12ft Skiff

12ft Skiff
Current specifications
12 foot skiff in Sydney Harbour
Crew	2
LOA	3.7 m
Beam	1.8 m
Hull weight	45 kg
Mast height	8.8 m

The 12 ft Skiff, is a dinghy dating to the early 20th century, it is 12 feet (3.7 m) in length, hence the name and is a two man boat. Both the crew and the helm are able to use the trapeze at the same time. It has an asymmetrical spinnaker and a jib, in addition to the mainsail.^[1]

History

The origin of the Skiff is dubious, but it is thought to have roots in the smaller skiffs sailed on Sydney Harbour in the late 1800s. The Skiff became a class in its own right in 1924, when it was raced in several clubs around Australia, at this time the skiff was manned by a crew of 5, but around about the 1940s it changed to a three man boat, and then became the 2 man boat that is used today. After the 1940s the skiff went international.^[2]

Nowadays the 12 ft (3.7 m) Skiff is mainly sailed in Australia and New Zealand, although it is growing in popularity in Great Britain.^[3]

Performance

The Skiff is similar to the larger and better known 18ft Skiff. Of all skiffs the 12footer is known for being the hardest to sail, primarily due to its small footprint relative to its sail area, being able to reach up to 25 knots.^[4]^[5]

The 12 Footers generate considerable power by having 2 persons on the Trapeze Wire, suspended from the mast of the boat. This adds leverage to the crews' weight, allowing the larger areas of sail to be carried.

The modern 12s also have fixed bowsprits to carry the spinnakers from. This is a relatively recent innovation, with the older style of skiff having an 'end to end' spinnaker pole which would need to be positioned by the crew, and would be stored against the skiff's boom when it was not being used.

References

↑ "12ft Skiff Dinghy Class Information". noblemarine.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
↑ "Twelve Foot Skiff Association: History". skiff.org. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
↑ "Aussies fend off Kiwis in 12 ft skiff win". Sail World. 13 January 2007.
↑ "12ft SKIFFS". vanmunsterboats.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
↑ "General Specifications". skiff.org. Retrieved 15 June 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 12 foot skiff.

Sailing dinghy, Sharpie and Skiff classes

Dinghies under 10 ft	Frog Cape Cod Frosty El Toro Fatty Knees Fly Holdfast Trainer Manly Junior Minto Naples Sabot O'pen BIC Optimist P Class Pelican Puddle Duck Racer Sabot Starling Tadpole Topper Topaz Taz Turnabout Zoom 8

Dinghies under 15 ft	10ft Skiff 12 foot dinghy 125 ("One-twenty-five") 12ft Skiff 13ft skiff 29er 29erXX skiff 2000 3000 405 ("Four-oh-five") 420 Access Liberty Adventuress ASC Astus 14.1 Australian Sharpie B14 Banshee Beetle Cat Beneteau Wizz Bermuda Fitted Dinghy Blaze Blue Jay Bonito Bosun British Moth Butterfly Buzz Byte Cadet Cherokee Cherub C-Lark CL 14 Comet Coypu Dabchick Daring Dart Enterprise Escape Europe Envy Extra Farr 3.7 Finn Firefly Flying Ant Flying Eleven Flying Junior Force 5 GP14 Graduate Gull Heron Idle-along IDRA14 International Twelve International 14 Javelin (NZ) Javelin (US) Jet 14 Jollyboat (NZ) Lark Laser Standard Laser 2 Laser 3000 Laser 4.7 Laser 5000 Laser Funboat Laser Pico Laser Radial Laser Vago Laser Vortex Lido 14 Marlin Merlin Rocket MG14 Miracle Mirror Moth Musto Performance Skiff National 12 NS14 OK Dinghy O'pen BIC Otter Pacer Pegasus Penguin Phantom RS Feva RS Q'Ba RS Tera RS Vareo RS100 RS200 RS300 RS400 RS500 RS600 RS700 RS800 Sabre Scorpion Snark Snowbird (sailboat) Solo Spiral Splash Streaker Sunburst Sunfish Tinker Star Traveller Tinker Traveller Tasar Topper Topper Topaz Topper Topaz Magno Topper Topaz Vibe Topper Topaz Xenon Twinkles 10 & 12 Vagabond Vaurien Wanderer Weta Woodpussy Zeddie Zephyr

Dinghies under 20 ft	16ft Skiff 18 foot dinghy 18ft Skiff 470 49er 505 Albacore Beaufort Invitation Buccaneer CL 16 Comet Contender Corsair Day Sailer Fireball Flying Dutchman Flying Scot French National Monotype 1924 Hornet Interlake International Canoe Jacksnipe Javelin (Europe) Jersey Skiff Jollyboat (UK) Jolly Boat JY15 Laser 4000 Laser Bahia Laser Stratos Lelievlet Lightning M 16 Mirror 16 Mutineer 15 O-Jolle Osprey Payne-Mortlock sailing canoe Pirate Precision 15 RS K6 RS Vision RS700 RS800 Salcombe Yawl Sea Bright Sea Scout Standard Boat (BP18) Snipe Spanker Texas Tornado 12m² Sharpie Thistle Topper Topaz Omega Vanguard 15 Wayfarer Windmill Windy Winkle Brig X boat Y flyer

Dinghies 20 ft or over	Highlander M 20 Norfolk Punt

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