The Skate is a high performance two-person racing dinghy known for exhilarating rides.
It is commonly held by Skate sailors, both forward hands and skippers, past and present, to outclass all other sailing craft for consistently providing the sensation of speed on the water at the very edge of control in winds ranging from 15 to 25 knots.
The Skate is a national class unique to Australia, originally developed over 50 years ago to offer high performance at an affordable price and regularly updated since then to take advantage of technological advances and maintain the "excitement" factor.
Skates are fourteen feet long (4.27m) with a 7.2m mast, 1.8m bow pole and masthead asymmetric spinnaker.
Most Skates have a 10-foot long hiking plank for the crew and an 8-foot plank for the skipper. Planks are slid across the hull from one side to the other when tacking and gybing. Other hiking configurations include short wings with two trapezes, longer wings with one trapeze, or trampolines.
Many Skates now feature winged rudders to provide increased speed and stability in choppy conditions.
