The Blaze was designed in the mid-1990s by Ian Howlett, one time

International 14 The International 14 is a British racing sailboat, crewed by two sailors. The class was established in 1928. The boat is a developmental sailing class and so the design rules and the boats themselves have changed dramatically over time to keep ...

designer and associated with

Americas Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sailing (sport), sport of sailing. It is the oldest International sport, international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match racing, match ...

design work and John Caig, winner of Fireball Worlds. It is a powerful winged single-hander with well-developed 10 m

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...

. Unusually in recent performance designs both foils are pivoting enabling the

centreboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

to be adjusted from the wing as well making it particularly suitable for estuaries and shallow lakes.

Development

The Blaze was originally built by Ian Howlett and John Caig, and marketed by

Topper International Topper or Toppers may refer to: Brand names *Harley-Davidson Topper, a motor scooter manufactured from 1960 to 1965 * Topper Corp., an American toy manufacturer during 1960s and early 1970s *Topper (sports), a sportswear brand in Argentina and Br ...

from 1996. At the outset the Blaze incorporated equalisation with lighter weight helms being allowed wider rack widths but carrying compensating lead weights. After a few years the class membership voted to abandon equalisation. In 2000 an active class association ran a sail development program to produce a more responsive sail, dropping some of the excessive

leech Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodie ...

of the original that proved 'difficult' in any real breeze for many helms. The slight loss in area was countered by a more efficient sail and balanced handling characteristics, and the class rapidly adopted the sail with numbers raced and sold rising very rapidly. In 2006 Topper moved out of performance composite boats and the manufacturing and marketing rights transferred to Cirrus Raceboats who have refined the boat further and work with Rondar to produce the current boat. As of November 2007 there are just under 250 registered boats. Since 2012 White Formula have been producing the Blaze. White Formula were the original builders, building all Topper International boats.

Area

The Blaze class is concentrated in the UK but there are boats in many other countries.

References

External links

Manufacturer and Distributor website
{{Sailing Dinghies and Skiffs Dinghies Sailboat types built by Topper International