Here is the link to an article about a new type of super-high-tech speedboat. It’s about to go on sale. And you can own one if you’ve got an extra $1,400,000 in your pocket with nothing else to spend it on :-)

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You may have played with Transformers as a child, but now there’s a serious boy’s toy in the form of a shape-shifting speedboat.

At the touch of a button, the Kormaran can transform from a standard speedboat into a twin-hull catamaran or even three-hull trimaran.

The 21ft (6.4metre) vessel, which is backed by Porsche, uses hydraulic rams to change into six shapes. Continue reading the Kormaran article at the dailymail website here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2950564/A-real-life-transformer-Shape-shifting-speedboat-turns-catamaran-touch-button.html

Smalltrimarans contributor Ian McGehee sent me a YouTube link to the following video. The builder of this boat calls it the “Endorphin trimaran.” The video is basically a collage of the building pictures for this boat.

I really like a couple of the techniques used to assemble this craft. The crossbeam holders on the vaka, for example, look pretty neat. It may be applicable to other smaller tris.

The boat’s builder-owner, Russell Maxwell, then emailed me and said he built this small tri last winter and then enjoyed sailing and motoring with it in New Zealand during the summer. Nice!

Anyhow, I think these pics may offer other builders some interesting views of the process.

The video’s YouTube description is as follows:

A small trimaran. Motor and sailboat.
A 3 h.p. motor.
A bi-plane sail rig; consisting of 2 un-stayed carbon masts, with wind surfer sails.
Uses about one and a half litres of petrol per hour.
Made from 4 m.m. plywood on stringers. Stainless staples.
with some light fibreglass.
Carbon fibre over 10 m.m. ply ; for bracket/ clamp areas.
Beams are old aluminium masts.
Foot steer.
One person.

Made the hulls on the car garage over the winter.
Sailed/motored this boat all summer. 5 weeks. Out nearly ever day.
The really pleasing part is that it performs better than I had hoped!!
Sails really well downwind. Bow is fairly full; so as not to bury down a 3 to 4 foot wave.
And upwind, with the motor and a centre board; it is great.
The windward sail is not fully sheeted in. Works more like a gib for the leeward sail. Although when you get a gust you sheet the windward sail in hard; this flattens the boat.

Have attached runners under hulls, so that Endorphin can be run up onto beaches.
Easy to rig.
Easy to launch and retrieve onto dolly.

Materials list:
5 sheets of 4 m.m. ply.
One sheet of 10 m.m. ply.
Some strips of solid timber- I used Macracarpa; a Cyprus pine.
Some 200 gram fibre-glass
and a small amount of carbon.
10 litres of Epoxy resin and some filler powder.
Some paint.

Weight: About 120 kg . All up Hull, rig, motor, foils.

We received the following from sailor (and frequent smalltrimarans.com contributor) Ian McGehee. Wonderful history and also some great pics of small tris from decades ago. And more about Victor Tchetchet (Father of the Modern Trimaran) can be seen here. (The links to the pdfs below are likely the documents referenced in the “Father of the Modern Trimaran” article in the previous link).

As always, many thanks Ian!

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Ian wrote…

Just found another really neat bunch of old small tri articles that I don’t recall seeing before, with some really good stuff related to Victor Tchetchet including some pics and diagrams of some of his boats and ideas:

http://www.ayrs.org/repository/AYRS016.pdf

http://www.ayrs.org/repository/AYRS007.pdf

Having searched for anything on modern updates of East African tris (and Tchetchet’s boats) and finding virtually nothing it is amazing to me to see Madagascar style planks are included in the ama shape diagram shown in the “indonesian floats” article, and the author directly states that Victor’s ama’s were a “modification of the Madagascar float” that planed.

And the “Jehu, 1957″ boat with the planing “melagasy outrigger configuration on a Tchetchet style beam” made out of weird 1950′s British molded plywood “surfboards” and an early cat hull for a vaka and hybrid hydrofoil/leeboards is just amazing and appears to have been a smashing success…no surprise since it’s essentially a mini L’Hydoptere.

I can’t believe I’ve never seen this thing before or that someone built it before 1958.

PS – I’m pretty sure this is the company (below) that donated the molded plywood surfboards for Jehu. Their story is pretty interesting all by itself as is their early link to Chay Blyth, who went on to become a big offshore tri guy… The Story of Thames Plywood Manufacturers – https://thamesplywood.wordpress.com/history/

Plywood Being Made in 1952 -

The following boatbuilding project photos come to us from Frank Jackson of Rocky Mountain Safari. He has an amazing way of building trimarans with unique, extremely practical (and economical) techniques. This one is a hybrid – paddlewheeler and sailboat.

If you don’t know what I mean then check out a couple previous posts here and here. And I also interviewed Frank here.

Frank emailed me and said, “After paddling 60 miles on Lake Powell, my wife has been pestering me to build a paddlewheel drive. I was going to test it by temporarily mounting it on a windsurf board. Well, it ended up being its own craft. I haven’t had it on the water yet, can’t wait to see how it rides on the water. Becky is excited about the paddlewheel, I’m excited about sailing it.”

