Innovative from the very start, the design concept was for 2 or 3 crew sailing a fast, easily driven hull, offering exhilarating sailing, yet physically easy to sail, but stayed upright. It needed to be quickly pulled out of the water and taken home or parked, removing the cost and worry of moorings or berthing. All this has been achieved - and more! Designed using a CAD system, the original plugs were shaped using a 5 axis milling machine. This process allows for more sophisticated design, and gives a perfect symmetry to the mouldings. This shows in the fine lines and sweeping curves giving superb comfort, perfect handling under sail, and an elegant, yet modern look to the boat.

The K6 is built using the revolutionary SPRINT process developed by SP systems. The hull and decks are constructed from epoxy resin and pvc foam sandwich, and oven baked, giving the very best laminate possible. The finished hull is massively strong, stiff and very light. The Design incorporates many additional features such as storage hatches. The long light hull is easily driven, so the sail plan is designed for maximum efficiency and low drag, rather than maximum area. Sails are radially cut mylar sails with large windows for good visibility. The jib is sheeted to a self tacking car, and the cockpit is simply laid out with Vang, Cunningham and jib controls accessible to helm and crew. The moderate size asymmetric spinnaker is easily handled and set on a long pole for easy gybing and good visibility. The bow chute makes launching and dropping effortless.

Spars are carbon fibre by Super Spars and are one design. They are very light to handle ashore and of course, there is less weight to balance aloft when the boat is heeling.

The keel is a lead bulb mounted on a stainless steel post, encapsulated in a glass moulding. The very low centre of gravity of the keel together with the very high ballast ratio means that you do not have to hike out for all you are worth as the keel is so effective, and also the boat will self-right after a capsize, even with the spinnaker up. The overall keel weight of 125 kg means that the keel can be easily raised and lowered via a mast mounted purchase system. No need for a separate post and winch. The rudder is a grp moulded blade fitted into a custom made alloy stock. This style of rudder is both strong and light and is quick and easy to use when launching and recovering.

The complete boat has undergone a rigorous 12 month testing programme involving over 600 hours of on the water testing in a wide variety of conditions. You can be sure that the boat you buy is a fully developed product. The boat is light enough to be launched and recovered on a custom made combi trailer and trolley. It has been designed with purpose made cradles and docking arms and even has a step built into the mudguards for easy access to the boat. It is fully road legal in most countries.

For Technical Reports from International magazines, visit the Class website at: www.k6class.org

WORLD'S NO.1 PERFORMANCE DINGHY MAST MANUFACTURE