Bombardier Invitation sailboat

Current Specifications
Crew	1 or 2
LOA	15 ft 7 in (4,700 mm)
Beam	5 ft (1,500 mm)
Draft	3 ft (910 mm)
Hull weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Mast height	22 ft (6,700 mm)
Mainsail area	90 sq ft (8.4 m2)
D-PN	99.4
RYA PN
PHRF	266

The Bombardier Invitation sailboat, is a one-design class of small sailing dinghy, similar to the Laser. It was manufactured by Bombardier in the 1970s.

History

The Invitation was briefly mentioned in Popular Science and Popular Mechanics in 1974 and 1975. Bombardier filed for a Canadian trademark in December 1973, and it was registered in November 1974. It was later inactivated in January 1990.

Design

There are two designs of Invitations: the 4.7 and the smaller 3.8.

Invitation 4.7

The hull of the Invitation 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) long, with a hull weight of 82 kg (180 lb). It is cat rigged with only a loose-footed sleeved batten-less mainsail that slips over the mast. The batten-less design allows the mainsail to wrapped around the mast when not in use. It has a beam of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in).

Invitation 3.8

The Invitaion 3.8 has a similar, but smaller design to the Invitation 4.7. The hull of the Invitation 3.8 is 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) long with a displacement of 123 lb (56 kg) and a sail area of 60 sq ft (5.6 m²)

See also

• Laser (dinghy)

Bibliography

• Sherwood, Richard M. (1994), A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America (2nd ed.), Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, ISBN 0395652391 .

External links

• Description of the Invitation class with picture
• Description of the Invitation 4.7
• Description of the Invitation 3.8 with picture
• Sail data for the Invitation plus description with specifications
• Specifications plus a simple drawing
• A collection of photos of the Invitation