LOA	41.9
LWL	34.1
Beam	13.3
Draft (Deep)	8.0
Draft (Shoal)	0
Displacement	17,298
Ballast	10,849

IG	55.5
ISP	55.5
SPL	16.1
J	16.1
P	49.5
E	18.0
Rated SA	1032

PHRF (Typ)	42
Aux. HP	40
Builder	Concordia

Taylor 42

Concept: 42-foot Grand Prix racers

DRUMBEAT was designed for a pair of knowledgeable New England yachtsmen who had partnered on a previous high end racer, and this time around, they wanted to combine race wins with comfort and elegance. After DRUMBEAT's dramatic string of wins in her debut season, a competitor commissioned a second hull, NUMBERS, on the same molds, with a modified interior and deck layout.

Construction: Composite sandwich hull and deck

DRUMBEAT 's hull consists of S-glass skins vacuum bagged over H-80 Divinycell foam and balsa cores above the waterline, and H-80 and Airex foam cores below. In NUMBERS , the S-glass reinforcements were replaced with an SP Systems blend of S-glass and Kevlar (carbon fiber was prohibited at the time) for added stiffness and reduced weight. There are high concentrations of unidirectional fiber along the hull backbone and bilge stringers. An integrated network of deep keel floors, partial bulkheads, longitudinals and ring frames controls headstay tension and prevents shell distortion.

The deck is a similar laminate of S-glass skins over foam cores. Unidirectional fibers reinforce deck stringers, which are continuous from stem to stern, and which share the heavy compression loads from the headstay and backstay. Epoxy resins were used throughout, and all laminates were vacuum bagged and post cured to elevated temperatures.

Noteworthy Details:

Both T-42's boast a ballast/displacement ratio of over 60%, and nearly half the ballast weight is carried inside the hull. Most of this inside ballast is carefully shaped to fit the hull and very heavily glassed in place, forming a 'lead core' beam supporting the mast step, and massive lead and glass 'backing plates' distributing the keel bolt and grounding loads over a large area of hull shell. This ballasting approach results not only in a remarkably robust structure, but also in a substantial speed advantage upwind, due to an unusually 'soft' motion in a seaway resulting from the low pitch moment of inertia. Also contributing to the high stability and low pitch moment are a very sophisticated four spreader HallSpar rigs.

Comments:

Rating rules come and go, (along with their inevitable type-forming and loopholes), but good all-around boats are always fast and fun, and they keep right on winning no matter what rule is in vogue. The T-42 is an especially impressive case in point; they were designed for IMS, they were consistent winners under that rule, and they are still winning in the same configurations (no significant changes) in PHRF, ORR and IRC. The have proven to be rugged, seaworthy, versatile, fast and fun, winners under any handicap system. Comments from two DRUMBEAT owners sum it up well for these boats: One chuckled, after an early string of high end race wins, "This boat is a license to steal!" Another recently lamented, "I never should have sold that boat!"

Racing Highlights

Bermuda Race '08; T-42 CABADY (ex-NUMBERS) 1st in Class 4 in both IRC and ORR, 3rd in fleet
American YC Fall Series '08; CABADY repeats earlier wins, now in IRC 3
Block Island RW; T-42 wins class for remarkable 5th time, this time under IRC, 17 years after first win in IMS.
PHRF N.E. Championships: NUMBERS takes Class 1, 2-1-1
Pilot's Point Regatta: NUMBERS gets 6 straight bullets over Farr 44 and Farr 40
Block Island: T-42 wins IMS class third year in a row, 1-1-4-1-3-1-1. Taylor design wins class 4th straight year
Edgartown: DRUMBEAT wins two straight, beats new INFINITY in IMS 3-1-2-2-1
NYYC Cruise: DRUMBEAT wins week over INFINITY and new Farr 39
Herreshoff Medal; DRUMBEAT wins NYYC's most coveted 'overall performance' award
PHRF N.E. Championships: DRUMBEAT and week-old TAYLOR 41 take 1st & 2nd over N/M 40
Key West: NUMBERS blows chute in finale, drops to 2nd overall by scant 7 seconds
Commodore's Cup (England): NUMBERS top scoring boat in fleet over last 3 races, beats Farr 40 OA
NYYC IMS Championships: NUMBERS design wins class 4th year in a row, 1-1-1
Newport N.O.O.D. Regatta: DRUMBEAT dominates 40's Class, 1-1-2

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