The Mark is a single-hander class of small

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 o ...

. The design in plywood came from the pen of Billy Morton from Morton's Yacht Supplies, Priory Road, Hollywood,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland. It first appeared in the 1964, in competition with the OK dinghy but before the

Laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

. At least 100 boats were built by Morton.Irish Yachting and Motorboating magazine Her performance is slower than an OK upwind due to her lighter weight (130lbs.) and shorter length. The Mark is in length, with forward and side buoyancy compartments. A free-standing rotating mast stepped far forward in the front buoyancy compartment supports a

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...

which features a MK symbol to identify the boat. In 1966 the fibreglass Mark was introduced with no.100 called 'Fymark.' The class is no longer active. Strong efforts were made to expand the class to the Republic of Ireland by making her available to potential buyers at Broadmeadow Estuary in Malahide. This did not succeed. The Mark did not succeed for a number of reasons: 1. Poor upwind performance. 2. She was not available for home building. 3. She never reached sustainable numbers in any location. 4. She was not a pretty boat. 5. The only builder was in Northern Ireland.

References

{{ship-type-stub Sailboats Sailing by class 1960s sailboat type designs Sailing in Ireland Dinghies