tech dinghy sailboat

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2022 Boat of the Year: Best Dinghy

• By Dave Reed
• December 17, 2021

Sailing World Magazine’s annual Boat of the Year tests are conducted in Annapolis, Maryland, following the US Sailboat Show. With independent judges exhaustively inspecting the boats on land and putting them through their paces on the water, this year’s fleet of new performance-sailing boats spanned from small dinghies to high-tech bluewater catamarans. Here’s the best of the best from our 2022 Boat of the Year nominees »

Skeptics be warned: The Happy Cat Hurricane is legit. This is the unanimous assessment from our Boat of the Year judging squad after sailing the surprisingly quick and nimble 16-foot inflatable catamaran in 10 knots of breeze. While it delivers exhilarating sailing, it’s much more than a recreational rubber dinghy—it’s an adventure craft, a portable sailboat, a pontoon motorboat, a lazy-river drifter, or anything you want it to be once it’s pumped and splashed.

Grabner is an Austrian manufacturer of all types of inflatable watercraft, which the company has been building since the mid-1980s. The Happy Cat Hurricane came online in 2017, and a carbon-mast version was added in 2019. The Hurricane Carbon, which the judges tested, is the company’s flagship go-fun craft, and apparently, it can’t make them fast enough.

We racers know fiberglass better than we do rubber, but Alex Caslow, of Redbeard Sailing in Baltimore (the US importer), says Grabner’s vulcanized rubber is “tire-quality” and sourced from Continental. All of the Happy Cat’s tubes, he adds, are handmade, glued and welded in Austria, producing high-quality hulls that should last at least 20 years. There’s a seven-year warranty on the hulls, he says, but should you ever need to, $2,000 is your replacement price (per hull). The all-up price for a new boat, with everything you need to go racing or gunkholing, is currently $15,000.

The magic to keeping the Happy Cat’s tubular platform stiff is the anodized aluminum frame that holds it all together. Tension cables crisscrossed beneath the trampolines provide additional stiffness in waves. The frame also serves as attachment points for the trampolines, which are clipped on rather than laced like most catamaran tramps.

The boat, Caslow says, can be assembled in roughly 40 minutes—from taken out of the storage bags to inflated and sails hoisted. Upgrading from the standard manual pump to a 12-volt air pump accelerates the process, of course.

Bags? That’s right. The entire boat and rig fit into four bags collectively small enough to transport in the average-size car trunk. This portability is its primary selling point, especially in Europe, where hundreds of owners and devotees regularly gather to rally and raid on alpine lakes and coastal enclaves. Its second selling point is that it sails as well as most fiberglass recreational catamarans.

“It definitely caught my eye when we first walked up to it,” Chuck Allen says. “The bright-red hulls, the carbon rig, all the ropes, but especially the interesting setup with the rudder and centerboard being on centerline. I’d never sailed a catamaran with a centerboard.

“The hulls are really firm—they feel just like a RIB tube, and all the aluminum framing and wires are nice quality. I was really curious how it would sail, and believe it or not, it sailed like a champ.”

Greg Stewart says his first impression was one of skepticism as well. “It seemed like it would be one of those boats that looked cool on land but would let us down, but it didn’t at all. It sailed amazingly. It tacked well enough that I didn’t have to backwind the jib, and got up to speed again quickly.”

The ability to tack it like a dinghy, Stewart says, is because of the centerboard and because the rudder is mounted in the best place possible. “What makes it steer so well is the rudder is so far aft, which gives you a nice turning moment between it and the centerboard.”

The centerboard has up/down lines that are led to the front beam and cam cleats, but there is a breaker line in case you get into shallow waters. The centerboard casing also acts as an anchor point for the dolphin striker.

