The Daring is a

One-Design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing ...

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

which is based in

Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and races throughout the season around the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...

. Its construction is GRP, with some older yachts possessing original wooden decks. The first Darings were designed by Arthur Robb, based on his

5.5 Metre The International 5.5 Metre class was created to yield a racing Keelboat, keel boat that would give a sailing experience similar to that of the 6 Metre, International 6 Metre Class but at a lower cost. The main class regulation restricts a sing ...

yacht ''Vision'' which was built for and won silver in the 1956

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. 35 yachts of the class were built in the years up to 1992. In 2008 a new hull mould was commissioned to match the original lines but with a redesigned

ergonomic Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors engi ...

deck and cockpit. One new yacht was built and several more obtained new hulls while keeping the original name, number, rigging and keel. To date all Darings are based in Cowes apart from three (8, Day Dreamer; 18, Deva; 20, Afroessa) sold to owners in Beirut, Cumbria and Majorca respectively. Most Darings' names begin with "D". The season runs for approximately 80 races from April through to October, with highlights including Cowes Classics Week and

Cowes Week Cowes Week ( ) is one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world. With 40 daily sailing races, around 500 boats, and 2500 competitors ranging from Olympic and world-class professionals to weekend sailors, it is the largest sailing ...

in June and August. The Daring Class Association manages the class rules carefully to ensure affordability, uniformity and close racing. The class is not often raced against other designs of yachts, as the class racing is usually competitive and well attended, however occasionally pursuit races are competed with other classes of yacht in the Solent. The Class Association has a number of strong affiliations, including with the International One Design fleet. This provides for the winner of Cowes Week each year to compete at

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

International Invitational Race Week in IODs. Further the class has links with foreign yacht clubs which will annually compete a team racing challenge in home or foreign waters. Competitors in the past have included the

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) is a private yacht club that was established as the ''Bermuda Yacht Club'' on 1 November, 1844, after the sport of racing yachts had become established in Bermuda primarily as a pastime of idle officers of the ...

, the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth, Western Australia and the

Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the older yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 18th after the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Mobile Yacht Club, Pass Christian Yacht C ...

on Long Island, USA.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://daring.org.uk Keelboats Sport on the Isle of Wight Cowes