Ghost 13

Description

The Ghost 13, a sleek and minimalist 13-foot fiberglass daysailer designed by renowned Canadian naval architect George H. Hazen in 1973 and produced by Ontario's Tanzer Industries from 1974 to 1976, embodies the era's quest for affordable, high-performance one-design racing in a trailerable package, drawing inspiration from the International 505 class with its low-aspect fin keel and spade rudder for responsive handling. Measuring 13 feet LOA with a 5-foot beam and 2 feet 6 inches draft, it displaces a featherweight 475 pounds (no ballast, relying on crew weight for righting moment), enabling effortless trailering behind a compact car and launch/retrieval by a solo sailor; the strict one-design sloop rig packs 90 square feet of sail (my lar mainsail and jib, SA/D ratio ~25 for zippy acceleration), achieving plane-off speeds of 8–10 knots in 10–15 knots of breeze on reaches, though it demands active crew work in gusts over 12 knots. Hand-laid triaxial fiberglass construction with a self-bailing cockpit and minimal brightwork prioritizes durability and low maintenance, while the spartan interior offers a single thwart seat and flotation tanks for safety, ideal for pond-to-bay racing or instruction rather than overnights. Only about 25–30 hulls were built before Tanzer shifted focus to larger cruisers, fostering a tight-knit class association with regional fleets in the Great Lakes and New England.