Penguin (dinghy) explained

Penguin
Insignia:File:Penguin (dinghy) sail badge.png
Insignia Size:56px
Image Boat:File:PenguinDinghy.jpg
Designer:Philip Rhodes
Location:United States
Year:1939
No Built:10,000
Builder:W. D. Schock Corp
Jack A. Helms Co.
Ron Rawson, Inc.
Customflex
Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.
Role:One design-racer
Crew:one
Draft:3.83feet with centerboard down
Displacement:1400NaN0
Hull Type:monohull
Construction:wood or fiberglass
Loa:11.42feet
Beam:4.67feet
Keel Type:centerboard
Rudder Type:transom-mounted rudder
Rig Type:cat rig
P:16feet
E:8.67feet
Sailplan:catboat
Sailarea Main:69.36square feet
Sailarea Total:69.36square feet
D-Pn:111.5

The Penguin is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Philip Rhodes in 1933 as a one design racer for frostbite racing on the US east coast and first built in 1939.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Production

Rhodes drew the original design in 1933 for a competition to define a new boat for the frostbite racing fleets sailed in Manhasset Bay and at Larchmont, New York. Rhodes' design lost to a boat by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens and as a result Rhodes shelved the plans until 1938 when some Potomac River sailors were looking for a new frostbite racing boat. They home-built 12 boats and racing was started on winter weekends. Yachting magazine covered a race series and advertised where plans could be obtained and that led to an expansion in interest in the boat design and it quickly grew to a national class.[5]

The design was originally intended to be built by amateur builders from wood using paper plans, but fiberglass was class-approved for the hull in 1959. Boats have been manufactured by W. D. Schock Corp, Jack A. Helms Co., Ron Rawson, Inc., Customflex and Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co. in the United States. More than 10,000 boats have been built. The boat is no longer in production, but plans are still available for home construction. Plans are publicly provided at no charge by the class association in the form of PDF downloads.[1] [2] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

W. D. Schock Corp records indicate that that company built 32 boats between 1964 and 1967.[18]

Design

The Penguin is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of plywood or fiberglass, with wood trim. It has a catboat rig, a plumb stem and transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centerboard. It displaces 1400NaN0.[1] [2]

The boat has a draft of 3.83feet with the centerboard extended and 4inches with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof.[1] [2]

The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick D-PN handicap of 111.5.[2] [19]

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the International Penguin Class Dinghy Association.[20] [21]

In a 2010 Small Boats Monthly profile Chris Museler wrote, "Like many racing dinghies, the boats are easy to sail but hard to sail well. 'It humbles a lot of folks,' says [Jonathan Bartlett, a Maryland sailmaker], referring to the oversized centerboard and hard chines that the boat can trip over in gusty conditions. 'If you can sail a Penguin well, you can sail anything.' It is a simple boat. 'It's not a Laser. But for the nostalgia and classic look, it's hard to beat it.'"[5]

Museler concluded, "they seem like silly little boats at first, and certainly now are considered obscure. But that seems to be the attraction of many little wooden boats—their uniqueness, and rareness. The best part about the Penguin is that whether you are hiked out with a friend inches away from a competitor or sitting on the floorboards on a lazy summer afternoon, you are surrounded by a little bit of sailing history and a lot of class."[5]

Boats on display

See also

Similar boats

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Penguin sailboat . 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce. sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185744/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/penguin. 8 August 2022. live.
  2. Web site: Penguin. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185853/https://sailboat.guide/penguin. 8 August 2022. live.
  3. Web site: Philip Rhodes. 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20201110235611/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/rhodes-philip. 10 November 2020. live.
  4. Web site: Philip Rhodes. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20211230014239/https://sailboat.guide/philip-rhodes. 30 December 2021. live.
  5. Web site: The Penguin Class - A family-friendly racing dinghy. 8 August 2022. Museler. Chris. Small Boats Monthly. 2010. https://archive.today/20220808200539/https://smallboatsmonthly.com/article/the-penguin-class/. 8 August 2022. live.
  6. Web site: Schock W.D.. 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20200718211515/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/schock-wd. 18 July 2020. live.
  7. Web site: Schock W.D.. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20211223180511/https://sailboat.guide/schock. 23 December 2021. live.
  8. Web site: About Us. 8 August 2022. W. D. Schock Corp. W. D. Schock Corp. wdschockcorp.com . 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20200719045620/https://wdschockcorp.com/about-us. 19 July 2020. live.
  9. Web site: Helms - Jack A. Helms Co. 1974 - 1984 . 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20201018210649/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/helms-jack-a-helms-co. 18 October 2020. live.
  10. Web site: Helms - Jack A. Helms Co.. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185906/https://sailboat.guide/helms-jack-a-helms. 8 August 2022. live.
  11. Web site: Rawson (Ron Rawson, Inc.). 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185807/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/rawson-ron-rawson-inc. 8 August 2022. live.
  12. Web site: Rawson (Ron Rawson, Inc.). 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185911/https://sailboat.guide/rawson. 8 August 2022. live.
  13. Web site: Customflex (USA). 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20200902200935/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/customflex-usa. 2 September 2020. live.
  14. Web site: Customflex. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185950/https://sailboat.guide/customflex. 8 August 2022. live.
  15. Web site: Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.. 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022. https://archive.today/20200902201030/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/skaneateles-boat-canoe-co. 2 September 2020. live.
  16. Web site: Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Co.. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185909/https://sailboat.guide/skaneateles. 8 August 2022. live.
  17. Web site: Penguin Plans. 8 August 2022. International Penguin Class Dinghy Association. penguinclass.com. 5 August 2020. https://archive.today/20220808194916/http://www.penguinclass.com/plan.html. 8 August 2022. live.
  18. Web site: Boats built by W.D. Schock. 8 August 2022. W. D. Schock Corp. W. D. Schock Corp. wdschock.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20100221183356/http://wdschock.com/history/boatlist.htm. 21 February 2010. dead.
  19. Web site: Centerboard Classes . US Sailing. US Sailing. 8 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20120816160142/http://offshore.ussailing.org/Portsmouth_Yardstick/Current_Tables/Centerboard_Classes.htm . 16 August 2012. dead.
  20. Web site: Penguin Class. 8 August 2022. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2022.
  21. Web site: Penguin Class. 8 August 2022. Sea Time Tech, LLC. sailboat.guide. 2022. https://archive.today/20220808185954/https://sailboat.guide/penguin-class-class-association. 8 August 2022. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Penguin (dinghy)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.