Europe

The Europe is a one-person dinghy designed in Belgium in 1960 by Alois Roland as a class legal Moth dinghy. Current hulls are built in fibreglass, with some older hulls being in wood. A single sail is supported by one unstayed mast. The boat suits a varied weight of sailor from 55-85kg the optimum weight is around early 70 kg. Various stiffness rigs and sail cuts provide the flexibility to make a range of varied weight sailors equally competitive. HISC has the largest fleet of Europes in the UK and is in the top three at the club in attendance of races per percentage of boats in the dinghy park for 2024. It's a welcoming fleet of sailors and helpful to each other as we are with the other single handed fleets. A number of owners can be persuaded to have a trial sail if you are interested in joining the fleet. New boats are in production in the UK and Spain and there is a s/h market but they sell quickly as supply stroke demand is a little out of kilter.

Class Captain:  - europecaptain@hisc.co.uk

The Europe was sailed as the women’s single handed dinghy equipment for the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008. During this time, HISC hosted the Europe Class Olympic National Rankers, as well as in 1999 the European Open Week and European Championships. 

At HISC, the Europes race in the Slow Handicap fleet, including Pennant weekend racing in the bay and sprint racing within the harbour. HISC is on the UK classes regular Open Events for the Europe class and HISC held a very successful National Championships in 2024, attracting 50 entries and 5 from overseas. HISC is running the 2025 Master Youth and Young Adult European championships in 2025 and the club is in process of bidding for a world championships in the next couple of years. The 2024 class National champion is a member at HISC.

The class group has an active WhatsApp group which communicates all aspects of Europe sailing and informal get togethers on the water. It's a gently growing fleet at HISC with around 12 boats at the moment and is a supported class by the club due to its number of race attendances, which in turn helps with securing a dinghy space for new members/owners. Feel free to contact the class captain if you have any questions.  

Sailor weight: 55 – 85kg 

Hull weight: 45kg 

Hull length: 3.35m 

Hull width: 1.38m 

Mast length: 4.90m