Dinghy sailing is the activity of

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

small boats by using five essential controls: * the

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 ...

s * the foils (i.e. the

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, cou ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

and sometimes lifting foils as found on the

Moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

) * the trim (forward/rear angle of the boat in the water) * side-to-side balance of the dinghy by

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

or movement of the

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

, particularly in windy weather ("move fast or swim") * the choice of route (in terms of existing and anticipated wind shifts, possible obstacles, other water traffic, currents, tides etc.) When

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

, the above skills need to be refined and additional skills and techniques learned, such as the application of the "

racing rules of sailing The Racing Rules of Sailing (often abbreviated to RRS) govern the conduct of yacht racing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, model boat racing, dinghy racing and virtually any other form of racing around a course with more than one vessel while powered b ...

", boat handling skills when starting and when rounding marks, and knowledge of tactics and strategy. Racing tactics include positioning the boat at different angles. To improve speed when racing, sailors should position themselves at the windward direction (closest to the direction of the wind) in order to get "clean air". The RYA, the regulating authority for

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on an ...

in the UK, states that, "With a reliance on nature and the elements, sailing ... is about adventure, exploration, teamwork and fun."

Development of the dinghy

Early beginnings

There has always been a need for small tender boats for transporting goods and personnel to and from anchored sailing ships. Together with other smaller work craft such as fishing and light cargo, small inshore craft have always been in evidence.

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

had a private sailing boat presented to him when he returned from exile to England in the 17th century, and he sailed for recreation and competition. In 1887 Thomas Middleton, a Dublin solicitor, considered that yacht racing was becoming an excessively expensive activity, with boats becoming eclipsed by better designs each year. He proposed the 'One Model' principle. He wanted yacht racing to be an exercise of skill with all boats being built to the same design. He assembled a group of potential owners who agreed to call the boat 'The

Water Wag The Water Wag is the oldest one-design dinghy in existence, having been devised in 1886 and formalised as a one-design class in Ireland in 1887. It was last modified in 1900. The class is still sailed to this day, notably with large Water Wag fl ...

'. The Water Wag Club still prospers in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

harbour, with racing each Wednesday evening during the Summer season. Towards the end of the 19th century people began to use these small boats for sport and recreational sailing, utilising the opportunities for leisure afforded by the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. Larger privately used sailing boats had developed separately, and have resulted in the

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s of today. There has been some crossover, in that the

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 ...

sail plan was adopted as standard and most convenient by early dinghy designers.

Planing and trapezing

The development of the sailing dinghy was helped in the early 20th century by

Uffa Fox Uffa Fox, CBE (15 January 1898 – 26 October 1972) was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast, responsible for a number of innovations in boat design. Not afraid of courting controversy or causing offense, he is remembered for his ec ...

(1898–1972), an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast. He developed and contributed to many dinghy classes that are still with us nearly a century later: the

Albacore The albacore (''Thunnus alalunga''), known also as the longfin tuna, is a species of tuna of the order Perciformes. It is found in temperate and tropical waters across the globe in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. There are six distinct sto ...

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 ...

National 12 The National 12 is a two-person, two-sail, twelve-foot (3.6 metre) long sailing dinghy. They are sailed extensively in the UK. The class was started in 1936 by the Royal Yachting Association as an alternative to the more expensive International 14s ...

Jet 14 The Jet 14 is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Howard Siddons as a one-design racer and first built in 1952.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 40-41. Houghton Mifflin ...

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

and

Flying Fifteen The Flying Fifteen is a British sailboat that was designed by Uffa Fox as a one design racer and first built in 1948.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 106-107. Houghton Mifflin Compan ...

. The

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

was designed in 1959 by Taprell Dorling. He also introduced the major advance of hull shapes that can

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

, and which can therefore reach beyond the usual speed limits for small sailing boats. In effect, a boat which is planing is skimming along the surface, with the bow of the boat not in the water. This results in less friction because of reduced

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

length, reduced displacement (the amount of water needing to be pushed aside by the boat), and reduced '

wetted area The surface area that interacts with the working fluid or gas. In maritime industry, maritime use, the wetted area is the area of the hull (watercraft) which is immersed in water. This has a direct relationship on the overall hydrodynamic drag of ...

