Nippa heads overseas
by Event on 16 Apr 2005
Nippa on its way to the USA Nippa Sailing
It is an exciting day for the Nippa Sailing Dinghy and its supporters, as the first Nippa exported from Australia was loaded onto a ship that is leaving Sydney and is bound for the USA.
First stop will be the Pegasus Racing compound, where Australian 18 Foot Skiff sailor, Anthony Young, will introduce the Nippa to his new boss. Young will this week begin his role as Pegasus Racings Sailing Manager, working for telecommunication software businessman Philippe Khan.
The next stop is San Francisco, where the boat is due for sailing trials by the head coach and training committee of the St. Francis Yacht Club. The St. Francis Yacht Club is responsible for some of America’s largest and most successful youth sailing programs at both the Club’s city and Tinsley Island headquarters.
The Nippa is a 2.65m (8'6’) long introductory sailing dinghy designed for children aged between 5 and 14 years. It is a strict one design and can be sailed by either one or two children with up to 120 kgs combined weight and features a flow-through comfortable cockpit for no bailing while sailing and due to its skiff pedigree, delivers children an exhilarating performance.
Australian 18 Foot Skiff legend and America's Cup helmsman Iain Murray designed the Nippa in 2004. He required a boat that his three daughters could have fun in while learning to sail.
Not finding anything that really matched their needs, Murray set about designing a boat that had to be fun, fast and above all looked cool. The sleek Nippa design, not surprisingly, has strongly flavored modern racing skiff elements and borrows the best features from designs such as the very popular Laser.
'Being a one design helps to ensure minimal costs when purchasing and maintaining a Nippa, but more importantly it provides competitive and fair sailing’, explains Chris Pomfret who is involved in the promotion of the boat. ‘This is also great for non-sailing families who are new to the sport of sailing; they can buy off the shelf and be competitive straight away’.
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/17053