R. Tucker Thompson
The traditional gaff-rigged schooner, R. Tucker Thompson was started by R. Tucker Thompson in the late 1970's as a project to embody the best features of a traditional design, married to the materials of today. After Tucker’s death, the R. Tucker Thompson was completed by Tucker’s son Tod Thompson and Russell Harris. The ship was built in Mangawhai, New Zealand and launched in 1985.
Her design is based on the Halibut schooners of the North West American coast which were considered fast and sea kindly and easily manned. She has a lofty rig of varnished oregon spars. Kwila decks and bulwarks with flashes of brasswork to make her look as she should, a working ship of the 19th Century, purposeful and square-shouldered, but with a touch of style and speed – sufficient to out-run the law! The hull is 6mm steel with 3 water-tight bulkheads, a steel deck overlaid with kwila hardwood and 75mm hatch coamings. This gives her immense integrity and strength and she is absolutely dry below. She was built using computer generated calculations for stability and carries a loadline certificate to this effect. She carries 18 tonnes of fixed steel ballast. The interior is a mixture of oregon and kwila with two double cabins and 11 single berths. The galley is designed to cater for 15 crew with a gas stove and boiling water on demand. There is a hot shower and two hand basins.