Star (sailboat)
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The International Star (or Starboat) is a 6.9 m (22.7 ft) one-design racing keelboat for two people.
The boat is 6.9 m (22.7 ft) long. It has a beam (width) of 1.7 m (5.7 ft) and draft (depth) of 1.0 m (3.3 ft). It weighs 671 kg (1479 lb) with a sail area of 26.5 m² (285 ft²). It is sloop-rigged, with a very large mainsail. Unlike most modern racing boats, it does not use a spinnaker when sailing downwind. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for maximum exposed sail area. Early Stars were built from wood, but modern boats are generally made of fiberglass.
The Star class pioneered an unusual circular boom vang track, which allows the vang to effectively hold the boom down even when the boom is turned far outboard on a downwind run. Another notable aspect of Star sailing is the extreme hiking position adopted by the crew, who uses a harness help hang low off the windward side of the boat with only their lower legs inside.
The Star was designed in 1911 by Francis Sweisguth and the first 22 were built in Port Washington, New York by Isaac E. "Ike" Smith. Since that time, over 7,500 boats have been built. The Star has been an Olympic Games class since 1932. Although far from a modern design, the class remains popular today, with about 2000 boats in active racing fleets in North America and Europe.
