Dinghy racing is a competitive sport using dinghies, which are small boats which may be rowboats, have an outboard motor, or be sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern sailing dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing.
The Albacore is a 4.57 m (15 ft) two-person planing dinghy with fractional sloop rig, for competitive racing and lake and near-inshore day sailing. Hulls are made of either wood or fiberglass. The basic shape was developed in 1954 from an Uffa Fox design, the Swordfish. Recent boats retain the same classic dimensions, and use modern materials and modern control systems.
The Laser is a class of single-handed, one-design sailing dinghies using a common hull design with three interchangeable rigs of different sail areas, appropriate to a given combination of wind strength and crew weight. Ian Bruce and Bruce Kirby designed the Laser in 1970 with an emphasis on simplicity and performance.
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.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
The Finn dinghy is a single-handed, cat-rigged sailboat, and a former Olympic class for men's sailing. Since its debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, the Finn featured in every summer Olympics until 2020, making it the longest serving dinghy in the Olympic Regatta and one of the most prolific Olympic sailboats,. The Finn is a physically demanding boat to race at the highest levels, especially since the class rules now allow unlimited boat rocking and sail pumping when the wind is above 10 knots. The event will not feature on the Olympic programme from 2024.
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 boat's length of 470 centimetres.
The International 2.4mR is a one-person keelboat. The class is a development class governed by the 2.4mR rule. The rule controlled by World Sailing is one of the few classes designated as an International Class. The International 2.4mR Class rule is closely related to the International 12mR class rule that was used at the America's Cup.
The International Contender is a single-handed high performance sailing dinghy, designed by Bob Miller, latterly known as Ben Lexcen, (Australia) in 1967 as a possible successor to the Finn dinghy for Olympic competition.
The SB20 is a one-design class of sailboat commonly used for racing. Marketed and distributed by Sportsboat World the boat was designed by Tony Castro and launched in 2002.
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 number of 799 and a D-PN of 77.0. There is a large racing circuit in the UK, and some European events each year.
The RS Feva is a two-person sailing dinghy designed by Paul Handley in 2002. It is manufactured and distributed by RS Sailing. The RS Feva is an International Sailing Federation (ISAF) International Class, a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Supported Junior Class, and has been selected by the Dansk Sejlunion and Norges Seilforbund for major sailing growth projects.
The International Six Metre class is a class of classic racing yachts. Sixes are a construction class, meaning that the boats are not identical but are all designed to meet specific measurement formula, in this case International rule. At their heyday, Sixes were the most important international yacht racing class, and they are still raced around the world. "Six metre" in class name does not, somewhat confusingly, refer to length of the boat, but product of the formula; 6mR boats are, on average, 10–11 metres long.
Virginie Claire Désirée Marie Hériot was a French yachtswoman who won in the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 8 Metre Aile VI.
Poul Richard Høj Jensen "PRHJ" is a Danish sailor, boatbuilder, sailmaker and Olympic champion. Høj Jensen lives with his wife Sophia alternating in Burnham-on-Crouch and Freetown, Antigua and Barbuda.
The Dart 18 is a one-design 18-foot (5.5 m) long glassfibre sailing catamaran. It is designed to be sailed by two people and can achieve speeds of up to 20 knots. This is reflected in its Portsmouth Yardstick of 805 and D-PN of 76.3
The Splash Dinghy is 3.5 m in length and all boats are identical, thus, as is typical in One-Design classes, the sailor's ability rather than equipment is emphasised fleet racing. The boats employ an un-stayed mono rig with a sail area of 6.3 m2, which makes the class easy to handle by sailors ranging from 45 to 80 kg. This, combined with the low hull weight of 55 kg, allow the class to serve as a stepping stone between the Optimist Dinghy and boats such as the Laser Radial, suiting sailors in the age range from 13 to 21 years.
The Dragon Gold Cup is an annual sailing race for the Dragon class since 1937, organized by the International Dragon Association and the Clyde Yacht Clubs' Association.
The Dragon World Championship is an international biennial sailing regatta in the Dragon class organized by the International Sailing Federation and the International Dragon Association.
Handicap forms for sailing vessels in sailing races have varied throughout history, and they also vary by country, and by sailing organisation. Sailing handicap standards exist internationally, nationally, and within individual sailing clubs.
![The Winners of the 2011 Dragon Gold Cup: Markus Wieser [es], Sergey Pughchev and Matti Paschen with the Gold Cup. Dragon Gold Cup Victors 2011.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Dragon_Gold_Cup_Victors_2011.jpg/220px-Dragon_Gold_Cup_Victors_2011.jpg)
