Okay, imagine going on a big boat ride! The boat you're on has a very special feature called a keel. Think of it like a long, heavy fin that sticks out from the bottom of the boat. The keel helps keep the boat steady and balanced in the water.
Now, there are lots of different kinds of boats out there, but some of them are called "classic keelboats." These boats are special because they're designed in a way that's been around for a long time, and they're often used for racing.
There are different classes of classic keelboats, which just means that there are different types of boats that have certain rules they need to follow in order to compete against each other. Some popular classes include the Dragon, the Folkboat, and the 6 Meter.
Each class has its own specific design features and rules. For example, the Dragon class requires that the boat be a certain length, have a certain number of crew members, and use specific types of sails. These rules help make sure that all the boats in the class are about the same and have a fair chance of winning.
So, when people talk about classic keelboat classes, they're really just referring to different types of boats that are built and raced in a certain way. It's like if you and your friends all made paper airplanes, but you each had to follow a set of rules to make sure they were all about the same size and shape. Then you could race them to see which one was the fastest!