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Editors Note: We encourage more response from our readers on College Sailing Dinghies, past present & future, and we have had a lot of feedback from Zach Brown’s original article on the LaserPerformance Collegiate 420. We thought this piece on the Rondar Firefly was particularly well done and illuminates not only the boat, but it’s history in college sailing and, as it sounds, its bright future. Please keep the content coming.   [email protected]

By Guest Writer Dan Rabin 

On opening weekend for college sailing this year, I coached the Brown University women’s team at the Toni Deutsch regatta hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).   Before racing began, I was catching up with Fran Charles, MIT’s Sailing Master, and he mentioned something about how we could reef the Fireflies if the breeze came up as expected.  I think I chuckled (I can’t tell when Fran is kidding any more), but sure enough, 2 hours and multiple capsizes later, Fran announced we would reef the boats after lunch.  My team came out to the boat with a couple of tie downs, a sleeve, and expressions of confusion.  I informed them that while they stared blankly at the boat and tried to will it to reef itself, I was going to watch Fran show the Yale team how to execute the operation.  It’s actually pretty slick – one tie goes through a reef point on the leech around the boom, another goes through a reef point on the luff around the mast, and a custom sleeve zips to each side of the main to hold the excess foot.   The best part of it all, we spent the afternoon racing, rather than waiting for people to get rescued.

Courtesy Fran Charles

Like most sailors of recent generations, I largely associate the Firefly with the Wilson Trophy, a premier annual team race event in the UK.  Turns out, this isn’t its first rodeo in the home of the free.

Origin and Early Years

The Firefly was designed in 1939 by Uffa Fox at the request of Cambridge and Oxford University sailors looking for a more suitable boat for team racing.  World War II postponed production of the boat until 1946.  At this time, Fox changed the name of the design from Sea Swallow to Firefly, in honor of the fighter planes utilized in the war.

The Firefly was actually used as a singlehanded boat in the 1948 Olympics, in which Paul Elvstrom won his first gold medal at the age of 20.  The boat proved to be a bit much to handle alone, and was subsequently replaced by the Finn in the next Games.  MIT, a pioneer of college sailing in the States, maintained a fleet of Fireflies throughout the 1950’s.  After winning the co-ed national championship hosted by Cottage Park Yacht Club in Massachusetts Bay in 1961, MIT retired their Firefly fleet.

The Sequel

Fifty years later, members of that championship squad helped lead the effort to bring Fireflies back to the Charles River.  Regarding some of the characteristics that attracted him to pursuing the venerable boat, Fran Charles explained, “We had heard that the boat could be sailed by heavier teams without a disadvantage in light air.  In addition, a tapered mast with the vang led back allows sailors to learn more about mast bend and depowering techniques in breeze.”   The extensive mast bend capability allows lighter teams to hang in heavier breeze, thereby extending the window before heavy air crews are needed.

Why is the boat less sensitive to crew weight differences?  Generally speaking, the hull shape is narrow and deep, with a taper at the transom (pictured below).  This means that changes in team weight do not translate to a significant change in wetted surface.  This is in contrast to the planing hull of a 420, and to a lesser extent the Flying Junior.

Courtesy Rondar/MIT

The Firefly is also lighter than both the 420 and the FJ, giving it a bit more of a lively feel and promoting more frequent transitions between footing and pinching modes.  The flip side of that liveliness is that the boat gets pretty squirrely downwind as the breeze picks up, even more so than an FJ.  Think that the reefing will just be for women’s regattas?  Think again.  Thomas Barrows, recent Wilson Trophy Champion, explained that the West Kirby hosts “don’t hesitate to switch down to the storm sails…the crossover to instability happens quickly and they don’t want to fall behind on the rotation.”

