The Sonar is a
one design trailerable 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 go ...
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 terminolo ...
that was designed by
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Occupations
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role ...
Bruce Kirby and first built in 1980.
[Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 120-121. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ]
The design was initiated as a commission from the members of the
Noroton Yacht Club
Noroton Yacht Club (NYC) is a private yacht club in Noroton, Connecticut, on Noroton Harbor. Located in the Noroton Bay neighborhood, the club was founded in 1928 and today hosts the best junior sailing programs in the world. Youths from 8–17 y ...
of
Darien, Connecticut
Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under 13 square miles, it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast. It has the youngest population of any ...
,
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 territori ...
.
The Sonar was inducted into the
American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2004.
The design was developed into the more
cruising-oriented
Blazer 23
The Blazer 23 is a Canadian Trailer sailer, trailerable sailboat that was designed by Bruce Kirby (yachts), Bruce Kirby as Sailing (sport), racer-Cruising (maritime), cruiser and first built in 1988.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small C ...
, using the same hull, but a larger cabin.
Production
The design was first built by
Seidelmann Yachts in
Berlin, New Jersey, although the company went out of business in 1986. Other companies that have previously produced the boat include
C. E. Ryder and
Shumway Marine in the US, as well as
Ontario Yachts and
DS Yachts in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, with a few built by
Carbon Index in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Since 2015 the boat has been built by
Rondar Raceboats in the UK and distributed in North America by Shumway Marine. A total of 860 boats have been built.
Design
![Advantage Boating Sonar sailboat 3's Company 3932](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Advantage_Boating_Sonar_sailboat_3%27s_Company_3932.jpg)
The Sonar is a recreational
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 w ...
, built predominantly of
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 ...
, with wood trim. It has a
fractional sloop 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 ha ...
spars, including a tapered
boom, a
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 ...
, a
reverse transom
A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline.
The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...
, an internally mounted spade-type
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 air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
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. ...
with an extension and a fixed fin
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
. It displaces and carries of lead ballast.
The boat has a draft of with the standard keel.
The design has a cockpit long, with space for eight people. It has a small
cuddy cabin
A cuddy is a small room or cupboard, particularly on a boat. Sometimes a cuddy refers to a small but cosy hut. The origin of the term is not clear. Cuddy was in use in colonial America as early as 1655. The term may derive from the Dutch ''kaj ...
that is used for stowage and can also house a portable
head. The cuddy can also be fitted with two berths for sleeping accommodation.
The boat 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' ...
downwind. For sailing the design is equipped with internal boom slab
reefing
Reefing reduces the area of a sail, usually by folding or rolling one edge of the canvas in on itself and attaching the unused portion to a spar or a stay, as the primary measure to preserve a sailing vessel's stability in strong winds. Restoring ...
, a 4;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 ...
mainsheet
In sailing, a sheet is a line (rope, cable or chain) used to control the movable corner(s) ( clews) of a sail.
Terminology
In nautical usage the term "sheet" is applied to a line or chain attached to the lower corners of a sail for the purpos ...
block, a
backstay
A backstay is a piece of standing rigging on a sailing vessel that runs from the mast to either its transom or rear quarter, counteracting the forestay and jib. It is an important sail trim control and has a direct effect on the shape of the ma ...
and a
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 ...
.
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 ...
is not permitted under the class sailing rules.
The design has a
Portsmouth Yardstick
The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing.
The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...
DP-N racing average handicap of 82.5 and is normally raced with a crew of two to three
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 ...
s.
Operational history
![Sonar Sailboat No Luffing Matter 0303](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Sonar_Sailboat_No_Luffing_Matter_0303.jpg)
The Sonar is used 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 and ...
as well as racing.
The Sonar is an accepted
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 Paralympic Committee (IPC).
History
The creation of the Inter ...
international class and was selected for
Paralympic
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...
sailing at the 1996
Paralympic Games and has remained a Paralympic class since then.
The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the ''Sonar Class Association''.
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "the Sonar was designed for the same market as the Etchells 22, Soling, Tempest, and Ensign. The basic concept was generated by a committee of the Noroton Yacht Club (Connecticut), then designed by Bruce Kirby. The cockpit is huge ... Only three sails are allowed — main, jib, and spinnaker."
The boat was inducted into the
American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2004. The citation noted, "the brainchild of Bruce Kirby (who also designed the Laser, which was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1997), the Sonar was designed to a specific set of parameters determined through a survey of club sailors. All were looking for the same thing—a boat that was exciting to race, easy to handle by sailors of varying ages and abilities, trailerable, self-bailing and reasonably comfortable. Basically, Kirby said, "we wanted a boat that could be sailed without breaking your neck." "I think it’s the best boat I ever designed in that it met all the criteria," Kirby said."
Events
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
References
External links
*
{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide
Sonar (keelboat)
Keelboats
1980s sailboat type designs
Sailing yachts
Sailboat type designs by Bruce Kirby
Trailer sailers
Sailboat types built by Seidelmann Yachts
Sailboat types built by Ontario Yachts
Sailboat types built by C. E. Ryder
Sailboat types built by DS Yachts
Sailboat types built by Shumway Marine
Sailboat types built by Rondar Raceboats