'. The driving force provided by the sails has to overcome less resistance, and therefore speed increases dramatically. In 1928 Uffa Fox introduced planing to the English dinghy racing world in his International 14 boat, the ''Avenger''. He gained 52 first places, two second places and three third places out of 57 race starts that year. Note: Graham Anderson in his 1999 book ''Fast Light Boats, a Century of Kiwi Innovation'' argues that planing centreboard sailing boats were introduced into New Zealand in the early 20th century – well before Uffa Fox popularised the concept. Another advance in dinghy sailing was introduced in the 1930s, when the technique of trapezing was introduced. This involves using the crew to provide more leverage (than possible by hiking out) to keep the sails vertical and the boat balanced; doing this can prevent the boat from capsizing, by hanging outside the boat on a harness and rope attached to the 'hounds' or upper mast. As a result, the boat is easier to keep upright, and the sails can deliver maximum power most of the time. While trapezing can be helpful and increase speed, it can also be very dangerous if the crew is not wearing a quick-release harness or is inexperienced. The quick-release harness allows the crew to unstrap themselves quickly so as to not get forced under the boat if it were to capsize. Trapezing during a race first appeared in 1934, on the Amazon A Class Rater. Uffa Fox started building 14s in 1923, and was designing them by 1925. He was to transform the class with the introduction of his first planing hull design, Avenger, in 1927. The construction and finish of his 14s was considered by many to be the ultimate in quality and craftsmanship, and Thunder and Lightning built in 1938 was no exception. The hull was built of two thin veneers; diagonal internally and fore and aft externally, and stiffened by tiny rock elm frames, all fastened with thousands of copper nails. His aim was to achieve as light a construction as possible using the materials of the day – there was no carbon fibre or Kevlar then. Within a week of being launched, Thunder & Lightning won one of yachting's premier racing trophies, the Prince of Wales Cup, held that year at Falmouth. It was during this series that the boat's owners,

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

(son of the famous

Scott of the Antarctic Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra N ...

), and John Winter, used a device now commonly known as the trapeze. At that time it was known as King George's Jubilee Truss. The device was immediately banned by the Yacht Racing Committee on the grounds that it was unsporting and gave an unfair advantage to its users. Thunder & Lightning is now in th
National Maritime Museum Cornwall
The innovative technique was immediately banned, and received little development until it was reintroduced on the Osprey and Fiveohfive Class (

505 Year 505 ( DV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodorus and Sabinianus (or, less frequently, year 1258 '' Ab urb ...

) in 1954 by John Westell and the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

class in the early 1960s.

Post WWII developments

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

plywood had become a major building material for aircraft. After the war, plywood was adapted for building sailing dinghies. Two primary methods of construction were adopted:

stitch and glue Stitch and glue is a simple boat building method which uses plywood panels temporarily stitched together, typically with wire or zip-ties, and glued together permanently with epoxy resin. This type of construction can eliminate much of the need f ...

and timber-framed construction. Jack Holt designed many dinghies to be built by home handymen using these construction techniques. The

Mirror Dinghy The Mirror is a type of popular sailing dinghy with more than 70,000 built. The Mirror was named after the ''Daily Mirror'', a UK newspaper with a largely working-class distribution. The Mirror was from the start promoted as an affordable boat, ...

was predominantly built using stitch and glue, while the Enterprise and

Heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

is an example of a boat built using plywood on a timber frame.

Modern developments

At the beginning of the 21st century, dinghy sailing is still a rapidly developing sport. It is losing its image of being expensive, time-consuming, and exclusive. This is because of the earlier work of pioneers such as Uffa Fox, and through the use of modern designs and techniques such as lighter hull materials (e.g.,

fibreglass 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 clo ...

and foam sandwich hull construction, which eliminate time-consuming maintenance and constant care that wooden hulls required, although they are rare and only a few people make them some still sail with wooden boats), more responsive sail materials and design, easily transportable boats (many car-toppable), and simpler rigs such as

gennaker A gennaker is a sail that was developed around 1990. Used when sailing downwind, it is a cross between a genoa and a spinnaker. It is not symmetric like a true spinnaker but is asymmetric like a genoa, but the gennaker is not attached to the f ...

s instead of more complex

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...

s. These advances are more economical in time and money, and have greatly extended the appeal of dinghy sailing. In

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the RYA regulates racing and provides modular and accredited training courses for leisure and competitive sailing. A basic sailing course can be completed in several days. Similar organisations exist worldwide to administer and promote both leisure and competitive sailing.

