Comet

Comet

Description

The Comet (also known as the Comet OD or Comet One-Design) is a classic American sailing dinghy designed by C. Lowndes Johnson in 1932 as a one-design racer. Originally intended as a smaller, more affordable version of the Star keelboat (often called a "miniature Star"), it was first featured in Yachting magazine and quickly gained popularity for its speed, simplicity, and competitive racing potential. The class has remained active for over 90 years, with fleets in the mid-Atlantic states (Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania), Ohio, Bermuda, and beyond. It's a high-performance, double-handed (two-person) planing dinghy that's forgiving yet rewarding—known for planing in as little as 10–12 knots of wind thanks to its flat bottom, hard chines, and broad afterbody. No trapeze or spinnaker is required, making it accessible for families, husband-wife teams, parent-child crews, or beginners progressing to racing. Wooden boats from the early era and modern fiberglass versions remain equally competitive under strict one-design rules.

Construction Details

Designer C. Lowndes Johnson
Length 36.000 ft
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The standard boat dimensions

i 47 ft
j 15 ft
p 41.50 ft
e 12.10 ft
p2 -
e2 -
i2 -
j2 -

Sails

Comet - ASYMMETRICAL

Luff * 46.87 ft - (14286 mm)
Foot * 24.75 ft - (7544 mm)
Leech * 43.12 ft - (13143 mm)
Perc LP * 165 %
Area * 870 ft²
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Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.

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