Planing (sailing) - History

History

The earliest documented planing sailboat was a proa built in 1898 by Commodore Ralph Munroe; it was capable of speeds of more than twice the hull speed.

Planing a sailing dinghy was first popularised by Uffa Fox in Britain. In 1928 Uffa Fox introduced planing to the racing world in his International 14 dinghy, the Avenger. It had been designed with a hull shape which permitted planing. He gained 52 first places, two seconds and three third places out of 57 race starts that year.

Obviously this performance had an impact: other designers took on his ideas and developed them. Over the years, most dinghies have acquired some ability to plane, and there are now many high-performance dinghies (usually called skiffs), which will plane even in light winds, at all points of sail.

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