Types of dinghies

Some dinghies come into more than one category, either because boundaries overlap or because different categories are measuring different things; e.g. both "one design" boats and boats of much freer design can be found in each of the main categories below. Dinghy designs are often referred to as "classes"; these classes are usually categorised as one design, open, or restricted. A more formal term for open is "Development Class". One design dinghies are supposed to be identical, though in reality this is not always the case. Only the most restrictive one design classes will restrict individual fittings. Then there becomes a sliding scale of allowable modification or design differences; restricted classes would typically allow the movement of fittings or even parts of the boat around, but are unlikely to allow major changes to hull shape or sails. Truly open development classes are also almost unknown, the famous line about the 18 ft skiff "the boat shall be 18ft long and the race starts at 2 o'clock" is a myth but open classes will usually allow pretty radical changes within usually some kind of box rule which specifies depth, length, width of hull height of mast and sometimes a minimum weight and sail area. Classes which are not development classes are usually referred to as "One design". The idea is that One Designs provide a fair and level playing field for even competition, whereas Development Classes drive boat speed and technology forwards. The first one design was the Water Wag designed by Thomas Middleton, which first sailed in

Dublin Bay Dublin Bay ( ga, Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north–south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Du ...

in 1887. The class is still sailed today, well over a hundred years later. The first International one-design class was the B.R.A. 12 foot dinghy which was designed by George Cockshott in 1914 for West Kirby marine lake. This design expanded to Holland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland etc. and further afield. All of the following classes can be used for recreational as well as racing purposes. Some function better for recreation use because they require less maintenance and can be left on a mooring, while other (usually racing) boats can't be left on mooring because they will capsize, which can cause certain parts like the mast and hull to be damaged. Sailing skiffs are the fastest and arguably most difficult type of dinghy to sail. A skiff has a flat narrow hull with a disproportionately large sailplan, usually consisting of an asymmetric spinnaker, blade jib and fully battened main. Sailors manage the rig with the use of racks (wings) and trapeze. Examples are the 49er, an Olympic boat, 18 Footers (see below) and the advanced

. High-performance dinghies are fast and powerful dinghies designed for racing around an Olympic triangle (Olympic Racing Course). Examples of such dinghies are the International Flying Dutchman, the International 505, the

, the Fireball, the Osprey, the

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

, the 14 ft John Spencer

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

and the International 470. They can all plane easily, even upwind and they use trapeze and a symmetric spinnaker. Not all are two handed boats: the International Contender and the

RS600 The RS600 is a sailing dinghy designed by Clive Everest and Nick Peters and supplied by RS Sailing. It is now built by the Boatyard at Beer. It is a single hander with trapeze and racks. It has a Portsmouth Yardstick of 916 and a D-PN of 76.2. Pe ...

are high performance single handed boats equipped with a trapeze, but not a spinnaker, and demonstrate a comparable performance.

Skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

s are usually classed as High performance dinghies. Racing dinghies are designed for racing, but not all have necessarily the same calibre of performance as the above. However, in many cases they can still offer equally close competition, at the very highest standards, which for many racing helmsmen and crews is the most important consideration. They cover a wide range, and many are descended from Uffa Fox's seminal International 14. People often "travel" with their dinghies to international races in famous sailing spots such as Lake Garda in Italy. The

Snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a near ...

International Class International Class is a status that the World Sailing World Sailing (WS) is the world sport governing body, governing body for the sailing (sport), sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralym ...

still stands as one of the strongest classes, after reaching the status of world's largest fleet of dinghies in July 1936. Other examples include the

GP14 The GP14 is a popular sailing dinghy, with well over 14,000 built. The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP 14 can be used for both racing and cruising. Design Th ...

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

, Graduate,

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occu ...

. A specialized subgroup is the

Scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...

, which typically uses two

bilgeboard A bilgeboard is a lifting foil used in a sailboat, which resembles a cross between a centerboard and a leeboard. Bilgeboards are mounted between the centerline of the boat and the sides, and are almost always asymmetric foils mounted at an angle t ...

s instead of a

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 ...

, and may have two

s. Many racing dinghies require two or more people to sail the boat, the skipper is in charge or steering and the main sail depending on the boat, and the crew is in charge of the jib, the spinnaker,(which can only be flown while going downwind) and keeping the boat level Cruising dinghies are designed for leisure and family sailing and are usually more stable than high-performance dinghies. This is provided by a 'chined' (less rounded) hull, greater displacement, and proportionally smaller sail area. Some are specifically designed for longer passage-making, and/or for camping aboard. Examples of these include the Wayfarer, arguably the

, the

Tideway The Tideway is a part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending on ...