The reverse “wave-piercing” bows have a lot of buoyancy down low, Stewart adds. When he was sailing upwind through chop, they “just want to lift and rise up over the wave.” If flying a hull gets a bit too unnerving, he says, a small ease on the mainsheet or a slight bear away makes the boat settle right down with a soft and pillowy landing. Stewart forgot to conduct the obligatory capsize test, but he said afterward that the boat tended to simply slip sideways if the weather hull got too high. The optional masthead float, however, would be a good choice for peace of mind, he says.

“There’s a great sensation of speed,” Powlison reports, especially with the 91-square-foot gennaker. “The Velocitek SpeedPuck that was on the boat was reading 10 to 11 knots regularly, and it wasn’t hard at all to tack or jibe either. The spinnaker clew is pretty high, and the boomless square-top mainsail (124 square feet) makes it really easy to get across the boat.”

“This boat rips,” was Allen’s final assessment. He gave it high marks all around, but what ultimately stole his favor was a browse through Grabner’s catalog, which showcased the Happy Cat’s versatility: Leave the mast in its bag, erect the optional sun awning, and slap on the outboard motor bracket to transform it into an outboard-powered exploration craft and swimming platform. Or strap on extra fore and aft trampolines, load the boat up with camping gear in dry bags, and explore new places.

“Its biggest appeal really is its portability,” Stewart says. “If you don’t have easy access to a yacht club or storage near the water, you can easily keep this in the garage or apartment without taking up much space at all. Throw it in the car and take it wherever you want.”

Assembly, Caslow says, is simple and quick once the hulls are inflated. The tubes slide into grooves in the frame, tension cables are clipped on with carabiners, the trampoline is strapped on, and the mast can be raised by one person once it’s pinned onto the ball joint.

When it’s assembled, the Hurricane Carbon is only 175 pounds, but it is still a bit unwieldy for solo ramp launching. For this particular challenge, Grabner offers flip-up “slip wheels” that mount to the aft beam and stay on the boat while sailing. With your standard big-wheeled catamaran dolly, however, it’s easy to move around and beach-launch. And once you’re underway and zipping along, crew extended on the wire and the soft bounce of the hull on your bottom, you’ll just want to keep on sailing—happy as a cat on nip.

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Tech Dinghy

Tech Dinghy is a 12 ′ 0 ″ / 3.7 m monohull sailboat designed by George Owen and built by Herreshoff Mfg. Co., Paceship Yachts Ltd., Beetle Boat Co.(USA), and Whitecap Composites starting in 1935.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Conceived for use at college sailing programs and designed by Prof. George Owen of MIT. The first boats were built of wood in 1935 at Herreshoff Manufacturing. In 1958 a new version from Beetle Boat Co. became one the earliest use of fiberglass for boat construction. A number of variants of the TECH DINGHY have been built over the years. The original design, used primarily on inland waters, (such as the Charles River in Boston MA, USA) was later modified for use in the mid-west, were they were sailed in rougher conditions. Another version based on this design was sold as the INTERCOLLEGIATE by Paceship of Canada. 6th generation re-design by Penn Edmonds (early 1990’s).

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On a chilly day in the mid-1930s, Erwin Schell ‘12, head of MIT’s business administration course, looked out his office window and noticed some MIT students sailing a frostbite race on the Charles. The sight inspired him. Soon after, he and George Owen, Class of 1894, who headed the Department of Naval Architecture, went to see Walter Cromwell “Jack” Wood ‘17 to discuss starting an MIT sailing program. Owen drew up plans for a boat eventually dubbed the “Tech Dinghy,” and Schell set about raising funds to build a small fleet of them. As MIT’s first sailing master, Wood then presided over that 48-boat fleet at a new pavilion, and MIT hosted its first intercollegiate sailing competition in 1937.

