The Capri Cyclone, also referred to as the Cyclone 13 or just the Cyclone, is an American

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle of ...

that was designed by

Frank V. Butler Frank Willis Butler (January 17, 1928 – November 15, 2020) was the founder of Catalina Yachts, one of the biggest boat designers and manufacturers in the world. The early Wesco years Born in California in 1928, Butler started his career i ...

as a one-design racer and first built in 1970.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 22-23. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by the Capri Yachts division of

Catalina Yachts Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 54 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler . Catalina Yachts is one of the largest boat m ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. A total of 2,400 boats were completed, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Capri Cyclone is a recreational

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

with foam flotation. It has a stayed

catboat A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are f ...

rig with a short

forestay On a sailing vessel, a forestay, sometimes just called a stay, is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling backwards. It is attached either at the very top of the mast, or in fractional rigs between about 1/8 and 1/4 from the t ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It h ...

spars, a flexible mast and a loose-footed

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

with mid- boom sheeting and a full cockpit width

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

. The hull design features a spooned

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a vertical transom, a transom-hung fiberglass

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder ...

and a retractable fiberglass

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, co ...

. There is a forward compartment for stowage, closed by a hatch. The boat displaces and is capable of planing. The design has a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of with the daggerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof rack. The design was initially equipped with a sail of , but the class association approved a modification to shorten the mast and reduce the sail area by re-cutting it to to improve both the performance of the boat and the handling. The manufacturer not only approved of the modification, but offered it free of charge. For sailing the design is equipped with a

self-bailing Bailing is the process of removing water from a vessel. Hand bailers A hand bailer is a device used for manually removing water which has entered a vessel. In the simplest case, it is merely a smaller container which can be filled and then empt ...

cockpit, hiking straps, an

outhaul An outhaul is a control line found on a sailboat. It is an element of the running rigging, used to attach the mainsail clew to the boom and tensions the foot of the sail. It commonly uses a block at the boom end and a cleat on the boom, closer to ...

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C * Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player * Abe Cunningham, American drummer *Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

and a

boom vang A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to "vang" or "kicker") is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the Boom (sailing), boom and thus control the shape of the sail. The Collins English Dictionar ...

. Factory options included a sail window, a kick-up rudder and a two-piece mast to ease ground transport. The design has a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the ha ...

racing average handicap of 96.3 and is normally raced by a crew of one or two sailors.

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote that the Cyclone is "a planing dinghy with a bendy mast. There is an unusually short forestay. For ease of cartopping, the mast may be ordered in two pieces. Both the centerboard and the rudder are fiberglass. A beaching rudder is available as an option."

References

External links

*
comprehensive web site
including a lot of details, and a fleet roster {{Sailing dinghies and skiffs Dinghies 1970s sailboat type designs Sailboat types built by Catalina Yachts Sailboat type designs by Frank Butler

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links