The most popular dinghies which are sailed at FOSSC are Laser (now officially known as ‘ILCA 7’), Solo, Byte CII, Enterprise, Topper, Mirror, and Optimist for our youngest members, however all classes which conform to the following are welcome:
- Must be no longer than 15ft long
- Must have a published Portsmouth Yardstick of 1000 or higher.
Boats with bowsprit and/or trapeze are not permitted to race, but may be sailed when racing is not taking place. (The only racing dispensation is for club Fevas.) Please note however, that due to the size of the lake, the benefits of sailing with a trapeze or asymmetric spinnaker with bowsprit will be somewhat limited.
For those who have been away from the sailing scene for a few years, the names of the various ‘laser’ dinghies have changed:
- What was a ‘laser’ or ‘standard laser’ is now an ILCA 7.
- Wat was a ‘laser radial’ is now a ILCA 6.
- What was a ‘laser 4.7’ is now a ILCA 4.
However, at FOSSC, we still often call them ‘lasers’!
The club owns Gulls, Wanderers, Toppers, Optimists and a couple of Lasers. These are primarily for training, but can be borrowed by club members, e.g. to try out if you suit that class of boat, on Friday evening ‘Social Sailing’ sessions, or by special arrangement. We also have a small fleet of ‘Access’ dinghies – single and double-handed – for use by our Sailability members. See Sailability – FOSSC for more details.
For further information on different classes of boat, including which class may suit you best, please ask some of our more experienced racers, or check out the various Class Association websites, e.g.
ILCA Class Association (laser)
At the time of writing, the Byte Association does not have a website, but does have a Facebook page.