I hope to get an update on how well this performs under sail and “cycle” … probably this Spring. In the meantime, check out what Frank has created (click on the images to enlarge them) …

Windrider trimaran sailor Mac MacDevitt has shared a couple of his sailing adventures on the North Channel of Lake Huron. (See here and here and here).

He has a great boat. It’s outfitted and ready to go on more excursions … or just daysailing. Reluctantly, a job (and location) change are indicating that it may be best to sell his sailboat. I received the following email from Mac this week. Anyone interested may contact him directly on his website, which contains this page with additional information.

Pictures of the boat are below (click on the images to enlarge).
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I just pulled the trigger and posted my 2007 Windrider tri for sale. Darla and I relocated to Chicago for her job and her one-year commitment is looking like a three-year commitment. And I am not getting any younger. We still have our house in Essex on Lake Champlain. I do plan to spend time there over the summer.

I plan to stay active in the Small Trimaran community. Always glad to share my experiences with tweaks and modifications that have worked for me. I have only the most wonderful memories of adventure sailing with ONWARD with other Windrider sailors out of Key West and on the North Channel of Lake Huron.

I set up a page on my web site with full details, pictures and links to the adventure cruising articles I posted on your blog. http://skyhighshelters.com/2007-windrider-trimaran/

Here is a summary:
2007 Windrider 17 – Blue (purchased new in 2008)
2008 2 HP Honda motor – long shaft
Black and white sails (main and roller furling jib) – with sail covers
Carbon fiber bowsprit with roller furling reacher (factory set up) and custom whisker lines with Johnson tensioner – with sail cover
Custom full-width tramps with fore and aft aluminum struts for outboard support (also provide spray protection).
Four lightweight aluminum benches outboard of main hull with non-skid – can be configured for camping on-board.
Instrument panel with integrated windshield and hand support for transferring between front and rear cockpits
Front and rear cockpit covers
Factory trailer – Offset forward mast support to accommodate bowsprit. New tires in 2014

Mac

The following article featuring a Wavelength 780 trimaran comes to us (again) from the newsletter written by the boat’s designer, Robert Forster. Robert has allowed us to share stories and info from his publication before (see here and here for examples).

This one comes from the latest edition (Feb 2015), which will soon be posted on the newsletter archives page at the Wavelength website. You’ll want to check it out to see other news, pictures and information … including Robert’s thoughts on a possible “Wavelength multihull business opportunity.” (See full newsletter and then contact him for more details).

…………………………..

A Wavelength Cruises the Kimberley Coast
by Robert Forster

Many of you will have read the detailed story of Neil Holzapfel’s adventurous 2013 cruise in tropical Queensland from Karumba at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Tip of Cape York and return. It was published over two editions in the trailable tri cruising E-letter “Doing It” in 2014.

Last year, Neil undertook a similar challenging single handed cruise in his Wavelength 780, XD9, to one of the most scenic and interesting sections of the Australian coastline, the Kimberley coast of north western Australia. The area is remote with minimal access to resupply and services, apart from the towns of Wyndham, Derby and Broome.

Towing the boat across three Australian States from Brisbane in Queensland, traversing the Northern Territory, to arrive finally at Wyndham in Western Australia, was a marathon in itself, a distance of some 4000 kilometres travelled over seven days.

The cruise was planned for the ‘winter’ months in the tropics. In this northern area, there is no winter, only two seasons, the ‘wet’ and the ‘dry’, where daily temperatures are regularly in the 30°C+ range.
XD9 was launched at the Wyndham boat ramp, which now sports a user friendly walkway and pontoon alongside the ramp, facilitating easy unfolding and setup of the boat and eventual departure into the strong tidal currents of the Cambridge Gulf.

He visited Careening Cove, located be-tween the Prince Regent River and York Sound, a site of historic significance in the early maritime exploration of the West Australian coast. Here, in 1820, Phillip Parker King had careened his boat, the 58 foot cutter, Mermaid at this spot to repair a bad-ly leaking hull. Evidence of his visit re-mains today in the form of an ancient Boab tree, carved with the legend – “HMC Mermaid – 1820”.

Other sites of historic interest were the remnants of the Camden Harbour settlement of 1862 – 63 as well as the decaying ruins of early pearling stations. Near Truscott airfield also, lie the remains of a World War II DC3, which crash landed at the time.

Neil’s trip was too extensive to fully detail in this current report. However, it may become the focus of a “Doing It” Newsletter story later in the year.

In brief however, Neil and XD9 travelled to the Berkeley River before moving on to the King George River with its ancient rock gorges and the spectacle of the King George Falls. At Glycosmis Bay, in company with a knowledgeable catamaran skipper from Darwin that he had met earlier, they went ashore and hiked up onto the Mitchell Plateau to inspect some aboriginal art sites displaying ancient ‘Bradshaw Stick Figure’ paintings.

