For alternate meanings, see Lightning (disambiguation)

Lightning (disambiguation)

Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity.Lightning may also refer to:- Art and entertainment :Literature and comics* Lightning , a 1988 novel by Dean Koontz* Lightning , several comics characters, including:...

.

The Lightning is a sloop rigged

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 sailing

Sailing

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

 dinghy originally designed by Olin Stephens

Olin Stephens

Olin James Stephens II was an American yacht designer of the 20th century. Stephens was born in New York, but spent his summers with his brother Rod, learning to sail on the New England coast. He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a term.Stephens' name had a long history...

 of Sparkman & Stephens

Sparkman & Stephens

Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with main offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, USA and offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use....

 in 1938 and was first sailed on Skaneateles Lake

Skaneateles Lake

Skaneateles Lake is one of the Finger Lakes in central New York in the United States. The name Skaneateles means long lake in one of the local Iroquoian languages. The lake is sometimes referred to as "The Roof Garden of the Lakes" because its altitude is higher than the other Finger Lakes. It...

, Skaneateles, NY, USA. More than 15,000 Lightnings have been built since then. There are over 500 fleets of Lightnings worldwide, many of which participate in dinghy racing

Dinghy racing

Dinghy racing is the competitive sport of sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing.-Organisation of dinghy racing:...

.

Awarded ISAF

International Sailing Federation

The International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....

 International Class status, the Lightning is sailed in more than 13 countries and in the Pan American Games

Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...

, and the class provides a professionally managed association that is among the largest in all of one-design

One-design

One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...

 sailing. A World Championship is held every two years. North American, South American and European Championships are held each year as are innumerable regional and District championships.

There is room in the cockpit

Cockpit (sailing)

In the Royal Navy, the term cockpit originally referred to the area where the coxswain was stationed. This led to the word being used to refer to the area towards the stern of a small decked vessel that houses the rudder controls...

 for four to daysail, but a crew of three is employed when racing. On most racing teams, the skipper drives the boat and handles the mainsail

Mainsail

A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast....

. The front crew on a racing team handles the jib

Jib

A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...

 upwind

Windward and leeward

Windward is the direction upwind from the point of reference. Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its lee side. If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of the wind, this will be the "lower side"...

 and is responsible for spinnaker

Spinnaker

A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...

 pole handling downwind. When racing, a middle crew is relied upon for trimming the spinnaker downwind and has boat balance as a primary responsibility upwind.

The Lightning's rig

Rigging

Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...

 is simple, but offers sophisticated sail shape controls. The hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 features a hard chine design that combines the stability that provides sail-carrying power, with flat bottom sections that promote planing

Planing (sailing)

Planing is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift .-History:...

. The Lightning's hard chine and 130 lb

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

 centerboard give her the stability and power of a small keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

 boat going to weather in strong winds and allow her to carry a very large spinnaker for breathtaking offwind rides.

At 700 pounds (318 kg), length of 19'0" (5.8 m) and beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 6'6" (2 m), the Lightning is easily trailer

Trailer (vehicle)

A trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly, the term trailer refers to such vehicles used for transport of goods and materials....

ed. Draft

Draft (hull)

The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...

with the centerboard down is 4'11" (151.3 cm) and 5" (12.8 cm) with the centerboard raised.

The International Lightning Class Association (ILCA) protects the boat's design and licenses custom and private builders to build boats under its administration.

External links

• International Lightning Class Association