Comet (dinghy)

Comet
Current specifications
Comet 4004 at the 1974 Comet International Championships
Crew	2
Type	Monohull
Construction	Plywood, modern boats in Fiberglass
Keel	Centerboard
LOH	16 feet (4.9 m)
Hull weight	256 pounds (116 kg)
Mast height	20 feet 5 inches (6.22 m)
Main & jib area	140 square feet (13 m²)
Development
Year	1932
Designer	C. Lowndes Johnson

The Comet dinghy is a 16-foot-long (4.9 m), two-person, one-design class, racing sloop.

With 140 sq ft (13 m²). of sail and a minimal keel-rocker hull, the Comet is able to plane in modest 10-15 knot winds. The mast is 20 ft 5 in (6.22 m) tall and is supported by a conventional three-stay rig with spreaders. (As the class rules are flexible in this regard, some Comets have been configured with 8-stay, Star (sailboat) rigs.) From 1932 through the 1960s, the Comet minimum hull weight was specified as 300 lb (140 kg). Since then, the minimum weight has been lowered to 265 lb (120 kg). with the incorporation of an aluminum centerboard, which replaced the former bronze board. Also, since the 1960s, the Comet has been built in fiberglass along with its original wood construction.

The Comet Class Association is the organizing body responsible for maintaining the one-design specifications and sanctioning of regattas.

The Comet originated in 1932 when Mr. C. Lowndes Johnson was commissioned by Mrs. Elliot Wheeler to design a boat for her sons. Johnson was a former Star class keel boat champion, and he designed the Comet to have many of the same features and characteristics of the Star. However, unlike the Star, Johnson created a racing yacht that was much less costly to build and could be easily sailed in the shallow tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Like the Star, the Comet was a hard chine sloop with a relatively large main sail compared to its jib.

Originally called the "Crab," the design was first introduced to the public in the March issue of "Yachting Magazine" in 1932. The following year it made an appearance at the New York Boat Show as the "Star Junior." Soon thereafter, John ("Doc") Eiman, Erik Jansson, and Wilbur H. Haines, Jr. started the first Comet fleet at the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor in Stone Harbor, NJ. It was at this time that the moniker "Star Junior" was dropped and replaced with the name "Comet."

Despite being a One Design, the Comet has seen many variations of the past 70 years, in regards to construction, hull shape, and cockpit layout.

"Do not confuse the Johnson-designed Comet with the single-handed dinghy of the same name often seen in UK waters." Class association for single handed comet is http://www.cometsailing.org.uk

References:

Classic Boat - Comet Class Notes

Brodsky, John; "The Development of the Boat and the Class"

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, June 08, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.