In this general area, Neil was able to motor/sail up the Prince Regent River to the Kings Cascade Falls, a popular attraction for vessels that can navigate the river.

Neil supplemented his supplies by living on a readily available diet of fish, crabs, octopus and oysters, until he was accosted by a couple of W.A. Fishery Inspectors who confiscated his crab pots and booked him for failure to have a W.A. Fishing License! It did not occur to Neil that such a piece of paper was necessary, as this regulation for recreational fishers does not apply in his home State of Queensland. They did, however, allow him special dispensation to continue fishing for personal survival purposes, although he would still have to pay $400.00 worth of fines when he reached Broome – such are the pragmatic decisions of bureaucracy when the state’s economic interests are ‘on the line!’

The local wildlife proved problematic at times. On one occasion, Neil found himself being followed by a large hammerhead shark as he rowed his dinghy ashore, prodding it with an oar to dis-courage it from getting too close. Fortunately, Neil (and the oar) arrived at the beach intact. On another occasion, he awoke one night to the sound of a croc chewing on the rear end of one of the floats of the tri!

As is the way with cruising in more remote areas, he met other cruisers and the occasional tourist boat whose crew generously offered him surplus supplies.

Near a well known tourist destination on the Kimberley coast, the ‘Horizontal Falls’, Neil opted to leave his boat at anchor and join a tourist party going out to ride these tidal races in RIBs – a ‘must do’ experience if you are in the area.

XD9 finally arrived in Broome in mid July. After a rest, it was back on the return journey to Wyndham, this time a more direct trip, although not without its difficulties when he encountered strong headwinds in the last stage of his trip down the Cambridge Gulf to Wyndham.

Neal estimated he covered over 2250 sea miles during the course of this trip.
(By way of a basic guide to the area, the accompanying tourist map below is one used by ‘The Great Escape Company’ on its website to show some of the sites of interest that attract cruisers on the Kimberley coast.)

After respite and restocking in Wyndham and Kununurra, Neil then headed inland to Lake Argyle, the massive freshwater storage lake created by the Ord River Dam. Here was the opportunity to explore a totally different marine environment.

Sailing on the lake was mainly a sedate affair, in many cases having to move on under motor in the calm conditions.
Neil delighted in the large variety of birds and waterfowl, as well as the smaller and more benign freshwater crocodiles. While it was necessary to keep a wary eye out for dead trees in the shallows, he enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of cruising alongside grassy banks and gum trees. Although weather conditions were generally calm, he did experience one day when a strong breeze whipped up whitecaps on the lake, forcing him to reef the main.

After five days of exploring this isolated waterway, it was back on the road for the long haul towing the boat back to Brisbane over the ensuing week. On this extended adventure, Neil had obviously taken full advantage of the remarkable versatility of his Wavelength 780 tri!

One of our readers alerted me to a new production small trimaran from France called the MIND Trimaran. It appears to be a fun, versatile sailboat.

It’s advertised as being: stable, easily maneuverable, and simple (no boom, for example). It features a daggerboard and can be set up for either 1 or 2 seats in the center hull. And the sales copy briefly refers to a “igloo tent option.” (I’d like to know more about that).

The website is in French, but I used “Google Translate” to extract the descriptive wording for this boat that is shown below. One thing I did notice is the creators of this boat may have coined a new term – “minimaran.” (Thanks to Randy C. for telling me about this tri :-)

According to Google translate…

© 2014 SAS POLYCREATIS

Given our experience of over 15 years of sports trimarans, we decided several years ago to launch a new boat. The latter should be more powerful, easier to implement our first achievements, and adapt to all types of public and navigation style.

The Minimaran XL is then born with a sports version and a version of PMR.

Finally, in 2014, we are launching the MIND 15.0 (M inimaran I nnovative N ew D esign) that around a single reference, will allow to respond to all public and all types of navigation.

MIND 15.0 is the result of many years of experience in the design and manufacture of sport multihulls for a variety of audiences.

Indeed, in the 90s was born a small trimaran named Minimaran, which allowed all audiences, distinguished sailors for people with reduced mobility, navigate with ease and security, intoxicated by sensations of glide and speed.

The images below have been linked to directly from their location on the MIND website…

Click here to visit the MIND Trimaran website for more pictures and information.

John Marples has just released building plans for another boat in the Seaclipper series — the Seaclipper 13 (4 Meter) trimaran. John continues to be a prolific Multihull designer for those who want to build their own boat at home.

This boat will feature “swing-wing” akas, which helps make setting up the boat for sailing on the trailer very easy. And it can utilize a sailing rig taken from a Laser dinghy monohull.

John indicates this small trimaran will be ideal for 1 adult sailor or a couple of teens. But one really neat feature of this boat is that it be set up for either tiller steering (on the tramps) or sit-down cockpit style steering.

It should be a fun daysailer in protected waters. Please contact John Marples directly to obtain the building plans for this little beauty.

