The Thames A Class Rater is both a historic and modern specialist sailing craft designed for the particular conditions at Thames Sailing Club, on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at Surbiton in England. The class is a development of the Half Rater, which was designed by

Linton Hope Linton Chorley Hope FRAes (18 April 1863 – 20 December 1920) was a sailor from Great Britain, who represented his country at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Meulan, France. With Lorne Currie as helmsman and fellow crewmembers John Gretton and A ...

and Alfred Burgoyne in 1907. The rules refer to the craft as a

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

. The rig is lofty, supported by standing rigging and usually by runners, and the hull is a

scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...

with metal centreplate. All boats built before 1922 are made from wood whilst those built since are of a different construction. The rater is extremely fast, planes easily, and is a technically highly challenging boat to sail in anything above moderate wind conditions. It is usually sailed with a crew of three. Raters have traditionally commuted by river under tow between Thames Sailing Club at Surbiton and Upper Thames Sailing Club at

Bourne End, Buckinghamshire Bourne End is a village mostly in the parish of Wooburn, but partly in that of Little Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about five miles (8 km) south-east of High Wycombe and three miles (5 km) east of Marlow, near the bounda ...

Rater Development

Over the years raters have developed extraordinarily tall masts and high aspect mainsails to meet the local conditions, and catch the wind above the trees and other obstructions along the banks. Their sails were always large, but originally they had long booms and shorter masts, but over time the booms got shorter and the masts taller. At first they used the so-called balance lug rig, then the Gunter rig, before moving on to the current Bermuda rig. Over the years bamboo spars were replaced first by wood, then aluminium, and now mostly carbon fibre.

Where raters sail

* Thames Sailing Club * Upper Thames Sailing Club * Yangon Sailing Club * Regattas Mixed in with large fleets of other boats, the raters are usually seen at the following regattas with very tight, close quarters racing. *Tamesis Easter Regatta - Tamesis Club at , racing between

Teddington Lock Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames between Ham and Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. Historically in Middlesex, it was first built in 1810. The limit of legal po ...

and Kingston Railway Bridge. *The Bourne End Week regatta at Upper Thames Sailing Club (seen as the Raters 'national' championships)

Handicap

Unusually, for a class designed about a rule allowing wide variation in most design parameters, individual boats are handicapped. :''Handicaps will be determined by a handicap committee consisting of the Rater Captain, plus the fastest and slowest helms in the FRP"FRP" is used instead of "GRP" because at least one boat, Tara, is carbon fibre reinforced. Hence "Fibre Reinforced Plastic" and wooden fleets respectively, based on the results of the most recent Thames Championship. In the event that the Rater Captain is one of the latter four, the closest helm to the Rater Captain in their category shall also be co-opted to the committee.'' :''This committee will meet two or three times a year to decide the handicap of all boats.'' :''The overriding principle that the committee will work to is to encourage the older and slower boats to compete.''

The Queens Cup

Presented by Queen Victoria in 1893 the race is set to be nine miles with a four-hour time limit. The race takes place on the final day of Bourne End week and is considered the most prestigious race that the raters compete in.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thames A Class Rater (Scow) Dinghies Scows Development sailing classes