Tophat
Description
The Top Hat 25 (commonly referred to as the Tophat sailboat) is a 25-foot masthead sloop designed in the early 1960s by British naval architects Capt. John H. Illingworth (ex-Royal Navy) and Angus Primrose as a development for the Junior Offshore Group (JOG) rules, retaining a 21-foot waterline for competitive yet seaworthy offshore cruising and racing performance. The design originated in England, with the first timber versions built there; a timber example was famously sailed to Australia. Production shifted to Australia from 1964 to 1986, where Rob Legg Yachts Ltd. (Mouldcraft) in Melbourne built the majority in fiberglass across four marks (Mk 0 to Mk III), with Mk 0 including a small number of timber hulls. It is estimated that at least 400 boats were constructed in total, though exact numbers are uncertain as hulls were not always sequentially numbered. The boat features solid fiberglass construction (chopped strand mat and woven rovings in polyester resin), a fin keel with spade or skeg rudder, and a practical layout for 4–5 crew with good stability and seakindliness.
Construction Details
| Designer | John H. Illingworth and Angus Primrose |
|---|---|
| Builder | Rob Legg Yachts Ltd. (Australia) |
| Length | 25.000 ft |
| LOA | 25.000 ft |
| LWL | 21.000 ft |
| Beam | 8.000 ft |
| Max Draft | 4.300 ft |
| Year Built | 1961 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 30.83 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 10.50 ft |
| p | 27 ft |
| e | 9.50 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.83 ft | 10.50 ft | 27 ft | 9.50 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Tophat - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 27 ft - (8230 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 9.5 ft - (2896 mm) |
| Leech | * 28.1 ft - (8565 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 28.31 ft - (8629 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | * 132.55 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Tophat - GENOA
| Luff | * 30.94 ft - (9431 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 17.09 ft - (5209 mm) |
| Leech | * 28.96 ft - (8827 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 15.75 ft - (4801 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4.04 ° |
| Area | * 243.63 ft² |
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Tophat - GENOA
| Luff | 29 ft - (8839 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 15 ft - (4572 mm) |
| Leech | 27.75 ft - (8458 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 134.38 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 14.11 ft - (4301 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 1.08 ° |
| Area | * 204.53 ft² |
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Tophat - ASYMMETRICAL
| Luff | 31 ft - (9449 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 18 ft - (5486 mm) |
| Leech | 29 ft - (8839 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 165 % |
| Area | * 418 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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