James Denny's foiling Topper!
by Leslie Denny 17 Mar 2018 10:30 GMT
Since the age of five, James Denny has been a lover of dinghy sailing and has progressed through the classes from Optimist, Topper and now in to Lasers. He has sailed competitively on the circuit and thoroughly enjoys all aspects of the sport, and is particularly interested in boat design. He has also qualified as an RYA Dinghy Instructor.
Whilst completing his GCSE's, he applied for an Arkwright scholarship and designed and built independently a foil for a Topper dinghy. The foil was based on designs for other dinghies, which he researched and investigated himself, and he created and produced his own foil using the equipment available. Prior to making the foil he carefully worked out the design, taking into account the distribution of weight and gliding properties. He tested his finished foil at the local sailing club and impressed other sailors with how it worked.
The Topper with the home-made foil began foiling when reaching in winds of approx 8mph. Other Topper sailors were interested and my son is now trying to learn the process of carbon fibre lamination to turn his foil from prototype into fully functioning foil for a Topper.
He is now in the lower sixth studying Design A level and has aspirations of designing dinghies and yachts as a career. Is there any assistance some of our boat building readers can give him? Send me an email at and I'll forward it on to James.