N3270 Empress

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N3270 Empress. Design: Red Shift, designed by: Robert Peebles & Derek Davies in 1987
Original boat name: Red Shift.

[Derek]

Red Shift was an attempt to make a Baggy 2 on a budget. The lines were lifted from Baggy2 but built in 3 planks. The resulting boat only displaced 475lb on the design waterline so sat very low in the water until some dynamic lift helped.
The garboard was extended as a bilge keel that ran the aft 8 feet of the boat, forming a sort of ragged chine that broke spray off very effectively at speed.
Occasional busts of wonderful speed in heavy weather didn't compensate for very poor performance in light weather.
My first attempt at woodwork, it wasn't a thing of beauty, or even very light despite having no thwart.
Great fun to build and to sail in a breeze. A complete nightmare in light displacement conditions.