With a 29% ballast ratio, fin keel, and skeg-hung rudder, she was conceived as a steady offshore boat with directional stability under load rather than flat-out speed.
Design and Construction
The hull is solid fiberglass, with outer vinylester layers for blister resistance. The deck is balsa-cored, with plywood reinforcement at hardware mounts, while the deck-hull joint is secured with 3M 5200 and stainless-steel thru-bolts. Below the waterline, foam-filled stringers and PVC-foam-cored floors give the solid hull its backbone.
An L/B ratio of 3.34 makes the Taswell 50 moderately narrow by modern standards. Loaded draft is 6.75 feet, which restricts her to major marinas.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The cutter rig carries 1,100 square feet of sail, producing an SA/D ratio of 15.05. Her DL-ratio of 242 places her among “moderate racers,” with deliberate acceleration rather than an emphasis on outright speed. Theoretical hull speed is 8.7 knots.
A motion comfort ratio of 37.5, over 688 square feet of wetted surface, supports the picture of a composed offshore cruiser. Her capsize screening value of 1.75 meets the ocean-race threshold.
Sheets are 16 mm. The jib and genoa sheets are 15.3 m, the mainsheet is 38.1 m, and the spinnaker sheets are 33.6 m.
Accommodations and Cruising Capacity
Ta Shing offered both a center-cockpit version and a raised-salon “All Season” model with an interior helm. Immersion is 2,191 pounds per inch, a relevant figure when loading the raised salon’s extra glazing and station.
The Taswell 50 carries 140 US gallons of water and 113 gallons of diesel for a 75-horsepower Yanmar. Those capacities supported extended cruising for the period.
The Verdict
The Taswell 50 is a mature Dixon-Ta Shing bluewater cutter with serious Lloyd’s-spec construction and offshore-capable numbers. Its draft and deliberate acceleration are the trade-offs for composure and load-carrying steadiness.
Pros
- Solid-fiberglass hull with vinylester outer layers
- 11,500 pounds of lead ballast, a 29% ballast ratio, fin keel, and skeg-hung rudder
- Cutter rig with an SA/D ratio of 15.05 and a capsize screening value of 1.75
- 140 US gallons of water and 113 gallons of diesel
Cons
- 6.75-foot draft limits marina access
- DL-ratio of 242 yields deliberate acceleration
- The 1999–2002 production run limits used availability