Owen’s design for the Tech Dinghy was ingenious, incorporating both cat and sloop rigging to maximize performance for highly skilled sailors while providing stability for novices. Although the boat has evolved–it’s now in its fifth generation–its great balance remains its defining feature. In 1953, the second generation of the dinghy hit the water, a fiberglass hull replacing Owen’s wooden one. For the third generation, Halsey Herreshoff, SM ‘60, increased the height of its sides to prevent it from taking on water; for the fourth, he heightened the mast. And in 2004, MIT sailors launched the fifth generation of the dinghy, which has flotation tanks that make it easier to right when it capsizes.

In typical MIT fashion, the Tech Dinghy has featured in several hacks–appearing fully rigged on the small dome of Building 7, in the Alumni Pool, and in the campus chapel’s moat. Institute presidents including Karl Compton, Paul Gray, and Susan Hockfield have sailed Tech Dinghies. And every year, 1,200 to 1,400 students take sailing lessons, and even more take the 37 boats now in the fleet out on the Charles.

Perhaps the most famous student sailor to take the helm of a Tech Dinghy is John Bertrand, SM ‘72, who won the 1983 America’s Cup for an Australian team, ending a 132-year U.S. reign. ­Bertrand had lost his first attempt at the cup in 1970, the summer before he came to MIT. Studying naval architecture under Jerry ­Milgram ‘61, SM ‘62, PhD ‘65–whom he has called “brilliant” and a “crazy man”–broadened Bertrand’s knowledge of fluid dynamics and tactical dinghy sailing.

“He was a crew member and a student of mine,” Milgram recalls. “I supervised his thesis. We worked one on one about how you could apply that theoretical knowledge to actual sailing. We would talk about the relationship between the hull resistance and the generation of side forces related to the force made by the sails and say, What’s the best thing for you to do after you tack, when you’re down in low speeds and you need to accelerate up to full speed?”

Bertrand remembers being surprised by the local talent on the Charles. “It felt initially like lambs to the slaughter; the local wind shifts and local knowledge were all-consuming until I started to get the hang of it,” he recalls. “The Tech Dinghy, although old-fashioned and slow, was a superb training and racing boat, since it was easy to rig and sail.

“MIT showed me many ways to think about and solve problems,” he continues. “There was a can-do mentality that was part of the culture. I also learned how to work with creative geniuses like Jerry, which was fundamental in my ability to later put together and work with a world-class group for our successful America’s Cup challenge in 1983.”

Milgram was asked to teach his legendary sailboat design course one last time before he retires this August. But he warns that the class is not all fun and games. “That’s what too many people think,” he says. “Then they come in and find out it’s a real MIT course, with real MIT learning, real tough stuff, and half of them drop out. They thought it was going to be fun, but a sailboat is a very complex system with complex engineering.”

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An Insider’s Guide to the Boats of College Sailing

September 19, 2012 by Sail1Design Editor Leave a Comment

By Airwaves writer Zach Brown    (please add your comments in our online forum at the bottom of this article.)

The announcement of the new Collegiate 420 by Laser Performance sprung an interesting discussion about the many boats available to collegiate sailing programs around the country.  There are more dinghy manufacturers and more boat options than ever before. This article will discuss the current landscape of boats sailed at major programs, the increased fleet options available, and whether or not there is a competitive advantage to owning a specific fleet of boats.

The Current Landscape

Presently there are five doublehanded dinghies in college sailing: FJs, 420s, Fireflies, Techs, and Larks.  Each boat is unique and teaches different skill sets that are all valuable to becoming a well rounded and successful sailor.  The Holy Grail, also know as the perfect dinghy for all intercollegiate programs, simply cannot exist because not all sailing venues are the same.  The best boat to sail on a small river or lake is not suitable for a choppy open water venue.

The FJ is the most common college sailing dinghy.  Roughly fifty-four percent of programs own a fleet of FJs.  Light teams weighing less than 260 pounds gain a significant advantage in soft winds.  Strong winds favor a heavier combined crew weight of approximately 295 pounds.  Bigger skippers benefit from balancing more weight aft in the boat, which pops up the bow and increases upwind and downwind speed.

