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 SB20 was originally called the Laser SB3, and was marketed and distributed by Laser Performance under licence from the designer. This licence ended in 2012.
The yacht is an open keelboat and is designed for racing with a crew of 3 whose maximum weight must not exceed 270 kg. With a high aspect ratio keel with a very high ballast ratio the yacht is very stable, but also quite fast due to the substantial sail area. The SB20 is unique in that it does not allow hiking, using a small stainless steel bar to prevent hiking by the crew, this allows competitive crews of all shapes, sizes and ages.
The majority of boats are located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore and Italy and the Class has attracted considerable support. There is a growing fleet in the UAE. In 2005 the SB20 became the second largest One-design fleet at theCowes Week regatta with 66 entries. In 2006 it became the largest fleet with 89 entries pushing the XOD into second place, an accolade it held for two further years.
There are over 600 boats worldwide, sailed in over 20 countries. Growth in fleets internationally enabled the class to successfully apply to ISAF for the right to host a world championship, the first of which was hosted in Dublin during 2008.
Class website:
http://www.sb20class.com/
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Optimist
The international Optimist’s tag line “How the worlds junior sailors learn to sail” gives you an idea of the class right away. With hundreds of thousands of boats worldwide, and hundreds of active fleets, especially in youth programs throughout the country, it is hard to argue that the Optimist isn’t the most popular one-design boat going.
The boat is really an ideal training platform; simple, stable, easy to rig and transport. Best of all, there are fleets and regattas virtually wherever there is water and a sailing program.
The Optimist was designed in 1947 by American Clark Mills at the request of the Clearwater Florida Optimist service club following a proposal by Major Clifford McKay to offer low-cost sailing for young people. He designed a simple pram that could be built from three sheets of plywood, and donated the plan to the Optimists. The design was slightly modified and introduced to Europe by the Dane, Axel Damgaard, and spread outwards across Europe from Scandinavia. The design was standardized in 1960 and became a strictOne-Design in 1995.
The Optimist is sailed in over 120 countries and it is one of only two yachts approved by the International Sailing Federation exclusively for sailors under 16. At the London Olympics, 80% of all boat skippers were former dinghy sailors, most of them having reached international level in the Class.
Optimists are used for beginners, but most sailors continue to race them up to 13 or 14 years of age. The age limit is 15. Very small children are sometimes “doubled up” but usually the boats are single-handers. In this mode children gain confidence and improved skills: “The small boats train the champs”. Many sailing schools and yacht clubs own a number of them and they are the first boat most beginners will sail.
The Optimist is the biggest youth racing class in the world. As well as the annual world championship the class also has six continental championships, attended by a total of over 850 sailors a year. Many of the top world Optimist sailors immediately become world-classLaser Radial or 4.7 sailors after they “age-out” but many also excel in double-handers such as the 420 and 29er.
Optimists provide real international competition because they are manufactured to the same specification by dozens of builders.
The first World Championships were held in Great Britain in 1962, and they have since been arranged annually. For the first 20 years, the class was dominated by sailors from the Scandinavian countries, with 13 world champions. In the 1990s Argentina was by far the dominant country but since the turn of the millennium there has been no single dominant country, with the 33 medallists coming from 20 countries on five continents.
loa 7’7”
beam 3’7”
sail area 35 ft²
spinnaker area n/a
hull weight 77 lbs.
crew 1
# of boats built
active US fleets New England, FL, CA, MA, CT, RI, VA, NY
For more information please visit this class associations website: http://www.optiworld.org/
http://www.usoda.org/
Read Emma White’s article on the Opti!
https://www.sail1design.com/airwaves-sailing-news/one-design-classes/1223-optimist-dinghy
Laser
The international laser, an Olympic Class sailboat, is quite likely the worlds most popular single-handed one-design dinghy, rivaled in numbers only by the sunfish.
With regattas and fleets all throughout the country, this boat is the ideal fun day-sailer that you never outgrow. From learning the basics to doing an Olympic campaign, the boat has it all.
