The Snipe is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by

William F. Crosby William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

as a one design racer and first built in 1931. The boat is a

World Sailing World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) be ...

recognized international class. Sailboatdata.com summarizes the design as "one of the most popular sailing dinghies ever. (In its heyday, the largest sailboat racing class). Origins in the US. Built, sailed and raced around the world to this day."

Production

In the past the design has built by

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 ...

in Canada;

Eichenlaub Boat Co. Raymond James "Ray" "Iron Eich" Eichenlaub (July 15, 1892 – November 9, 1949) was an American college football player who was a fullback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team of the University of Notre Dame. He received All-American ...

Jack A. Helms Co. Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

Lofland Sail-craft Lofland is a surname of Norwegian origin. Notable people with the surname include: *Dana Lofland (born 1967), American professional golfer *Jacob Lofland (born 1996), American actor *James R. Lofland (1823–1894), American lawyer and politician * ...

Nickels Boat Works Nickels may refer to: People * Anna B. Nickels (1832-1917), American cactus collector * Christa Nickels (born 1952), German politician * Greg Nickels (born 1955), two-term mayor of Seattle, Washington, United States * Jean Nickels (1917–1985) ...

and

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 ...

in the United States; Cantiere Nautico Lillia in Italy; Chantier Aubin in France and

AX Boats An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ...

in Spain.

records indicate that they built 165 boats between 1963 and 1970. Today the boat is built by Jibetech in the United States, Zeltic in Spain and DB Marine in Italy. More than 31,000 Snipes have been delivered.

Design

The Snipe is a racing

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 ...

, with early examples built with wooden hulls and more recent ones with hulls made from

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 ...

. It 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 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 ...

, an angled 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

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 ...

with an extension and a retractable

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 ...

. It displaces . The boat has a draft of with the daggerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with a whisker pole to hold the jib out, but neither a

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 ...

nor a crew

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

are permitted in the class rules. The boat 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 ...

D-PN handicap of 91.9 and an RYA-PN of 1117.

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the

Snipe Class International Racing Association SCIRA is the acronym by which the Snipe Class International Racing Association is known. SCIRA is the governing body of the Snipe international class in the sport of sailing recognized by the International Sailing Federation. History SCIRA ...

(SCIRA), which has a large number of Snipe fleets across many countries. In an August 1959 review for

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

, Thomas Atkinson reported, "Unlike many class boats which were designed as pure racing machines, however, the Snipe offers more than speed and thrills. It is a miniature yacht as well as a racing boat, and despite the fact that newer and faster classes continually appear, the Snipe is more in demand than ever. Snipes, in fact, are so much fun they have become the most popular boat in the world. Today there are more than 8,000 of the little 15-footers in commission, sailing out of 250 active racing fleets from Trieste to Tokyo and even in such Iron Curtain countries as Poland, and last year over 400 more were added to the class."

Events

Snipe World Championships The Snipe World Championships are international sailing regattas in the Snipe International class organized by the Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA) and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). There are four different ...

Snipe European Championship The Snipe European Championship is an international sailing regatta in the Snipe class and the most important European competition of the class. It was previously called the ''Europe and Africa Snipe Class Championship''. It takes place every two ...

Snipe North American Championship The Snipe North American Championship is the annual North American Championship for sailing in the Snipe class. The regatta is open to Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA) registered boats and class member skippers and crews, and ...

Snipe South American Championship The Snipe South American Championship is the annual South American Championships, South American Championship for Sailing (sport), sailing in the Snipe (dinghy), Snipe class. The regatta is open to Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIR ...

* Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship * Sailing at the 2011 Pan American Games – Snipe *

Sailing at the 2015 Pan American Games – Snipe The Snipe competition of the sailing events at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto was held from July 12 to July 19 at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.http://results.toronto2015.org/IRS/en/sailing/event-overview-open-snipe.htm Points were assi ...

United States Snipe National Championship The United States National Snipe Championship is the annual national championship for sailing in the Snipe class. It is among the oldest One-Design class championships in the United States. Between 1934 and 1947 it was considered the SCIRA Wor ...

References

External links