The Enterprise is a

Bermuda rig Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a type of sailing rig that uses a triangular sail set abaft (behind) the mast. It is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. Whilst commonly seen in sloop-rigged vessels, Bermuda rig is ...

ged

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats - usually for fun, learning necessary sailing skills (often also within family), and competition. RYA lists Five essentials of sailing dinghies as: * The sails * The hydrofoil, foils (i.e. t ...

with a double-chined hull and distinctive blue sails. Normally crewed by two, and sometimes carrying a third crew member, it may also be sailed single-handed.

History

The Enterprise was designed by Jack Holt in 1956 for The News Chronicle during the post-war sailing boom, becoming the first UK sailing dinghy to be sponsored by a national newspaper (followed in due course by the

Mirror Dinghy The Mirror is a type of popular dinghy sailing, sailing dinghy with more than 70,000 built. The Mirror was named after the ''Daily Mirror'', a United Kingdom, UK newspaper with a largely working-class distribution. The Mirror was from the start ...

, also designed by Jack Holt). It remains popular in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and a dozen or so other countries, for cruising and

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

. Adopted by many sailing schools, the Enterprise's combination of size, weight, and power has widespread appeal. The Enterprise is accredited as an International Class by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, the ISAF. The Enterprise is most often sailed with no

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...

. However the international class rules allow the decision of whether to allow spinnakers to be made by the national authority. In the U.K. and Canada, no spinnakers were allowed until 2002 when a new PY handicap was introduced in the UK to allow spinnakers to be used in multi class racing in clubs, although spinnakers may still not be used in "Class" racing; in the United States they are allowed. Early boats, wooden and GRP, used buoyancy bags fixed under the benches and thwarts for internal buoyancy but nowadays foam reinforced plastic boats have built in buoyancy tanks improving stiffness and removing much of the maintenance associated with air-filled bags. Wooden boats still tend to have buoyancy bags to the rear and a forward bulkhead. They are also relatively unstable in comparison with other dinghies of similar performance, they have handling characteristics which would generally be associated with much faster designs. The first two Enterprises built were sailed from Dover to Calais both as a test and for advertising purposes. This feat was repeated on the Enterprise's 50th anniversary, but this time the two boats not only sailed to France, but also returned to England.

References

External links

Enterprise Association UK International Enterprise class rules (2013)
at www.sailenterprise.org.uk
Brief History of the Enterprise Class
at http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/ {{Classes of the International Sailing Federation Classes of World Sailing Dinghies Boats designed by Jack Holt Two-person sailboats 1950s sailboat type designs