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Taylor 54c

Concept: ‘Spirit of Tradition’ cruiser/racer.

GLORY is a high tech, contemporary design that evokes, but does not just mimic, an earlier era. Above the waterline, the long, graceful overhangs, sweeping sheer, capped bulwark, and small counter stern all reflect a classic style. At the same time, below the waterline and aloft, the focus is on contemporary performance, with hull, appendage, and rig detailing that is state of the art.

Construction: Cold molded, foam cored wood hull, composite deck and interior panels

The hull shell is a light weight, high tech ‘wood sandwich’ engineered by Dirk Kramers’ SDK Structures, the lead engineer for the Alinghi America’s Cup team. The inside and outside skins are both carefully optimized laminates of epoxy resins and Western Red Cedar veneers, bonded to a core of 1” CoreCell foam, and reinforced with ‘E-glass’ cloth and unidirectionals. The stem is solid cedar, the stem knuckle is heavily reinforced with additional ‘E-glass’ and wood veneers. The hull over the keel is solid glass, and there is a ‘belly pan’ of bi-axial ‘E-glass’ over the bottom amidships. The keel loads are further supported and distributed by a sophisticated composite structure of integrated keel floors and longitudinals, all bonded to structural bulkheads and berth faces. The composite chainplates are fabricated of unidirectional carbon fiber, bonded to a locally reinforced area of the inner skin. The interior panels are ‘E-glass’ and foam core composites, bonded with biaxial ‘E-glass’ tape to the adjacent hull and deck surfaces. All of the laminations are vacuum-bagged and post-cured to an elevated temperature that is carefully monitored via thermo-couples and controlled by computer.

The deck is an 'E-Glass' laminate over varying thicknesses of CoreCell foam. The skins are reinforced and higher density core is used in way of all deck hardware. Unidirectional reinforcements are carefully oriented to resist the heavy compression loads imposed on the deck by the headstay, backstay and mast. Methodical weight control is a high priority throughout, with all moldings and components carefully and individually weighed before assembly.

Noteworthy Details:

GLORY’s light weight construction allows a high ballast/displacement ratio, and combined with a carbon rig, it provides ample stability to support a generous sailplan. A self-tacking jib, a ‘socked’ asymmetrical spinnaker, and modern, sophisticated deck hardware (including an electric main halyard winch) allow a small crew to handle this big power with confidence. For blue water passages a removable inner headstay carries a heavy-weather staysail. The jib furler and backstay adjuster are both located below to keep the deck clear and the look clean. Her long ends give her unusually large gear locker volume and deck area, both vital to enjoyable cruising. Her interior is intended to be simple and practical, with an owners’ suite forward, and a guest cabin aft. It is finished in a classic ‘Herreshoff’ style, trimmed with cherry brightwork.

Design Comments:

GLORY’s long sailing length and narrow beam give her an exquisite meter boat feel, and she rolls upwind like a train without pounding her crew senseless. She does not surf and plane downwind as quickly as an ultra-light racer, but she does stretch her long overhang legs and reel off mile after rewarding mile in total control off the wind, without spilling the drinks.

Her unusual combination of classic style with contemporary performance set her apart from (and usually far ahead of!) everything else on the water. No doubt the best compliment is that in addition to her owners’ Wednesday evening racing ritual, they typically sail her every weekend, from May well into October.

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