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.
Read more about Thames A Class Rater: Rater Development, History, Boats Past and Present, Handicap, The Queens Cup, The Association
Famous quotes containing the words thames a, thames and/or class:
“Home! Yes! she would see Trafalgar Square, again; and Nelson on his plinth; and Chelsea Bridge as it dissolved into the Thames at twilight ... and St. Paul’s, the single Amazon breast of her beloved native city.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Home! Yes! she would see Trafalgar Square, again; and Nelson on his plinth; and Chelsea Bridge as it dissolved into the Thames at twilight ... and St. Paul’s, the single Amazon breast of her beloved native city.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“History is full, down to this day, of the imbecility of kings and governors. They are a class of persons much to be pitied, for they know not what they should do.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)