John Marples’ descriptive write-up for this boat is as follows:

This boat will be fun for family outings or a solo trainer/racer for harbors, bays and inland waters. It is designed for amateur construction in a garage, for those with little or no experience in building boats.

It features simply plywood and epoxy construction techniques from materials available from the local lumber yard. Full size patterns are provided for bulkheads, hull sides and bottoms, and other parts. A booklet on using epoxy is included. Detailed working drawings of each stage of construction are easy to understand.

The entire rig: mast, boom and sails are available from internet sources or from a salvaged Laser Dinghy (170,000 built). Trailer transport is possible using an inexpensive kit trailer from internet sources. Other parts are available from marine hardware stores or internet sources. The Seaclipper philosophy is to build high-quality, functional boats the least expensive way.

The Seaclipper 4 Meter features a large open cockpit and a unique folding system to reduce the overall beam for transport or storage. Sailing in light-weight condition with a single adult or couple teens, 10 knots is easy to achieve. The retractable daggerboard along with the kick-up rudder allow operation from the beach and sailing in shallow water. An optional spinnaker can be fitted for advanced sailing training or just plain fun.

Building plans for this boat can be obtained from John Marples at www.Searunner.com

Naval architect Bill Kristofferson’s original web presence went dark awhile ago. It now appears he is back online with a new website. This one appears to feature both his multihull designs and his artwork.

This new website is at http://www.kristofcarvings.ca/

Bill’s K24T trimaran design was previously featured here on SmallTrimarans.com and also in the book, “Small Trimarans”. And you can read about the K24T on Bill’s new site on this page.

(Thanks for Alain H. for letting me know about this!)

I received the following email from Windrider trimaran sailor Dirk Uys a couple days ago. We previously saw Dirk and his Windrider (appropriately named SHREK) here.

Dirk is taking on the Texas 200 race again this year … and helping others at the same time. How so?

Here is what Dirk shared …

This year I will be doing the Texas200 again! Many of the “Duck Racers” in this event is getting sponsorship for Cancer Research and they donate their money to The Livestrong Foundation.

This year, I decided to research local charity companies here in San Antonio TX, and I found this gem of a charity organization right here in the heart of the Alamo City called SAMMinistries. They are taking care of homeless families and it was shocking to see that more than 50% of the people they help are children. So I decided to collect $5,000 and my stipulation will be to help 5 families with $1,000 each.

I was wondering if you might post my page on SmallTrimarans? If I can get a few readers to donate $10 each (or whatever they feel they can), it will go a long way. The link to my site is http://www.goShrek.com.? The “engine” behind GoShrek is GoFundMe.com which is a secure way to help people raise money online.

Thanks,
Dirk

Here is a Searunner 25 trimaran alive and well in Costa Rica. Neil Kahn is a multihull sailor who also happens to operate Kayak Jaco — a kayak and charter business there.

Neil found this Searunner on a mooring, in need of repair / refit, and has now incorporated the boat into his kayak rental business. What a place! And what a boat to use for chartering.

See for yourself below. (Click on images to enlarge). If you plan on ever visiting Costa Rica then don’t miss a day out on the water with Neil as your tour guide.

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Our Searunner 25 ASUHMA Sails in Costa Rica
by Neil Kahn

I began sailing at age 8, racing prams in the Clearwater Optimist pram fleet and graduated to Lasers as I grew up. The family started with a Venture 21, then an Irwin 32.5 and finally with a 40 Piver Victress.

All family time was spent sailing; all family vacations were spent sailing. I later owned and lived aboard an Iroquis 30 cat for 6 months.

Our Searunner 25 trimaran ASHUMA before we purchased her

I knew I wanted a multihull because of my familiarity with them and they are more comfortable for the clients. The #1 attraction of the Searunner 25 was that it was here and registered in Costa Rica. It’s complicated and expensive to bring in a boat. I also liked the size.

ASHUMA with the keel still attached

“ASHUMA”, formally “TRIDENT” was professionally built by a company called Mar Tranquila s.a. in Coco Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica in 1979. According To Max Soto, local sailing legend, the company was formed in the 70s and built a number of Jim Brown 25s and at least one 34 that is still here.

According to Max, ASHUMA is the last 25 still around. I found her floating on a mooring at the Costa Rica Yacht Club where she had basically been abandoned for 10 years. At some point the owner had not paid whatever he owed and the CRYC obtained her in hopes of creating a “learn to sail” program. That did not happen and then I showed up.

ASHUMA, had no sails, no engine, no nothing when we purchased her. Her simplicity was extremely attractive. When we fixed her up we intentionally left her with no electronics at all. I have always gravitated to simple boats, probably why I have made my living with kayaks and canoes and particularly here in Costa Rica where it can be tough to get supplies our sailboat had to be simple to fit into the concept of our business.

A Searunner was especially attractive as previously in my life I had the good fortune to spend a weekend with Jim Brown and I was offered a job with Wilderness Systems to promote the WindRider in its initial stages.