The Club 420 is the second most sailed boat of college sailing.  Approximately forty-three percent of all programs throughout the country own a full fleet of 420s.  The 420 has a very flat aft hull surface which dictates the quirks associated with the boat.  While the flatness aides in stable planing, it makes sailing the boat over 275 pounds rather difficult in light winds due to all the wetted surface area.   A light weight team of 255 pounds will have a speed advantage in less wind, but the very large centerboard powers the dinghy up dramatically in breezy conditions requiring much more crew weight.  Schools must attend regattas sailed in 420s with a range of crew sizes to compete in varying wind velocities.

The Firefly is a popular British University boat that has finally made its way into the American college sailing scene with a few modifications including a gnav strut kicker for the boomvang and a reef point so it’s easy to reduce sail area in windy conditions.  Although Fireflies are currently only sailed at MIT on the Charles River in Boston, don’t be surprised to see more fleets popping up at universities limited to flat water shifty venues.

The deep hull is a fully rounded surface which makes it possible for heavier teams to be equally competitive with smaller ones in light winds.  The tapered mast depowers the mainsail in heavy breeze so larger teams do not gain a relative advantage.  Quick crew work is a requisite for the firefly because tacking is fast and favorable.  The Firefly is the ultimate short course team race dinghy that gets around the race course easily in light winds and rarely has kinetics rules violations.

Tech Dinghy

Even though it’s only raced at MIT and UW Madison, the infamous Tech Dinghy is a staple for the NEISA and MCSA districts.  This simple design created in 1935 has set the technology curve in college sailing multiple times; first with the introduction of fiberglass boat building technology in 1953 and now in 2012 with its 6 th generation creation of an all carbon boat.  Over 2000 people are introduced to sailing through the Tech Dinghy every year.  The indestructible Techs are a flat water venue dinghy suitable for singlehanded or doublehanded racing.  The boats are easy to tack and great for light wind shifty conditions.

Techs are famous for equaling the playing field of college sailing because everyone has the same boat speed and there is no benefit to sailing light.  It is almost a rite of passage in NEISA to have a mental breakdown in a Tech on the Charles River due to the competitive nature of Techs and the challenging venue of the River.  Overcoming the challenge of the Tech Dinghy teaches sailors plenty of lessons that are valuable for the rest of their sailing career.

Some new designs for MIT’s 6 th generation Tech Dinghy include: increased sail area to 84 sq ft, mainsheet controlled from mid boom instead end of boom, ease of planing, greater speed that exceeds FJs and 420s in many conditions, and ease of recovery after a capsize with minimal water to bail.

The Lark is only raced in college sailing regattas at Tufts University in a suburb of Boston, but Wesleyan University in Connecticut and many British Universities sail the boat as well.  The Lark is incredibly similar to a Firefly with its hull shape, bendy rig, and ease to tack.  The Tufts Larks could not suit Mystic Lake better with its extra large square top main sail and carbon rig making it easy to get races off and have productive practices in shifty unreliable wind conditions.  An ideal flat water venue dinghy, the Lark is one of the fastest boats in college sailing.  Because the Lark accelerates so quickly and speed almost doubles, sailors can sometimes chase a filling puff instead of waiting for it to arrive.

The Changing Landscape

College sailing equipment is changing rapidly due to the design of new boats and emergence of more boat builders.  The sport is improving from the increased focus of boat builders like Laser Performance, Rondar Raceboats USA, and Zim Sailing.  The battleground for these manufacturers takes place on the price, durability, quality, service, and suitability of the boats.

Laser Performance

Laser Performance produces the majority of college sailing boats through the traditional offering of the Club 420 and the FJ.  Over the last few years Laser Performance has committed considerable resources redesigning the 420 for increased speed, performance, and durability while maintaining the price point.  The exact release date for the Laser Performance Collegiate 420 hasn’t been released yet, but it has been confirmed that St. Mary’s College will host the 2014 ICSA Coed College Sailing Nationals in this new dinghy.  Features of the Collegiate 420 include a core layer in the hull and deck that makes the boat twenty pou nds lighter and significantly stronger with a closed forward bulkhead.  Other small changes include inboard jib leads, an integrated bow bumper, and new fittings.

