Sonar (keelboat)

Sonar

Class symbol
Current specifications
Crew	3 or 4
LOA	7 m (23 ft)
LWL	6.1 m (20 ft)
Beam	2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Draft	1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Hull weight	950 kg (2,090 lb) of which 408 kg (899 lb) is ballast
Main & jib area	23.2 m^2 (250 sq ft)
Spinnaker area	22.8 m^2 (245 sq ft)
D-PN	81.0[1]
RYA PN	940[2]
Paralympics class

A Sonar start

The Sonar is a 7 m (23 ft) one-design keelboat for three to five people. It is bermuda-rigged, with a large mainsail and a 100% jib. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.

The Sonar showcased disabled sailing at the 1996 Paralympic Games where the sport was a demonstration event with just the Sonar. The Sonar has been the three person keelboat at every subsequent Paralympics. When being sailed by disabled it is crewed by 3, and sailed without a spinnaker. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for maximum exposed sail area. The Sonar is well suited for disabled sailing because of its large open cockpit making adaptations easy.

The Sonar was designed in 1979 by Bruce Kirby, designer of the popular Laser dinghy. Since then, over 800 boats have been built. Most of the fleet is in the USA, with smaller fleets in Britain and Canada. Since its adoption as a Paralympic class the Sonar has spread to many other countries as well.

The Sonar was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 2004.

Events

Open Worlds Championships

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2001 Noroton, CT	Mark Ploch (USA)	Craig Sinclair (USA)	Steve Shepstone (USA)
2004 St. Petersburg, FL	Steve Shepstone (USA)	Peter Galloway (USA)	John Ross-Duggan (USA)
2005 Cowes	Steve Shepstone (USA)	Paul Bowen (GBR)	Peter Galloway (USA)
2007 Marblehead, MA	Bill Lynn (USA)	Greg Anthony (USA)	Rick Dominique (USA)
2009 Noroton, CT	Dave Franzel (USA)	Jud Smith (USA)	Karl Ziegler (USA)
2011 Rhu, Scotland	Steve Shepstone (USA)	Simon Barter (GBR)	Scott McLeod (USA)
2013 Rochester, NY	Eric Voss (USA)	Colin Gordon (USA)	Peter Galloway (USA) [3]

Disabled World Championships

The Sonar has also been used extensively for disabled sailing. The boat specifications are exactly the same for open and disabled sailing events, but additional adaptations are allowed to be fitted to the boat to aid the crew who are not permitted to hike or use a spinnaker. The International Association for Disabled Sailing has hosted the following ISAF recognized disabled sailing World Championship events:

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1999 Cadiz	Germany Jens Kroker Peter Muenter Peter Reichl	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen
2001 Florida	Canada Brian Mackie Brian MacDonald Paul Tingley	Great Britain Andrew Cassell Brian Harding Edward Suckling	Germany Jens Kroker Dietmar Steigel Peter Reichl
2002 Medemblik	Germany Jens Kroker Dietmar Steigel Peter Reichl	Great Britain Andrew Cassell Brian Harding Edward Suckling	Canada Brian Mackie Brian MacDonald Paul Tingley
2003 Athens	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen	Israel Dror Cohen Benny Vaxler Michael Levy	Great Britain John Robertson Stephen Thomas Hannah Stodel
2005 Sonderborg	Great Britain John Robertson Stephen Thomas Hannah Stodel	Norway Jostein Stordahl Aleksander Wang-Hansen Per Eugen Kristiansen	Germany Jens Kroker Holger Schonenberg Tobias Schuetz
2006 Perth	Great Britain John Robertson Stephen Thomas Hannah Stodel	Germany Jens Kroker Sigi Mainka Tobias Schuetz	Norway Jostein Stordahl Aleksander Wang-Hansen Per Eugen Kristiansen
2007 Rochester, NY	United States Rick Doerr Tim Angle Bill Donahue	United States Paul Callahan Tom Brown Roger Cleworth	Germany Jens Kroker Tobias Schuetz Sigi Mainka
2009 Athens	Germany Jens Kroker Robert Prem Siggy Mainka	Israel Dror Cohen Arnon Efrati Ben Vexler	Greece Christoforou Vasilis Notaroglou Argiris Aleksas Thodoris
2010 Medemblik	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen	Great Britain John Robertson Hannah Stodel Stephen Thomas	Germany Jens Kroker Robert Prem Siegmund Mainka
2011 Weymouth	Israel Dror Cohen Benni Vexler Arnon Efrati	Great Britain John Robertson Hannah Stodel Stephen Thomas	Norway Aleksander Wang-Hansen Per Eugen Kristiansen Marie Solberg
2012 Charlotte Harbor	Norway Aleksander Wang-Hansen Per Eugen Kristiansen Marie Solberg	France Bruno Jourdren Eric Flageul Nicolas Vimont-Vicary	Great Britain John Robertson Hannah Stodel Stephen Thomas
2013 Kinsale	France Bruno Jourdren Eric Flageul Nicolas Vimont-Vicary	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen	Australia Colin Harrison Jonathan Harris Russel Boaden
2014 Halifax	France Bruno Jourdren Eric Flageul Nicolas Vimont-Vicary	Canada Paul Tingley Logan Campbell Scott Lutes	Australia Colin Harrison Jonathan Harris Russel Boaden

Paralympics

The Sonar has been the equipment used for the three person keelboat discipline at every Paralympic Sailing Competition.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000 Sydney	Australia Noel Robins Jamie Dunross Graeme Martinl	Germany Jens Kroker Peter Muenter Peter Reichl	Canada Davis Williams Paul Tingley Brian MacDonald
2004 Athens	Israel Dror Cohen Arnon Efrati Benni Vexler	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen	United States John Ross-Dugan Jean Paul Creignou Bradley Johnson
2008 Beijing	Germany Jens Kroker Siegmund Mainka Robert Prem	France Bruno Jourdren Eric Flageul Nicolas Vimont-Vicary	Australia Colin Harrison Russel Boaden Rodney Angwin
2012 London	Netherlands Udo Hessels Marcel van de Veen Mischa Rossen	Germany Jens Kroker Siegmund Mainka Robert Prem	Norway Alexander Wang-Hansen Marie Solberg Pee Eugen Christiansen

Quotes

"The Sonar may well be the best boat I've ever designed." - Bruce Kirby

References

1. "Keelboat Classes". US Sailing. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
2. "The RYA Portsmouth Yardstick Number List for 2004" (PDF). Royal Yachting Association. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
3. http://www.rochesteryc.com/files/Sonar%20Worlds%20Series%20after%20%2010%20races.pdf

External links

• International Sonar Class Association
• ISAF Sonar Microsite