Paper Tiger 14 Catamaran
Description
The Paper Tiger (commonly known as the Paper Tiger Catamaran or Paper Tiger 14) is a popular single-handed racing catamaran designed by Ron Given in New Zealand in 1968. It originated as a plywood amateur/home-built design (suitable for stitch-and-glue or similar construction) and later saw fiberglass versions introduced in the mid-1970s or later for easier production and durability. The class has a strong following primarily in New Zealand and Australia (with fleets, state/national/international championships, and associations like the Paper Tiger Catamaran International Association and New Zealand Paper Tiger Owners Association), emphasizing exciting, close, competitive racing that's accessible to a wide range of ages, weights, and skill levels (from juniors to masters/grand masters); it's unballasted, features twin hulls with daggerboards (or centerboards), a rotating aluminum mast, fully battened mainsail, adjustable controls (downhaul, outhaul, etc.), and a minimalist, high-performance setup with no jib or trapeze in standard configuration. Production has been largely plans-based or small-scale builder/fiberglass molds rather than large-factory runs, with hundreds of hulls estimated over the decades (active fleets persist today), and it remains a one-design class with strict rules for fair competition.
Construction Details
| Designer | Ron Given |
|---|---|
| Builder | Home Built |
| Length | 14.000 ft |
| LOA | 13.980 ft |
| Beam | 6.990 ft |
| Displacement | 160 lb |
| Year Built | 1968 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | 20 ft |
| e | 7 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | 20 ft | 7 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Paper Tiger 14 Catamaran - MAINSAIL
| Luff | 20 ft - (6096 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 7 ft - (2134 mm) |
| Leech | * 20.57 ft - (6270 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 86.22 ° |
| Diagonal | 20.75 ft - (6325 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area | * 72.75 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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