Pocket Rocketr

Readers who prefer a more sedate sailing style should take heart that some sailors are pushing the envelope. Eventually we may see developments from these radical boats that will be of benefit to cruisers, that is, asymmetrical cruising chutes. Also keep in mind that clever designers are managing to develop very fast boats that have forgiving handling characteristics, like the Thompson 8.

Tom Tom Taxi is a Thompson 8-meter (26.4-foot LOA) designed by New Zealander Steve Thompson. The boat was winning a lot of races in Auckland harbor with extremely well-rounded performance. The 8-meter has been so successfull that there is talk of an 8-meter development-style class challenge cup.

The D/L of this design is 82. The 2,464-pound boat has almost a 50 percent ballast to displacement ratio, with all the ballast in a bulb at the end of a vertical, constant-chord Iroko fin. Tom Tom Taxi is dry sailed dinghy style and the keel is pinned in the down position for sailing. The hull shows low wetted surface sections with some flare to the bow sections to help keep the boat dry. Taxi is also sailed with the biggest crewmember forward to help break the spray. The bow sections are fine and sharply veed. This deadrise is faired into a flat bottom at about station 4.3. Freeboard is minimal and the photos show each crewmember making a physical effort to keep the boat flat. We call this "hiking."

The rig shows swept spreaders, with the third set of spreaders at the hounds to support the big masthead chute. There is a retractable bowsprit. If we use the designers figures for main and No. I jib areas, we get a total sail area of 444 square feet, which gives us an SA/D of 38.97. Speeds in excess of 16 knots are commonplace on this boat. The sailing reports all praise the boat's surprising stability and forgiving handling characteristics. On deck you are really looking at a big dinghy. Yes, there are hiking straps. The cockpit well is very wide, with narrow side decks for seating. The deck edge is generously radiussed to make hiking more comfortable. There are two winches for halyard and jib sheet control, along with winches for the spinnaker sheets and runner controls. The rest of the deck gear is strictly dinghy style for lightness.

Construction uses carbon fiber and glass vacuum-bagged over a foam core with a male mold. Auxiliary power is by outboard motor.

I think the answer is to tow your Thompson 8 behind your Little Harbor 60. This way the crew can live and travel in comfort between the races. I'll do all the cooking on the LH 60 and have dinner ready when you return from a wet afternoon hiking your way around the race course. I'll stay busy wiping the dew from the brightwork and planning tomorrow's menu.