The Flying Dutchman is a Dutch planing sailing dinghy that was designed by Uus Van Essen and Conrad Gülcher as a high performance, one design racer and first built in 1951.

Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:the sails the foils the trim side-to-side balance of the dinghy by hiking or movement of the crew, particularly in windy weather the choice of route