Elf 26'

[John1234]

Originally Posted by Richard Woods

From my review of 2000 the first owners of the Vashon Elf reported this:
"The Elf is a 26' production boat, built in the UK by the Multihull Centre and also available in South Africa. We recently had a letter from a new owner in Canada "The ELF sails like a dream! We have had little cat experience so have not really pushed the boat yet, but have seen 11.4 knots reaching. It feels great to pass 40' monohulls in all winds and on all points of sail. The 9.9hp Nissan is more than adequate. Overall the design is well thought out. Thanks for building such a great boat!"
AFAIK no magazine has reviewed the Elf Mk 2
I maybe maligning you. Maybe you are an ex-marine or US SEAL. Maybe you have already ridden a motorbike round the world. But most people are not that tough or have that much travel experience.
If you succeed in doing the trip you plan (in any boat, and I still wouldn't recommend the Elf for your trip) then you'll have completed a MAJOR cruise. Far harder than anything Tristram Jones did, for example and WAY harder than a non stop circumnavigation on a 60ft race boat.
I haven't visited half the places you plan to visit. But I have sailed to over 40 countries, including the USSR, Brazil etc and done a lot of small multihull sailing. Maybe its that experience that makes me say "I wouldn't do it in any boat"
I suggest you look at Noonsite.com and check out the Visual Passage Planner program. Several S Africans read this forum. No doubt they can tell you whether landmines are still a problem in Mozambique, and how far north you can sail before you hit the Somalia pirate problem.
Richard Woods of Woods Designs
url]www.sailingcatamarans.com[/url]

Im an ex-marine sir.

No I haven't had the pleasure of riding a motorcycle around the world, but I have put at least ten times that distance on them. Been to 26 countries, the majority of those 16, with the military, and have only 20K or so miles under a keel so I will definitely not claim to be anything more than someone that wants to get back to the water and can in no way ever compare to Mr Jones or any round the world race.

I am very grateful for your advice and I trust it and I thank you for your kind and honest thoughts. I don't believe I have the energy anymore to want to fight off pirates or sail into raging storms so it may be that a leisurely sail up and down the Bahamas may be all she wrote for me, but, I can always skip all the ugly places and cruise to the nice spots.

I did a deep search and it appears that Yachting magazine may have done a review. It was tough to find:

Multihull Special Oct 1991 p72-75 (4.00 pages)
Category: New boats
Author: Geoff Pack
Description: Onboard
Four new catamaran designs: Hirondelle, Ocean Twins 38, Tiki 36 and Elf 26

Scroll down a short distance on the page. They want $$ for a hard copy.

http://marinedirectory.ybw.com/repri...em=ybw&id=3828

[John1234]

Originally Posted by outside the box

Possibly off topic but attached might work....

OMG.
Not off topic sir.
Right on target.

Might have some questions when I look at it closer.

[outside the box]

Not a problem, ask away via PM as am not often on here, like I said in PM we have been on this project for over 14 yrs now and the result for our own use is exactly what we want, as for others use all is personal in the world of boats, compromise and weight are the devil. ;-) Our own yacht avoids the trailer to fold, but is not to far removed it just happens on water or trailer...

[John1234]

The hull has 6.25 feet headroom. If that is so, how high is the hull with the LAR keel included? Need to establish trailing height.

Also, how long and how high are the keels to the turn of the bilge and what foil section are they?

How wide is the cuddy and will it make trailering width without a pecial permit or does it have to be stood on its ends?

Outsidethebox I'll pm you as soon as I get some feedback from the trailer manufacturers to ask some questions.

[John1234]

No info on those huh? Ok. Gotta keep trying.

How about on cross connections? Does this particular MK2 model have round beams and then the cuddy sits above them or is the cuddy attached to the hulls without the beams

[Richard Woods]

Not sure who you are "talking" to now. Me or Outsidethebox. In any event I think many of your posts aren't of interest to this forum and would be better emailed to me directly (but no pms)

The 1991 report was before the first Mk2 was launched, so not of great value.

The Elf Mk2 has oval beams (mast sections) because round ones, although cheap, can twist and obviously are not as stiff

The cuddy sits on the two main beams which each cross the width of the hull. The mast beam sits into gunwale boxes to allow access forward

The whole Elf can fit in a 40ft container but needs a forklift or similar to move the cuddy. It was designed as a transportable boat rather than a trailable one

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

[John1234]

Great. I will put some questions together in my head so that you don't have to spend too much time sorting them out and I will write you at your e-mail. I'm grateful for the offer.

Well, i actually wasn't writing to anyone in specific and I suppose that no one is answering because they have their own thing going on, but thank you for taking the time.

When you say transportable, do you mean that the cuddy is too wide to be trailered and needs to be stood on end in a container? I think a wide permit is just a couple of dollars and allows up to 9'6" trailering width. for a couple of days travel. Thanks again.

[John1234]

Hello Richard,

I am the proud skipper of the 1995 Elf 26MK2.

I have not forgotten your kind offer and I will write you with questions next week after I have had a chance to float a couple of million gallons beneath the keels. Survey was favorable and sea trial was as well so it's time for a shakedown cruise while I think of a new name to christian her bows. I have an idea I just want to be test it and be sure before I name her.

Thanks again for your help, and everyone.

[Richard Woods]

Excellent!

I hope you have years of happy cruising in it

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

[John1234]

Originally Posted by Richard Woods

Excellent!
I hope you have years of happy cruising in it
Richard Woods of Woods Designs
www.sailingcatamarans.com

Ahoy there Richard,
Thank you for kind thoughts and wishes.

I have an observation which needs clarity. It could be me, but it seems that the vessel is capable of 80% windspeed.

I know she is riding light on her waterline, but is it advisable to perhaps temporarily set all canvas to 5 or 6 feet below the air draft as a starting point until I get a good feel on air speed to reef? I'm thinking about 16 to 17 knots to reef.