The International 2.4mR is a one-person

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

. The class is a development class governed by the 2.4mR rule. The rule controlled by

World Sailing World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) beg ...

(formerly known as ISAF) is one of the few classes designated as an International class. The 2.4mR class rule is closely related to the 12mR class rule that was used at the America's Cup. While there is a small but active group of amateur or professional designers and builders around the world, around 90% of the 2.4mR boats are the commercially produced Norlin Mark III designed by Swedish yacht designer

Peter Norlin Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

. In recent years, new 2.4mR designs such as the Stradivari III, the Proton and the Super 3 have come into production. The 2.4mR boats are primarily used for racing and the class holds highly competitive national events in many countries. World and European championships can attract as many as 100 boats each year. The 2.4mR is ideal for adaptive

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

since the sailor barely moves in the boat, and all settings can be adjusted from a facing forward seated position. Both hand-steering and foot-steering are possible. The boat is sailed without a

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 n ...

, but is equipped with a whisker-pole for the

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

when sailing downwind. The boat's capability as a truly inclusive sailing boat has been demonstrated over many years at multiple Open World Championships.

History

After the 1980

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, people in the Newport, RI area started sailing boats called Mini-12s. They were named after the

12-Metre The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

yachts that were used at the America's Cup. As the class started to grow, the word spread to Sweden, home of the yacht designer

. Peter Norlin refined the original designs, and along with other

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s, he initiated the International 2.4mR class that we know today. Although the 2.4mR is a development

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

, Peter Norlin has become in practice the dominant designer, and the class is therefore often mistaken as a one-design class.

One-design

In recent years attempts have been made to develop a one-design class based on the 2.4 Norlin Mark III. This was primarily because the competition within the Paralympics was meant to be about the sailors' individual competitiveness and not about the equipment. This led to the introduction of Appendix K to the Class rules and a group of individuals are working on a set of stand-alone one-design rules. This is still at the early stages but this work is likely to lead to the emergence of a new one-design 2.4mR class alongside the existing development 2.4mR class.

Rating formula

As an open class rather than a one-design, all boat designs must meet the following formula. :

\frac \leq 2.4 \mbox

(all measurements in mm) * L = the "corrected" length of the hull (see rule D.6.3) * d = the midship girth difference (see rule D.6.4) * F = the average freeboard height (see rule D.6.5) * S = the total rated area of the mainsail and jib combined.

Events

Open World Championships

Para World Sailing Championships

The 2.4 metre has been used a number of times as equipment for the One-Person Technical Disabled discipline which holds an annual World Championships.

Paralympics

From 2000 to 2016, the 2.4 Metre was the official single-crew class boat for

sailing at the Summer Paralympics Sailing was an official part of the Summer Paralympic Games between 2000 to 2016, after being a demonstration sport in 1996. The International Association for Disabled Sailing was responsible for coordinating the event with the International ...

although it was used in a more one-design form utilising the Norlin Mk3 design.

References

External links