The older style lightweight sharpies I began sailing on in the early 1980s were of plywood construction, with no lowers, a non-adjustable rig and a fixed mast preventer. As I progressed through a number of boats throughout the 80s and into the 90s, hull construction changed little but advances in rig set-ups and sail design kept the class contemporary.
The hull has changed since the 1960s when the lightweight variant was released, a number of successful boats returned to plywood sandwich construction after the full fiberglass phase, a new hull is extremely expensive but picking up a secondhand yacht is a very cost effective method. The three-quarter balloon type spinnaker is hoisted from a chute in the deck; The main, jib and spinnaker are consistent in measurements, although sail shape is hotly contested.
An aluminium mast with no backstay rounds out the rig; spreader length is set to class rules although the degree of spreader position (forward or aft) assists with mast stiffness, sidestay tension is adjusted to conditions with boom vang and cunningham controlling mast rake to de-power the rig in stronger conditions. Initial mast rake is set via foerstay tension, the base of the mast is stiffened with adjustable lowers and a mast preventer stops the foot of the mast breaking on downwind runs.
The fleet is very competitive, these days 40 odd boats line up at the National series, held in various locations throughout the country between the Christmas and New Year period. I remember fleets of 80 to 90 boats on the start line at national carnivals - very exciting. A stamp in circulation in 1981, the lightweight sharpie was a prominent class, a number of new classes is taking the mantle of leading performance dingy. The lightweight sharpie is an older controlled class, cost effective in many ways and extremely competitive to sail at the top level.
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