Tartan Ten - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Specifications Under Current Rules

T-10

Number of crew	6-10
LOA	10m 33 ft
LWL Waterline length The Waterline length is a measurement of ships and boats. The term denotes the length of the vessel at the point where it sits in the water. It excludes the total length of the boat, such as features that are out of the water...	8.2m 27 ft
Draft Draft (hull) The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...	1.78m 5 ft 10 in
Beam Beam (nautical) The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...	2.8m 9 ft 2 in
Displacement	3039 kg 6,700 lb
Ballast	1515 kg 3,340 lb
Sail Area Total	486 ft²

The Tartan Ten, nicknamed T-10, is a 10 meter keelboat

Keelboat

Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...

Sparkman & Stephens

Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with main offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, USA and offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use....

in 1978. Since then over 400 hulls

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

have been built.

The T-10 is a sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

design with 7/8th fractional rig

Fractional rig

A fractional rig on a sailing vessel consists of a foresail, such as a jib or genoa sail, that does not reach all the way to the top of the mast....

, symmetrical spinnaker

Spinnaker

A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...

, lead keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

, aluminum mast and boom, and balsawood-cored fiberglass hull. It can sleep six (2 in V-berth, 2 in midship berths, and 2 in aft quarter berths), has a small sink, and a portable toilet. The Tartan Ten has a flush deck to facilitate deck movement during a race, and this is normally an easy way to identify the boat. The T-10 was designed primarily for racing in a local area (aka "Daysailing"), but that doesn't stop sailors from racing the boat on long races as well. In 2006 twenty-five T-10's participated in the Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac (see Chicago to Mackinac Boat Race

Chicago to Mackinac Boat Race

The Chicago to Mackinac Sailboat Race is run by the Chicago Yacht Club. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world, with hundreds of boats entering the race each year. It starts off the mouth of the Chicago River in Chicago, crosses Lake Michigan, barely enters Lake Huron, and finishes...

), a popular 333-mile race along the length of Lake Michigan from Chicago, IL to Mackinac Island, MI. Heavily modified T10s have also competed in the Victoria to Maui and the Bermuda 1-2. Such races are beyond the design parameters of the craft.

While an older design, T-10's remain popular racing sail boats, especially in the US Midwest. Their popularity is driven, many believe, by two factors. First, there are still many T-10's racing in one-design format, which makes it a fun fleet in which to participate. Second, T-10's are cheap when compared to equivalently sized sail boats currently sold. Many older T-10's built in the '70s and '80s have been refurbished by their owners and continue to race regularly. In Chicago, IL, as many as 20 to 30 T-10's race consistently on almost every weekend of the summer. In large regattas as many as 37 T-10's have raced in recent years. In the 2006 Land's End National Offshore One Design (NOOD) regatta

Regatta

A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...

in Chicago, IL, 33 T-10's raced.

The T-10 class races under a set of rules using the "one-design

One-design

One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...

" philosophy, limiting modifications, sails, materials, crew size, and other parameters in order to keep the boats as equal as possible. This allows racing without time handicaps or boat ratings, and the boat that crosses the finish line first wins. Additionally, the T-10 one-design class rules are designed to limit benefits due to unlimited budgets with annual limits on new sail acquisition. One-design racing keeps the fleet of boats very competitive with each other and provides for exciting racing even though they may not be as fast as newer boats.

A newer version of the T-10, called the LS-10, is available, though it hasn't been as popular as hoped. The LS-10 was designed so it meets the class rules for one-design racing, but adds modern amenitities such as a head (bathroom) and shower.

The Tartan Ten was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame

American Sailboat Hall of Fame

The American Sailboat Hall of Fame was established in 1994 by Sail America to recognize ingenuity in designs by American boat builders. The physical display is housed in The Museum of Yachting located in Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island, and includes examples of many of the selected...

in 1998.

In August, 2010, Adam Cort in Sail Magazine's Cult Boats column wrote about the T-10, concluding: "Today, a quarter century after the last new Tartan Ten popped out of its mold, the class appears to be as strong as ever. Fleets of 30 or more boats are still typical at sanctioned regattas, and the cut-throat fleets in the Chicago area are a sight to behold. It’s been said the success of a one-design class is as much a product of the people who support it as the boat itself. If that’s the case, the Tartan Ten will remain a force in sailing for years to come." (Cort, Sail Magazine, August, 2010 at 68)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.