Thames A Class Rater (scow)
The Thames A Class Rater is both a historic and modern specialist sailing craft designed for the particular conditions at Thames Sailing Club, on the River Thames at Surbiton in England. The rules refer to the craft as a yacht.
The rig is lofty, supported by standing rigging and usually by runners, and the hull is a scow with metal centreplate.
All boats built before 1922 are made from wood whilst those built since are of a different construction.
The rater is extremely fast, planes easily, and is a technically highly challenging boat to sail in anything above moderate wind conditions. It is usually sailed with a crew of three.
Raters have traditionally commuted by river under tow between Thames Sailing Club at Surbiton and Upper Thames Sailing Club at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire.
Over the years raters have developed extraordinarily tall masts and high aspect mainsails to meet the local conditions, and catch the wind above the trees and other obstructions along the banks. Their sails were always large, but originally they had long booms and shorter masts, but over time the booms got shorter and the masts taller. At first they used the so-called balance lug rig, then the Gunter rig, before moving on to the current Bermuda rig. Over the years bamboo spars were replaced first by wood, then aluminium, and now mostly carbon fibre.
Mixed in with large fleets of other boats, the raters are usually seen at the following regattas with very tight, close quarters racing.
No
No
Yes
Under Beecher Moore's ownership, Vagabond originated the dinghy trapeze system.
Beecher Moore also experimented with a sliding seat, similar to that of the International Canoe. With many "firsts" to her name, Vagabond was the first rater to be commercially sponsored, with the sponsor's logo appearing on her sails.
The source data for this section is, in part Rater Descriptions from The Rater Association
In the table, "d:" refers to the designer, "b:" to the builder. Where simply a name is present that is the builder
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