Flying Dutchman

“The Boat for a whole life”

Ernst Greten

The Flying Dutchman is a boat you an sail your whole life. Our youngest sailors are starting with 12 years and the oldest sailors in the class are in their eighties.

In its over 70-year history, the FD was and still is one thing above all: a demanding, fast and modern regatta dinghy. Without disturbing its classic appearance, new technical solutions were constantly developed for the FD, which were also trend-setting for other boat classes: from the window in the genoa, the continuous trapeze, the Y-sheet, the rake, to the carbon and Kevlar sandwich construction.

The flat hull with a length of 6.06 m, the carbon rig, the 18 sqm sail area on the wind and the 21 sqm spi with a total weight of just 165 kg give an idea of ​​the speed potential. Not only this, but also its sophisticated trim options make the FD a highly developed regatta dinghy. Up to ten trim lines alone are available to the helmsman for optimal sailing in a wide variety of wind conditions. Correctly set, the dinghy runs upright, safely and quickly even at 6 wind speeds.

Certainly the FD requires a lot of knowledge, ability and experience to operate it optimally and to trim the rig and sail. Despite all the dynamics, it behaves very stable and with a little feeling it is surprisingly easy to sail. In strong to strong winds, he demands a high level of skill, athleticism and coordination from his crew, but he is rewarded with top speeds of up to 20 knots.

Even lighter teams can sail the FD quickly and successfully, because of the various trim options, such as: the rake that regulates the pressure of the wind and can be converted into speed. It is not body size or weight that determines the sporting success, but the sailing skills of the team.

Picture from stockmaritime.com

Technical specifications

Length 6.06m
Width 1.78 m
Draft 1.12 m
Weight hull 130 kg
Weight ready to sail 165 kg
Sail area on the wind 18.6 m²
Mainsail 10.2 m²
Genoa 8.4 m²
Spinnaker 21 m²
Yard embroidery number 94

The trim

Like hardly any other regatta dinghy, the FD has enormous speed potential in very different wind conditions. The many trim options also make sailing challenging. To make it easier to get started in the FD, you will find two comprehensive instructions as a PDF download here.

You can find the evaluation of material and teams of the World Cup on Lake Garda 2011 online here. With the largest database of over 130 boats and crews to date, the IFDCO’s FD equipment review 2011 is particularly interesting for newcomers: what is the ideal weight for helmsmen and pre-sailors, how old can an FD get and still be successfully sailed? Which masts are used? These and many other questions will be answered and will help you to buy new and used material.