Hull Lines

The hull lines have been carefully designed to deliver maximum racing performance. This has been achieved through a substantial waterline length of 7.30 metres, which enhances upwind performance, and through progressively flatter aft sections that promote surfing and planing on downwind courses, particularly in developed sea conditions.
The hull’s form stability allows the yacht to maintain its optimal attitude in the water with ease, despite the natural heeling tendency generated by lateral wind forces.

Rig and Sail Plan

The Dolphin 81 features a fractional sloop rig without trapezes. The spreaders are swept aft, allowing greater tolerance in handling the running backstays without placing undue loads on the mast.
Responsive and easy to handle, with helm sensitivity comparable to that of a dinghy, the Dolphin 81 One Design shows little tendency to round up and remains well balanced even when heeled, both upwind and on reaching courses under gennaker. The sail plan includes two gennakers, both masthead-rigged, providing versatility and strong downwind performance.

Hull

The hull of the Dolphin 81 One Design is constructed in fibreglass and incorporates both longitudinal and transverse internal reinforcements. The deck is built as a fibreglass sandwich structure with a PVC core, while bulkheads, sole boards, shelves and berths are crafted from okoumé wood.
The slender mast features three sets of spreaders, with shrouds and intermediate shrouds attached on the same chainplate, together with a forestay, an adjustable backstay and a pair of running backstays supporting the 7/8 rig.
With 78 square metres of sail area on downwind courses, the sail plan can be easily trimmed to achieve optimum performance, even by crews with limited experience, while still delivering exciting sailing characteristics.
Thanks to its dedicated cradle system, which positions the hull at an angle and reduces the overall beam to 2.45 metres, the yacht can also be trailered behind a car.