Lightning
Description
The Lightning is a classic one-design racing sailboat designed by Olin Stephens in 1938 for the Skaneateles Boat & Canoe Company, with over 15,000 units built globally by 2025, making it one of the most enduring and popular one-design classes. Featuring a fractional sloop rig, retractable centerboard, spade rudder, and rounded hull, it’s optimized for competitive racing and day sailing, with exceptional stability and responsiveness. Built primarily by Allen Boat Company (Buffalo, NY) since the 1960s, with contributions from Nickels Boat Works and others, it transitioned from wood to fiberglass for durability and accessibility. Known for its “dinghy-like” agility and active international racing class, it’s ideal for club racers and youth teams,
Construction Details
| Designer | Olin Stephens |
|---|---|
| Builder | Allen Boat Co. |
| Length | 19.000 ft |
| LOA | 19.000 ft |
| LWL | 15.250 ft |
| Beam | 6.500 ft |
| Displacement | 700 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.950 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.420 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | 24 ft |
| e | 10 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | 24 ft | 10 ft | - | - | - | - |
Documents
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 23.42 ft - (7138 mm) |
| Foot | 10 ft - (3048 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.29 ft - (7404 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 84.09 ° |
| Diagonal | 24.5 ft - (7468 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | * 120.27 ft² |
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 24 ft - (7315 mm) |
| Foot | 10 ft - (3048 mm) |
| Leech | * 24.31 ft - (7410 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 80.92 ° |
| Diagonal | 24.5 ft - (7468 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area | * 121.84 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 17.83 ft - (5435 mm) |
| Foot | 7.58 ft - (2310 mm) |
| Leech | 15.58 ft - (4749 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | * 6.6 ft - (2012 mm) |
| Area | * 58.88 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 17.83 ft - (5435 mm) |
| Foot | 7.58 ft - (2310 mm) |
| Leech | 15.58 ft - (4749 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | * 6.6 ft - (2012 mm) |
| Area | * 58.88 ft² |
| Sail Type | SPINNAKER |
|---|---|
| Stays | 20.5 ft - (6248 mm) |
| MidGirth | 14.5 ft - (4420 mm) |
| Foot | 15.5 ft - (4724 mm) |
| Area | * 270 ft² |
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.