Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:
The Mirror is a popular sailing dinghy with more than 70,000 built.
The Topper is an 11 foot 43 kg (95 lb) sailing dinghy designed by Ian Proctor. The Topper is a one-design boat sailed mostly around the British Isles. It was recognised as a World Sailing Class. The boat is constructed from polypropylene, and is popular as a racing boat or for sail training. The class association (itca) organise racing events, which range from small travellers to major championships. The RYA run squads alongside the events; in these squads are talented young sailors who are given specialist race coaching.
The Laser is a highly popular family of small one-design sailing dinghies using the same common hull and interchangeable rigs with different sail areas. The Laser is designed to be sailed single handed although class rules permit two sailors. Bruce Kirby designed the Laser in 1970 with an emphasis on simplicity and performance.
The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork is necessary to sail it well. The name comes from the overall length of the boat in centimetres.
The Optimist, also known as the ‘opti’, 'oppie', 'opy' or 'bathtub' is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. Contemporary boats are usually made of fibreglass, although wooden boats are still built.
The Laser 4.7 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 long, with a waterline length of 3.81 m. The hull weight is 59 kg (130 lb). The boat is manufactured by ILCA and World Sailing approved builders.
The OK Dinghy is an international class sailing dinghy, designed by Knud Olsen in 1956.
The Byte is a small one-design sailing dinghy sailed by one person. It was designed by Canadian Ian Bruce, who also commissioned and marketed the Laser.
The Hobie Cat is a small sailing catamaran manufactured by the Hobie Cat Company. Hobie's line of products includes surfboards, sailboats, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, and pedalboards, although the Hobie Cat Company is known worldwide for its catamarans. Hobie also designed a successful monohull, the Hobie 33.
The Comet, sometimes called the Comet OD or Comet One-Design, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by C. Lowndes Johnson as a one-design racer and first built in 1932. The design has evolved over time via modifications.
The Laser Stratos is an all-round cruising and racing boat built by Laser Performance, the same company as the famous Laser Standard dinghy. It is built from fibre-glass and foam sandwich. The Laser Stratos comes in two forms, one with a keel and one with a centreboard. The centreboard version is red and the keel version is blue. The Stratos is quite spacious and most of the rigging is kept out of the way. The boat can optionally be fitted with trapeze lines and an engine bracket for carrying an outboard engine.
The Moth a small development class of sailing dinghy. Originally a small, fast home-built sailing boat designed to plane, since 2000 it has become an expensive and largely commercially-produced boat designed to hydroplane on foils.
The National Solo class is a racing dinghy designed by Jack Holt in 1956. The Solo is sailed in the United Kingdom, Holland, Portugal and Australia.
The Cherub is a 12 feet long, high performance, two-person, planing dinghy first designed in 1951 in New Zealand by John Spencer. The class is a development class, allowing for significant variation in design between different boats within the rule framework. The minimum hull weight was originally 110 lbs.
The Banshee, sometimes called the Banshee 13, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Richard L. Reid as a one-design racer and first built in 1969.
The RS Tera is a one-man monohull dinghy in the RS Sailing range of sailing boats. It is recognised by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) as an international class, and is a popular boat for beginners and for children to race.
The Laser 28 is a Canadian-built sailboat designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr and first produced in 1984.
The Capri Cyclone, also referred to as the Cyclone 13 or just the Cyclone, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Frank V. Butler as a one-design racer and first built in 1970.
