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  Flying Tiger 10 M
International Class Association
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Neil Pryde
 
     
 
Aug 16th, 2008 (Sat)
  SD Series: Crown Cup (sat. only)
CYC Crown Cup
Sep 13th, 2008 (Sat)
  SD series: Coronados
Oct 3rd, 2008 (Fri)
  SoCal Series: Sand Diego to Ensenada
Nov 15th, 2008 (Sat)
  SD Series: One Design Weekend (sat. only)
Dec 13th, 2008 (Sat)
  SD Series: One Design Weekend (sat. only)

All Events

 
August 2008
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Flying Tiger 10 M

The Flying Tiger 10 M (FT10) is a new 10 meters One Design Club Racer designed by Bob Perry, built by Bill Stevens at  Hansheng Yachts in Xiamen, China and commercialized by Hiptrader LLC. This site is devoted to the promotion of the International Class Association.

To order one click here.
 

Tiger Numbers (07/2008)

FT10s Delivered Worldwide: 86
Class Members: 61 Full + 14 Associate

USA 33 "Mile High Klub" of father and son Philip and Payson Infelise is the 2008 Pacific Coast Champion (Photo credit: Mark Michaelsen)

Tiger Fleet Ready To Attack Tampa Bay

February 15th, 2008 - St. Petersburg, Florida.
by Alan Block/BlockSail.com

Barely a year has passed since the first Flying Tiger 10M sportboat first sailed on United States waters, and already, this scorching hot sportboat class can claim its fourth one-design start at a major regatta. Eight Tigers will race each other this coming weekend on the often-breezy waters of Tampa Bay, and amazingly, only five of the sixteen competing classes have more entries than the FT-10M Class.

ON-LINE TO ON-WATER
The genesis of the Flying Tiger is an exciting example of the power of on-line communication. Born through a collaborative process in the community forums of the Sailing Anarchy website, the FT-10M was designed as a lightweight, affordable one-design racing boat. The narrow, high-powered craft fits into a standard 40-foot shipping container, allowing award-winning builder Bill Stevens to economically produce the boats in Xiamen, China and ship them anywhere in the world, quickly and efficiently.
The first FT-10M arrived in the US in its “gift box” in September, 2006, and 16 months later, the company is preparing to ship numbers 80 and higher – making the Tiger an unprecedented success in the world of one-design keelboats. Almost as impressive as the overall numbers are the destinations of the finished sports racers: Tigers have been shipped to South Africa, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland, and multi-boat fleets already exist in China, Australia, the Pacific Northwest, Southern California, and now, the Southeastern US.

“There is just nothing else that comes close to the performance of the FT-10 at anything near the price,” said Brian Stevens, marketing director for HipTrader, the builder's US-based subsidiary. “Owners love the fact that they can buy and campaign this 33-foot racing yacht for a fraction of what the alternatives cost – and they can go just as fast, if not faster.”

AROUND THE BUOYS AND AROUND THE WORLD
With just over a year of racing behind them, Flying Tiger owners have put together some incredible results. In distance racing, the FT-10M has shown its transom to the competition all over the world, with overall victories in Perth, Ensenada, San Diego, and British Columbia against sailors like Dennis Connor and Bill Buchan. Division, class, and series victories have been commonplace for Tiger skippers, although nearly all of them say that they specifically purchased their boats for the one-design racing that is now kicking off in earnest.

“The anniversary of the first real one-design start is next month, at the San Diego NOOD, and we expect 12 to 14 boats racing,” said Bill Stevens, builder of the FT-10M. “But what has us really excited is the Class racing that we will see in 2008 in places like Florida, Charleston, Seattle, Long Beach, and Chicago.. It's an exciting time for an exciting boat.”

The U.S. isn't the only place with the numbers for one-design racing, either. There are now an amazing eleven Tigers now in Australia, with one new boat continuing to arrive each month. Europe is not far behind, especially with the FT-10M's European CE certification process reaching completion in early spring, 2008. A flood of deliveries will reach the continent shortly thereafter.

