SLSC: One-Design Fleets

One-Design Fleets

In sailboat racing, equipment matters. A tub will almost never beat a rocket. One way to compensate for this and restore competition is to use a handicapping system. Here at Saratoga, we use the Portsmouth Yardstick to handicap multi-class races. There are a couple of unsatisfying features of handicap racing, though. First, you have only a vague idea of how you're performing against other boats until after the race is over and the committee has calculated the handicap. Second, there's no such thing as a perfect handicap system. Under some conditions, a boat that normally performs like a tub may look like a speedster and vice versa. No handicap system can account for all conditions that affect boat speed.

Another, more satisfying, way of restoring competition is to sail in similar kinds of boats. Who crosses the finish line first in such a race is then more likely to be decided by the skill of the crew. This is called one-design racing.

For each one-design class of boat there is a national or international association that establishes rules for the type and size of equipment that may be installed on boats of that class. For many classes, the intent of these rules is to keep the cost of maintaining a competitive boat reasonable. Otherwise, you would see equipment arms races where winning is as much a matter of your budget as your skill.

Below are the recognized one-design fleets at Saratoga by fleet size. In accepting new members, the club sometimes shows preference to owners of these class of boats. Please see our membership page for details.

	Laser
The Laser is a 14 foot single handed dagger board dinghy. It is one of the boats sailed in Olympic competition. It is easy to learn to sail, but provides plenty of racing challenge. While designed for the younger skipper, it is actively sailed by the young at heart into their retirement years. Class rules are set by the International Laser Class Association of North America.
	Flying Scot
The Flying Scot is a Gordon Douglass designed 19 foot centerboard dinghy that's very stable and simply rigged, but also fun to race. Thus it serves double duty as both a family day sailer and a racer.
	Thistle
The Thistle is a 17 foot dinghy design by Gordon Douglass. It provides performance sailing to sailors with modest budgets. In the Portsmouth handicapping system, the Thistle is the boat against which every other rated boat is compared.
	Ensign
The Ensign is a 22 1/2 foot full-keel keelboat. Yet the keel is shallow enough to be a practical lake sailer.
	Kestrel
The Kestrel is a British designed and manufactured 16 foot centerboard dinghy. To our knowledge, this is the only Kestrel fleet on this continent. So every year we hold the Kestrel North Americans at our club! A UK correspondent pointed us to the Kestrel Owner's Association.
	Hobie 17
The Hobie 17 is 17 foot catamaran with no jib. It is usually raced single-handed. In the right wind conditions, it is faster than any other boat at the club (except for wind-surfers).
	Jet 14
The Jet 14 is a 14 foot centerboard dinghy raced with a crew of 2.
	JY 15