Tartan 4000: A Command Performance
Loaded with comforts, this mid-line family cruiser is a rock-solid sailer. "Boat Review" from our November 2011 issue.
The middle of March is typically not a time that New Englanders rush to go sailing, but that’s exactly when I found myself hustling down the highway toward Mamaroneck, New York, to catch up with Tim Jackett and get a look at his latest addition to the performance-cruiser genre, the Tartan 4000. Like other recent sailboats from the Tartan Marine Company facilities in Painesville, Ohio, the 4000 hits both corner posts of its design brief square on: Elegantly rendered creature comforts are encapsulated by a slippery hull and a power-packed sail plan that promises—and delivers—a seakindly and spirited ride.
I managed to arrive for our sail a few minutes early, which meant that I could take my time walking the length of the boat, beginning at the Delta Anchor mounted on the dual-roller stem fitting, strolling past two Harken headsail furlers, part of what Tartan call its Cruise Control Rig, then under the carbon-fiber mast with dual swept-back spreaders and a Park Avenue boom to arrive at the pair of custom-molded pre-preg carbon helm pedestals at the aft end of a very spacious cockpit. Those pedestals, I’d learn, were designed by Jackett with an opening where they meet the cockpit seats, allowing a 6-foot-plus crewmember to stretch out and relax. The seats themselves flank a stylish teak fold-down table, the aft end of which doubles as an instrument pod and the home to a small electrical panel that controls exterior and navigation lights.
With its dark-blue hull, a white, low-profile cabin, and solid bulwarks sporting teak rubrails and toerails, the many elements of the 4000 blend together with traditional good looks. And those many small details sprung to life once Jackett climbed aboard to discuss the elements he’s designed into a sailboat that sits at the midpoint of a line that ranges from 34- to 53-footers.
The first element he pointed out was the width the deck carries aft from the shoulders; it adds to the considerable volume below, but in a way that allows the hull to taper at the waterline so that sailing performance isn’t diminished.
