MY FIRST SAIL on the Tartan Ten was in a 30-knot guster with a steady 25-knots. It was terrific. Her double reefed main and reefed one,design jib powered us through and over the eight-foot seas very easily. Sailing her was much easier than getting the boat out on the water had been.

The first production hull of the 33-footer from Grand River, Ohio7s Tartan Marine was trailed to Clearwater, Fla., and set to sail in early April, slightly behind schedule according to the manufacturer, but fitting my schedule perfectly. Tom Rinda, project manager for the Tartan Ten and an experienced offshore sailor, met me at the airport and after dinner we had a night-time look at the boat.

She appears very large for her length, partially due to her flush deck and partly due to the 9'3" bearn. And she really is very large, sleeping six in human-sized bunks.

We were delayed in starting out the next day, and took all the interior photos instead, because the winds kept blowing and blowing, with a front expected pass through momentarily. When we finished the photos the wind still hadn't lightened any, so we tied in the reefs and took off anyhow, for the Gulf of Mexico.

But first there was the problem with the main halyard. We lost it up the mast and had to retrieve it. With no gantline halyard on the Ten, Tom had to go up to the hounds and hook it with a pole and coat hanger. I stayed on deck, grinding the winch and supervising the activity (being heavier and older than Tom). Ready to sail now we made it out the very narrow channel to the drawbridge. But our horn had run out of gas and a whistle didn~t seem to wake the keeper. We sailed tight circles in the channel until he glanced our way and decided that we must want-to get through, but on such a rough day one can't blame him for a certain amount of incredulity.

The deck of the Tartan Ten is neat and clean, with plenty of stoppers to allow the winches to do several jobs. The one-design jib sheets to the forward track while the 150-percent genoa leads to the after track. Above right, the dodger "tent" over the companion way is held up by the grab rails. The large open cockpit and clean deck are functional and comfortable.

Once through the bridge and beating into the seas I got a good feel for the super deep rudder which looks to be about 45-percent of the keel depth. There is positive control under all conditions and a nice balance, even in the real heavy stuff. The deep V'd sections of the hull up forward give a great ride in the tough going, without the pounding and crashing of a flatfore foot IOR boat. This is one of the many advantages of a designer ti~rmng out a fast boat, rather than a boat rating low under a given measurement rule.

The nearly 50 percent ballast/ displacement ratio counts, since the boat can be driven from sitting in the cockpit in all but the wildest conditions.

After beating, reaching and popping the shooter as chicken kite, we called it a day, but four hours of rough water sailing sold me on the performance of the Ten in those conditions. Before our light-air sailing day and the color photographs shown here, we sat aboard the boat in pouring rain and talked about the design, production, modifications and final product.

The one-design quality of this boat is one of its real strengths. With the manufacturer promising to deliver the 500th boat in the same class as the first..

Tom has been living, eating and breathing the Ten for more than a year. He also has been sailing some top offshore boats and has an honest attitude toward comparisons. The Ten is the first of the larger onedesign offshore boats, above the 22, 24 and 25-footers which have grown in popularity throughout the country. An accounting of the boat from stem to stern shows some of the thought to detail that has gone into the Ten.

The hull is from Sparkman & Stephens, with Olin Stephens taking a strong personal interest. Tartan has been one of the best customers for S & S production design over the years and the relationship shows. The interior and deck plan are from Tartan's top man, Charlie Britton, with the cooperation of Tom's experienced eye.

At the stem there are hooks for the tacks of the jibs dnd the spinnaker foreguy is the cunningham control. The headstay is wire and the jibs have hanks. All the halyards are internal for one jib, spin. naker and main. The topping lift is also internal. All halyards lead aft to the cockpit and have ball stoppers, to Provide a free winch as well as to make positive adjustment possible. The single-spreader mast is quite flexible, making adjustment of draft in the main easy using the 4:1 block-and-tackle split. backstay adjuster. The shrouds are aft-bearing enough to eliminate the need for runners. ne Maths rig keeps the sail inventory short, and keeps the foredeck~hand union smiling since the spinnaker is about Soling size.

The cockpit is huge and starts well forward. It makes for easy sitting and comfortable racing. The small jib and larger genoa (for nonclass racing) are led through lowprofile lead blocks straight to the winches. The spinnaker gear includes a single sheet and guy led through a tweaker block. The tweaker is a single block on a tag line led to a block on the rail amidships. To make the sheet a guy one merely cranks in on the tweaker line and the block comes down to the rail. This makes end. for-end jibes fast and safe and allows dip-pole jibes if needed.

The accommodations are in keeping with the theme of the boat, as outlined in the sales brochure ("a sprint boat with accommodations for overnight offshore racing and weekend cruising'). The bunks are comfortable. Four are root berths, fabric stretched between two large-diameter padded tubes which fit into several different brackets at the bulkheads; a very inexpensive and sea- manlike program. The forward V-bert ' It is the padded berth which would receive the first occupants in port. The portable head is located below the split in the for- ward berth,.

There is a stainless steel sink with a per- manent water tank for 19 gal. There is space for a table-top range, but a single burner hot pot mounted on the bulkhead would probably provide the best hot cooking facility. There is headroom over the centers of the cabin provided by a dodger supported by the grab rails. This provides better than six-foot headroom, with about five-foot headroom under the deck.

A fiberglass hatch covers the forward portion of the 5'6" long com- panionway with a metal and teak slide covering the remainder. This was in prototype stage during my sail and I am afraid this was one of the,less than perfect solutions. 'the translucent green one we had was great because it kept plenty of light filtering through even with the slide closed.

The gel-coated production version might make things a bit dank below, especially during a rainstorm. The storage bins under the midships bunks also need to be simplified. Because this was the first boat they were hard to open and close. Instead of the board which provides the side to the cabin sole being broken into three doors, it could be solid, with access to it provided under the mattress. On this small a boat it wouldn't hurt to have to wake a sleeper to roll over a bit and it would make things more waterproof, stronger and more attractive. The tumbuckles are under the deck, keeping things clean and neat on deck. There is a forward hatch of clear plastic and aluminum to ventilate things, let light in the cabin, and allow a sail to be stuffed below.

Power is a Farymann L-30-M diesel one-cylinder engine, driving a folding Martec prop. An OMC Saildrive unit was used on the prototype, but the shaft and strut was decided on for the production boat. There is a real bilge with a pump that can dry it out from one location (another advantage of the deep-veed forward sections).

The one-design quality of this boat is one of its real strengths, with.the manufacturer promising to deliver the 500th boat in the same class as the first. The boat comes fully equipped from the factory with only the spinnaker gear, non-class genoa track, hiking stick, compasses and dark hull color. optional. The list price is

.$24,500 with extras and sails bringing the race-away