I never used her with the keel, as she had no sails, so I can’t compare the boat’s performance now against when it had a keel. But she performs beautifully with the centerboard. Very balanced helm under all conditions.

I cut off the keel immediately when she was hauled at the yacht club, as the plan was to tow her to Playa Agujas where I would work on her at the base of operations of our kayak business — Kayak Jaco.

Playa Agujas is in the Gulf of Nicoya about 8 miles north of the Los Sueños Marina in Herradura. We towed her right onto the beach and then stripped her down and dragged her onto a flatbed trailer and drove her 250 yards to our base of operations.

Once repaired and built to original specs with plans purchased from John Marples, she sails beautifully. I modified the deck layout since we opened up the cockpit as much as possible between the 2 structural bulkheads. So there is just one winch at the back of the cockpit.

Also of note, I installed the outboard engine inboard attaching it to the stern bulkhead and making a big hole in the bottom.(very scary). The centerboard has worked flawlessly since installed. It floats up and has to be pulled down.

After numerous fancy systems to curb water flow in the cockpit I now don’t put the board straight down and use a “noodle” foam tube toy for pools to fill the slot with the board down. This gives me a bone dry cockpit. Having access to the engine from inside the cockpit has proven to be invaluable in its convenience when working as a solo captain with tourists on board.

Another modification to the Original Searunner 25 was adding a stainless steel structure to the top of the rudder so that I could attach a direct tiller to the rudder, allowing me to leave the cockpit open for our clients. While our tour limit is 6 clients I have had 8 people seated in the cockpit. On most tours the clients never even step in the cockpit, as the nets all around the boat are so comfortable.

Over about 6 months time:
We got her ready to work…

• 1. Remove keel and install centerboard
• 2. Install outboard — inboard
• 3. New Crossbeams
• 4. Cockpit extension
• 5. Nets all around
• 6. Sails, rigging, bimini top, etc, etc, etc, etc.

ASHUMA charters private only by the hour with a 2 hour minimum. The price is the same for 1 to 6 people. She sits on her mooring in Herradura Bay just north of Jaco Beach. There is a reliable water taxi service and “security.” Clients are treated to ice cold beer, water fruit juices and soft drinks, food, snacks and fruit appropriate for the amount of time they reserve. Snorkeling equipment is on board and a fishing rod for trolling.

How have our customers enjoyed the Searunner? Here is a link to our TripAdvisor reviews: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g309271-d1234079-r197482792-Kayak_Jaco-Jaco_Province_of_Puntarenas.html#REVIEWS

Customers love the boat. It’s extremely comfortable and close to the water. They are able to dangle their feet over the front trampolines and have them drag in the water. Unlike many commercial sailing tours that are a motor boat with a fake sail. We sail ASHUMA and they like that its private. Any client who wants the helm is free to take it.

The most amazing days onboard have been days when we have gotten close to humpback whales, pilot whales etc. Also, just a month ago, my son and I took the boat and spent the night on board. Sleeping on the nets is so comfortable and we must have seen 200 shooting stars.

I discovered the Viroga sailing kayak this past week while reading this page on the Kayarchy website. (The images shown here are linked to directly from the Viroga website).

This boat features just one crossbeam instead of two. And the crossbeam can be removed in order to convert it into a standard paddling kayak. But I think one of the really interesting features of this boat is the sail rig. The shrouds and mainsheet simply lift the sail up into place and also allow it to be collapsed and folded when the sailor is finished using it.

Pretty neat.

The following short description comes from the Viroga website:
Viroga is an innovative sailing kayak with excellent paddling and sailing performance. Viroga is modular in design and consists of a fast multi-sport kayak with two outriggers and a folding rig for frequent sailing to paddling transitions.

Click here to check out the Viroga photo gallery page.

Not everyone wants to build the parts in order to create a small outrigger. Below are some pre-fabricated outriggers and sail rigs that can be attached to a standard canoe in order to make it an outrigger sailing canoe.

I regard these parts as expensive (in terms of dollars). But the trade off is that if someone doesn’t have tools or want to spend time building then they may be willing to spend a few bucks on parts like the ones found at Easy Rider Kayaks.

You can find outriggers of various sizes at their website on this page.

And you will find various sail rigs for canoes at their website on this page.

I found their website a neat place for some interesting ideas about how to outfit a boat. If you’ve got some favorite vendor or business that provide similar resources then please share them with us below :-)

Snapshot of a completed Wa’apa double outrigger canoe on Gary Dierking’s blog

Building the boat in sections like this will theoretically give me 2 boats in one — 16′ and 24′ outrigger sailing canoes. All I have to do is build the center 8-foot section, another set of crossbeams and bigger amas in order to make it a 24′ boat. It’ll be nice to swap out pieces whenever I want in order to sail the smaller or larger version on any given day.

