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Windmill (sailing dinghy)
Encyclopedia
The Windmill is a two person one-design
sailing dinghy designed by Clark Mills
in 1953. It was designed to be inexpensive and buildable by amateur woodworkers, such as father-and-son team. Originally conceived as a follow-on to Mills' popular Optimist
dinghy, it proved itself fast and competitive without the complexity of a spinnaker or trapeze.
Construction of the boat is somewhat unorthodox: design has no frames at all. The plywood hull is constructed on the jig with longerons forming the hull shape; the longerons are in turn stiffened by two thwarts and the transom piece. The result is lightweight yet strong, quick-to-construct hull. This, combined with good performance of the boat has made it popular with homebuilders. Glass-reinforced plastic is also allowed as hull material.
One-design
One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...
sailing dinghy designed by Clark Mills
Clark Mills
Clark Mills may refer to:*Clark Mills, New York*Clark Mills , American sculptor*Clark Mills , boatbuilder...
in 1953. It was designed to be inexpensive and buildable by amateur woodworkers, such as father-and-son team. Originally conceived as a follow-on to Mills' popular Optimist
Optimist (dinghy)
The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. Nowadays boats are usually made of fiber reinforced plastic, although wooden boats are still built....
dinghy, it proved itself fast and competitive without the complexity of a spinnaker or trapeze.
Construction of the boat is somewhat unorthodox: design has no frames at all. The plywood hull is constructed on the jig with longerons forming the hull shape; the longerons are in turn stiffened by two thwarts and the transom piece. The result is lightweight yet strong, quick-to-construct hull. This, combined with good performance of the boat has made it popular with homebuilders. Glass-reinforced plastic is also allowed as hull material.