Specifications of the Dart 15

The Dart 15 was designed in 1979 by Rodney March, who was also responsible for the design of the Olympic Tornado class catamaran. Originally built by Panthercraft Ltd of Penryn in Cornwall, the Dart 15 was then sold through The Laser Centre in Banbury. In 1999 The Laser Centre moved manufacture of the hulls closer to home from Penryn to renowned catamaran builder Reg White.

In 2004 The Laser Center decided that the 15 no longer fitted into their product range, and decided to stop production. This gave one of the original Dart builders, Ian Fraser, an opportunity to regain the rights to manufacture the boat.

2005 was an exciting year as the newly named Sprint 15 was relaunched. The new boat was manufactured by Collins Fibreglass in South Africa (already Dart 18 builders) and sold in the UK via Windsport International.

The first South African built Sprint 15 was reviewed by Jeremy Evans in Yachts & Yachting magazine, 18th November 2005, and they have kindly made available a PDF version of the review which can be viewed from the Y&Y website: here.

The Dart 15 is now manufactured in the UK and supplied by Windsport in Cornwall.

See our Dart 15 status page for the story of the transform from Dart 15 to Sprint 15 and back again.

Our late former chairman Nick Dewhirst wrote a pamphlet: "Class Struggle - a short history of the Dart 15".

The hulls are manufactured in GRP and the mast is available either in one piece or as a 2 piece for car topping.

The Sprint 15 reverted to being called the Dart 15 on the first of January 2023. New boats and sails are already being labelled with the new insignia. Owners of boats and sails with Sprint 15 logos do not need to change anything.