Dolphin 15 Senior
The Dolphin 15 Senior, sometimes referred to as just the Dolphin Senior, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Glenn and Murray Corcoran and first built in 1964.[1][2][3]
 Class symbol | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Glenn & Murray Corcoran |
| Location | United States |
| Year | 1964 |
| No. built | 9,000 |
| Builder(s) | Silverline Boats Dolphin Sailboat Company |
| Boat | |
| Boat weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Draft | 1.54 ft (0.47 m) with the daggerboard down |
| Hull | |
| Type | Monohull |
| Construction | Fiberglass |
| LOA | 14.50 ft (4.42 m) |
| LWL | 13.50 ft (4.11 m) |
| Beam | 5.08 ft (1.55 m) |
| Hull appendages | |
| Keel/board type | daggerboard |
| Rudder(s) | transom-mounted rudder |
| Rig | |
| Rig type | Lateen rig |
| Sails | |
| Sailplan | Lateen |
| Mainsail area | 85 sq ft (7.9 m2) |
| Total sail area | 85 sq ft (7.9 m2) |
| Racing | |
| D-PN | 106.2 |
Production
The design was built by Silverline Boats in Moorhead, Minnesota, United States, until 1980 when the company closed. Production was then assumed by the Dolphin Sailboat Company of Independence, Missouri from 1981 to 1985 when it ceased business. The boat design is now out of production.[1][3][4][5]
Design
The Dolphin 15 Senior is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of fiberglass. It has a lateen rig, a spooned, raked stem, a vertical transom, a rounded, transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable fiberglass daggerboard. The rudder is fiberglass, with an aluminum head. The boat displaces 170 lb (77 kg).[1][3]
The boat has a draft of 1.54 ft (0.47 m) with the daggerboard extended and 3 in (7.6 cm) with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof rack.[1]
For sailing the design has hiking bars, a high freeboard and a molded splashguard in front of the mast. It has a small, square, open stowage compartment molded into the hull, just aft of the mast.[3]
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 106.2 and is normally raced by one sailor.[3]
Operational history
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood notes that the, "Dolphin is a lateen-rigged cat board boat, slightly longer than most. Capacity for reasonable sailing is two adults."[3]
Randle B. Moore wrote about the design in 2011, saying, "the Dolphin Senior is one of many small sailboats patterned after the world's most produced boat, the Sunfish. The Dolphin is slightly larger than a Sunfish and will hold two full size adults easily."[6]
References
- McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Dolphin 15 Senior sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Glenn & Murray Corcoran". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 44-45. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ISBN 0-395-65239-1
- McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Silverline Boats (USA) 1967 - 1980". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Dolphin Sailboat Co.,Inc. 1981 - 1985". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- Moore, Randle B. (2011). "Boat Directory: Dolphin Senior". South Texas Sailing. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.