Design and Construction
The Taswell 50's hull is made of fibreglass, laid up as a hand-laid solid GRP shell below the waterline and reinforced with foam-filled longitudinal stringers and PVC-foam-cored transverse floors, built to Lloyd's Register specifications. The outer three laminate layers were laid up with vinylester resin to resist osmotic blistering. Above the waterline, decks and cabin structures used an end-grain balsa core, with marine plywood substituted in high-stress areas where deck hardware was mounted, and the deck was secured to the hull's inturned flange with 3M 5200 adhesive bedding and stainless steel thru-bolts. That construction package is conservative and robust rather than weight-shaved; the 40,000-pound displacement and 242 displacement-length ratio categorize the boat among "moderate racers" by formula, but the real story is the 37.5 Motion Comfort Ratio and the 1.75 capsize screening value, which alone would qualify her for ocean-race participation under that metric. A fin keel and skeg-hung rudder complete the underwater profile, and the documented draft of about 6.76 to 7.06 feet dependent on load means she can only enter major marinas — a constraint baked into the design's offshore bias rather than a compromise.
Rig and Handling
The Taswell 50 is built with a cutter rig, and the documented sheet dimensions tell you something about the scale of her control systems: jib and genoa sheets run 15.3 meters (50.1 feet) at 16 mm diameter, the mainsheet is 38.1 meters (125.2 feet) at the same 16 mm, and the spinnaker sheet is 33.6 meters (110.1 feet) at 16 mm. Those are long, heavy runs that imply substantial winches and leads suited to a crew managing a 1,100-square-foot sail plan. The Sail-area/displacement ratio of 15.05 is modest for the displacement, reinforcing the picture of a boat that carries her canvas steadily rather than sprinting in light air. Her theoretical maximal speed as a displacement hull of this length is 8.7 knots, and the immersion rate of about 2,191 pounds per inch means loading her for cruising changes trim slowly — a friend to stability, a foe to quick acceleration. The wet-bottom surface of about 688 square feet is consistent with a full-bodied hull that sacrifices raw speed for carry-through and seakindliness.
Accommodations and Cruising Provisioning
Ta Shing offered the Taswell line in standard center-cockpit layouts as well as "All Season" raised-salon variants with a secondary interior helm, and the 50 followed that pattern as a serious liveaboard voyager. Fresh water capacity is 533 liters (140 US gallons), paired with 113 gallons of diesel and a single 75-horsepower Yanmar diesel — volumes that support extended independent cruising without frequent replenishment. The 15-foot beam and 40,000-pound displacement create the volume for a genuine two-cabin-plus-saloon interior, though the sources here do not detail the specific arrangement beyond the center-cockpit and raised-salon options. What is clear is that the boat was conceived for couples or families undertaking long passages, not for regatta fleets, and the provisioning numbers back that intent more concretely than any marketing line could.
Known Issues
The available authority extracts for the Taswell 50 are notably thin on documented defects — no structural cracking, rigging failures, or systemic osmotic problems are recorded. The one operational caveat that surfaces is the draft-dependent marina access limitation already noted: at 6.76 to 7.06 feet loaded, she is excluded from shallow anchorages and smaller harbors by design. Beyond that, the vinylester outer laminate suggests the builder anticipated blister risk and addressed it proactively, and the balsa-cored deck with plywood reinforcement at hardware points is a known maintenance area for any owner to monitor for core saturation, though no specific failure is documented for this model.
Refits and Ownership
Ownership of a Taswell 50 means stewarding a Lloyd's-spec solid-GRP hull with a vinylester barrier and a thru-bolted deck joint — systems that reward inspection rather than apology. The cutter rig's long sheet runs and 16 mm diameters mean replacement rigging is a non-trivial investment scaled to the boat, and the 75-horsepower Yanmar singles the propulsion question to one well-supported channel. The raised-salon "All Season" variant adds an interior helm for colder-climate watch-keeping, a useful refit-reference point for buyers comparing configurations. No generation-span or production-end claim appears in the sources beyond the late-nineties design date, so the boat should be read as a Dixon-designed Ta Shing product of that era without inferred successor or termination narrative.
The Verdict
The Taswell 50 is a Dixon-designed, Lloyd's-spec heavy cruiser whose numbers — 29% ballast ratio, 37.5 comfort ratio, 1.75 capsize screen — describe a stable, ocean-minded vessel rather than a coastal sprinter. Her construction is conservative and her provisioning generous, and the absence of documented systemic defects in the authority extracts is itself a quiet endorsement of the build.
Pros
- Hand-laid solid fibreglass hull to Lloyd's specs with vinylester blister resistance
- 40,000 lb displacement and 11,500 lb lead ballast yield high Motion Comfort (37.5) and capsize screen (1.75)
- 140-gallon water and 113-gallon diesel capacity support long independent cruising
- Cutter rig with documented heavy sheet runs suited to managed offshore work
Cons
- Draft of 6.76–7.06 ft limits access to minor marinas and shallow anchorages
- Moderate SA/D (15.05) and DL-ratio 242 favor stability over light-air acceleration
- Balsa-cored deck requires vigilant core-health monitoring at hardware points
