The Isotope is an American

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

sailing dinghy that was designed by

Frank Meldau Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

as a one-design racer and first built in 1962.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 68-69.

Houghton Mifflin Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Financ ...

, 1994. The design is the larger stablemate of the

Cheshire 14 The Cheshire 14 is an American catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Frank Meldau as a racer and first built in 1962.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 36-37. Houghton Mifflin ...

catamaran.

Production

The design is built by Fiberglass Unlimited (now called Custom Fiberglass International) in Wake Forest, North Carolina,

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 710 have been built and the design remains in production.

Design

The Isotope 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

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 ...

. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

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 sealed rotating mast and fully battened mainsail, with eight ash wood or fiberglass battens. The hulls have spooned

raked 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 ...

s, vertical transoms, transom-hung, kick-up

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 ...

s 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 retractable, self-tending

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 ...

s. The hulls are joined with three cross-members. There are two stowage compartments, with hatches. The boat displaces and has flotation for positive buoyancy, plus a righting bar. The boat has a draft of with the centerboards extended and with them retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. For sailing the design may be equipped with options such as a mast limiter, roller furling

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 headsails ...

and a trapeze. The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 74.0. It is normally raced with a crew of one

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

although it can carry three people.

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "sister to the Cheshire, the Isotope is two feet longer and five Portsmouth numbers faster."

References

External links

* {{Sailing dinghies and skiffs Dinghies Catamarans 1960s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Frank Meldau Sailboat types built by Custom Fiberglass International Sailboat types built by Fiberglass Unlimited

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links