, the

Laser Stratos The Laser Stratos is an all-round cruising and racing boat designed by Phil Morrison and built by LaserPerformance, the same company as the famous Laser Standard dinghy. It is built from fibre-glass and foam sandwich. The Laser Stratos comes in ...

, the Drascombe series of dinghies, the

CL 16 The CL 16, or CL16, is a Canadian sailing dinghy that was designed by Ian Proctor, Graham Dodd and George Blanchard, as a cruiser and daysailer, and first built in 1968. The CL 16 is a development of Proctor's 1957 Wayfarer design and is i ...

and the Laser 16, the Roamer Cruising Dinghy, designed by Eric Coleman an early member of the Dinghy Cruising Association, plus many designs of Iain Oughtred, John Welsford and François Vivier. Sailing these boats can still give much excitement. Cruiser-racer dinghies successfully combine elements of both the immediately previous two groups, offering good racing performance and also being very viable cruising boats. Arguably the only two world-class cruiser-racer dinghies, in terms of both the extensive availability of top class racing and their suitability for serious cruising, are the Wayfarer and the

; of these the Wayfarer has the edge for cruising, once on the water, in part because she is the larger boat, while the GP14 has the edge for racing. However the

Mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

and her larger sisters, and the

, can also be regarded as coming into this category. Frank Dye wayfarer W48 - Wanderer

Classic dinghies are typically used as yacht tenders or shore boats, and emphasize beauty and versatility over sailing performance. Although some are still made entirely from wood, the majority of the most popular classic sailing dinghies combine a fiberglass hull with enough finely finished teak or mahogany to represent the "best of two worlds" approach. The fiberglass hull makes the boat maintenance easier and some think they are sturdier and will not corrode like wood. Examples of classic sailing dinghies are

Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British Col ...

, Fatty Knees, Trinka, Bauer, Whitehall and Gig Harbor. Safety dinghies were designed to be used as yacht tenders with the added function of proactive self-rescue boat that can be sailed to safety. These boats are also used as recreational sailboats. Some of them can be fitted out with exposure canopies, sea anchors, and other survival gear. Examples of safety dinghies are the Portland Pudgy dinghy and the Clam dinghy.

Multihulls A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more hu ...

are fast twin or three hulled boats that fall under the definition of dinghy. Unlike dinghies, multihulls have high aspect ratio rigs with fully battened mainsails and sometimes, a rotating mast. This allows the rig to be highly aerodynamic and the reduced drag from the thin hulls, gives a multihull its great speed advantage over traditional monohulls. Dinghy-sized multihulls are sometimes referred to as "Beach Catamarans or Beach Trimarans". The

remains a popular racing class, having acquired racks (for trapezing crews) and a gennaker since its original design. The Laser Standard,

Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Radial is a variant of the Laser standard, w ...

and

Laser 4.7 The Laser 4.7 or ILCA 4 is a one-design dinghy class in the Laser series and is a one-design class of sailboat. All Lasers are built to the same specifications. The Laser is 4.06 m (13 ft 10 in) long, with a waterline length of 3.81 m (12&n ...

are the variants of the Laser dinghy, a single-hander whose combination of simplicity, portability and performance has done much to advance dinghy racing and training. More modern dinghies like the Phil Morrison designed RS200,

RS400 The RS400 is a light-weight sailing dinghy designed by Phil Morrison and manufactured by RS Sailing. The dinghy is sailed by two people and has a main, a jib and an asymmetric spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sai ...

RS800 The RS800 is a light-weight sailing dinghy designed by Phil Morrison and manufactured by RS Sailing. The boat is sailed by two people both on trapeze and has a main, jib and spinnaker. The RS800 has a Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick ...

and

RS Vareo The RS Vareo is a modern, single-handed sailing dinghy raced throughout the UK at both club and national level. The RS Vareo is a hiking singlehander with an asymmetric spinnaker. Fleets have grown throughout the UK and a racing circuit has been ...

Dinghies, the

Musto Skiff The Musto Skiff is a single-handed sailing skiff with a length of . It features a trapeze, asymmetrical spinnaker, wings and low weight and achieves speeds of over , which makes it one of the fastest single-handed sailing boats. History It was ...

Splash Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to: Common meanings * Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water Entertainment * ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah ** ''Splash, Too'' ...

and

have also increased dinghy sailing participation around the UK. Two popular dinghies used in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and college racing are the

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 **California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

and

Flying Junior The International FJ is a Dutch sailboat that was designed by Uus Van Essen and Conrad Gülcher as a trainer and one design racer, first built in 1956. The boat was initially called the Flying Dutchman Junior (after the Flying Dutchman o ...

