The Impulse is an Australian
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 ...
that was designed by
Arthur Caldwell as 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 ...
racer and first built in 1975.
Production
The design was originally intended as a wooden boat for
amateur construction, but has more recently been manufactured of
fibreglass
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 c ...
. In the past it was built by
Tim Wilson Yacht Design, but that company is out of business. Today it is built by
Formula Sailcraft (now known as the Dinghy Shop) in
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victoria, ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Production started in 1975 and the type remains in production.
Design
The Impulse 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 wood or fibreglass. It has a
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, a
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
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
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, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...
and a retractable
centreboard
A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...
. It displaces .
The boat 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 v ...
of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing
beaching or ground transportation on a
trailer or car roof rack.
Operational history
The boat is supported by a class club, the ''Australian Impulse Sailing Association'', which organizes racing events.
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
The following is a partial list of sailboat types and sailing classes, including keelboats, dinghy, dinghies, and multihull (catamarans and trimarans).
Olympic classes
World Sailing Classes
Historically known as the IYRU (International Yacht ...
Similar sailboats
*
Laser (dinghy)
The Laser is a class of Single-handed sailing, single-handed, one-design dinghy sailing, sailing dinghies using a common hull design with three interchangeable rigs of different sail areas, appropriate to a given combination of wind strength an ...
References
External links
*
{{Sailing dinghies and skiffs
Dinghies
1970s sailboat type designs
Sailboat type designs by Arthur Caldwell
Sailboat types built by Formula Sailcraft
Sailboat types built by Tim Wilson Yacht Design