Lightning (dinghy)
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The Lightning is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, as a one-design racer and first built in 1938.<ref name="Data">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Sherwood">Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 102-103. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Template:ISBN</ref>
An accepted World Sailing class, the boat is one of the most popular one-design sailing classes in the United States and is also raced in several other countries.<ref name="Data"/><ref name="Sherwood"/>
The design was developed into a smaller boat, as a trainer for the Lightning, the Blue Jay in 1947.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Production
The design has been built by a large number of manufacturers in the United States and also in Canada. There have been 15,550 boats completed and it remains in production by the Allen Boat Company along with nickels boatworks.<ref name="Data"/><ref name="Windrider">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Allen">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the past it has been built in the US by the Clark Boat Company, Lippincott Boat Works, Nickels Boat Works, Jack A. Helms Co., Lockley Newport Boats, Skaneateles Boat & Canoe, Mobjack Manufacturing, Siddons & Sindle, Lofland Sail-craft, the Eichenlaub Boat Co, Saybrook Yacht Yard, and WindRider LLC. It was also built in Canada by J.J. Taylor and Sons Ltd.<ref name="Data"/>
Boats have been delivered complete, sold as kits for amateur construction and also amateur-built from plans.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
Design
The Lightning is a recreational sailboat, initially built with wooden plank construction and, since the early 1960s, of fiberglass with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig with wooden or aluminum spars. The rig employs a backstay, anchored off center, so as to not impede the tiller. If equipped with a wooden mast it has a jumper stay from the mast head to the spreaders. The hull has a foredeck, with a V-shaped coaming, a raked stem, an angled transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centerboard. It displaces Template:Convert and carries a class-prescribed maximum of Template:Convert in centerboard weight.<ref name="Data"/><ref name="Sherwood"/>
The boat has a draft of Template:Convert with the centerboard extended and Template:Convert with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.<ref name="Data"/>
For sailing the design is equipped with a Template:Convert spinnaker. Mainsail and jib windows are optional for improved visibility and safety.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 88.4<ref name="Sherwood"/> and is normally raced with a crew of three sailors, although it can accommodate six adults.<ref name="YB1941">Lightning Class Association, Yearbook 1941</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Operational history
The boat has an active class club that regulates the design and organizes races, the International Lightning Class Association.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 1994 there were more than 460 racing fleets in Canada, Europe, South America and the United States.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood noted that the design has good freeboard and stability.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
Racing
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See also
Related development
References
External links
Template:Lockley Newport Boats Template:Clark Boat Company Template:Classes of World Sailing Template:Sailing dinghies and skiffs
- Pages with broken file links
- Dinghies
- 1930s sailboat type designs
- Lightning (dinghy)
- Classes of World Sailing
- Sailboat type designs by Olin Stephens
- Sailboat types built by Allen Boat Company
- Sailboat types built by Clark Boat Company
- Sailboat types built by Lockley Newport Boats
- Sailboat types built by Siddons & Sindle
- Sailboat types built by WindRider LLC
- Sailboat types built by Mobjack Manufacturing
- Sailboat types built by Nickels Boat Works
- Sailboat types built by Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.
- Sailboat types built by Lippincott Boat Works
- Sailboat types built by Jack A. Helms Co.
- Sailboat types built by J.J. Taylor and Sons
- Sailboat types built by Lofland Sail-craft
- Sailboat types built by Eichenlaub Boat Co.