For more info, please visit www.flyingtigerboats.com, or email info@hiptrader.com.  For Class Rules, fleet locations, photos, videos and more, see the official FT- 10M Class Association site at www.ft10class.info.

Flying Tiger 10 M
Designer's Comments

July 24th, 2006 - Seattle, WA.
by Bob Perry.

We were working on a 53’ cruising boat project with Bill Stevens when a little over a year ago he suggested we try a new project. The idea was to produce in China a one design, affordable, club racer that would help promote sailboat racing in China. There was already some racing going on there but the boats in use were at best worn out and very mismatched for one design racing.  Bill knew we already had a good yard and all we needed was a design. Bill is a bit of a visionary.

The idea was to design a boat that would fit into a container for shipping. For me that meant manipulating the beam of the boat so that when the boat was tilted 30 degrees it fit tightly into the container. Bill chose 10 meters as the LOA we would work with. I drew a light and fast hull with a lifting bulb keel and outboard rudder. Bill wanted to have the preliminary design finished in time for him to take it to the Shanghai boat show. I finished the preliminary drawings and off flew Bill to China. That was the last I heard of the project until about 6 weeks later when I logged onto the SAILING ANARCHY website and saw our 10 meter boat on the home page. There was no caption other than something to the effect of “Look at this new design”. Bill called me immediately and said “Don’t tell them anything until I give the word.” 

Speculation on SA raged and the guesses as to what the new design was, who designed it and who the builder was were all over the map. The guessing went on for four days then Bill called me and said “Now you can tell them”. I went onto SA and explained the project and casually mentioned that we had the hope of bringing this boat in for “under the magic price”. To me this meant $50,000. By now the SA board was humming with interest and Bill flew off to China to negotiate a contract with the Han Sheng yard in Xiamen. At this stage the SAILING ANARCHY part of the equation was still an unknown. Bill returned and announced on SA that the price of the boat ex the factory would be $39,500 with sails. This price would be held for the first 50 boats. Bill also announced that a $1,000 deposit would hold a hull number for buyers but we had no idea of what the delivery times would be. Regardless deposits starting coming in very quickly as interest in the design grew.

I was soon  peppered with questions as to the specifics of the design. Unfortunately all that existed of the design at that point was preliminary drawings and I made this very clear to the readers of SA. “There are no specs. There is no real design as of yet.” Then without thinking much about it I suggested that the SA readers contribute ideas that would help me solidify the design. This opened the flood gate and started a process that I think is unique in the history of American yacht building.

Of course the design ideas I was given through SA were often contradictory and often at odds with Bill’s vision of the boat. There were some good, heated arguments, plenty of name calling and the type of rough and tumble discourse you can typically find on SA. But the bottom line is that it worked pretty well and soon we had a design coming together that seemed to satisfy the collected needs of the SA crew. Deposits were rolling in daily from all over the world and before long the first 50 boats were all spoken for. But that did not stop would be buyers from ordering hulls beyond number 50 despite the fat that we could no guarantee a price. Today we have deposits for 107 boats.

There was a lot of China bashing in the early days of the project. Here was plenty of Bob Perry bashing too. Bill took a few direct hits on the nose as did his son Brian. There was rampant doubt that we could bring this project to reality and if we did we would be putting out a poorly built, “cheap” boat. They were all wrong. We now have four boats rigged and sailing and two sets of tooling pumping out boats as fast as we can. The first five boats will stay in China for Chinese regattas and be used as prototypes. I think we have proven to a lot of people that we can do it and do it well. The finished boats are of very high quality. We have a full time man at the yard supervising all elements of construction including the finishing of our own carbon spars from raw tubes shipped in from Australia. Bill, I and my engineer Ben Souquet have spent much time at the yard to see thing were kept on track. Bill has one full time man at the yard overseeing the project on a daily basis..

The depositors were polled to see if they wanted to pay extra for the carbon rig. They did and this brought the price of the first 50 boats up to $44,500. All you have to do is have the boat shipped, add instruments and an outboard and off you go.

