Hartley TS16
# Hartley TS16

The Hartley TS16 (Trailer Sailer 16 foot) is an Australian trailerable sailboat that was designed in 1956 by New Zealander Richard Hartley as a day sailer and which later became a one design racer.

The design was based on a traditional New Zealand mullet fishing boat and was the first trailer sailer sailboat design built. Hartley later designed the TS18 and TS21.

## Production

Most boats completed have been built by amateur builders using hand tools in residential garages and constructed of wood. Construction time is estimated at 400 hours. Later, some were commercially manufactured of fibreglass over a foam core. The boat was actually designed to fit into a garage. Construction plans are supplied by Hartley Boat Plans of Australia. About 1,800 boats have been completed.

## Design

The Hartley TS16 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of wood, or of fibreglass over a foam core, with wood trim. It has a fractional sloop rig, originally with wooden spars and later with aluminum. The hill has a slightly raked stem, a near-vertical transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a centreboard. It displaces 794 lb (360 kg).

The boat has a draft of 4.07 ft (1.24 m) with the centreboard extended and 9 in (23 cm) with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.

## Operational history

A 2001 review in Australian Sailing described the design: "the boat that started the trailer-sailer movement, the Hartley 16 designed by New Zealander Richard Hartley in the early 1950s, still has good support and a very active class association in Australia. Hartley designed the boat for ease of construction in plywood with only hand tools by the home handyman. Although boats have been built professionally in fibreglass foam/sandwich, the most common way of getting on the water in a new boat is to build it in timber from the official plans..."