Sports boats Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

: These classes are larger off-shore racing dinghies which shade off into classes of yachts with fixed keels. Usually they have several crew members as well as the helm.

Melges 24 The Melges 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Reichel/Pugh as a one-design racer and first built in 1993. The design became an accepted World Sailing international class in 1997. Production The design has been buil ...

and Laser SB3 are current examples of this type.

Development classes Development or developing may refer to: Arts * Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photograph ...

: Most dinghy classes have a fairly fixed layout of sails and hull design, and changes are very infrequent. However, some classes can compete and sail with less rigid definitions and measurements. This encourages experiment which often leads to innovation in techniques and construction. Examples are the

, the

18ft Skiff The 18 ft Skiff is considered the fastest class of sailing skiffs. The class has a long history beginning with races on Sydney Harbour, Australia in 1892 and later in New Zealand. The boat has changed significantly since the early days, bring ...

, the Puddle Duck Racer and the

. The International Moth is worth noting because of its use of lifting foils on the rudder and daggerboard. These generate enough lift to push the hull above the water, significantly reducing friction and allowing speeds in excess of .

Learning to sail

Many people learn to sail at accredited sailing schools, or through their local sailing club. Many books and training DVDs are also available, allowing the novice sailor to reinforce the learning in their own time. Boats that many children learn to sail in are the Optimist, Topper and the Laser Funboat and

Laser Pico The Laser Pico dinghy is a small sailboat designed by Jo Richards in the mid-1990s and used primarily for training and day sailing. It can be crewed by one or two children or an adult. Current models come equipped with both a mainsail and a jib, t ...

s. The Optimist is primarily used in supervised racing situations because it is easily capsized and very difficult to right from the water. In the US, the Portland Pudgy safety dinghy has become a popular beginners' sailing dinghy for non-racing, recreational use because it is unsinkable and very stable. It is easier for children to learn on small boats and work their way up to larger boats as they grow. Children learn better in a protected harbor or cove because there is less wind than the wide open ocean. The Wayfarer was the standard teaching boats for adult schemes; however, many centres have moved onto more modern 'Centre-Main' boats such as the

and Topaz Omega. In Australia the main boats children learn in are

Sabot (dinghy) The Sabot is a sailing dinghy that is sailed and raced singlehandedly usually by young sailors in various parts of the world. The boat is suitable for amateur production. Early models were usually made from plywood. More recent models have be ...

, Manly Junior,

, Topaz Dinghy, Flying Eleven, Optimist with the O'pen BIC becoming more popular. Adults often learn in

Spirals In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Sabres A sabre is a type of sword. Sabre, Sabres, saber, or SABRE may also refer to: Weapons and weapon systems * Sabre (fencing), a sporting sword * Sabre (tank), a modern British armoured reconnaissance vehicle * Chinese sabre or ''dao'', a variety ...

or by crewing in NS14s or Tasars. In the UK, the

Royal Yachting Association The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is a United Kingdom national governing body for sailing, dinghy sailing, yacht and motor cruising, sail racing, RIBs and sportsboats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for inl ...

is the governing body of all dinghy sailing qualifications, offering Youth Stage 1 through 4 certificates, and Adult Level 1 through 3 certificates. More and more boat hire companies ask to see certificates before they will allow you to hire out a boat. In Australi
Yachting Australia
fulfils a similar role. On yachts in Australia a Competent Crew course is usually the first formal learn to sail course.

Dinghy racing

Racing is one of the most popular forms of dinghy sailing, and it contributes to the development of sailing skills as well as to improvements in dinghy and sail construction and design. Sometimes the Olympic triangle is used as a course for dinghy races where space permits, particularly for events where there ought to be little local advantage such as State and National titles and for classes which are mainly displacement sailing such as the

Heron (dinghy) The Heron Dinghy is a dinghy designed by Jack Holt of the United Kingdom as the Yachting World Cartopper (YW Cartopper). The Heron dinghy was designed to be built by a home handyman out of marine ply over a timber frame, but can now also be const ...

. The olympic triangle is the most popular choice for dinghy racing, but a windward leeward course is another popular option.

References

Bibliography

Bob Bond "The Handbook of Sailing" DK & Pelham Books revised 1996

Development of the dinghy

Early beginnings

Planing and trapezing

Post WWII developments

Modern developments

Types of dinghies

Learning to sail

Dinghy racing

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading