Hai (keelboat) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Specifications Under Current Rules

Number of crew	3
LOA	9.60m 31 ft 6in
LWL Waterline length The Waterline length is a measurement of ships and boats. The term denotes the length of the vessel at the point where it sits in the water. It excludes the total length of the boat, such as features that are out of the water...	6.60m 21 ft 7in
Draft Draft (hull) The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...	1.1m 3 ft 7in
Beam Beam (nautical) The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...	1.9m 6 ft 3in
Hull Hull (watercraft) A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type... weight (with fittings)	1700 kg 3748 lb
Sail Area of Main Mainsail A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.... +Jib Jib A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...	21.5 m²
Sail Area Spinnaker Spinnaker A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...	30.0 m²

Hai (Shark, in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

Requin) is one-design, sloop-rigged

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

keelboat

Keelboat

Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...

designed in Finland. It was designed in 1930 by Finnish sailboat designer Gunnar L. Stenbäck as a cheap, racing and cruising yacht suitable for mass production. It remains a popular small yacht in Finland and France.

History

In 1920s, one-design

One-design

One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...

yacht classes were relatively scarce and dominating form of yacht racing were various construction classes, which' boats were designed and built one at the time, and thus were quite expensive. Many Nordic top sailors and designers expressed concern about the future of the sport, and Stenbäck argued strongly that only in one-design class the costs could be kept suitably low. As a result, Hai design specified inexpensive materials (Northern pine and oak, iron ballast instead of lead) and relatively small sail area so that winches were not required. Keel was long and shallow, to ensure safety on rocky Baltic waters.

Stenbäck presented his design in 1930; first boat was built and presented to public next year and the design soon proved popular and many yards began constructing the class. The HSS

Helsingfors Segelsällskap

Helsingfors Segelsällskap Yacht Club or HSS, is the second oldest yacht club in Helsinki, established in 1893. The yacht club is home harbor for 1300 members and 350 mainly sail boats. The club is located on Liuskasaari island in Helsinki...

yachtclub in Helsinki was instrumental in giving impetus to the class before WWII. Boats were also exported; around 100 boats to France, some thirty to USA and also to Germany, Sweden and Baltic countries. However, class rules requirement of Finnish made sails slowed down growth abroad and although this was later relaxed, no international class association was ever set up. After World War II, Hai faced stiff competition from Nordic Folkboat

Nordic Folkboat

The Nordic Folkboat is a small sailboat, rigged as a sloop. The design of this boat was the result of a competition held by the Scandinavian Yacht Racing Union in 1942, who were hoping to create an easily sailed and low cost boat...

and Dragon

Dragon (keelboat)

thumbThe International Dragon is a one-design keelboat.The Dragon was designed by Norwegian Johan Anker in 1929. In 1948 the Dragon became an Olympic Class, a status it retained until the Munich Olympics in 1972...

(which was accepted as Olympic class) and it never achieved same international status. However, it was biggest keelboat class in Finland until 1960s, when it was supplanted by Hans Groop's

Hans Groop

Hans Groop, born 1932 in Vaasa is a Finnish yacht designer based in Helsinki.He has designed more than a hundred yachts and motorboats, the most famous being the H-boat, one of the most popular yacht classes in the world. Hans Groop has been a lifelong member of the HSS - a leading yachtclub for...

H-boat

The H-Boat is a one-design keelboat designed by Finnish Hans Groop in 1967, with some minor modifications by Paul Elvstrøm in 1971. The boat gained international status in 1977. Since 1967 over 5000 hulls have been made, making it one of the most popular yacht classes in the world...

, also a class initiated by HSS

Helsingfors Segelsällskap

. Despite this, it remains an active competition class and construction of new boats has continued to the day, although in dwindling numbers. In total, around 290 boats have been registered in Finland. Finnish Hai is somewhat unique in that it has remained very similar to its original form, with wooden hulls and spars - GRP

Glass-reinforced plastic

Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....

boats are not allowed.

French Requin

In France the boat (known as Requin) gained large following and to date, nearly 500 boats have been registered. Owing to lack of authoritative international class association, Requin evolved independently from Finnish class. Plastic is nowadays allowed as hull material, as is aluminium for spars. Sail area is also significantly larger: 22.1m² for mainsail and 6.93m² for jib. Genoa

Genoa (sail)

The genoa or jenny was originally referred to as the 'overlapping jib' or the Genoa jib, being named after the city of Genoa as explained below. It is a type of large jib or staysail used on bermuda rigged craft that overlaps the main sail, sometimes eliminating it. It is used on single-masted...

is also allowed in Requin.

Hai 2000

A modernized Finnish GRP variant of Hai; hull based on Requin, aluminium spar. Mainsail 16.5m², jib 9.5m², spinnaker 36m². Some wooden Hai boats have also been rigged for Hai 2000 class.

International Competition

Though as noted, Hai has never been a major international competition class, some regattas between boats from different countries have been organized, especially in 1930s when boat was gaining popularity around Baltic, but also in recent years, featuring boats from Finland, Germany and France.

Note: This class is not to be confused with Canadian Shark 24

Shark 24 class yacht

The Shark 24 is a Canadian-designed 24 ft sailing yacht which has earned itself a reputation of extraordinary reliability and longevity among sailors both in North America and Central Europe...

class.

External links

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