Tasar (dinghy)
Encyclopedia
The Tasar is a 14 feet (4.3 m) fiberglass 2 person sailing
dinghy
with a mainsail and jib. Designed by Frank Bethwaite
of Sydney in 1975, the boat is technologically advanced. Aimed at a husband and wife/parent and child crew, it is designed for a combined crew weight of 140 kg. The hull weighs 68 kg, and is of sandwich foam construction. The hull has a fine angle at the bow to reduce wave impact drag with unusually clean and sharp chines aft to ensure very free planing and outstanding stability. The foam cored hull is stiff and light and the advanced hull shape, together with an innovative rig which combines a rotating mast with a fully battened main sail, allows the Tasar to plane upwind with the crew normally hiked. The wide beam and a cockpit designed for comfortable hiking make the Tasar easy, fun and very exciting to sail in winds up to 25 knots (49 km/h).
The Tasar is an international class, with strong fleets in Australia
, USA
, Britain
, and Japan
. The 2005 world titles were held in Darwin, Australia which catered 131 boats. The next worlds will be sailed in Japan.
2006 saw the introduction of new PET film
sails. In addition, the hull moulds have recently been updated and over 50 new hulls have been sold worldwide in the past five months.
The Tasar is constructed to the same specifications by licensed builders in Singapore and Canada. This keeps all boats as similar as possible and ensures a true one design class.
The 2007 Tasar Worlds were held in Phuket and attracted 60 entries from Australia, Japan, Thailand, U.S., Canada, South Africa and the U.K.
Waterline length: 14 feet 0 inches (4.27 m)
Beam: 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m)
Weight: Hull, fully rigged without spars, sails or foils: 149 pounds (68 kilograms)
Crew: Two, design crew weight 300 pounds (133 kilograms), minimum crew weight for racing 287 pounds (130 kilograms) (When boats are sailed by crews weighing less than this, ballast is carried to equalize performance.)
Sails: Sails were originally polyester fiber. PET film sails were adopted in 2006.
Mainsail: PET film - 89.44 sq ft (8.3 m²)., 8.31 m².
(Polyester fiber - 90 square feet (8.4 m²) - 8.36 square metres)
Jib: PET film - 38.42 sq ft (3.6 m²)., 3.57 m².
(Polyester fiber - 33 square feet (3.1 m²) - 3.07 square metres)
Portsmouth Yardstick Handicap: 108
Construction: GRP foam sandwich for the hull, hollow aluminium section for the spars
Designers: Frank Bethwaite
, Ian Bruce
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
with a mainsail and jib. Designed by Frank Bethwaite
Frank Bethwaite
Frank Bethwaite, born in Wanganui, New Zealand in 1920, is an award-winning boat designer, author and former Olympic meteorologist.-Biography:Bethwaite built his first boat as a teenager...
of Sydney in 1975, the boat is technologically advanced. Aimed at a husband and wife/parent and child crew, it is designed for a combined crew weight of 140 kg. The hull weighs 68 kg, and is of sandwich foam construction. The hull has a fine angle at the bow to reduce wave impact drag with unusually clean and sharp chines aft to ensure very free planing and outstanding stability. The foam cored hull is stiff and light and the advanced hull shape, together with an innovative rig which combines a rotating mast with a fully battened main sail, allows the Tasar to plane upwind with the crew normally hiked. The wide beam and a cockpit designed for comfortable hiking make the Tasar easy, fun and very exciting to sail in winds up to 25 knots (49 km/h).
The Tasar is an international class, with strong fleets in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The 2005 world titles were held in Darwin, Australia which catered 131 boats. The next worlds will be sailed in Japan.
2006 saw the introduction of new PET film
PET film (biaxially oriented)
BoPET is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation.A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other...
sails. In addition, the hull moulds have recently been updated and over 50 new hulls have been sold worldwide in the past five months.
The Tasar is constructed to the same specifications by licensed builders in Singapore and Canada. This keeps all boats as similar as possible and ensures a true one design class.
Championships
The current World Champions are Australian father and daughter team Nicole and Rob Douglass. They were victorious for a second time over a 68 boat fleet in Wakayama, Japan. They were previously World Champions in 2005, finishing number 1 of 131 boats in Darwin, Australia. Nicole and Rob have won multiple National and NSW State Titles.The 2007 Tasar Worlds were held in Phuket and attracted 60 entries from Australia, Japan, Thailand, U.S., Canada, South Africa and the U.K.
Specifications
Length overall: 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m)Waterline length: 14 feet 0 inches (4.27 m)
Beam: 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m)
Weight: Hull, fully rigged without spars, sails or foils: 149 pounds (68 kilograms)
Crew: Two, design crew weight 300 pounds (133 kilograms), minimum crew weight for racing 287 pounds (130 kilograms) (When boats are sailed by crews weighing less than this, ballast is carried to equalize performance.)
Sails: Sails were originally polyester fiber. PET film sails were adopted in 2006.
Mainsail: PET film - 89.44 sq ft (8.3 m²)., 8.31 m².
(Polyester fiber - 90 square feet (8.4 m²) - 8.36 square metres)
Jib: PET film - 38.42 sq ft (3.6 m²)., 3.57 m².
(Polyester fiber - 33 square feet (3.1 m²) - 3.07 square metres)
Portsmouth Yardstick Handicap: 108
Construction: GRP foam sandwich for the hull, hollow aluminium section for the spars
Designers: Frank Bethwaite
Frank Bethwaite
Frank Bethwaite, born in Wanganui, New Zealand in 1920, is an award-winning boat designer, author and former Olympic meteorologist.-Biography:Bethwaite built his first boat as a teenager...
, Ian Bruce