The resulting boat was built to a box rule based on the dimensions of a standard shipping container. That constraint shaped every exterior-envelope decision and allowed hulls to be shipped economically from the Chinese yard, where production was set up to run at better than two-week cycles per mold set.
Design and Construction
Perry’s design fits inside a 40-foot container. That packaging discipline produced a slender 32-foot 10-Meter with a retractable keel and a transom-hung rudder that lifts off easily.
The hull is cored fiberglass, while the cabin top is single-skin laminate. Along the structural spine, the core was routed out and replaced with a single-skin laminate that is actually thinner than the surrounding cored layup. Fiberglass spine frames provide internal reinforcement. The originator described the hull construction as medium-tech foam core with vinylester resin.
The forward hatch is molded in plain fiberglass into the front of the deckhouse rather than made from clear polycarbonate. The class rules were posted to permit three sails. The swept-spreader carbon rig includes a keel-stepped carbon-fiber mast and a carbon-fiber sprit.
Rig, Handling, and Performance
On the water, the Flying Tiger behaves like a purpose-built buoy racer. Sailing World’s test sailors recorded boatspeeds of around 16 knots in the larger gusts. They also found that it tracked well upwind and tacked through high angles.
Despite its modest length, the hull’s high sides gave it more of a big-boat feel than some other sportboats the testers had sailed. The retractable keel and easily removed transom rudder suit a trailerable, container-shippable racing machine rather than a cruiser.
The outboard well sits immediately aft of the companionway. When the engine is raised, doors close flush with the hull.
Accommodations
This is a racer first, and the interior shows it. The cabin has an agricultural, unfinished feel, with only 29 inches of headroom beneath the deckhouse.
The two bunks tucked under the cockpit are the most usable berths aboard. The settee seats look inviting, but once seated, the low overhead forces occupants to lean inboard.
A class-mandated maximum crew weight of 1,050 pounds says plenty about the boat’s intended payload. This is a lightweight planing sportboat, not a weekender.
Known Issues
The earliest hulls shipped with under-specced tillers, underbuilt transoms, and rudder hardware unequal to the loads imposed by the outboard-hung blade. Poorly designed and built class sails further hampered the boat’s debut.
Testers also noted daylight visible through the laminate in low-stress areas and nonskid that was merely adequate. The outboard-well doors kept opening on the sail, and the retractable bowsprit lets water seep in unless an aftermarket gasket is fitted.
The Verdict
The Flying Tiger 10M is a focused, container-sized sportboat that delivers exhilarating round-the-buoys performance and a genuinely big-boat feel on the wire, all in a no-frills racing shell. Early-production defects were largely addressed, but it remains a raw racer with minimal creature comforts.
Pros
- Around 16 knots in larger gusts, with crisp upwind tracking in a 32-foot package
- Container-fit hull, retractable keel, and easily removed rudder for trailering and shipping
- Carbon rig and spine-frame cored construction that keep weight low
Cons
- Agricultural interior with 29 inches of headroom and limited usable berths
- Early hulls had tiller, transom, and rudder-hardware shortcomings
- Bowsprit seepage and outboard-well doors that open while sailing require owner attention
