Frontrunners at FBYC
The Front Runner is a small day sailing dinghy. It is a high-performance, responsive, and comfortable one-design class sailboat. It is stable and user-friendly, having an immense cockpit with all control lines leading aft (to the cockpit). While designed for racing, it also functions as a small cruising day sailer because of the storage space under the deck in the bow.
The Front Runner was designed by Fishing Bay Yacht Club member Bill Spencer in 1995, culminating in its production starting in 1996. The sailboat was produced in three different places: Gloucester, Virginia, Irvington, Virginia, and Hollywood, Maryland. It has a total of 202 square feet (18.8 m2) of sail area (including only the mainsail and jib; with the spinnaker it reaches 527 square feet (49.0 m2) of sail area). For the spinnaker, it has a retractable bowsprit. The main is loose-footed, and its jib is roller furling. It has no trapeze due to its exceptional balance and hull construction. Its rig, a low-profile, 3-point fractional Sloop rig, kick-up rudder, and swinging keel make the Front Runner a high-performance sailing craft.
To this date, approximately 30 Front Runners have been manufactured. These craft are sailed primarily in Deltaville, Virginia, but several reside in Delaware, Northern Virginia, Solomon Island (Maryland), Georgia and California.
There was an active one-design fleet at Fishing Bay Yacht Club from 1997-2017, and the fleet races the club's one-design schedule. The competition for the Front Runner Cup is held in conjunction with the club's Annual One-Design Regatta each year. From 1998 through 2014, the Front Runner fleet has been awarded the Patrick A. Gibson Memorial Trophy, which is a perpetual Fishing Bay Yacht Club trophy that is awarded to the one-design class that has shown the highest level of participation in club events during the sailing season.
Specifications Under Current Rules
| Crew | 2 |
| LOA | 19' 3” |
| LWL | 18' 6" |
| Beam | 7' |
| Draft | 4' 6" |
| Hull weight (with fittings) | 750 lb (340 kg) |
| Main and Jib area | 202 ft (62 m)2 |
| Jib / Genoa area | 62 ft (19 m)2 |
| Spinnaker area | 325 ft (99 m)2 |