“Have you ever sailed on Lake Erie before?” Fred Hunger asks as he maneuvers his new Tartan 455 deckhouse sloop from the slip at the Cleveland Yacht Club on the Rocky River. It’s maybe a quarter mile from the docks to the river entrance onto the lake’s southwest corner, denoted by a stone jetty geysering with spray. The boisterous northwest breeze on this early August day has the flags even in this protected boat basin snapping.
“Nope,” I say. “I’ve always wanted to, though.”
“Nice,” Fred says, positively bouncing with anticipation. “Oh ho ho, you’re gonna get a Great Lakes sail today! There’s some nice waves left out there. Last night, this lake was angry.”
Fred is excited because it’s only the third time out in hull No. 1 of this new model from Ohio’s Tartan Yachts, and it’s the first time he’s had her out in real breeze. It’s also the first time the boat’s designer, Tartan Yachts stalwart Tim Jackett, is on board to get a feel for his latest creation that’s been on his mind for years and in the actual works since 2019.
As for me, I’m thinking a reef would be in order—it sure would be on most boats I have sailed—but Fred gleefully
