Great fun in videoland when the drone operator is an experienced dinghy sailor and knows the best footage in a breeze is always at the jibe mark.
The Australian Lightweight Sharpies are 19' (5.8 meters) long, crewed by three (one on a trapeze) with a symmetrical spinnaker. The Aussies used the hull from the 12 sq. m Sharpie but redid it in plywood in the 1960's, reducing the weight considerably. The rig was updated from a gunter to a modern full battened main with aluminum mast. One takeaway from the video is how impressive is the wake from a full-on planing dinghy.
TOH to Jim Champ who posted this video to the Yachts and Yachting forum.
Earwigoagin archives has another Lightweight Sharpie video.
From the comments, Mike Scott chimes in with his experiences crewing the Lightweight Sharpie;
"When I emigrated to the Antipodes as a "Ten pound Pom' in 1965, I sought out my local sailing club - Lake Heights Sailing Club. Classes sailed there were OK dinghies, Lightweight Sharpies, and sundry others. "As I had no money to buy a boat in them days, I volunteered my services as crew aboard a Sharpie. What an eye-opener that proved to be for a British kid used to sailing little dinghies on ponds and rivers!! I was sheet-hand (mainsheet trimmer, and spinnaker raiser/trimmer), and those boats could really fly. Faster than a Dutchman, 505, or Fireball, it was a blast, and the thing I most remember being how warm the water was! Very wet boats, one was completely drenched on a planing reach, as you can see from the video. Occasionally we'd be out in the middle of Lake Illawarra, where the club was located, on a hot sunny day, when the clouds would gather on the horizon, and a Southerly Buster would come screaming across the lake, flattening the fleet, and forcing a rapid and hair-raising ride back to the beach!
"I don't think they are the most popular trapeze dinghy in Oz - the skiffs probably have a bigger following 14ft 16ft and of course the 18ft-ers.
3 comments:
Two New Zealanders Peter Mander and Jack Cropp won gold in the 12 sq mtr Sharpie class at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
I was not aware that this 3 crew version of the Sharpie had been developed - certainly building them in plywood was a good move, making the boat lighter and fast (and easier to get in and out of the water).
They are a nice looking boat and certainly as the videos show very fast downwind with a spinnaker up. The addition of a trapeze is a good move which would make them a sail upwind really well ( I don't think the two man Olympic Sharpie had a trapeze ).
If I'n not mistaken the Lightweight Sharpie is the most popular crewed racing trapeze dinghy in Australia, beating out those International heavy-weight classes like the 505 and Fireball. The modern LW Sharpie racing class in all foam-core construction now.
When I emigrated to the Antipodes as a "Ten pound Pom' in 1965, I sought out my local sailing club - Lake Heights Sailing Club. Classes sailed there were OK dinghies, Lightweight Sharpies, and sundry others.
As I had no money to buy a boat in them days, I volunteered my services as crew aboard a Sharpie. What an eye-opener that proved to be for a British kid used to sailing little dinghies on ponds and rivers!! I was sheet-hand (mainsheet trimmer, and spinnaker raiser/trimmer), and those boats could really fly. Faster than a Dutchman, 505, or Fireball, it was a blast, and the thing I most remember being how warm the water was! Very wet boats, one was completely drenched on a planing reach, as you can see from the video. Occasionally we'd be out in the middle of Lake Illawarra, where the club was located, on a hot sunny day, when the clouds would gather on the horizon, and a Southerly Buster would come screaming across the lake, flattening the fleet, and forcing a rapid and hair-raising ride back to the beach!!
I don't think they are the most popular trapeze dinghy in Oz - the skiffs probably have a bigger following 14ft 16ft and of course the 18ft-ers.
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