It should also come as no surprise that the institution that in recent years has hosted regattas with downwind team racing starts and finishes (I can’t remember what Fran named it but I call it a Kamikaze), mid beat gates, and windward gates, also made some design tweaks to their Firefly fleet.  Rondar Raceboats accommodated MIT with a modified hull for robustness, a rig design allowing for a higher boom, jib sheeting to a leeward track, and a gnav kicker system (a vang on steroids led back between the skipper and crew – similar to that of a Tufts Lark, it should be played in each puff and lull to maximize boat speed).   The centerboard is a thick aluminum plate without gaskets in the trunk, and the boat comes up from capsizing relatively dry.  The cost of the fleet was comparable to other alternatives, and Fran hopes to hold the fleet for at least 12 years.

Moving Forward

I’m a believer in the idea that boats aren’t better than one another, they’re just different.  Maybe I need to tell myself that from too many years campaigning J24’s.  In any case, no one can argue that racing different boats that require different skill sets and adjustments makes for better sailors.  I learned about the concept of reefing on my parents’ Sabre 28 when I was a kid.  During a lunch break on a dock 25 years later on the Charles River, a college junior asked “where are the reefed sails stored?”  Chalk up another victory to the MIT Sailing Program in its mission of education, service, and enablement.

Reefed MIT Firefly / Courtesy Dan Rabin

By Airwaves writer Zach Brown    (please add your comments in our online forum at the bottom of this article.)

The announcement of the new Collegiate 420 by Laser Performance sprung an interesting discussion about the many boats available to collegiate sailing programs around the country.  There are more dinghy manufacturers and more boat options than ever before. This article will discuss the current landscape of boats sailed at major programs, the increased fleet options available, and whether or not there is a competitive advantage to owning a specific fleet of boats.

The Current Landscape

Presently there are five doublehanded dinghies in college sailing: FJs, 420s, Fireflies, Techs, and Larks.  Each boat is unique and teaches different skill sets that are all valuable to becoming a well rounded and successful sailor.  The Holy Grail, also know as the perfect dinghy for all intercollegiate programs, simply cannot exist because not all sailing venues are the same.  The best boat to sail on a small river or lake is not suitable for a choppy open water venue.

FJ

The FJ is the most common college sailing dinghy.  Roughly fifty-four percent of programs own a fleet of FJs.  Light teams weighing less than 260 pounds gain a significant advantage in soft winds.  Strong winds favor a heavier combined crew weight of approximately 295 pounds.  Bigger skippers benefit from balancing more weight aft in the boat, which pops up the bow and increases upwind and downwind speed.

Club 420

The Club 420 is the second most sailed boat of college sailing.  Approximately forty-three percent of all programs throughout the country own a full fleet of 420s.  The 420 has a very flat aft hull surface which dictates the quirks associated with the boat.  While the flatness aides in stable planing, it makes sailing the boat over 275 pounds rather difficult in light winds due to all the wetted surface area.   A light weight team of 255 pounds will have a speed advantage in less wind, but the very large centerboard powers the dinghy up dramatically in breezy conditions requiring much more crew weight.  Schools must attend regattas sailed in 420s with a range of crew sizes to compete in varying wind velocities.

Firefly

The Firefly is a popular British University boat that has finally made its way into the American college sailing scene with a few modifications including a gnav strut kicker for the boomvang and a reef point so it’s easy to reduce sail area in windy conditions.  Although Fireflies are currently only sailed at MIT on the Charles River in Boston, don’t be surprised to see more fleets popping up at universities limited to flat water shifty venues.

The deep hull is a fully rounded surface which makes it possible for heavier teams to be equally competitive with smaller ones in light winds.  The tapered mast depowers the mainsail in heavy breeze so larger teams do not gain a relative advantage.  Quick crew work is a requisite for the firefly because tacking is fast and favorable.  The Firefly is the ultimate short course team race dinghy that gets around the race course easily in light winds and rarely has kinetics rules violations.

Tech Dinghy

Even though it’s only raced at MIT and UW Madison, the infamous Tech Dinghy is a staple for the NEISA and MCSA districts.  This simple design created in 1935 has set the technology curve in college sailing multiple times; first with the introduction of fiberglass boat building technology in 1953 and now in 2012 with its 6^th generation creation of an all carbon boat.  Over 2000 people are introduced to sailing through the Tech Dinghy every year.  The indestructible Techs are a flat water venue dinghy suitable for singlehanded or doublehanded racing.  The boats are easy to tack and great for light wind shifty conditions.

