The Concept: Soca Sailboats recognized the need for a modern two person dinghy that would be affordable for Caribbean Dinghy Programs. Many sailors aging out of Optimist programs do not have an exciting boat to sail. Soca decided to commission the design of a two person boat to cater to young sailors in the Caribbean that would be simple and affordable to sail and also modern enough to serve as a stepping stone for Olympic two person classes such as the 470 and 49er. The boat also had to be suitable for adults who wanted to remain active in dinghy sailing or simply wanted to have a boat to sail with their children.

The Design: UK designer Phil Morrison was commissioned to design a prototype and see it through to production. Phil Morrison has a number of successful designs to his name such as the RS 400, 200, 800 Laser 5000, 4000, 2000 and more. He was successfully able to incorporate the various roles the boat would be required to serve into a single design that would be able to meet the budgets of Caribbean sailors and sailing schools.

The  Result: The MR15 truly offers something for everyone. It is modern exciting and blazingly fast, yet the controls are simple and well thought out leading to less time spent rigging and more time on the water. There are 2 versions of the boat currently available. The Sport or Race version comes equipped with everything for racing and going fast. The Club or Trainer version is equipped with smaller sails and a basic rigging package that is suited to junior and adult sail training programs. Soca Sailboats supplies upgrade kits to easily turn Club boats into Sport boats.

Rigging the MR15
Sailing the MR15
Class Rules
Warranty
 

Photos by Tim Wright