Historical multihulls

[Corley]

How big is the rig on biscuits cantreau 4 it looks like one of the big lake rigs 85'? I was planning a much more conservative rig for my Formula 40 tri project somewhere round the 60' mark. I like the blade jib on BC4's rig though looks like a useful area.

[Gary Baigent]

It's a lake rig, yes, and 80 plus feet. Did you also notice the extreme depth daggerboards to balance out below, that cloud of sail above? All this stuff adds weight and high CoE, although this is a square and very powerful platform. May need another set of reef points though?

[Cataphract]

Wow multihulls have really come a long way

[oldsailor7]

Originally Posted by Cataphract

Wow multihulls have really come a long way

They certainly have.
However Lock Crowther had the knack of producing designs which have very attractive lines. He had a horror of boxy looking multihulls.
His Buccaneer, Kraken and Spindrift designs still do not look out of place among todays modern designs.

Back in 1968 I said to Lock, design me a trimaran which looks like a B58 Hustler jet.
Lock said "I already have" and showed me his plans of the Kraken 40.
I sold a set to Dave Green of Toronto, Canada. He built Kraken 40 #1, "Ringo", which went on to set a new record for the New York/Bermuda race in 1969.
I still believe the Kraken forty design is the ideal fast cruiser for four people. Great looks, a beautiful silky motion in rough waters, and fast.

[Corley]

Another designer who drew early trimarans that looked impressive and sailed beautifully was Jay Kantola not much around in terms of information on him but he drew some nice tri's. There is some brief mention of his designs in Richard Harris's Racing and Cruising Trimarans.

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme3/multihull/

[Gary Baigent]

The original Great Barrier Express, 1977 - Twink McCabe photograph
Last photograph of Three Cheers - Jonathon Eastland
French maxi catamarans Jean Stalaven and Credit Agricole - Colin Jarman

[Corley]

How were the early Great Barriers built Gary were they tortured ply?

[Gary Baigent]

Richard Pilkington's GBE (note the different bubble cabin shape) was moulded ply, two layers and the same, I think, with David Knaggs' Excalibur. Later they went production at Pilkington Boats in various foams and glass, same as the Turissimos.

[nzclipper]

Originally Posted by Gary Baigent

Richard Pilkington's GBE (note the different bubble cabin shape) was moulded ply, two layers and the same, I think, with David Knaggs' Excalibur. Later they went production at Pilkington Boats in various foams and glass, same as the Turissimos.

I have one of the early GBE's, it is moulded ply. Has been heavioly modified to have a plumbish bow and the the length that was cut off has been used to put step on the stern (to keep overall length the same) I reckon she looks pretty good for a boat that is 35 years old. Now called voom, but previously jubilee and before that lunatic fringe I have been told.

(Hope this is relevant to a historical multihull thread?)

[Corley]

Trials of A & B catamarans in 1967. Posted by "scarecrow" on SA forums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_uL4...layer_embedded

[rapscallion]

Victor t was a rather interesting tri that competed in the c catamaran class in 1969. In 1987, victor t's big brother adrenalin competed in the class 40 catamaran circuit in europe. The Gougeon brothers had wave piercing bows in the c cat class in the 60s!

The gougeon brothers also built Rogue Wave, a famous Newick trimaran design.

[Corley]

An interesting article on the first 14 years of the Brisbane to Gladstone multihull race.

http://www.multihull.com.au/site/www...is_to_glad.pdf

[HASYB]

I guess in a thread about historical multihulls you can't leave out Golden Oldies Multihulls.
For those who don't know, Golden Oldies is "an association aiming at saving the offshore multihulls who were the stars of the 60s, 70s and 80s and fuelled so many of our dreams."
Last year the site of GOM was completely renewed and a lot of information has been added.


http://www.goldenoldies.biz/

[cavalier mk2]

I've seen that article Corley, a good account of the early days.

[Corley]

Interesting video of Formula 40 racing from 1986. Link posted up by "northernrainbow" the current owner of the foiler "triton" shown in the video.