The Twister is a masthead

Masthead

-Media:* the masthead , a list, usually found on the editorial page of a newspaper or other periodical, listing the publisher, editorial board, advertising rates, etc....

 rigged

Rigging

Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...

  sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

, length 28 feet (8.6 metres), beam 8 feet 1 inches (2.46 metres), draft 5 feet (1.52 metres). It has a full length keel

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

 and a full-depth transom

Transom (nautical)

In naval architecture, a transom is the surface that forms the stern of a vessel. Transoms may be flat or curved and they may be vertical, raked forward, also known as a retroussé or reverse transom, angling forward from the waterline to the deck, or raked aft, often simply called "raked", angling...

-hung rudder

Rudder

A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...

 which is tiller

Tiller

A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post or rudder stock of a boat that provides leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder...

 steered. Total displacement

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 (empty) is about 10,000 lbs (4.5 tonnes), of which 4,600 lbs (2 tonnes) is encapsulated lead ballast

Sailing ballast

Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing. If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of...

.
This sailing yacht was designed in 1963 by the English yacht architect C.R. (Kim) Holman.

History

Kim Holman was born in Cornwall and established himself as a yacht designer on the English East Coast after World War II. On request of one of his clients he designed a small sailing yacht, optimised for the rating rule at that time, with lines inspired by the International Folkboat (IF). The new design was baptised "Stella", and was so succefull in races that several were built in wood. After a few years demand came for a yacht with the same looks, but with more length, space and seaworthiness, while still keeping the same rating as the Stella

Stella (yacht)

The Stella is a 'one-design' Bermuda rig sloop yacht, designed for cruising and racing by the noted yacht designer CR Holman in 1959. The design was to the requirements of a customer who had seen the Nordic Folkboat and decided that the English east coast needed a similar vessel but modified for...

. Holman met this challenge and called his design "Twister", because he felt he had advantageously 'twisted' the rules for measurement of racing yachts, which are used to define their handicap when racing. The name also reflected a popular dance of those days. In her first year, the original Twister "Twister of Mersea" won almost all her races on the East Coast racing circuit. As a result of this many Twisters were built in the following months and years. The early Twisters were built in wood, later with a GRP

Glass-reinforced plastic

Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....

 hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 (composite) and finally a large series in GRP. More than 200 Twisters were built until production stopped in the early eighties.

Current use

Most Twisters nowadays are used for cruising, and although they generally have bunk

Bunk bed

A bunk bed is a type of bed in which one bed frame is stacked on top of another. The nature of bunk beds allows two people to sleep in the same room while maximizing available floor space...

s for four crew, they provide ample, cosy accommodation for two people. The Twister is a "modern classic" in which many long voyages (Atlantic circuits, circumnavigation

Circumnavigation

Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...

) have been made. Most of them have their homeport in the U.K. or Ireland but they are found around the worldhttp://woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91036. There is an active Twister Class Association with a frequently used website.

External links

• Twister Class Association