The Tanzer 7.5 is a Canadian trailerable

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

, that was designed by

Johann Tanzer Johann Tanzer (1927-2016) was a Canadian sailboat designer, who founded the sailboat manufacturer that bore his name, Tanzer Industries, in 1966. Early life Johann Tanzer was born on 3 January 1927 in the village of Velden am Wörther See, in ...

and first built in 1977. The design went out of production in 1985.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 369.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

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, 2010.

Production

The boat was built by Tanzer Industries Limited in

Dorion, Quebec Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

and 790 were constructed.

Design

The Tanzer 7.5 is a small recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass, with wood trim. It has a masthead

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

rig, a transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, with an optional shoal draft keel. The standard fin keel version displaces and carries of ballast. A self-tacking

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsails ...

on a

boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfi ...

was a factory option. The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lack ...

in the bow cabin and two straight settee berths in the main cabin around a folding table. The

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

is located on both sides just aft of the

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

ladder. The galley is equipped with an ice box and a sink to starboard, with a two-burner stove to port. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

is located just aft of the bow cabin on the port side. Cabin headroom is . The shoal draft version of the boat has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 228 with a high of 237 and low of 207, while the fin keel model has a PHRF of 201. It has a hull speed of .

Operational history

In a review Michael McGoldrick wrote, "Down below, the 7.5 has a nicely laid out interior which features two full length settees on both sides of the cabin (unlike the Tanzer 26s which were built after 1979, which have a truncated settee on the starboard side of the cabin). Headroom in the Tanzer 7.5 is getting tight for anyone over 5' 9", and the v-berth only was enough space to sleep one adult or two children. One of the settees in the main cabin converts into a double to provide place to sleep a fourth adult...The Tanzer 7.5 would be a good choice for a small family or a couple who aren't too tall, and are looking for an easy handling boat." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "designer/builder Johann Tanzer tried to put together a Boat for All Sailors. He started with a sleek hull with choice of fin keel ... for those who want more performance or shoal draft ... for those who sail in shallow-water areas. Then he took the unusual step of adding a self-tacking jib on a jib-boom, making the boat much easier to singlehand upwind, and offering some appeal to the family learning to sail, who might be bothered by 'all those strings to pull,' while also offering a conventional array of other foresails for better performance under specific conditions of wind and sea. Tanzer also tried to maximize space below by using a raised-deck configuration with a bubble-like cabin added on top, giving increased headroom as well as more storage space ... Best features: Tanzer succeeded in most of the design ideas he tried to incorporate. Worst features: the shoal draft model doesn't do well upwind compared to conventional craft; adding a centerboard would have made her better."

Variants

;Tanzer 7.5 :Conventional fin keel-equipped model, with displacement, of ballast and a draft of . ;Tanzer 7.5 SD :Shoal draft keel-equipped model, with displacement, of ballast and a draft of .

References

External links