Crew: 1 man crew. The dinghy is ideal for sailors weighing 50–75 kilos.
Dimensions: 3.35 meters in length, 1.38 meters wide and ±45kg.
Sail Area: 7 square meters.
Class: Restricted (hull shape remains the same from year to year)
Characteristics: The ultimate three-man, winged & trapeze flying machine.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
The Europe is a one-person dinghy designed in Belgium in 1960 by Alois Roland as a class legal Moth dinghy. The design later changed into its own one-design class.
The Europe dinghy is ideal for a large number of sailors, in our 2000 Class statistics we can read that the range of weight and height are the following for:
WEIGHT HEIGHT
MEN from 62 to 75 kg. (TOP TEN: 65 to 75 kg.) 1,68 to 1,85 m. (TOP TEN: 1,68 to 1,85 m.)
WOMEN from 52 to 70 kg. (TOP TEN: 60 to 70 kg.) 1,56 to 1,78 m. (TOP TEN: 1,63 to 1,78 m.)
The hull is made of fibre glass and weighs 45 kg, fully rigged 60 kg. The dinghy is tapering in the stem and round in the bottom. The sail is made of dacron. The mast is made of carbon fibre and specially designed to the sailor. A soft mast is best for light sailors, while heavier sailors use stiffer masts. Sails are also specially designed according to mast stiffness and crew weight.
Important features of the International Europe Dinghy are the excellent trimming facilities which make it a practical possibility to adjust the boat to the sailor's height, weight and experience. The mast and the sail can be selected and adjusted to suit the sailor and enable fair competition and ease of handling without the use of harmful means of compensation such as weight jackets. Young lady sailors enjoy the Europe dinghy because they can control and race the boat even in strong wind and waves.
The Europe dinghy is very easy to transport. The hull weights only 45 kg. and with a length under 3,4 m. permits to load the boat on the roof of a car.
The Europe was introduced as an Olympic class in the 1992 Summer Olympics as the women's single-handed dinghy. It was replaced by the Laser Radial in the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Since 2008 the Europe is one of the Vintage Yachting Classes at the Vintage Yachting Games.
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