 Class symbol | |
 | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Location | Canada |
| Year | 1973 |
| Design | Bombardier Research |
| Builder(s) | Bombardier Limited |
| Role | One-design racer |
| Name | Bombardier Invitation |
| Boat | |
| Displacement | 181 lb (82 kg) |
| Draft | 2.99 ft (0.91 m) with the daggerboard down |
| Hull | |
| Type | Monohull |
| Construction | Fibreglass |
| LOA | 15.58 ft (4.75 m) |
| Beam | 4.92 ft (1.50 m) |
| Hull appendages | |
| Keel/board type | daggerboard |
| Rudder(s) | transom-mounted rudder |
| Rig | |
| Rig type | Cat rig |
| Sails | |
| Sailplan | Catboat |
| Mainsail area | 90.00 sq ft (8.361 m2) |
| Total sail area | 90.00 sq ft (8.361 m2) |
| Racing | |
| D-PN | 99.3 |
|
| |
The Bombardier Invitation is a Canadian sailing dinghy that was designed by Bombardier Research to compete in the same market with the Laser, as a one-design racer. It was first built in 1973.[1][2]
The design was developed into the Bombardier 3.8 in 1974.[3]
The design was built by Bombardier Limited in Canada starting in 1973, but it is now out of production.[1][2][4]
Bombardier Limited applied for a trademark of the Invitation name, for "boats and parts", on 7 December 1973. The trademark was granted on 15 November 1974, but expired on 12 January 1990 and was not renewed.[5]
The Invitation is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim. It has a catboat rig with aluminum spars and a loose-footed mainsail. The hull has built-in foam for buoyancy. The sail is without sail battens, is installed over the two-piece mast with a sewn-in sleeve and can be wrapped around the mast. The hull has an enclosed foredeck, a spooned raked stem, a vertical transom, a wooden, kick-up, transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller with a hiking stick and a retractable wooden daggerboard. The hull alone displaces 180 lb (82 kg).[1][2]
The boat has a draft of 2.99 ft (0.91 m) with the daggerboard extended. Retracting the daggerboard allows beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof rack.[1]
For sailing the design is equipped with hiking straps, an adjustable outhaul, a boom vang and a vacuum bailer.[2]
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 99.3 and is normally raced with a crew of one or two sailors.[2]
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood described the Invitation as, "a boat designed for ease in cartopping, with two-piece mast and overhanging two-inch gunwale to assist lifting ... [the] Invitation is a one-design with rigid class rules."[2]
