FLYING JUNIOR 



Designed by U. Van Essen of Holland, who also designed the famous 

 Flying Dutchman, this class started out as the Flying Dutchman Junior 

 and now has become the Flying Junior. Not only the name but the design 

 has been modified slightly in the hope of arriving at the best boat possible 

 as a basis for one-design class rules in 1963. This is a fast fiber-glass boat 

 with a very light planing hull, great fun to sail but by no means foolproof 

 for the inexperienced, though the boat has full flotation. 



Like all boats, you can't have one asset without incurring a liability some- 

 where else. Although the use of aluminum instead of wood has reduced 

 the mast weight (according to the American builders) from as much as 

 22 pounds to the 17I/2 pounds minimum allowed, the Flying Junior is not 

 a boat to be left at a mooring in a good-sized harbor. My son-in-law, John 

 P. Ware, and I owned one of the original Flying Dutchman Juniors with 

 the heavier wooden mast, but sold it and bought a fast planing but more 

 stable Flying Tern after the former boat had capsized several times at 

 her mooring in Milton Harbor, Rye, New York, This was during breezes 

 which failed to upset any other boats of her size, such as Blue Jays and 

 others. I have been told that another of the early owners of the Flying 

 Junior had the same experience. 



In response to an inquiry about this to the Advance Sailboat Corpora- 

 tion (108 E. 3rd St., Parkville 1, Mo.), which builds Flying Juniors, I re- 

 ceived the following explanation from E. K. Huschka: 



"First, the boat is not well suited for mooring because of its very light 

 weight and relatively narrow hull design which incorporates a fair amount 

 of keel in the forward portion, preventing it from swinging freely in the 

 wind shifts. In the matter of mooring it shares the same problems with the 

 5-0-5 and the International 14, the Thistle, the Windmill, the Mobjack, 

 and in short, most of the newer light planing designs. Conversely, these 

 very factors make it an ideal trailer or cartop boat and this is the manner 

 in which almost all FJ's are stored. In my wanderings thru Europe, where 

 I came in contact with several hundred FJ's, I did not see one that was 

 kept at mooring, while it was. not at all unusual to see one on top of a 

 Volkswagen or Renault. Accordingly, we strongly suggest that the FJ be dry 

 sailed; a point which is very advantageous here in the Midwest, at least." 



Mr, Huschka lives in an area where there is considerable lake sailing and 

 good-sized lakes have launching ramps or beaches with adjacent parking 

 space for empty trailers. This "dry sailing" isn't so practical along many 

 parts of the Atlantic Coast, particularly in areas like western Long Island 

 Sound, where waterfront land is generally too expensive for such facilities 



86 THE SAILBOAT CLASSES OF NORTH AMERICA 