Techs are famous for equaling the playing field of college sailing because everyone has the same boat speed and there is no benefit to sailing light.  It is almost a rite of passage in NEISA to have a mental breakdown in a Tech on the Charles River due to the competitive nature of Techs and the challenging venue of the River.  Overcoming the challenge of the Tech Dinghy teaches sailors plenty of lessons that are valuable for the rest of their sailing career.

Some new designs for MIT’s 6^th generation Tech Dinghy include: increased sail area to 84 sq ft, mainsheet controlled from mid boom instead end of boom, ease of planing, greater speed that exceeds FJs and 420s in many conditions, and ease of recovery after a capsize with minimal water to bail.

Lark

The Lark is only raced in college sailing regattas at Tufts University in a suburb of Boston, but Wesleyan University in Connecticut and many British Universities sail the boat as well.  The Lark is incredibly similar to a Firefly with its hull shape, bendy rig, and ease to tack.  The Tufts Larks could not suit Mystic Lake better with its extra large square top main sail and carbon rig making it easy to get races off and have productive practices in shifty unreliable wind conditions.  An ideal flat water venue dinghy, the Lark is one of the fastest boats in college sailing.  Because the Lark accelerates so quickly and speed almost doubles, sailors can sometimes chase a filling puff instead of waiting for it to arrive.

The Changing Landscape

College sailing equipment is changing rapidly due to the design of new boats and emergence of more boat builders.  The sport is improving from the increased focus of boat builders like Laser Performance, Rondar Raceboats USA, and Zim Sailing.  The battleground for these manufacturers takes place on the price, durability, quality, service, and suitability of the boats.

Laser Performance

Laser Performance produces the majority of college sailing boats through the traditional offering of the Club 420 and the FJ.  Over the last few years Laser Performance has committed considerable resources redesigning the 420 for increased speed, performance, and durability while maintaining the price point.  The exact release date for the Laser Performance Collegiate 420 hasn’t been released yet, but it has been confirmed that St. Mary’s College will host the 2014 ICSA Coed College Sailing Nationals in this new dinghy.  Features of the Collegiate 420 include a core layer in the hull and deck that makes the boat twenty pou
nds lighter and significantly stronger with a closed forward bulkhead.  Other small changes include inboard jib leads, an integrated bow bumper, and new fittings.

Rondar Raceboats USA

Rondar Raceboats has been making high quality boats since 1964.  Their success is well known in non-college sailing classes such as the 505, Firefly, Viper 640, and the K6.  This long established “new comer” to college sailing offers sailing programs the choices of the Rondar 420, the Firefly, and the Tech Dinghy.  The Rondar 420 is similar to the Collegiate 420 with two forward bulkheads, a fully cored hull, and resin infusion.  Although initial pricing is slightly higher than the mainstream brands, Rondar’s representative claimed the “whole life” costs of their boats are considerably cheaper than any of the current choices.  MIT has bought into this idea with a fleet of Rondar 420s, 20 Rondar Fireflies, and a new fleet of Rondar made Carbon Tech Dinghies.

Zim Sailing

Zim 420s and FJs are another new comer to the college sailing scene.  Zim has already made its way into the hands of many schools including Columbia University, Fordham University, SUNY Maritime, University of Connecticut, and University of New Hampshire.  SUNY Maritime coach Russ O’Reilly has been pleased with the boats, the service, and the price of his Zim 420s.  O’Reilly specifically noted that the service was top notch with each boat assembled, tested, and inspected by a team of Zim builders.

Competitive Advantage?

With five unique college boats available now, new boats coming in the near future, and three different boat manufacturers, fleet selection become harder for some college sailing programs.  Clearly there is a competitive advantage to owning some FJs because the majority of college sailing interconference regattas are raced in FJs.  But, that does not mean every school should have a full fleet of FJs.  Selecting the proper dinghy based on the conditions of a program’s venue is the top priority.  Supplementing the fleet with a group of at least six other boats is a great way to diversify and properly prepare for each weekend’s regatta.