The Interclub Dinghy is an American

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 ...

that was designed by

Sparkman & Stephens Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with offices in Newport, Rhode Island and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new and existing vessels for pleasure, commercial, and milita ...

as a one-design racer and first built in 1946. It is sailed in frostbite racing on the US east coast, particularly on

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. Frostbite races are the series held after the normal sailing season is finished.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 12-13. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was sponsored by the

Larchmont Yacht Club Larchmont Yacht Club is a private, members-only yacht club situated on Larchmont Harbor in the Village of Larchmont, in Westchester County, New York. History The club was founded in June 1880 by Frank L. Anthony, Fred W. Flint, William C. F ...

and initially built by the

Zephyr Boat Company In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fiction Fiction media * ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turkish ...

, with the hull made from molded

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

. It was later built by the Dodson Plastic Corp from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

and marketed by the

O'Day Corp O'Day Corp. was a America sailboat builder, located in Fall River, Massachusetts. History It was founded in 1958 by George O'Day, the American Olympic and World champion sailor. George O'Day sold the company to Bangor Punta Corporation in 1966. ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. A total of 1200 examples of the type were completed. When it was in production the boat could be purchased as a bare hull, with the centerboard, rudder, tiller and spars purchased separately. The mast and

boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfi ...

were also available as "blanks" for finishing. A launching dolly was a factory option.

Design

The Interclub Dinghy is a recreational

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

, built predominantly of

or wood. It has a loose-footed

catboat A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are f ...

single sail rig with

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

spars, a

plumb stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a plumb

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

controlled by a

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. ...

and a retractable

centerboard 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 ...

. It displaces and is raced with a crew of one or two sailors. The boat has a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof rack. For sailing the design is equipped with an adjustable

forestay On a sailing vessel, a forestay, sometimes just called a stay, is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling backwards. It is attached either at the very top of the mast, or in fractional rigs between about 1/8 and 1/4 from the t ...

and fixed

shrouds Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to '' burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous S ...

, a 2:1

mechanical advantage Mechanical advantage is a measure of the force amplification achieved by using a tool, mechanical device or machine system. The device trades off input forces against movement to obtain a desired amplification in the output force. The model for t ...

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

, a 10:1

boom vang A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to "vang" or "kicker") is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as ...

and an internally-mounted

outhaul An outhaul is a control line found on a sailboat. It is an element of the running rigging, used to attach the mainsail Parts of a sail#Corners, clew to the boom (sailing), boom and tensions the Sail components#Edges, foot of the sail. It commonly ...

Operational history

In 2020 there were eight fleets, located at the

Severn Sailing Association The Severn Sailing Association is a private yacht club located in Annapolis, Maryland. History The Association was incorporated on October 28, 1954, by John J. Hopkins, Richard C. Bartlett, and Robert F. Podlich who wanted to establish a saili ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, the Hyannis Yacht Club in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, the

Indian Harbor Yacht Club The Indian Harbor Yacht Club is a U.S. boating organization, based at 710 Steamboat Road in Greenwich, CT, with access to Long Island Sound. The club, founded in 1889 in New York City, is based mainly around personally owned yachts and pleasur ...

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, the

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

, the Metedeconk River Yacht Club in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club in

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, the Rochester Frostbite Association in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

and the Winthrop Frostbite Sailing Club in Massachusetts.

References

{{Sailing dinghies and skiffs Dinghies 1940s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Sparkman and Stephens Sailboat types built by Dodson Plastic Corp Sailboat types built by O'Day Corp. Sailboat types built by Zephyr Boat Company

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References