The 12 m² Sharpie was a type of Sharpie designed in 1931 by the Kröger Brothers in Warnemünde, Germany. The peak of the class was in the

1956 Melbourne Olympic Games The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

. To this day, the original design has been preserved, and the class is sailed competitively in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, and Portugal. The European Championships are rotated between these four countries every year. The term 'Twelve Square Metre' evolves from the original sail area, though on modern sharpies due to modern sail designs has now reached to around sixteen square metres. 12 m² Sharpie Past Australian champions to have passed through the ranks include Sir James Hardy, John Cuneo,

Rolly Tasker Rolland Leslie "Rolly" Tasker AM (21 March 192622 June 2012) was an Australian sailor who won Australia's first Olympic sailing medal, at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. He and Malcolm (Huck) Scott won a silver medal in their 12m2 Sha ...

and John Bertrand. Rolly Tasker won Australia's first sailing medal at the

1956 Olympic Games 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport even ...

in Melbourne when he and John Scott won a silver medal in their 12 m² Sharpie. The 12 m² Sharpie is one of the Vintage classes for the

2018 Vintage Yachting Games The 2018 Vintage Yachting Games was the third post-Olympic multi-class sailing event for discontinued Olympic and Paralympic Classes. The event was held from 16–22 September 2018 on Øresund, Copenhagen in Denmark. The organization of this event ...

. There are still a small number of original sharpies in Australia and Brasil, though they have not been sailed competitively on International level since the 1960s. In Australia, the original 'heavyweight' Sharpie has now evolved into the lightweight

Australian Sharpie The Australian Sharpie is a 3-person sailing dinghy which has evolved from the 12-square-metre class sailed in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Australian Sharpies are 19 feet, inches long, with a planing hull and a single mast. Shar ...

. When racing in a mixed fleet, the 12 m² Sharpie has a Portsmouth number of 1026.

Events

Olympics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:12 m2 Sharpie Dinghies Olympic sailing classes 1930s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by German designers 12m² Sharpie Former classes of World Sailing