What is a Seafly?
The Seafly is a one-design dinghy designed around 1960 at South Devon BoatBuilders in Dawlish, England. It is a fast, non-trapeze racing dinghy with superb sea-keeping ability, well balanced on the tiller and very fast to plane on a reach. Resembling a larger version of the Mayfly dinghy, the Seafly is 14’9″ (4.5m) in length and with a 5’9″ (1.75m) beam. The sail area is 120 sq.ft. (11.14 m2) with a 135 sq.ft. (12.54 m2) spinnaker.
The distinguishing characteristic of both Mayfly and Seafly is that the single chine is upswept to the bow to give a wide, buoyant section forward with a large planing surface aft. The performance is especially good in stronger winds and rougher sea conditions when gybing still remains an easy operation. The light handling and high stability also make the Seafly an excellent dinghy for learning to sail. Indeed, faster and lighter in weight than a Wayfarer, the Seafly is an excellent cruising, racing, and training boat.
This web site documents:
the history of the Seafly and various design changes | |
the various Seafly boat builders who controlled the design licence | |
the Seafly Dinghy Class Association in the UK including the Trophy winners; the various Clubs with Seafly Fleets, and an archive of SDCA publications | |
Seafly sailing in Australia, and in particular at Canberra Yacht Club | |
Seafly sailing elsewhere in the world | |
a Register of Seafly dinghies still sailing, and some whose days have ended; owners comments, photos, and memorabilia: for the UK and Northern Ireland; for Australia | |
Also a section devoted to the Mayfly, fore-runner to the Seafly and a Register of Mayfly dinghies. |
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