Single-handed sailing dinghy Supernova

regattarecreational

Over 20 years ago Hartley Boats were lucky enough to be offered a single-handed race dinghy. With no other-single hander racing boat in our stable, we jumped at the chance to buy the copyright, moulds and tooling for the Supernova. As many Supernovas were sold each year the class was well supported and we immediately believed if we were to invest in new designs and tooling, we could make this boat into a very special and successful racing class. After six months of rigorous testing and sailing the boat, we produced a list of changes and improvements we wanted to make to the original boat. We were by this time lucky enough to have worked with Phil Morrison our Naval Architect on other boats and he confirmed that he would be pleased to work with us on the Supernova. The team goal was to make this already successful boat into a very special racing dinghy with a great future and take the class racing from thirty boats at the Nationals to over a hundred. At Phil’s request we cut an existing hull in thin slices and returned it to Phil for him to begin his hard work. As with the Wayfarer, Wanderer and Kestrel we believed the boat sailed and handled like a dream and that we should not change the hull. The design changes would be made to the deck, floor, side tanks and the transom. The final changes and improvements list were given to Phil and after many meetings we agreed the way forward. The list of requirements was by no means an easy challenge for Phil but he liked the boat and became as determined as we were to make it a success.