Bermuda Fitted Dinghy - The Bermuda Fitted Dinghy

The Bermuda Fitted Dinghy

These dimensions have remained consistent since. Despite the small hulls, however, the dinghy's carried substantial rigging. Although square topsails were reportedly in use in the 1880s, the form used today soon developed, basically scaled down from the larger sloops. One early example, the Reckless, was fitted with a 28-foot (8.5 m) mast, 28-foot (8.5 m) boom, 14-foot (4.3 m) bowsprit, and 20-foot (6.1 m) spinnaker boom. She carried 70 square yards of canvas going upwind, while the spinnaker increased this to 92 square yards running downwind.

Original Bermuda Dinghies were roundbottomed and fitted with long, shallow keels so they would be easy to beach or could run over reefs without damage. During the first recorded race, held in St. George's Harbour in 1853, the existing boats were fitted with deep keel extensions fastened in place temporarily to give them the bite to sail better to windward. These metal keels - or fans, as they are called - differentiated these racing boats from the "unfitted" working dinghies and gave the class its name.