Lightning (dinghy)

{{Infobox sailboat specifications

| name = Lightning

| insignia = File:LightningSailboat.JPG

| insignia size = 72px

| insignia alt =

| insignia caption =

| line drawing = File:Sailingboat-lightningclass.png

| line size =

| line alt =

| line caption =

| image boat =

| image size =

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| image caption =

| designer = Olin Stephens

| architect =

| location = United States

| year = 1938

| no built = 15,550

| design =

| class =

| brand =

| builder = Clark Boat Company
Lippincott Boat Works
Nickels Boat Works
Allen Boat Company
Jack A. Helms Co.
J.J. Taylor and Sons
Lockley Newport Boats
Skaneateles Boat & Canoe
Mobjack Manufacturing
Siddons & Sindle
Lofland Sail-craft
Eichenlaub Boat
WindRider LLC
Saybrook Yacht Yard

| role = One-design racer

| boats =

| crew =

| trapeze =

| draft = {{convert|4.95|ft|m|abbr=on}} with centerboard down

| air draft =

| displacement = {{convert|700|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}

| hulls =

| hull type = monohull

| construction = wood or fiberglass

| loa = {{convert|19.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| loh =

| lwl = {{convert|15.25|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| beam = {{convert|6.50|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| hull draft =

| hull weight =

| engine =

| appendages =

| keel type = centerboard

| ballast =

| rudder type = transom-mounted rudder

| rigs =

| rig type = Bermuda rig

| I = {{convert|20.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| J = {{convert|6.91|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| P = {{convert|24.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| E = {{convert|10.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}

| mast length =

| rig other =

| sails =

| sailplan = fractional rigged sloop

| sailarea main = {{convert|120.00|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

| sailarea headsail = {{convert|69.10|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

| sailarea spin = {{convert|300|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

| sailarea gen =

| sails other =

| sailarea upwind =

| sailarea downwind =

| sailarea total = {{convert|189.10|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

| rating =

| d-pn = 88.4

| rya-pn =

| phrf =

| status =

| previous =

| successor =

}}

The Lightning is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, as a one-design racer and first built in 1938.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/lightning|title= Lightning sailboat |access-date= 9 November 2020|last= McArthur| first= Bruce |work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2020|archive-url= https://archive.today/20201110001642/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/lightning|archive-date= 10 November 2020 |url-status= live}}{{cite web|url=https://sailboatdata.com/designer/sparkman-stephens|title= Sparkman & Stephens|access-date= 9 November 2020|last= McArthur| first= Bruce |work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2020|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20190331193635/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/sparkman-stephens|archivedate= 31 March 2019|url-status= live}}Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 102-103. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. {{ISBN|0-395-65239-1}}

An accepted World Sailing class, the boat is one of the most popular one-design sailing classes in the United States and is also raced in several other countries.

The design was developed into a smaller boat, as a trainer for the Lightning, the Blue Jay in 1947.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/blue-jay|title= Blue Jay sailboat |access-date= 9 November 2020|last= McArthur| first= Bruce |work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2020|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20191208163015/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/blue-jay|archivedate= 8 December 2019|url-status= live}}

Production

The design has been built by a large number of manufacturers in the United States and also in Canada. There have been 15,550 boats completed and it remains in production by the Allen Boat Company.{{cite web|url= https://www.windrider.com/collections/windrider-sailboat/products/lightning|title= Lightning|access-date= 9 November 2020|author= WindRider LLC|author-link= WindRider LLC|work= windrider.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201110001949/https://www.windrider.com/collections/windrider-sailboat/products/lightning|archive-date= 10 November 2020|url-status= live}}{{cite web|url= http://www.allenboatco.com/|title= Allen Boat Company|access-date= 9 November 2020|author= Allen Boat Company|work= allenboatco.com|archive-url= https://archive.today/20130116202544/http://www.allenboatco.com/|archive-date= 16 January 2013|url-status= live}}

In the past it has been built in the US by the Clark Boat Company, Lippincott Boat Works, Nickels Boat Works, Jack A. Helms Co., Lockley Newport Boats, Skaneateles Boat & Canoe, Mobjack Manufacturing, Siddons & Sindle, Lofland Sail-craft, the Eichenlaub Boat Co, Saybrook Yacht Yard, and WindRider LLC. It was also built in Canada by J.J. Taylor and Sons Ltd.

Boats have been delivered complete, sold as kits for amateur construction and also amateur-built from plans.

Design

File:Lightning dinghy on Lake Wallenpaupack, Pennsylvania.jpg

The Lightning is a recreational sailboat, initially built with wooden plank construction and, since the early 1960s, of fiberglass with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig with wooden or aluminum spars. The rig employs a backstay, anchored off center, so as to not impede the tiller. If equipped with a wooden mast it has a jumper stay from the mast head to the spreaders. The hull has a foredeck, with a V-shaped coaming, a raked stem, an angled transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centerboard. It displaces {{convert|700|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and carries a class-prescribed maximum of {{convert|130|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} in centerboard weight.

The boat has a draft of {{convert|4.95|ft|m|abbr=on}} with the centerboard extended and {{convert|5|in|cm|abbr=on}} with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.

For sailing the design is equipped with a {{convert|300|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} spinnaker. Mainsail and jib windows are optional for improved visibility and safety.

The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 88.4 and is normally raced with a crew of three sailors, although it can accommodate six adults.Lightning Class Association, [https://www.lightningclass.org/docs.ashx?id=416288 Yearbook 1941]{{Cite web|url=https://www.lightningclass.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=93488&module_id=274527|title=About Lightning - International Lightning Class Association|website=www.lightningclass.org}}

Operational history

The boat has an active class club that regulates the design and organizes races, the International Lightning Class Association.{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/association/lightning-class-int|title= Lightning Class (Int) |access-date= 9 November 2020|last= McArthur| first= Bruce |work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2020|archiveurl= https://archive.today/20201110010434/https://sailboatdata.com/association/lightning-class-int|archivedate= 10 November 2020|url-status= live}} By 1994 there were more than 460 racing fleets in Canada, Europe, South America and the United States.

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood noted that the design has good freeboard and stability.

=Racing=

{{Main|Lightning World Championship|Youth Lightning World Championship|Masters Lightning World Championship}}

References

External links

[http://www.allenboatco.com/ Allen Boat Company official website]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20201110001949/https://www.windrider.com/collections/windrider-sailboat/products/lightning Windrider official Lightning archives] on Archive.org

Category:Dinghies

Category:1930s sailboat type designs

Category:Classes of World Sailing

Category:Sailboat type designs by Olin Stephens

Category:Sailboat types built by Allen Boat Company

Category:Sailboat types built by Clark Boat Company

Category:Sailboat types built by Lockley Newport Boats

Category:Sailboat types built by Siddons & Sindle

Category:Sailboat types built by WindRider LLC

Category:Sailboat types built by Mobjack Manufacturing

Category:Sailboat types built by Nickels Boat Works

Category:Sailboat types built by Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.