One of the things I really desire this boat to have are self-bailing footwells. They’ll be constructed based on the drawings found in the Tamanu building plans, which I have also.

Wa’apa rudder control

Speaking of bigger amas…

The plan is to build those using the Styrofoam / glass method Gary shows how to do both in his book and on his blog so they’re as light as possible. I now seem to gravitate towards anything that keeps overall boat weight down.

The smaller amas (for the 16′ version) currently being constructed are plywood, based on the specs taken directly from Gary’s book. I was originally planning on building them out of PVC pipe for convenience sake, which is also an option Gary has used.

Wa’apa rudder, all shaped up

Crossbeams for amas still need final shaping up

Leeboard is just about finished … the shaping part anyway

Frames for the vaka center hull

One of the 4 center hull panels, which will wrap around the frames in order to construct the vaka

Here is a video depicting some Wa’apa fun (although as a single outrigger) with sailors in Nicaragua…

This isn’t Mike’s boat; it’s a picture of another Traik under sail

Mike’s email is below if anyone is interested in purchasing this boat.

……………………….

I’ve owned the original Mark I triak (hydrofoils on the amas), the Adventure Island Single Mark I, the Adventure Island Tandem, the Mark II Triak, and will have a Mark II Adventure Island Single within a month. My original trimaran, a long time ago, was Amistad, the cut down 25.5′ version of Arthur Piver’s last “Dart” racing design.

I’m moving from a Mark II Triak that I have improved in various ways to the second version of the Hobie Adventure Island Single. Reason for moving is that mostly I have to sail on smaller lakes with hills around them and the turbulent winds don’t allow me to get the best out of the triak with it’s reaching spinnaker. Also I like pedaling better than paddeling.

Anyway, I probably have the only Triak anywhere in the Northeast US. Here’s some info on my own website … http://www.reddyworks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=213&Itemid=282

In some respects my Triak is better than the production version. The rudder mount is stronger and rudder hold down line is also improved.

The following comes from the boat’s sales page on Mike’s website (click on the images to enlarge them…

This is a great boat for sailing or paddling, either expedition style or just fun. It carries a roller furling mainsail and a flat spinnaker cut for reaching which launches and retrieves from a snuffer you can see above in the picture. It’s a blast to sail or paddle, assembles easily, is very light and can be car topped in a jiffy. Capable while sailing of 9-12 knot speeds in a moderate breeze.

Wings and floats create great stability. Roller furling main means you can reef the sail down instantly in stronger winds. Serious daggerboard takes you to windward quite well and helps the boat tack into the wind pretty well once you get used to it. Sailing and paddling moves you along like a dream and gets you some exercise.
I love this boat. Am selling it only because I think the Hobie Adventure Island Mark II suits the winds and waters I have quick access to a bit better. By the way, I’m 6′ 2″, 200 pounds and I’m quite comfortable in the cockpit. The seat is an adjustable bucket seat raised about 4″ above the inner hull.

I totally redesigned and rebuilt the rudder mount, beefed up various fittings, created a masthead wind indicator, and more… I also have a jib you can use in place of the spinnaker, and the carrying cases for the floats, mast, and wing. You get it all ready to launch… :-)

Anyone interested in this boat can get him touch with him via his email address: michael AT reddyworks.com

___________________________

The following article featuring a Wavelength 780 trimaran comes to us (again) from the newsletter written by the boat’s designer, Robert Forster. Robert has allowed us to share stories and info from his publication before (see here and here for examples).

This one comes from the latest edition (Feb 2015), which will soon be posted on the newsletter archives page at the Wavelength website. You’ll want to check it out to see other news, pictures and information … including Robert’s thoughts on a possible “Wavelength multihull business opportunity.” (See full newsletter and then contact him for more details).

…………………………..

A Wavelength Cruises the Kimberley Coast
by Robert Forster

Many of you will have read the detailed story of Neil Holzapfel’s adventurous 2013 cruise in tropical Queensland from Karumba at the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Tip of Cape York and return. It was published over two editions in the trailable tri cruising E-letter “Doing It” in 2014.

Last year, Neil undertook a similar challenging single handed cruise in his Wavelength 780, XD9, to one of the most scenic and interesting sections of the Australian coastline, the Kimberley coast of north western Australia. The area is remote with minimal access to resupply and services, apart from the towns of Wyndham, Derby and Broome.

Towing the boat across three Australian States from Brisbane in Queensland, traversing the Northern Territory, to arrive finally at Wyndham in Western Australia, was a marathon in itself, a distance of some 4000 kilometres travelled over seven days.

The cruise was planned for the ‘winter’ months in the tropics. In this northern area, there is no winter, only two seasons, the ‘wet’ and the ‘dry’, where daily temperatures are regularly in the 30°C+ range.
XD9 was launched at the Wyndham boat ramp, which now sports a user friendly walkway and pontoon alongside the ramp, facilitating easy unfolding and setup of the boat and eventual departure into the strong tidal currents of the Cambridge Gulf.

