We have a unique ownership opportunity for anyone who wants to learn how to sail and maintain a small racer/cruiser sailboat. It’s a Tartan Ten.

Our host facility for the last few seasons, Miramar Yacht Club in Sheepshead Bay, has a small fleet of boats that members who don’t own their own can pay an upcharge to use.  One of them is a Tartan Ten.  We’ve been using it the last two season for Basic Cruising courses.  

Here’s a VIDEO CLIP of her from a course! (Still grab below is static, sorry for WordPress glitch. Use that text link.)

The Club has decided it’s not a good fit for their fleet; they prefer to focus on smaller daysailers, especially the Ensign class that’s so popular here (over 20 in their fleet alone!).  The Tartan is ten meters, with an inboard engine.  They can’t haul it out on the premises, unlike the smaller boaters, which makes it more complicated and expensive to maintain in comparison. So, it has to go.

The boat is free!  Of course, free usually costs something.  In this case, the mooring will probably cost something to buy, and the boat does need some work and money put into it.  Having said that, it’s useable as is, with good sails, and repowered recently with a new diesel engine (the biggest ticket item to check off the list).  The Sailing Center had very fun and productive times on board for Basic Coastal Cruising and the occasional spontaneous joy ride.  

The real value for a potential new owner is the community.  Anyone who takes over ownership, and also keeps it where it is, enjoys the resources of both the Club and the School for advice, help with maintenance, people to sail with, and potential cost savings.  

Miramar members really enjoy helping each other out with maintenance and repairs.  Example: one of the Bridge officers, Dexter, upgraded from an O’Day 23 (now owned by a new member who took a private lesson from the School to get acquainted with her). He wound up with a Moody 34. The well-known name turned out to be prescient; the engine started giving him grief and one day he was towed back in. He decided to repower. He bought a brand new Beta diesel (excellent re-powering brand). He removed the old engine and installed the new one, adjusted everything, and the mood changed! This was all done in-house with members of the Club.

Steve from the school (yours truly) sees everything.  “It is known.”  He frequently spots things that become out of whack on boats in the anchorage.  Whether the boat is just low in the water from rain or a leak, or a sail is starting to come loose, or a halyard disconnected, or a mooring line in bad shape, Steve will probably see it before anyone else.  That applies to the Tartan as well, especially if there’s a partnership with school.

The school has often partnered with private boat owners, offering lower ownership costs and oversight on the boat in exchange for limited use of it.  We can offer lower insurance costs for the boat, as we have a commercial multi-boat policy.  We can insure your boat for both of us for much less than you could on your own. And, the school is always available for advice on maintenance and repairs (as are many members at Miramar).

You don’t need to remove your boat in the winter.  While many people do, you can leave it on the mooring all winter.  This is a huge cost savings; winter storage is large chunk of ownership costs, and it shortens your season somewhat.  (Of course, most owners will need or want to haul their boat on occasion, but at Miramar, it can be the exception rather than the rule.)

So, what about the boat?

The Tartan Ten was conceived as a large one-design racing class.   Very distinctive with high freeboard and a flat top, the design survived the decades, and is still popular.  Like the Ensign we teach beginners on, it made it into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. (It’s now defunct, but it was meaningful and relevant while it existed, with inductees chosen by the editors of a group of prominent sailing periodicals.)

Here’s a link to our Fleet page for extra reference, with a stock shot of a Tartan Ten and a blueprint image of the design.

How does it move?  How does it handle? 

It’s fast as fuck – straight up. It’s also super maneuverable; foot per foot/pound per pound, it’s the second most maneuverable keelboat we’ve ever been on.  (The Pearson 31 with standard keel was the only one more so, and it was arguably too maneuverable, getting squirrelly in tight turns under power.)

It’s a true joy to sail, steer and turn.  And, it has a tiller!  Wheels are the norm at this size, but this was designed for finesse and racing, and back when many designs of this size still had tillers.  

In this clip: some of my friends from Sebago (where I race dinghies). I took them out for a November sail, 2023. We poked our nose out past Breezy Point so we could say were in the Atlantic. Then, lunch. They went on to do some dinghy sailing that afternoon! Busy women. See the clip!

What’s it like inside?  It had the nickname Spartan Tartan back in the day, but when I first got in one two years ago (this very one), I thought they’d oversold that nickname a bit.  True, it has no private individual cabins with doors, etc, but there are five different places in the boat people could potentially lay out and sleep (berths) with the forward  V berth being a double.

Overall condition?  Rough around the edges, but safe and functional. It needs cleaning, and some repairs. Some people might want to do a few upgrades.   The boat doesn’t leak, which is huge.  The rate of water accumulating in the bilge is so slow it’s almost indiscernible.  (Almost all boats eventually wind up taking water; this one’s so slow it’s irrelevant.)

This boat is highly appropriate for day sailing and occasional overnighting.  It could be set up for longer cruises, but at that point, most sailors would probably be better served looking for a different design.   However, if you’re into performance and speed, and don’t mind needing to reef earlier and missing out on more creature comforts, it could be the call for you.  

As this was going to press, so to speak, the Club sent out an eblast to the general membership offering the boat for free. Of course, that was right after I reached out and confirmed that they still owned the boat and let them know I’d send something out to the School community about it. So, while I don’t think there’s going to be a stampede to the docks for a tour, “it’s on.”

Anyone interested in the boat should feel free to contact me directly about it. I can answer questions and arrange a visit to the boat, including a ride under power at minimum and, if weather works, a sail!