Port Macquarie - twiggy? trimaran

Does she have composite crossbeams? I'm no expert but she does look like a Mk 1.5. If she has composite crossbeams (and a beautiful interior) she could be JLS but that stern and ventilators make her look like a different boat.

PMing Oldie 2312 and Catsketcher could be a good way to find out more.

 

Thanks but how do you PM some one in ? By the way I am new to the boating scene ,,,, by composite do you mean foam filled with fibreglass laid over ?

 

AFAIK there were 2 later Twiggy versions built, for arguments sake you can call them MK1.5, the one with composite beams and furniture grade interior is, or was, at Lake Macquarie. The other had more standard beams hence the underwires. If it is the same it looks to have had a lot of hardware added to it, they need to be light to be effective.

 

For more information and some dwgs go to "Search" and type Twiggy.

 

FreeWilly
Looks like really good bones - love the round-bilged hulls (which I didn't have) and the sexy beams. Are those hulls cold-molded or foam core?
Good luck with the refit.
Back end of the boat looks a bit different - if you have any pics (from up above) showing the deck, cockpit, aft deck, they would be nice to see.
Of course the interior - would be very nice to see what they did with the layout.
From my experience, I'd suggest you at least consider losing the hydraulic steering. Too much maintenance, breakage, and weight for what it gives you. Was a PITA on my Twiggy. And when you do that, ditch the wheel steering too. You can also lose a lot of weight by mounting the rudder pivot directly on the transom by getting rid of the unnecessary horizontal plates and square tube attachment.
You'll never regret lightening the boat up as much as possible and moving as much as possible toward the center of the boat.
The outboard will work well (maybe better) mounted on a sled that pivots down from under the wing-berth - not sure how that might work wit the arrangement on you're aft deck -here's a pic of the standard setup. With the powerhead beside the aft deck it's a lot easier to tend to it when it's gets balky.
You can tell how overweight the boat is very easily. If the boat was built to plan - with the boat sitting in flat water and one float just touching the water - the other float should be approximately 1 foot (or more) above the water surface.
Depending on your venue and use, the radar and humongous arch are too much windage (as are the steps on the mast). Try to clean up the air drag as much as possible - you won't want it when you're trying to sail fast (drag goes up as the square of the speed) and DEFINITELY don't want it when you're trying to survive full gales/hurricane winds (trust me). Half width nets also work very nicely reducing drag. especially in short shop/waves

Please do come back here and keep us posted on your progress, love to see these boats come back to life


Cheers
Tom.151

 

more pics ,,,,

If you give me an email I can send you all the pics I have . I paid 12k for her and think that was a bargain , maybe worth a lot more when she is seaworthy. The last owner told me he spent 100k on her. Apparently she has done 20 + knots in the last owners hands as she is.

 

Thanks for the offer of pictures, I sent you private message w/ my email.

If the sail inventory is complete and they are in good condition then the price (for Austrailian boats) looks a good one.

She foam sandwich -or- cold molded?

Cheers,

 

Apparently foam sandwich floats (thanks Catsketcher) and double diagonal main hull we were discussing "Larrikin Spirit" over in the historical multihulls thread.

Also heard from John Basden on the boat

As far as I can tell it's the 2nd of the two 'Mk1.5' Twiggys built at West Pennant Hills in the mid '80s. It has the vertical bow version of the original hulls, before the bow flare was added as the Mk2.

It has the conventional box crossbeams, as opposed to the glass beams of the other one, and I think only two were built with that set of hull lines.

Both the 1.5s were 'laminated ply' (double diagonal cedar) construction.

 

I think I wrote some of this down before but here goes.

Larrikin Sprit is my friend Dave's old Spirit. She is a wooden Mk 2 that started life as Barbarossa in the 80s. JB might know more about her hitting a rock with a float bow and injuring the float. By the time she came to Lake Macquarie in the early 90s she was owned by Chris Cady. Her floats were getting pretty nasty by now and he built two new foam floats using the old round bilge floats as moulds. There is an old Multihull World mag with a picture of her at Marmong Point with only one float attached (the other was the mould).

Chris didn't sail her much when she was finished and she was sold to a friend who used her a bit on the lake (I sailed her then and thought my Mk1 would have been faster on flat water).

When I sailed up the coast in 2000 or 2001 I saw Spirit off Airlie beach. A young bloke was on it with about 3 backpacker girls and we got on really well. Dave sailed her for a couple of years and sold her. He could get some really good speeds out of her and kept her light and well maintained.

So I lose track of her at 2002 when Dave sells her. I don't like what the next owners have done. They seem to have had length on their minds and loaded her up as a 36ft tri. She may be 36 ft with all the transom extensions but she is still a Twiggy and needs a very light touch. I would start by selling as much weighty stuff as you can. I would also look over the stern extension and ensure it was built lightly and if it isn't I would cut it out.

If light Tiwggy's can be great but looking at the waterline at the stern I think it would break my heart to sail the boat as it is at the moment. Someone went crazy and you will have to fix their dreaming up to get her to do what she was built for.

If you want to get some contact details for dave get onto me at

philthompson67@gmail.com

cheers

Phil

 

Twiggy MK2

Hi , I just intend to use her as a day sailer or a short over niter and do not intend to race her. She will really be just for a lasy sail into the Gulf of Exmouth and snorkling adventures. She prob will just get a tidy up. But will prob throw off anything that is not really needed. Will keep you posted.

 

Freewilly, that poor Twiggy has to sail like a hippo with just its ears above water - looking at the antifouling and the paint waterline position on hull and rudder. Toss all that useless and weighty defecation. You will transform the boat and its sailing qualitiies if you do. Not only that, in the overloaded state it's in at the moment, the boat is dangerous.

 

BizzyB

I was the second owner of "Seabird", sailed it in Adelaide for many years, then around to Bateman's Bay, from where I sold it.
Just for nostalgia, would be interested to know where and how it now is. Still in Port Macquarie ?
Cheers
David

 

David;

Contact catsketcher; his email is given a few posts above. He is currently cruising so will take some time to reply.

I drove down with Catsketcher and test-sailed Seabird with him at the Bay. I clearly remember the way she slid through the glassy waters. Needless to say, he bought it and had many happy years.

Sadly I think she is now in Port Stephens in poor condition.

 

The one in Port Stephens (if its the same one that I'm thinking about) was sold on and the new owner was going to restore it. Even had a boat builder look at it to give him a budget. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he broke it up and burnt it.

 

Oh damn; when was that?