From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Specifications Under Current Rules
Number of Crew	2
LOA	3.658 m 12 ft 0 in
LWL
Beam	1.753 m 5 ft 9 in
Draft
Hull weight (with fittings)	51 kg 110 lb

The Cherub is a small, high performance^[1], two-man planing dinghy first designed in 1951 in New Zealand by John Spencer^[2] (d 1994). The class is a development class, allowing for great variations within the set of rules.

The Cherub is Bermuda-rigged with trapeze(s), and has a crew of two.

The early Cherubs had a relatively large spinnaker flown from a halyard which exited the mast just above the forestay and used a spinnaker pole and restricted the trapeze to a single.

Current Cherubs have both enlarged the sail area and use an asymmetric spinnaker system. Trapezes have been extended now to both helm and crew(UK only). The asymmetric spinnaker allows the cherub class to attain speeds of up to 25 knots (46 km/h) in short bursts. Nowadays, it is a much faster, much more competitive class than it was back when it was first brought out. The cherubs of today have an incredible power-to-weight ratio in heavy winds, but are somewhat slow upwind due to their length. This, however, is not the case on the downwind once the spinnaker is set.

The majority of Cherub sailors are in their late teens or early twenties but the flexibility of the class and the Cherub’s great sailing qualities mean that they are also attractive to many older sailors. Many women sail Cherubs, both as skippers and as crews. Husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, brother/sister and parent/child combinations of crew are common. Cherubs are sailed in many countries including Australia, New Zealand and UK. While international competition has come to a halt due to differing class rules, the individual countries still have strong national competition.

• Australian Cherub Class