Comet (dinghy)
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The Comet, sometimes called the Comet OD or Comet One-Design, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by C. Lowndes Johnson as a one-design racer and first built in 1932. The design has evolved over time via modifications.[1][2]
The design was intended as a smaller version of the Star keelboat, making it easier to transport.[3]
Production
The design was first shown in an article in Yachting in 1932 and was initially built from wood by the Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co. Later builders included the Lippincott Boat Works, Customflex and Siddons & Sindle. The current builder is Whitecap Composites of Peabody, Massachusetts, United States. It remains in production, with more than 4,100 boats completed in total.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Plans for the design remain available for amateur construction.[9]
Design
The Comet is a recreational planing sailboat, built predominantly of wood or fiberglass. It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars, running backstays and an optional headstay. The hull features hard chines, a spooned raked stem, an angled transom, a rounded, transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable, drum-controlled, metal centerboard. The boat displaces Script error: No such module "convert"..[1][2][3]
The Comet has a draft of Script error: No such module "convert". with the centerboard extended and Script error: No such module "convert". with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.[1]
To keep it up to date, the class association has allowed modifications to the design over the years, including the addition of self-bailers, a full width mainsheet traveler, windows in the mainsail and jib for visibility and buoyancy tanks to make the boat unsinkable.[2]
The boat has a boom vang and adjustable backstays. It has two different rigging options, one with three stays supporting the mast and an alternate rig with a jumper and seven stays. Current factory options include a ball-bearing mainsheet traveler, mast rake controls and leading of all lines to the cockpit for control while hiking.[2][3]
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 92.0 and is normally raced with a crew of two sailors.[2]
Operational history
The design is supported by an active class club, the Comet Class Association. The association has 14 fleets in the eastern US, plus one in Bermuda.[10][11]
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "an older design, the Comet has many modern features. The bottom is flat and the afterbody is broad. She planes. The Comet is a one-design with rigid controls on size, shape, and materials. Minor modifications through the years have kept her up-to-date."[2]
See also
Related development
References
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- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d e f g Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 66-67. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Template:ISBN
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External links
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- Pages with script errors
- Dinghies
- 1930s sailboat type designs
- Two-person sailboats
- Sailboat type designs by C. Lowndes Johnson
- Sailboat types built by Siddons & Sindle
- Sailboat types built by Whitecap Composites
- Sailboat types built by Lippincott Boat Works
- Sailboat types built by Customflex
- Sailboat types built by Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.