The Dabchick is a South African youth sailing

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

that is raced two up or single-handed. A

Bermuda rig A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of Mast (sailing), mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 1600s; the t ...

ged boat, it has a mainsail and jib. Its hull is very shallow and its skipper sits on its flat deck. This hard chined

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 ...

was designed by Jack Köper in 1955. Since they were published in 1956, nearly 3,500 plans have been issued to builders, and over 4,000 boats have been built. It is usually sailed by young crew with teenager skipper instead of the Optimist, before moving into higher performance classes.

Design and construction

For decades, Dabchicks all were built of marine plywood. Though fiberglass boats are now being built, dozens of wooden boats are still being sailed competitively. At the 2007 AGM, the class rules were modified to allow Mylar sails with a full length top

batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...

External links

Dabchick Association of South Africa website

References

{{Sailing Dinghies and Skiffs Dinghies