He visited Careening Cove, located be-tween the Prince Regent River and York Sound, a site of historic significance in the early maritime exploration of the West Australian coast. Here, in 1820, Phillip Parker King had careened his boat, the 58 foot cutter, Mermaid at this spot to repair a bad-ly leaking hull. Evidence of his visit re-mains today in the form of an ancient Boab tree, carved with the legend – “HMC Mermaid – 1820”.

Other sites of historic interest were the remnants of the Camden Harbour settlement of 1862 – 63 as well as the decaying ruins of early pearling stations. Near Truscott airfield also, lie the remains of a World War II DC3, which crash landed at the time.

Neil’s trip was too extensive to fully detail in this current report. However, it may become the focus of a “Doing It” Newsletter story later in the year.

In brief however, Neil and XD9 travelled to the Berkeley River before moving on to the King George River with its ancient rock gorges and the spectacle of the King George Falls. At Glycosmis Bay, in company with a knowledgeable catamaran skipper from Darwin that he had met earlier, they went ashore and hiked up onto the Mitchell Plateau to inspect some aboriginal art sites displaying ancient ‘Bradshaw Stick Figure’ paintings.

In this general area, Neil was able to motor/sail up the Prince Regent River to the Kings Cascade Falls, a popular attraction for vessels that can navigate the river.

Neil supplemented his supplies by living on a readily available diet of fish, crabs, octopus and oysters, until he was accosted by a couple of W.A. Fishery Inspectors who confiscated his crab pots and booked him for failure to have a W.A. Fishing License! It did not occur to Neil that such a piece of paper was necessary, as this regulation for recreational fishers does not apply in his home State of Queensland. They did, however, allow him special dispensation to continue fishing for personal survival purposes, although he would still have to pay $400.00 worth of fines when he reached Broome – such are the pragmatic decisions of bureaucracy when the state’s economic interests are ‘on the line!’

The local wildlife proved problematic at times. On one occasion, Neil found himself being followed by a large hammerhead shark as he rowed his dinghy ashore, prodding it with an oar to dis-courage it from getting too close. Fortunately, Neil (and the oar) arrived at the beach intact. On another occasion, he awoke one night to the sound of a croc chewing on the rear end of one of the floats of the tri!

As is the way with cruising in more remote areas, he met other cruisers and the occasional tourist boat whose crew generously offered him surplus supplies.

Near a well known tourist destination on the Kimberley coast, the ‘Horizontal Falls’, Neil opted to leave his boat at anchor and join a tourist party going out to ride these tidal races in RIBs – a ‘must do’ experience if you are in the area.

XD9 finally arrived in Broome in mid July. After a rest, it was back on the return journey to Wyndham, this time a more direct trip, although not without its difficulties when he encountered strong headwinds in the last stage of his trip down the Cambridge Gulf to Wyndham.

Neal estimated he covered over 2250 sea miles during the course of this trip.
(By way of a basic guide to the area, the accompanying tourist map below is one used by ‘The Great Escape Company’ on its website to show some of the sites of interest that attract cruisers on the Kimberley coast.)

After respite and restocking in Wyndham and Kununurra, Neil then headed inland to Lake Argyle, the massive freshwater storage lake created by the Ord River Dam. Here was the opportunity to explore a totally different marine environment.

Sailing on the lake was mainly a sedate affair, in many cases having to move on under motor in the calm conditions.
Neil delighted in the large variety of birds and waterfowl, as well as the smaller and more benign freshwater crocodiles. While it was necessary to keep a wary eye out for dead trees in the shallows, he enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of cruising alongside grassy banks and gum trees. Although weather conditions were generally calm, he did experience one day when a strong breeze whipped up whitecaps on the lake, forcing him to reef the main.

After five days of exploring this isolated waterway, it was back on the road for the long haul towing the boat back to Brisbane over the ensuing week. On this extended adventure, Neil had obviously taken full advantage of the remarkable versatility of his Wavelength 780 tri!

One of our readers alerted me to a new production small trimaran from France called the MIND Trimaran. It appears to be a fun, versatile sailboat.

It’s advertised as being: stable, easily maneuverable, and simple (no boom, for example). It features a daggerboard and can be set up for either 1 or 2 seats in the center hull. And the sales copy briefly refers to a “igloo tent option.” (I’d like to know more about that).

The website is in French, but I used “Google Translate” to extract the descriptive wording for this boat that is shown below. One thing I did notice is the creators of this boat may have coined a new term – “minimaran.” (Thanks to Randy C. for telling me about this tri :-)

According to Google translate…

© 2014 SAS POLYCREATIS

Given our experience of over 15 years of sports trimarans, we decided several years ago to launch a new boat. The latter should be more powerful, easier to implement our first achievements, and adapt to all types of public and navigation style.

The Minimaran XL is then born with a sports version and a version of PMR.

Finally, in 2014, we are launching the MIND 15.0 (M inimaran I nnovative N ew D esign) that around a single reference, will allow to respond to all public and all types of navigation.

