Comet (sailboat)
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The "Comet" dinghy is a sixteen foot long, two person, one-design class, racing sloop.
With 140 sq. ft. of sail and a minimal keel-rocker hull, the Comet is able to plane in modest 10-15 knot winds. The mast is 25 ft. 5 in. tall and is supported by a conventional three-stay rig with spreaders. (As the class rules are flexible in this regard, some Comets have been configured with 8-stay, Star (sailboat) rigs.) From 1932 through the 1960s, the Comet minimum hull weight was specified as 300 lb. Since then, the minimum weight has been lowered to 265 lb. with the incorporation of an aluminum centerboard, which replaced the former bronze board. Also, since the 1960s, the Comet has been built in fiberglass along with its original wood construction.
The Comet Class Association is the organizing body responsible for maintaining the one-design specifications and sanctioning of regattas.
The history of the Comet goes back to 1932 when Mr. C. Lowndes Johnson was commissioned by Mrs. Elliot Wheeler to design a boat for her sons. As Mr. Johnson was a former Star class keel boat champion, he designed the Comet to have many of the same features and characteristics of the Star. However, unlike the Star, Mr. Johnson created a racing yacht that was much less costly to build and could be easily sailed in the shallow tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Like the Star, the Comet was a hard chine sloop with a relatively large main sail compared to its jib.
Originally called the "Crab," the design was first introduced to the public in the March issue of "Yachting Magazine" in 1932. The following year it made an appearance at the New York Boat Show as the "Star Junior." Soon thereafter, Doctors John Eiman and Wilbur H. Haines, Jr. started the first Comet fleet at the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor in Stone Harbor, NJ. It was at this time that the moniker "Star Junior" was dropped and replaced with the name "Comet."
References:
Brodsky, John; "The Development of the Boat and the Class"
