The Europe is a one-person

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, whic ...

designed in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in 1960 by Alois Roland as a class legal Moth dinghy. The design later changed into its own one-design class. The dinghy is ideal for sailors weighing 50–85 kilos. The hull is made of

fibre glass 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 clot ...

and weighs 45 kg, fully rigged 60 kg. The dinghy is tapering in the stem and round in the bottom. The sail is made of

dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and fo ...

. The mast is made of

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

and specially designed to the sailor. A soft mast is best for light sailors, while heavier sailors use stiffer masts. Sails are also specially designed according to mast stiffness and crew weight. The Europe was introduced as an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

class in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

as the women's single-handed dinghy. It was replaced by the

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, ...

in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Since 2008 the Europe is one of the Vintage Yachting Classes at the

Vintage Yachting Games The Vintage Yachting Games are an international Quadrennial multi class sailing event for former Olympic classes and the former Classes of the Paralympic Games. The Vintage Games is held every four years. The idea behind the Vintage is to Org ...

Events

Olympic Games

Asian Games Women's

Pan American Games Women's

World Championship

Open

Men

Women

Continental Championships

European Championship Women's

European Championship Men's

European Championship Open Master

European Championship Women's Youth

European Championship Men's Youth

Vintage Yachting GamesVintage results
/ref>

Women's

Men's

References

External links

US Class Website

International Europe Class Union Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Europe (Dinghy) Classes of World Sailing Dinghies Olympic sailing classes 1960s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Belgian designers