There has been a lot of chatter about our “revolutionary business model” and how we enlisted the SA board members for help in the design process.  In fact, we had no business model. Once the momentum was initiated at SA the project took on a life of its own. We were totally out of control initially but soon a process gelled. I would go on line to SA in the morning and ask if anyone had details for a lifting keel mechanism and by the afternoon I would have half a dozen responses often with drawings and photos.  Wherever I needed design help there was plenty of expertise to be mined on SA. Sailors volunteered to do research projects for the project. For everyone telling us you can’t do it there were several people there telling us how to do it.  From time to time this plethora of design “help” has been irritating. There was the long and drawn out debate over the shape of the windows. We have had enough input on interior layouts to serve a dozen designs. One group wanted headroom while another wanted a low profile. From time to time we would conduct a formal survey to establish a design direction on a specific detail. It was not always easy but in the end it worked well enough to the point that to date we have only lost one depositor and he left due to a job transfer.

I can now say with certainty that this project has been a most rewarding challenge for my office. I can’t give enough credit to my engineer Ben Souquet for his contributions.

Robert H. Perry
Yacht Designer

 

News

Abacus, With a Crew of Two, First Around Coronados 

August 5th, 2008 - Santa Diego, California

USA 8 - "Abacus" won the Spinnaker Division PHRF<149 of the popular doublehanded 2008 Crew of Two Around the Coronados hosted by Point Loma Yacht Club. Read the report from owner Tim Chin.

Tigress First Overall at Santa Barbara to King Harbor 

August 2nd, 2008 - Santa Barbara, California

USA 80 - "Tigress" of  Ken Keiding and Dr. Laura Schlesinger won the PHRF sprit class and PHRF overall of the Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race. Read on...

Tigger (again), Prowler and Lilly 1-2-3 at Whidbey Island 

July 25h, 2008 - Whidbey Island, Washington State

Three Tigers on top of Fleet P1 at Whidbey Island Race Weeek: USA 22 "Tigger, Dangerous when Striped", CAN 37 "Prowler", and USA 29 "Tiger Lilly". Congratulation to Chris Winnard that brings the top prize home for the second year in a row. Stripes or not, Tigers are dangerous! Read on...

Tiger Pack Leads CYCA Audi Winter Series 

July 6th, 2008 - Sydney, Australia

Light conditions once again today for Race 13 of the CYCA Audi Winter Series with Flying Tigers currently 1st, 2nd and 3rd.Read pn...

Flying Tiger 10s Roar into Long Beach, CA 

June 22nd, 2008 - Long Beach, California

Just one year after introducing the FT10 sport boat to the world of high performance sailing, the class may very well be the largest one design fleet at this week’s prestigious Acura Ullman Long Beach Race Week. FT10 racers will be vying for the coveted Pacific Coast Championship title during this three day regatta beginning Friday, June 27, 2008 in the scenic waters off of Southern California. Read on...

Fleet Captain Takes the Lead at SD NOODs  

March 15th, 2008 - San Diego, California - USA

Tom Hirsh, Southern California Fleet Captain and Skipper of USA 10 "Harbor Sailboats Racing", gets two bullets on Day2 of the 2008 Sailing World Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD Regatta and moves on top of the fleet.  Read on...

12 Tigers at the San Diego NOODs  

March 14th, 2008 - San Diego, California - USA

One year after the first FT10 One Design  event, San Diego will see 12 Flying Tiger competing for the Sailing World Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD, March 14th-17th 2008. Read on...

AUS 56 "Ophir" wins RANSA Annual Regatta  

February 24th, 2008 - Sydney, NSW - Australia

B. Tavener on AUS 56 "Ophir" takes first in Division 1 of the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association (RANSA) Annual Regatta out of Port Jackson, NSW Australia. Read On...

Red Stripe Wins 2008 St. Peterburg NOODs  

February 17th, 2008 - Saint Petersburg, Florida

Charlie Reynolds' USA 71 "Red Stripe", fresh out of the box, is the winner of the  2008 St Petersburg Yacht Club & Sailing WorldSperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta. Read on...