MIND 15.0 is the result of many years of experience in the design and manufacture of sport multihulls for a variety of audiences.

Indeed, in the 90s was born a small trimaran named Minimaran, which allowed all audiences, distinguished sailors for people with reduced mobility, navigate with ease and security, intoxicated by sensations of glide and speed.

The images below have been linked to directly from their location on the MIND website…

Click here to visit the MIND Trimaran website for more pictures and information.

John Marples has just released building plans for another boat in the Seaclipper series — the Seaclipper 13 (4 Meter) trimaran. John continues to be a prolific Multihull designer for those who want to build their own boat at home.

This boat will feature “swing-wing” akas, which helps make setting up the boat for sailing on the trailer very easy. And it can utilize a sailing rig taken from a Laser dinghy monohull.

John indicates this small trimaran will be ideal for 1 adult sailor or a couple of teens. But one really neat feature of this boat is that it be set up for either tiller steering (on the tramps) or sit-down cockpit style steering.

It should be a fun daysailer in protected waters. Please contact John Marples directly to obtain the building plans for this little beauty.

John Marples’ descriptive write-up for this boat is as follows:

This boat will be fun for family outings or a solo trainer/racer for harbors, bays and inland waters. It is designed for amateur construction in a garage, for those with little or no experience in building boats.

It features simply plywood and epoxy construction techniques from materials available from the local lumber yard. Full size patterns are provided for bulkheads, hull sides and bottoms, and other parts. A booklet on using epoxy is included. Detailed working drawings of each stage of construction are easy to understand.

The entire rig: mast, boom and sails are available from internet sources or from a salvaged Laser Dinghy (170,000 built). Trailer transport is possible using an inexpensive kit trailer from internet sources. Other parts are available from marine hardware stores or internet sources. The Seaclipper philosophy is to build high-quality, functional boats the least expensive way.

The Seaclipper 4 Meter features a large open cockpit and a unique folding system to reduce the overall beam for transport or storage. Sailing in light-weight condition with a single adult or couple teens, 10 knots is easy to achieve. The retractable daggerboard along with the kick-up rudder allow operation from the beach and sailing in shallow water. An optional spinnaker can be fitted for advanced sailing training or just plain fun.

Building plans for this boat can be obtained from John Marples at www.Searunner.com

Naval architect Bill Kristofferson’s original web presence went dark awhile ago. It now appears he is back online with a new website. This one appears to feature both his multihull designs and his artwork.

This new website is at http://www.kristofcarvings.ca/

Bill’s K24T trimaran design was previously featured here on SmallTrimarans.com and also in the book, “Small Trimarans”. And you can read about the K24T on Bill’s new site on this page.

(Thanks for Alain H. for letting me know about this!)

Slovenian multihull sailor (and Sprint Canoe) enthusiast, Louro, shares the following with us regarding a very unique small tri craft he is currently building. (I had never heard of a “Sprint Canoe” prior to him mentioning it to me).

I am amazed by Louro’s creativity and drive to both conceive of and build this boat. I hope the finished package ends up being a successful design and accomplished his objectives. He hopes to have the boat on the water by this coming June and promises to send us pictures of the final results of this building project.

Thanks to Louro for sharing this with us … along with his images below! (Click on images to enlarge them).

……………………………

Sprint Canoe Trimaran Building Project
by Louro

Joe, my name is Louro and I am from Slovenija -EUROPE. I am building my tri design from a “sprint canoe” for the main hull, and asymmetrical amas. This is a proto trimaran (not sure about amas ), but its fun to construct this machine.

It is 4m long — ama 3,2m, beam 3m, cca 100kg, sails – cca 10m2 (main+jib). This is for now, see the pictures for what is done so far. Now I am constructing cross beams and connections for the amas. I think i Will sail in June.

12 years ago, I moved to the coastline here in Slovenija (Mediterranean) so I started to live my dreams. Messing with boats, repairing, and so on. I got a 6m sailing boat and a I am working in a marina. Before that I was living some 200km off the shore. In my younger days we always went on family vacations on the sea with motor boats, and later sailing boats. Since then, I’ve been in love with boats.

I have been in sailing dingys, small sailing boats, surfing, and catamarans. Multihulls give me some adrenaline rush.

My first project was an inflatable kayak with outriggers and 4m2 sails . Then I started with this new trimaran and I now that it’s going to be a wet and mad ride.

The asymmetric amas will have small (cca120 liter) volume so I’ll have to work with my “ballast” in good winds. In light winds, I will have fun with my daughter in a protected bay.

I don’t know if it will be different from other tris, but I haven’t seen any small tris with asymmetric amas, so I’ve put a lot on my amas. I hope that they will give me advantages with sailing upwind and lateral stability.
I can t wait till June … but I am working on this boat in my free time, after my job is finished each day. So I hope that it will be ready to sail before June.

And yes, I promise you that I will send some pictures of the finished trimaran.