Blaze (dinghy)
Encyclopedia
The Blaze was designed in the mid-90's by Ian Howlett, one time International 14
designer and associated with Americas Cup design work and John Caig, winner of Fireball Worlds. It is a powerful winged single-hander with well-developed 10 m sail
. Unusually in recent performance designs both foils are pivoting enabling the centreboard
to be adjusted from the wing as well making it particularly suitable for estuaries and shallow lakes.
of the original that proved 'difficult' in any real breeze for many helms. The slight loss in area was countered by a more efficient sail and balanced handling characteristics, and the class rapidly adopted the sail with numbers raced and sold rising very rapidly. In 2006 Topper moved out of performance composite boats and the manufacturing and marketing rights transferred to Cirrus Raceboats (www.cirrusrace.com) who have refined the boat further and work with Rondar to produce the current boat. As of November 2007 there are just under 250 registered boats.
International 14
The International 14 is 14-foot double-handed racing dinghy. The class originated in England in the early part of the 20th century. It is sailed and raced in many countries around the world and was one of the very first true international racing dinghy classes recognised by International Sailing...
designer and associated with Americas Cup design work and John Caig, winner of Fireball Worlds. It is a powerful winged single-hander with well-developed 10 m sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
. Unusually in recent performance designs both foils are pivoting enabling the centreboard
Centreboard
A centreboard or centerboard is a retractable keel which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a centreboard trunk or centerboard case...
to be adjusted from the wing as well making it particularly suitable for estuaries and shallow lakes.
Development
The Blaze was originally built by Ian Howlett and John Caig, and marketed by Topper International from 1996. In 2000 an active class association ran a sail development program to produce a more responsive sail, dropping some of the excessive leechParts of a sail
In sailing the parts of a sail have common terminology for each corner and edge of the sail.-The corners:In a triangular sail, the upper point is known as the head; the halyard, the line which raises the sail, is attached to the head...
of the original that proved 'difficult' in any real breeze for many helms. The slight loss in area was countered by a more efficient sail and balanced handling characteristics, and the class rapidly adopted the sail with numbers raced and sold rising very rapidly. In 2006 Topper moved out of performance composite boats and the manufacturing and marketing rights transferred to Cirrus Raceboats (www.cirrusrace.com) who have refined the boat further and work with Rondar to produce the current boat. As of November 2007 there are just under 250 registered boats.