Engineering:International 14

Short description: International racing sailing class

International 14

Class symbol
Development
Design	Development class
Boat
Crew	2
Hull
Hull weight	74.25 kg (163.7 lb) 72 kg (159 lb) (June 2011) 70 kg (150 lb) (June 2013)
LOA	4,267 mm (14 ft 0 in) (excludes bowsprit and rudder)
Beam	1,040 mm (3 ft 5 in) (min) 1,830 mm (6 ft 0 in) (max)
Rig
Mast length	7,626 mm (25 ft 0.2 in)
Sails
Spinnaker area	Unlimited (typically 32 m2 (340 sq ft))
Upwind sail area	18.58 m2 (200.0 sq ft)
Racing
RYA PN	780

The International 14 is a 14-foot double-handed racing dinghy. The class originated in England in the early part of the 20th century. It is sailed and raced in many countries around the world and was one of the first true international racing dinghy classes recognised by International Sailing Federation. It is a development class, being controlled by a set of rules that allow for innovation and changes in hull and rig design as long as they fall within a set of specific limitations such as length, weight, beam, and sail area. The class has permitted its rules to be revised at various times in its history in order to keep the class at the forefront of dinghy racing development and can now best be described as an ultralight dual-trapeze sailing dinghy with large sail area. It is often raced with boats of similar design in one-design, or non-handicap races.

History

There are essentially four periods in the class' history:

Displacement

The displacement style, is also known as the "Before Uffa Fox Era". Many of these were designed as a National 14 by designers such as Francis Morgan-Giles of Tynemouth and Hammersmith.

Planing

Planing, which started with Uffa Fox and his deep-chested hulls, (boats Avenger and Alarm were quintessential examples) which were broad aft with nearly straight buttocks, and narrow forward with a deep vee; another notable boat was Windsprite, designed and built in cold-moulded plywood by Austin Farrar at Woolverstone, Suffolk, in the early 1950s, whose distinctive hull shape was emulated later in the International 505 dinghy. One of the most famous International 14s was Thunder and Lightning, sail number 409. Built in 1938 by Uffa Fox, she was sailed to victory by John Winter and Peter Scott in the Prince of Wales Cup that year. The crew was helped considerably by the revolutionary use of an early form of trapeze, which was considered unsporting by the racing authorities of the day and promptly banned. Thunder and Lightning is now based at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Trapeze

Trapeze planing, which came about decades later, when the trapeze was finally legalised in the class (it had been tried by Uffa and others in the 1930s but was banned); during this evolutionary period larger ballast tanks were permitted by the class rules that greatly improved the ability of crews to recover from capsizes; the period also saw the introduction of multi-chined boats that were radically different in hull shape from the earlier carvel-built and molded-plywood designs;

Double-trapeze

Hull shape	Date	Designer
Ovington 1	1995	Dave Ovington
Bieker 2	1996	Paul Bieker
Morrison 7e	1995	Phil Morrison
Morrison 8	1996	Phil Morrison
Ovington 2	1997	Dave Ovington
Bieker 2Z	1998	Paul Bieker
Bieker 3	1998	Paul Bieker
Morrison 9	1998	Phil Morrison
Ovington 3	1999	Dave Ovington
Morrison 10	2000	Phil Morrison
Bieker 4	2002	Paul Bieker
Bieker 5	2005	Paul Bieker
Beebe 2	2005	Jason Beebe
Benji 1	2005	Le Poisson
Hollom 1	2009	David Hollom
Bieker 6	2011	Paul Bieker
K3	2011	Steve Killing

Double-trapeze super-planing, which has gone through a number of evolutions. The concept was developed in Australia and New Zealand, and influenced the design of the high-powered but lightweight Australian 18. This form of the boat really started to take form in the early 80's (but with only one trapeze) as the minimum weight was lowered and upwind planing became possible.

Contemporary boats weigh as little as 165 lb, and have as typical equipment a retractable spinnaker pole, unlimited asymmetric spinnaker size, 200sq ft mainsail and jib area, a fully battened mainsail, an adjustable carbon rig, and a hydrofoil rudder that allows the boat to be trimmed fore and aft for different conditions, and as a drag reduction device.

Since this is a development class, older boats have been obsoleted through rules changes. Many of the older boats still race in fleets of similar boats. Penultimates, also known as 'Pennies' are boats that feature much of the same technology as modern boats but are from prior to the 1996 merger between the International 14 and Aussie 14 classes. Classic boats are boats prior to 1984 and feature a symmetric spinnaker, single trapeze, and many feature cold molded wooden hulls.

See also

• Jack Holt
• Phil Morrison
• John Millen
• History of the Fourteens Part 4 - The Years of Challenge.

External links

• International 14 Class website
• The Class History
• ISAF International 14 Microsite
• International 14 US Class
• Canadian i14 Fleet Website
• National Maritime Museum Cornwall website