Rondar Raceboats USA

Rondar Raceboats has been making high quality boats since 1964.  Their success is well known in non-college sailing classes such as the 505, Firefly, Viper 640, and the K6.  This long established “new comer” to college sailing offers sailing programs the choices of the Rondar 420, the Firefly, and the Tech Dinghy.  The Rondar 420 is similar to the Collegiate 420 with two forward bulkheads, a fully cored hull, and resin infusion.  Although initial pricing is slightly higher than the mainstream brands, Rondar’s representative claimed the “whole life” costs of their boats are considerably cheaper than any of the current choices.  MIT has bought into this idea with a fleet of Rondar 420s, 20 Rondar Fireflies, and a new fleet of Rondar made Carbon Tech Dinghies.

Zim Sailing

Zim 420s and FJs are another new comer to the college sailing scene.  Zim has already made its way into the hands of many schools including Columbia University, Fordham University, SUNY Maritime, University of Connecticut, and University of New Hampshire.  SUNY Maritime coach Russ O’Reilly has been pleased with the boats, the service, and the price of his Zim 420s.  O’Reilly specifically noted that the service was top notch with each boat assembled, tested, and inspected by a team of Zim builders.

Competitive Advantage?

With five unique college boats available now, new boats coming in the near future, and three different boat manufacturers, fleet selection become harder for some college sailing programs.  Clearly there is a competitive advantage to owning some FJs because the majority of college sailing interconference regattas are raced in FJs.  But, that does not mean every school should have a full fleet of FJs.  Selecting the proper dinghy based on the conditions of a program’s venue is the top priority.  Supplementing the fleet with a group of at least six other boats is a great way to diversify and properly prepare for each weekend’s regatta.

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The Tech was designed specifically for MIT by Professor George Owen, and the first boats were made for the opening of the Sailing Pavilion in 1935.

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DINGHY is manoeuvred by three captains. Each with their own speciality, but all equipped with Textile DNA.

Captain for sales and management Born: 1975 in Munich Education: BA textile Eng. and M.A. PPE

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Captain for logistics, production, and quality management Born: 1973 in Zwickau Education: Dipl.-Eng.

Contact [email protected]

Contact DINGHY GmbH Schaderstr. 19 08056 Zwickau Deutschland

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Latest Results

Sailing and the tech dinghy.

The Sailing and the Tech Dinghy booklet is available in two formats:

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Best boating gadgets: 6 of the best options for upgrading your boat’s tech

• Editor's Choice - Top 50 boat gadgets
• Top stories

Long gone are the days of relying on lead lines and dead reckoning, today’s boats are bristling with technology, but if you want to upgrade, we’ve rounded up some of the best boating gadgets on the market today.

Whether you want to add underwater cameras, smart navigation systems, or simply keep all of your devices charged up, there has never been such a dizzying array of boating gadgets.

As part of our 2021 Editor’s Choice , we trawled through the myriad of boating gadgets on the market to pick out what we think are the best of the best.

Read on, but be warned – you may be tempted into spending even more money on your boat…

6 of the best boating gadgets available right now

Iris 735 camera

Super-compact bulkhead camera

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We’ve not been out and measured all its competitors ourselves, but we have no reason to doubt Iris when they tell us their IRIS735 micro-compact camera is the world’s smallest through-hull/bulkhead unit of its type.

Measuring 28 x 36mm and projecting just 8.5mm from the panel to which it is mounted, the IP67 waterproof rated IRIS735 is equipped with a 2.9mm wide angle lens and a Sony Starlight sensor for low light operation.

