The Daring is a One-Design

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 ...

which is based in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

and races throughout the season around the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...

. Its construction is GRP, with some older yachts possessing original wooden decks. The first Darings were designed by Arthur Robb, based on his 5.5 Metre yacht ''Vision'' which was built for and won silver in the 1956

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. 35 yachts of the class were built in the years up to 1992. In 2008 a new hull mould was commissioned to match the original lines but with a redesigned

ergonomic Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...

deck and cockpit. One new yacht was built and several more obtained new hulls while keeping the original name, number, rigging and keel. To date all Darings are based in Cowes apart from three (8, Day Dreamer; 18, Deva; 20, Afroessa) sold to owners in Beirut, Cumbria and Majorca respectively. Most Darings' names begin with "D". The season runs for approximately 80 races from April through to October, with highlights including Cowes Classics Week and

Cowes Week Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, up to 1,000 boats, and 8,000 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailin ...

in June and August. The Daring Class Association manages the class rules carefully to ensure affordability, uniformity and close racing. The class is not often raced against other designs of yachts, as the class racing is usually competitive and well attended, however occasionally pursuit races are competed with other classes of yacht in the Solent. The Class Association has a number of strong affiliations, including with the

International One Design The International One Design (IOD, International) is a class of sail boat developed in 1936 for yacht racing. It is a 33-foot open-cockpit day sailer used for day racing, rather than for overnight or ocean races. Popularised prior to the Second ...

fleet. This provides for the winner of Cowes Week each year to compete at

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

International Invitational Race Week in IODs. Further the class has links with foreign yacht clubs which will annually compete a team racing challenge in home or foreign waters. Competitors in the past have included the

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) is a private yacht club that was established as the ''Bermuda Yacht Club'' on 1 November, 1844, after the sport of racing yachts had become established in Bermuda primarily as a pastime of idle officers of the ...

, the

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is a yacht club situated in Freshwater Bay on the Swan River in Peppermint Grove, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1896 by a group of friends including Aubrey Sherwood and E ...

in Perth, Western Australia and the

Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the older yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 18th after the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Mobile Yacht Club, Pass Christian Yacht Club, ...

on Long Island, USA.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://daring.org.uk Keelboats Sport on the Isle of Wight Cowes