It is a two-man dinghy and was the original performance development class, with the sail plan created by J. Herrick and the hull by Vince Minter.
[2] Vince's idea was to design a boat that was easy to build, cost effective and would keep the older and bigger sailors of the day who were mainly sailing VJ's to stay on the water.
Today Skates are regularly updated and take advantage of technological advances to maintain the "excitement" factor and original spirit.
The Skate class became more popular and boomed over the next couple of years culminated in the Australian titles being held at Nedlands Club in WA.
[3] The hull was redesigned and widened in 1971 by Doug Jefkins and the measurement tolerances were tightened, and the size of the mainsail and spinnaker were increased in 1983-84 season.
Skates are now configured with the taller rig and bow pole (either carbon fibre or aluminium, extendable or fixed depending on personal preference).
These changes have made the Skate easier to sail, and crew weight is now less critical, as evidenced by the number of younger sailors competing at a high level in the fleet.
[4] The 1975 Victorian Championships were won by R. Drewett, who was sailing the Sabot "Woodstock II", by Don Ash in the GP14 Dinghy "Elan", by Kim Clarke in the Skate "Ratcatcher" and by Geoff Harris in the rainbow "Strangeways".