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 Topper is an 11 foot 43 kg (95 lb) sailing dinghy designed by Ian Proctor. The Topper was a one-design boat until 2023 when a new version was produced, and is sailed mostly around the British Isles. It was recognised as a World Sailing Class. The boat previously constructed from polypropylene, and now roto moulded, 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 young sailors who are given specialist race coaching.
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 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 El Toro is an American pram sailboat that was designed by Charles McGregor as a sail training dinghy and yacht tender, first built in 1939. It is now often sailed as a singlehanded one-design racer.
The Laser 4.7 or ILCA 4 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 International 420 Dinghy is a sailing dinghy popular for racing and teaching. The hull is fiberglass with internal buoyancy tanks. The 420 has a bermuda rig, spinnaker and trapeze. It has a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, and is designed to plane easily. The 420 is an International class recognised by World Sailing. The name refers to the boat's length of 420 centimetres.
The International 505 is a One-Design high-performance two-person monohull planing sailing dinghy, with spinnaker, utilising a trapeze for the crew.
The Sabot is a sailing dinghy that is sailed and raced singlehandedly usually by young sailors in various parts of the world.
The 125 is a 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) two person intermediate sailing dinghy complete with main, jib, spinnaker and trapeze. The 125 class has a strong following within Australia with national titles being held every year around the country and local state associations. The class was originally designed as an intermediate class for developing skills with the jib, spinnaker and trapeze but has become popular from novice to experienced sailors.
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 Holdfast Trainer is a South Australian sailing dinghy designed in 1948 for junior sailors under the required age of 16. Based on the Sabot, the class features a hard-chine wooden or fiberglass hull with a flat bow and a daggerboard. Unlike the Sabot, the Holdfast Trainer has both a main and a jib in order to facilitate a two-person crew and to teach jib handling. To make space for the jib, the mast was stepped further back and a bowsprit was added. Modern versions include waterproof bulkheads to provide additional flotation.
The Naples Sabot is an 8-foot (2.4 m) sailing dinghy. The Naples Sabot was designed by Roy McCullough and R.A. Violette and the first two were built in Violette's garage during WW II, although official designs were not made available until 1946. The Naples Sabot is based on the Balboa Dinghy and on Charles MacGregor's Sabot as published in Rudder magazine, April 1939. It takes its name from Naples in Long Beach, California, where it was developed.
Mark Mendelblatt is an American yachtsman. Married to windsurfer Carolina Mendelblatt, he primarily sails the Laser Radial, a one-design class of small single-handed sailing dinghy. Beginning in 2005, he also started to race in the two-person keelboat Star class.
Anton Carl Diderik Dahlberg is a Swedish sailor, who specializes in the 470 class, a two-person dinghy. He has represented Sweden, along with his partner Sebastian Östling, in two editions of the Olympic Games, and with Fredrik Bergström in 2016 and 2020, winning an Olympic silver in 2020. He has been representing the Royal Swedish Yacht Club throughout most of his career.
The Optimist World Championship is an annual World Championship sailing regatta in the Optimist class organised by the International Optimist Dinghy Association.
Helen Mary Wilkes is an international administrator in the sport of sailing from Ireland. She is best known for her promotion of the Optimist dinghy as president of the International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA). An active committee member of World Sailing for over 35 years, she also served as the first president of the Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA).
The US Sabot is an American pram sailboat that was designed by Charles McGregor as a one-design racer and first built in 1939.