Eight Tigers to 2008 St. Pete NOODs

February 15th-17th, 2008 - Saint Petersburg, Florida

With 8 boats on the starting line, the FT10 Class is one of the largest class above 24 feet at the St Petersburg Yacht Club & Sailing WorldSperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta.This is the first FT10 OD event on the East Coast. Read on...

(Video Courtesy of BlockSail)

Two Tigers to the Keys

January 15th, 2008 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

USA 35 "QMN" and USA 52 "Toy Tiger" are getting ready for the 33rd annual Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race set to begin on January 16. Read on!

2008 Southern California and San Diego Series

January 5th, 2008 - San Diego, California

Tom Hirsh, President of the Southern California Fleet, has made available the 2008 Calendar for Southern California and San Diego Series. Good Wind!

Anarchy and Elusive Trading Hot Rums

November 18th, 2007 - San Diego, California

USA 11 "Anarchy" and USA 24 "Elusive" are trading victories in PHRF DIvision 2 of the popular Hot Rum Series hosted by SDYC in San Diego, California. Read on...

Tigger Rounds the County, First!

November 11th, 2007 - West Sound, Washington.

Chris Winnard with the flamboyant USA 22 "Tigger: Dangerous When Striped" won a very competitive PHRF Division 0 at the Round the County 2007 Regatta, hosted by the Orcas Island Yacht Club. Read on...

FT 7.5M Tiger Cub is Born

October 18th, 2007 - The Internet

Sailing Anarchy publishes the first pictures of Tiger Cub, the Flying Tiger 7.5M. According to Sailing Anarchy Hiptrader has the same goal in mind: "Keep it Fast, Fun, and Affordable!". Read on...

104th FT10 Masts Shipped

October 16th, 2007 - Sidney, Australia
(From the CST website)

CST has shipped over 100 masts for the FT10 Flying Tiger into China. Read on...

"Elusive" Victory at San Diego to Ensenada and SoCal Series

October 6th, 2007 - Ensenada, Mexico

Official results are not out yet, but it appears that USA-24 "Elusive" owned by John Paquin took the Overall Corrected Time victory and the Class 2 Trophy  in the San Diego to Ensenada International Yacht Race hosted by Southwestern Yacht Club. John Paquin also laureates 2007 Champion of the FT10 Southern California Fleet #1. Read on...

Neil Pryde Tuning Guide v.2

September 18th, 2007 - Annapolis, MD - USA

Neil Pryde just announced the Flying Tiger Tuning Guide Version 2. Check it out!

Double-Handing in San Francisco

September 17th, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - USA

We get frequently asked how the FT10 does short-handed. John Lymberg, owner of USA-50 "Savage Beauty", reports of his first double-handed sail in the Bay. Read on...

CAN 31 "My-Tai" Sweeps Maple Bay Regatta

September 2nd, 2007 - Maple Bay, Vancouver Island, BC - Canada

CAN-31 "My-Tay" sweeps the PHRF A division at Maple Bay Yacht Club Regatta and wins first Overall in the Lieutenant Governors Trophy combined divisions A & B. Read on...

CAN 31 "My-Tai" for Sale

September 1st, 2007 - Vancouver, BC - Canada

The first used FT10 came to the market in Vancouver, Canada. If you're looking for a well prepared, race ready FT10 with a great sail inventory contact Owner Daryl. Read all the info in the FT10 Classifieds.

Fun in the Wind in San Francisco

August 19th, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - USA

A few shots, courtesy of Mariah's Eyes Photography, of USA 15 "Centomiglia" in the wind of San Francisco, California. This is what the FT 10 is all about: good friends having fun on the water. Check it out!

Tigris "Tigru" Europensis

August 15th, 2007 - Undisclosed Location, Finland

We have received an unconfirmed report of the sighting of a Tiger in Finland! The scientific community is still debating how the Tiger made it back to Old Europe, but our guess is that it was aboard a 40 feet container... Read on!

A Tiger in the Caribbean!

August 13th, 2007 - English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda

After 42 days at sea hull #42 - "Forty Two" has arrived to his home in English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda. Read on...

