions. The museum grew out of the FIMI (Falmouth International Maritime Initiative) partnership which was created in 1992 and was the result of collaboration between the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and the former Cornwall Maritime Museum in Falmouth. It opened in February 2003. It is an independent charitable trust and, unlike other national museums, receives no direct government support. Its mission is to promote an understanding of boats and their place in people's lives, and of the maritime heritage of Cornwall. It does this by presenting the story of the sea, boats and the maritime history of Cornwall. It maintains the National Small Boats Register (NSBR). Boats The Museum manages the National Small Boat Collec ...
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US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) is the national governing body for sailing in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the US Sailing Team. ISAF: Member National Authorities US Sailing is responsible for selection and training of the US Sailing Team representing the United States in the Olympic Games. Sailors who eventually compete in the Olympics representing the United States, are coming from a well developed racing community in the USA. Sailboat racing can be found in colleges and universities, yacht clubs, sailing clubs and sailing schools. This support pr ...
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Royal Yachting Association
The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for inland waterways cruising. History The ''Yacht Racing Association'' was founded in November 1875. Its initial purpose was to standardize the rules of measurement to different racing yachts so that boats of different classes could compete fairly against each other. Membership at the time cost two guineas and was available to "former and present owners of racing yachts of and above 10 tons Thames measurement and such other gentlemen as the committee may elect". In 1921 the YRA incorporated the independent Sailing Boat Association and the Boat Racing Association into its body. In 1952 the YRA became the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). The RYA remains constituted as a membership association, with a Council of elected volunteers as its supre ...
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Portsmouth Yardstick
The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the handicaps can be used with widely differing types of sailboats. Portsmouth Numbers are updated with data from race results, normally annually. The various schemes are not directly linked, and ratings for the same class can and often do vary in the different schemes. The most prominent Portsmouth Yardstick systems are probably those administered in the United States by the Portsmouth Numbers Committee, in the United Kingdom by the Royal Yachting Association ( RYA) and in Australia by Victoria Yachting. History The original UK Portsmouth Yardstick was developed by Stanley Milledge, who was in charge of handicapping racing at the '' Langstone Sailing Club'' in 1947 using the ''Island One'' design as the scratch boat (having a value 100). In 195 ...
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Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually nylon, and are often brightly colored. They may be designed to perform best as either a reaching or a running spinnaker, by the shaping of the panels and seams. They are attached at only three points and said to be ''flown''. Nomenclature Informal names for a spinnaker are ''kite'' or ''chute'' (owing to their resemblance to a parachute in both construction and appearance). Boats may have more than one spinnaker, differentiated by a letter to indicate symmetric (S) or asymmetric (A) and a number to indicate size (with higher numbers indicating smaller size), e.g. ''A1'' would be a large asymmetric sail and ''S3'' would be a smaller symmetric sail. Operation A spinnaker is used for sailing with the direction of the wind. Symmetrical ...
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Boat Trailer
A boat trailer is designed to launch, retrieve, carry and sometimes store boats. Commercial boat trailers Commercial hydraulic boat trailers are used by marinas, boat yards, boat haulers, boat dealers and boat builders. Generally this type of trailer is not used for storage of the boat. Self-propelled Self-propelled boat movers are not strictly trailers, but hydraulically operated boat movers, with their own tractor unit. They share all of the features of hydraulic boat trailers. Non-commercial boat trailers This type of trailer is usually used by the boat owner/operator. The trailer is also used for storage. * Roll-on, also known as a "Roller style trailer", uses rubber and/or polyurethane rollers for ease of launching and loading a boat. * Glide-path, also known as a "Float-on style trailer", allows the boat to float onto the trailer; after the trailer has been partially submerged (usually of the trailer). Since its inception, it has become quite popular compared to th ...
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Beaching (nautical)
Beaching (or Landing) is the process in which a ship or boat is laid ashore, or grounded deliberately in shallow water. This is more usual with small flat-bottomed boats. Larger ships may be beached deliberately; for instance, in an emergency, a damaged ship might be beached to prevent it from sinking in deep water. Some vessels are designed to be loaded and unloaded by beaching; vessels of this type used by the military to disembark troops under fire are called landing craft. During the age of sail, vessels were sometimes beached to allow them to be rolled over for the hull to be maintained, a process called ''careening''. Ships scheduled for break-up are sometimes intentionally beached to make the procedure easier. See also * Landing craft * Shipwrecking * Cetacean stranding Cetacean stranding, commonly known as beaching, is a phenomenon in which whales and dolphins strand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under t ...
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Tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. A tiller may also be used in vehicles outside of water, and was seen in early automobiles. On vessels, a tiller can be used by the helmsman directly pulling or pushing it, but it may also be moved remotely using tiller lines or a ship's wheel. Rapid or excessive movement of the tiller results in an increase in drag and will result in braking or slowing the boat. Description A tiller is a lever used to steer a vehicle. It provides leverage in the form of torque to turn the device that changes the direction of the vehicle, such as a rudder on a watercraft or the surface wheels on a wheeled vehicle. A tiller can be used by directly pulling or pushing it, but it may also be moved remotely using tiller lines or a ship's wheel; some kayaks wh ...
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Transom (nautical)
A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transversus'' (transverse) via Old French ''traversain'' (set crosswise). The stern of a boat is typically vertical. It can be raked such that there is an overhang above the water, as at the bow. A reverse transom is angled from the waterline forwards. Transoms can be used to support a rudder, outboard motor, or as a swimming and access platform. Gallery File:The Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) transom of Spirit of Bermuda, 2016.jpg, The Bermuda cedar transom of the Spirit of Bermuda File:Sea Scooter transom.jpg, Flat transom on a dinghy with mount points for a rudder. File:Coble on shore at Boulmer (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1381157.jpg, Raked transom with rudder mount points. File:CS 30 Sailboat Kelsea 0297.jpg, Reverse transom with rudder m ...
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