In our opinion it’s a tiddler that punches well above its weight as it enables you to keep an eye on hidden areas of your boat via a choice of four video formats: TVI, CVI, AHD or CVBS.

Read more about the Iris 735 camera

Article continues below…

Editor’s Choice: Vesper Cortex

Editor’s choice: 878 smart apparel, icom ic-m94de vhf.

World-first VHF radio with AIS

Billed as the world’s first marine hand portable VHF radio with a built-in AIS receiver, the Icom IC-M94DE was always going to catch our eye.

But the range of features incorporated into this new generation – although instantly recognisable as a member of the Icom handheld family – doesn’t stop there; for the IC-M94DE’s veritable spaghetti alphabet of safety attributes continues with DSC and GPS.

The unit excels in many other ways too: It’s powerful, pumping out 6W of radio frequency output, and the 1500 mW of audio output should provide ample volume at all but the noisiest of helms.

Read more about the Icom IC-M94DE VHF

Scanstrut ROKK Wireless Active phone charger

Waterproof iPhone/Android charger

Many of us have dreamed of a mobile phone charger for boats that’s compatible with both Apple and Samsung products and many other brands too.

And now there is one. In fact, in a consumer sector seemingly unable to agree on a universal charging port, we think the Scanstrut ROKK Wireless Active provides a refreshing breath of fresh air.

Better still, designed from the ground up for marine use, the unit has an IPX6 waterproof rating, works off 12 or 24V and can even charge mobiles inside non-metallic waterproof phone cases , thereby making it an ideal boat bolt-on.

Read more about the Scanstrut ROKK Wireless Active phone charger

Clarion speakers

Boat sound system with built-in lights

No boat party would be complete without a decent onboard entertainment system, and for anyone wanting to go beyond sound alone and dazzle their guests with a full son et lumière experience, Clarion’s new CMSP speakers are well worth a listen and a look.

That’s because in addition to pumping out crisp, clean sound, each model in the range is offered with integral RGB LED lighting to add a colourful helping of grist to the mood music mill.

For those more inclined to Radio 3 than Radio 1, non-illuminated versions of the speakers are available too.

Read more about Clarion speakers

The Orca Display kit is based on a 10.1in ruggedised Samsung Galaxy Active Pro with a RAM mount and charger

Orca Co-pilot

The Google Maps of boating

What makes Orca Co-pilot different to normal chartplotter? Well, to begin with, Orca supports cellular internet connectivity.

This allows the system to automatically update charts and synchronise routes across devices without using SD-cards or other data transfer solutions.

Orca Co-pilot is also cloud-powered, which means it processes engine, battery and other boat information in the cloud to give boaters automatic trip logs and insights into such things as fuel consumption and abnormal engine behaviour.

Read more about Orca Co-Pilot

Raymarine Clearcruise AR

Augmented reality for boaters

Raymarine has long pushed the boundaries of boating gadgets, and its ClearCruise AR system marks another major step along the way on the firm’s never-ending advanced marine systems journey.

In fact, ClearCruise AR (the ‘AR’ stands for Augmented Reality) is an industry-first which has been developed for Raymarine’s Axiom multi-function displays to help skippers make smarter and quicker navigation decisions.

AR manifests itself in practice by blending high definition video from networked marine cameras with on-screen graphics to display and identify nearby AIS traffic, navigation aids and waypoints.

Read more about Raymarine Clearcruise AR

Circumnavigating Great Britain in an 18ft speedboat: The final hurdle

Fjord 39 first look: maximised space and amenities, technohull alpha 50 first look: new rapid performance rib, latest videos, bluegame bgm75 sea trial: the €6.8m powercat that thinks its a monohull, cormate chase 32 tour: fast, stylish and practical weekender, axopar 29 sea trial: sun top vs cross cabin – which is best, sunseeker ocean 182 – see how this compact superyacht copes in a wet and windy sea trial.