"Mile High Klub" Takes Division in Santa Barbara to King Harbor 2007

August 5th, 2007 - Santa Barbara, CA - USA

USA 33 "Mile High Klub" wins division SPRIT-B, and make 6th overall, in the 2007 Santa Barbara to King Harbor. Read the full report from skippers Philip and Payson Infelise. Read on...

Dangerous When Striped!

July 27th, 2007 - Whidbey Island, WA - USA

USA 22 "Tigger, Dangerous When Striped" is the winner of Fleet P1 at Whidbey Island Race Week. Well done to owner Chris Winnard and Crew. Read on...

Stripes are Fast at Whidbey Island

July 24th, 2007 - Whidbey Island, WA - USA

After the first day of racing at Whidbey Island Race Week USA 22 "Tigger, Dangerous When Striped" is on the lead: stripes are fast indeed!  Read on...

7 Tigers expected at Whidbey Island

July 15th, 2007 - Whidbey Island, WA - USA

7 FT10s will be on the start line at Whidbey Island Race Week July 22-27, 2007. Read on...

Hauling AUS...

March 10th, 2007 - Perth, Australia

Jay MacFarlane, owner of AUS 012 "Panthera" sent a few shots of his FT10 trucking along at 16+ knots in 25-30 knots of breeze in Perth, Australia.

Enjoy the view and check out the video...

Sails, Sails, Sails, and More Sails...

March 1st, 2007 - Planet Earth.

Sailmakers are giving their best shot in dressing the Tiger: Neilpryde, Elliott Pattison, North Sails, Quantum... Read on...

"Anarchy" Rules the First U.S. One Design Regatta

February 17-18th, 2007 - San Diego, CA

The first FT10 One Design Regatta was raced during the SDYC Midwinters in San Diego on February 17-18th, 2007. Four Tigers on the line and "Anarchy" ruled, skippered by Rickard/Tempesta. Read on...

A Tiger on the Loose in Durban, South Africa

January 24th, 2007 - Durban, South Africa

Hull #17 has already crossed two Oceans, inside its own container, and made it all the way to Durban, South Africa. Read on...

2007 Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD - March 16-18, 2007

January 17th, 2007 - San Diego, CA

The first FT10M 2007 Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One-Design Regatta is scheduled for March 16-18th, 2007 in San Diego, California. Check out the NOR and other Info at the Sailing World website, and register on-line before march 5th, 2007. The list of participants (including other classes) is available here.

AC China Team Match Racing Flying Tigers

November 24th, 2006 - Xiamen, P.R. China

The America's Cup "China Team" is in Xiamen Match Racing with Flying Tigers. Read the rest of the story in the 32nd America's Cup Website. 

USA 012 "Panthera" Down Under!

October 25th, 2006 - Perth, Western Australia

What an apt name for a Tiger! Hull #12 "Panthera" arrived today at Royal Perth Yacht Club. It's the first Flying Tiger in Australia. Read on...

Abacus Reports from the SD to Ensenada

October 9th - San Diego, California

Sailing Anarchy publishes the much awaited report of Abacus from the San Diego to Ensenada race: "Tiger on the Loose" by Tim Chin.

Nominees for 2007 Sailing World Boat of the Year

October 6th - Annapolis, Maryland

Sailing World announced today that the Flying Tiger 10 M is one of the nominees for 2007 Sailing World Boat of the Year.  Read more

Abacus at the San Diego to Ensenada

October 6th - 7th, 2006 - San Diego, CA and Ensenada, Mexico

The fastest FT 10 in America, San Diego based "Abacus", has entered the San Diego to Ensenada International Yacht Race.  Congratulations to owner Tim Chin and crew that worked hard to have the boat ready for the race. Read on...

Price for Hulls 51 to 75

October 2nd, 2006 - San Diego, California.

Hiptrader announced today that "Hulls 51 to 75 will be priced at $49,950 plus $525 for the kevlar jib upgrade". Read on...

Tiger in America!

September 16th, 2006 - Annapolis, MD

Hull # 6 arrives at Annapolis, unloaded from the container sits comfortably on her AB Trailer. Boat will be commissioned and prepared for the US Boat Show. Read on...

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Last Edited: July 29, 2008