T8r Yacht Design by Tboats

The concept of the Thompson 8 meter is for a boat that is capable of winning races in conditions that are stable and easily sailed short handed or fully crewed and can be easily towed behind a medium sized car. The hull shape developed is finer than usual with a healthy ballast ratio, giving an easily driven hull form and greater than normal stability.

Weight is saved above deck by increasing spreader width and reducing mast size, non overlapping headsails are used. The simple three spreader rig does not need backstays and the mainsail roach is carefully configured to produce the right amount of layoff in the carbon rig, this allows the mainsail to exhaust as the wind puffs. The Thompson 8 Meter has proven itself on the racing circuit both in New Zealand and the USA with an incredible race record in both countries, showing great speed to weather and stable easily controlled blasting downwind speed .

The hull and deck is constructed using fiberglass and foam core vacuumed over male moulds giving high strength and yet retaining the lightness required by such a high performance yacht.

Deck gear is kept simple with two winches for sheet control and the remainder of gear dinghy style for lightness, strength and simplicity.

The Rudder and Keel are both retractable in their own cases, the rudder is moulded carbon fibre construction, the keel is made of a composite of carbon fibre and a timber core which supports the low drag lead bulb. The boat can be lifted by a crane from the centre of the top of the keel or launched by trailer.