AMF Apollo 16

This article is about the sailboat design. For the moon mission, see Apollo 16.

Apollo 16

Class symbol
Development
Designer	Bruce Kirby
Location	United States
Year	1977
No. built	1,100
Builder(s)	American Machine and Foundry
Role	One-design racer
Name	Apollo 16
Boat
Crew	two or three
Displacement	300 lb (136 kg)
Draft	2.60 ft (0.79 m) with the centerboard down
Hull
Type	Monohull
Construction	Fiberglass
LOA	15.75 ft (4.80 m)
Beam	5.92 ft (1.80 m)
Hull appendages
Keel/board type	centerboard
Rudder(s)	transom-mounted rudder
Rig
Rig type	Bermuda rig
Sails
Sailplan	Fractional rigged sloop
Mainsail area	90 sq ft (8.4 m^2)
Jib/genoa area	39 sq ft (3.6 m^2)
Total sail area	129 sq ft (12.0 m^2)
Racing
D-PN	92.5

The AMF Apollo 16 is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Canadian Bruce Kirby as a one-design racer and first built in 1977.^[1][2][3]

Production

The design was built by the Alcort division of American Machine and Foundry in the United States, starting in 1977. Alcort had been an independent company, but was bought out by AMF in 1969. A total of 1,100 Apollo 16s were built, but it is now out of production.^[1][3][4][5]

Design

The Apollo 16 is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of fiberglass. It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars. The hull features a raked stem, a vertical transom, a transom-hung, kick-up rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable, kick-up centerboard. It displaces 300 lb (136 kg).^[1][3]

The boat has a draft of 2.60 ft (0.79 m) with the centerboard extended and 6 in (15 cm) with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. It has a hinged mast step to facilitate lowering the mast.^[1][3]

For sailing the design is equipped with internal halyards, an outhaul, boom vang and Cunningham. The mainsheet is controlled from the end of the boom and includes a full-beam mainsheet traveler. Both the mainsail and jib have built-in leech lines. Unusually the jib does not mount to the forestay, but is tensioned by its halyard. The boat is equipped with a stowage bin, hiking straps, plus dual Elystrom vacuum bailers. Factory options included a spinnaker, whisker pole and mainsail jiffy reefing.^[3]

The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 92.5 and is normally raced with a crew of two or three sailors.^[3]

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "this one-design has an active racing class. It is designed to carry two to four people comfortably in a large cockpit ... Modifications permitted for racing are minor, with the intention to keep Apollo a true one-design class."^[3]

See also

• List of sailing boat types

References

1. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Apollo 16 sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
2. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Bruce Kirby". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
3. Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 60-61. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ISBN 0-395-65239-1
4. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "AMF Corp". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
5. McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Alcort (USA) 1953 - 1982". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

External links

• Apollo 16 photos