With an un-stayed cat rig and light, 130 lb hull, the laser is very easy to rig and transport. The laser also has rig options for smaller sailors. They are the Laser Radial and the Laser 4.7
loa 13’10”
beam 4’7”
sail area 75 ft² , Radial: 62 ft², 4.7: 50.5 ft²
spinnaker area n/a
hull weight 130 lbs.
crew 1
# of boats built 190,000
active US fleets New England, FL, CA, MA, CT, RI, VA, NY
For more information please visit this class associations website:
http://www.laserinternational.org/
Club 420
The club 420 is the essential 2 person training dinghy used my the majority of youth sailing programs across the country. The boat is stable, fast, and this class association is very strong. The Club 420 features a single trapeze and spinnaker rig, while the club/collegiate 420 eliminates both for simplicity.
Fleets and regattas are widespread, especially on the east coast, and the 420 is also the choice of many high school & college sailing programs, including top teams like Boston College, Brown University, Yale, and more.
loa 13’9”
beam 5’5”
sail area 110 ft²
spinnaker area 95 ft²
hull weight 220-230 lbs
crew 2
# of boats built not known
active US fleets New England, FL, CA, MA, CT, RI, VA, NY
For more information please visit this class associations website:
http://club420.org/
470
From www.470.org:
It is a popular class of dinghy, offering a good introduction to high-performance boats without being excessively difficult to handle. It has a large sail-area-to-weight ratio and is designed to plane easily. Most sailors get substantial experience in a more stable and less demanding dinghy before beginning the 470.
The International 470 Class was awarded International Status by the International Yacht Racing Union (now World Sailing) in 1969 and it has been an Olympic class since first featuring at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Used as Olympic equipment since 1976, where the class was sailed as an open event before the introduction of separate events for men and women in 1988, the 470 is the boat currently used for both the men’s two person and women’s two person dinghy events at the Olympic Games and is sailed in more than 60 nations around the world. In 1988 the first ever Olympic women’s sailing event was sailed in the 470, as the first step in increasing the number of women competing at the Olympic Games.
A strict one design class, the 470 has proved its pedigree as an Olympic class, being a high performance sailing dinghy suitable for body weights from all continents and performing across a wide range of weather conditions. Across the 11 Olympic Games in which the 470 Class has been raced, 20 different nations have secured Olympic medals in the men’s and women’s events, demonstrating the depth of participation and talent.
The International 470 Class is responsible for the organization and administration of the 470 Class around the world. With 23% of the athletes at the 2020 Olympic Games competing in the 470 Class, the Class is committed to ensuring their interests and the broader interests of 470 sailing are represented and to encouraging, promoting and developing the 470 Class throughout the world.
The 470 is equipped with spinnaker and trapeze, making teamwork necessary to sail it well. The 470 is not difficult to sail, but to be competitive everything should be mastered and tuned to perfection. Tactically the boat is demanding because speed differences are small and fleets are usually big. The 470 is often quoted as the most challenging, dynamic and thrilling to sail of the boats at the Olympics. The boat can be sailed competitively in a wide range of wind and sea conditions, covering the full range of Olympic sailing conditions.
loa 14’7”
beam 5’6”
sail area 137 ft²
spinnaker area 140 ft²
hull weight 264
crew 2
# of boats built not known
active US fleets MD, FL, CA, MA, CT, RI, VA, NY
For more information please visit this class associations website:
http://www.470.org/
US 470 Class Website: https://470usa.org/
Vanguard 15
Labeled by some as the ideal post-collegiate sailors boat, this simple design is comfortable, easy to sail for beginners and a small family outing, yet also boasts one of the more competitive one-design classes in the US. The Vanguard offers plenty for the thrill seeker; the boat will plane upwind, and is a blast to sail off the breeze in bigger winds as it is relatively stable.
Another bonus of this boat is it’s simplicity. There is so spinnaker; only a jib and mainsail, and minimal controls make this boat easy and inexpensive to maintain. For these reasons the Vanguard 15 is very often the top choice for high-level team racing events. It is a great team racing boat!!
One design feature that is both a blessing and a curse; the foil is a daggerboard, which on the one hand makes the cockpit very open and spacious. On the downside, a daggerboard is a liability should you run aground, as damage to the board, and more critically, the hull, is likely.
loa 15’3”
beam 5’6”
sail area 127 ft²
spinnaker area n/a
hull weight 190
crew 2
# of boats built 5,000
active US fleets MD, FL, CA, MA, CT, RI, VA, NY
For more information please visit this class associations website:
http://v15.org/
CHECK OUT THE SAIL1DESIGN PROFILE ON THE V15:
https://www.sail1design.com/airwaves-sailing-news/one-design-classes/1111-v15
