Australian Lightweight Sharpies are a national one-design class with a long history of evolution. The class is quite unusual in comparison to the majority of other dinghies, due to its distinctive shape, size and complement of one class).designcrew (three: including skipper, main hand and forward hand on trapeze.
The class originally evolved from the 12 square metre class used in the 1956 Olympics, to form the basis of the Australian Heavyweight Sharpie; a solid wooden clinker style boat. With the increasing use of marine ply and the 'need for speed', the design was updated to take advantage of advances in sailing technology.
Modern fibreglass boats of today still retain this distinctive hard chine design, which makes sailing Sharpies competively, so fiendishly difficult. Recent developments have included the use of larger spinnakers, digital compasses and the use of carbon spars.
However, it must be noted that these incremental developments have been controlled and sympathetic to the fleet, so as to not devalue the owner's current investment. exitingIn fact some fairly old Sharpies have managed to win the coveted National titles in recent years.
If you are interested in learning more about Sharpies and the finer points of sailing, please feel free to contact the Victorian Sharpie Association, who will direct your query to the appropriate person.