The International FJ is a Dutch

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 ...

that was designed by Uus Van Essen and

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as a trainer and one design racer, first built in 1956. The boat was initially called the Flying Dutchman Junior (after the Flying Dutchman one design racer), as it was designed as a trainer for that Olympic sailing class boat. It was later called the Flying Junior. In 1980 the name was again officially changed to the International FJ. The design became a World Sailing accepted International class in 1972-73.

Production

The design has been built by a large number of companies including

Grampian Marine Grampian Marine Limited was a Canadian boat builder based in Oakville, Ontario. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded by Jim Bisiker in 1962 and operated until 1977. History ...

and Paceship Yachts in Canada, Chantier Naval Costantini in France,

Alpa Yachts Alpa was formerly a Swiss camera design company and manufacturer of 35 mm SLR cameras. The current owners bought the company name after bankruptcy of the original company and the company exists today as a designer and manufacturer of high-end ...

Centro Nautico Adriatico Centro may refer to: Places Brazil * Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

, Comar Yachts and Nautivela in Italy,

Advance Sailboat Corp Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits *Advance payment for goods or services *Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pay ...

W. D. Schock Corp The W. D. Schock Corporation (usually styled W. D. Schock Corp) is an American boat builder originally based in Newport Beach, California, later in Corona, California and currently located in Santa Ana, California. The company was founded by W ...

Whitecap Composites Whitecap is the sea foam crest over the waves. As of popular culture, Whitecaps may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * "Whitecaps" (''The Sopranos''), episode 52 of the television series ''The Sopranos'' *"Whitecaps" (''Complaint'')'','' t ...

and

Zim Sailing Zim or ZIM may refer to: Country * Zimbabwe, the country in the centre of Southern Africa Business * Air Zim, the national airline of Zimbabwe * Zim Dollar, shorthand for the Zimbabwean dollar * ZIM (shipping company), Israel Film and telev ...

in the United States. 4,600 boats have been built. W. D. Schock Corp records indicate that they built 70 boats between 1968 and 1972. It remains in production by Centro Nautico Adriatico, Zim Sailing and Whitecap Composites.

Design

The International FJ is a racing sailing dinghy, with early versions built from wood.

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 ...

was class-authorized in 1960. The boat has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

rig, a raked stem, a plumb transom, a transom-hung

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

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and retractable centerboard. It displaces . The boat has a draft of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching, ground transportation on a trailer or car roof. For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a symmetrical

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...

of . The boat is sailed with a crew of two

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the ...

s. A single

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is available for use by the crew. The Club FJ is a version with heavier construction but similar dimensions produced by Zim Sailing. It displaces and has a spinnaker of . Whitecap Composites produces a lightened version of the design with improved ergonomics, marketed as the "Turbo FJ".

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the ''International FJ Class''.

References

External links

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links