Fleets

Fleets

Laser

Laser

The Laser is one of the most popular in the world with more than 100,000 Lasers sailing worldwide.

The Laser’s Advantages

  • Lightweight: Can be “car-topped” for carrying.
  • High performance
  • Easy to rig
  • Strong one-design class
  • Low cost
  • No crew to arrange or care for
Santana 20

Santana 20

Fleet 28

“Performs like a dinghy, but SAILS like a keel boat”—Santana 20 Class Association

Basic Characteristics of the Santana 20

  • LOA 20′ 2 1/2″
  • LWL 16′
  • Beam 8′
  • Draft 4′
  • Draft wing Keel 32″
  • Displacement 1350 lbs.
  • Ballast (lead) 550 lbs.
  • Sail Area 204 sq. ft.
  • I 24.5
  • P 24.5
  • E 7.0
  • J 8.16
  • PHRF Rating: 221 (SAIL area)
  • Fiberglass construction
J22

“People say the J/22 is the best sailing boat they’ve ever been on, including other J’s. It’s responsive, stable with its fixed lead keel and safe, as much fun to single-hand with main only as it is to plane under spinnaker in 18 knots of wind.

J/22 at 1800 lbs. can be towed behind an SUV and be launched on the local yacht club hoist. With its easy-to-rig, deck-stepped mast, you can be from trailer to sailing in 30 minutes. The key to J/22’s success as a training boat is durability. It’s no wonder Sail Newport and College of Charleston love this boat. Hulls and decks are built with Baltek cored laminates to withstand years of hard use. 12-15 year old boats routinely win major J/22 championships. You’ll find the newest J/22s are even easier to maintain with stainless handrails and white composite toe-rails. The boat that appeals to all ages and skill levels is now garnering more interest than ever before.”—J Boats, J22 maker

Melges 15
Photo courtesy of Marine 180.

“”The Melges 15 creates a clear pathway for junior sailors to get started and stay excited about sailing while also being comfortable and accessible enough for adults to learn, race, or cross-train,” said Harry Melges III.

The Melges 15’s stable hull shape and ergonomic cockpit make it a suitable layout for adult racing and educational sailing. Easy conversion from a club configuration (non-spinnaker) to a one-design setup, provides more versatility to club programs and options for individual owners.

With the main design goals focused on stability and performance in a variety of conditions, the boat features a narrow overall beam and a flat cross-section shape for stability, righting moment, and ease of planning. For a more forgiving feel upwind and to navigate larger sea states, the Melges 15 has just the right amount of fore and aft rocker.

Melges conducted extensive research and product testing to produce this layout factoring in cockpit depth, backbone height, and floor plan. The result is a comfortable environment for both the skipper and crew. The deeper cockpit takes the load off the sailor’s knees helping them feel locked into the boat while the high boom and gnav vang system work together to make the boat easier to maneuver.

The asymmetric spinnaker offers an additional performance element while the single-pull launch and retrieval system makes handling the sail easy and fast.

The Melges 15 is built to be sailed by everyone from friends and couples to families and kids. The design offers performance, comfort, and stability in one sleek package.”—Richard Allen, local Melges 15 dealer, 180 Marine

Melges 14

The Melges 14s are recruiting new members to fleet! Demo sails and training are available to those interested. Contact us to get in touch with the fleet captain.

PHRF
Photo courtesy of Ginny Tory Photography.

Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is for all other keelboats that do not have 4+ boats to create a one design fleet.

Portsmoth
Photo courtesy of Ginny Tory Photography.

Portsmouth is for all other dinghies that do not have 4+ boats to create a one design fleet.

Past Fleets

Lightnings

Lightning

Rocky Mountain Lightning Fleet #488

The Lightning is a 19 foot trailer-able centerboard sloop originally designed by Sparkman and Stephens as an affordable family day-sailor and racing boat. She has evolved into one of the most popular and competitive one design racing classes in the world.

The Lightning’s rig is simple, but offers sophisticated sail shape controls. The hull’s unique hard chine design combines stability and sail-carrying power with flat bottom sections that promote planning. A large spinnaker transforms the boat when the wind picks up. For a crew of 3, the boat presents interesting boat handling challenges in higher wind conditions.

Read more about crewing on a Lightning.

J24

J24

District 18 Fleet 159

Whether your style is weeknight beer-can racing or competing on the world stage – the J/24 is undeniably the most popular racing keelboat to make waves around the world. This appealing keelboat started with one man’s desire for a sailboat to accommodate his family and to be a competitive racer. Twenty-seven years later, the J/24 has become a legend. A stable sailboat for family togetherness, the J/24 has also been the competitive launch pad for the careers of numerous America’s Cup professionals.

The world-wide acceptance of J/24 design, the strong one-design rules and the strength of the International J/24 Class Association have led to the J/24 to be selected as the platform for the International Sailing Federation’s (ISAF) Nation’s Cup, the ISAF Women’s World Match Racing Championship, the Rolex Women’s International Keelboat Championship and US Sailing’s St. Francis International Masters Championship (aged 55+).

While some of the world’s best sailors have the latest version J/24, a well-prepared 1977 model, built to the same shape and weight with rigid end-grained balsa core construction can still win the J/24 Class world championship even after 30,000+ miles of trailering. That’s “One Design” racing! The International J/24 is presently built in the U.S., Argentina and Italy and has more than 50,000 people sailing 5,200 boats in 27 countries.