Recycling Hulls, Post Yours

[lane]

I always hate to see old catamarans go to the junkyard.

Here is a pic of my "new" trimaran named "Tri Again". 18 feet of Hobie 18 main hull, with two 5M GCat hulls serving as amas. The boat trailers at 8.5ft beam and then telescopes to 16ft beam for sailing.

Now fully rigged with the Hobie 16 mast and ready for fitting the sails from a donor Hobie 16.

Lane
Attached Thumbnails

[Corley]

I'd like to offer some old mosquito fibreglass hulls to someone who would like to build a tri conversion or simply want to rebuild an old mozzie they have a pretty average timber deck but the hulls are solid grp built by blocky the boatbuilder and look unburstable I'm keeping the rig as I still have a mozzie I sail but if anyone wants the hulls they are free to take I'm located in Melbourne, Vic, Australia please pm me if interested.

[RHP]

Lane, do the amas float at the same height as the main hull, they look taller?

[lane]

RHP,
Good eye noticing the difference in hull penitration of the water. The outer hulls do have greater draft than the center hull. I always admired the G-Cat, and they truly knife through the water, without the need for a centerboard.

She sails a bit like a very beamy 16ft wide cat, and there is none of the typical rocking of the boat when on the hook. She sails flat and it takes an extremely high wind to get a hull (make that two hulls) out of the water.

The G-Cat 5M hulls were a gift from a teacher in Edinburg Tx. His wife was cleaning up the backyard and I got an email to come pick them up. The Hobie 18 hull came from a teacher in Houston area who also had a wife that was wanting her back yard back, another trip and my yard started resempling a "Used Sailboat Lot". I still have another H-18 hull left so I can always design another boat someday. Hopefully a good use for old hulls.

Question, I have two complete Hobie 16 rigs and am considering a biplane setup with one mast on each ama. Any suggestions?
Lane in Austin

[lane]

Per the attached pic, I am giving a four of July salute to the camera. This was the first trimaran I built. Mating a tired Lone Star 16 monohull under a telescoping Hobie 16. Beam was 14 ft with good acomodations in the center hull, and great tramps for sunbathing while underway.

The amas kept her sailing very upright, generating stresses that far exceeded the design limits of the Lone Star. Using the Hobie 16 rig, she was carrying 50% more sail than the Lone Star 16 was designed to carry, providing lots of speedy sailing.

Unfortunatly, in a blow, the rig ended up pulling the windward schroud out of the hull of the Lone Star and the center hull was scrapped. The Hobie 16 was reassymbled and given to budding sailors on Lake Travis outside Austin Tx.

[RHP]

Originally Posted by lane

RHP,
Question, I have two complete Hobie 16 rigs and am considering a biplane setup with one mast on each ama. Any suggestions?
Lane in Austin

Dont ask me my friend there are folks far better qualified to answer than I.

Sounds exciting though, wish you the best of luck!

[kim s]

designed middle hull with an old Hurricane 5.9 bought for £300 with no main and split rudder.
Uses evrything bar the cross beams
Rudders remain on the Amas. and center boards. No rudder on main hull.
14.5 knotts with middle hull flying, hard on the wind (f4) smooth water just before the mainsail disintergrated

[aussiebushman]

Hi Kim,

Really interesting - well done. Your beams appear to be ply that fold down? Drawings or more pictures of this system would be good - I'm starting to build a Trinardo from Kjell Nielsen's lovely on-line plans and am soon to pick up an A Class Cat for use as the Amas. He uses telecopic tubes but all ideas for folding arrangements are being considered.

Cheers, Alan

[aussiebushman]

Kim

Sorry - forgot to ask how she handles with the rudders and centreboards on the amas. Would be great if I can do the same with the A Class rudders.

Moderator - apologies if I am hijacking this thread - happy to start a new one if you wish..

Alan

[kim s]

Hi Aussiebushman

I made them from fiberglass but they couod be very easily ply.

o be honest I am not sure I built them strong enough as I did not get much help on that bit from the designer (long story) they have not broken but do seem to flex a bit much for my liking.

Once I finished my Lively 28 re-build we will go back and re-engineer them.

I will try and find some photoes of the wings folded up. very simple design. very similar to the Farrier boats but just a simple bar from the water line (ish) up to approx 2/3rd along the beam . un bolt the inboard end, stand on the outer hull and try not to fall in when they swing in
good game--good game.

I dont normaly fold them once launched, as it lived on a mud berth, so left them out. usefull for launch and retreval, but it was still to wide for uk roads, so had to dismantle to take home, so in hind site, not really worth it to me. (aaagh the perfect 20/20 vision comes back. complely blind till then----LOL)

If you want to start this on another thread it might be a good idea.

Kim

[kim s]

Originally Posted by aussiebushman

Kim

Sorry - forgot to ask how she handles with the rudders and centreboards on the amas. Would be great if I can do the same with the A Class rudders.

Moderator - apologies if I am hijacking this thread - happy to start a new one if you wish..

Alan

Sorry Alan--forgot to answer this question.

LIKE A DREAM

Tacks quicker than most monohulls. Feels like you steer the outer hull round the curve rather than dragging it. I have played with acherman angles and did it more by feel and speed than any scientific working out.

Best bit is you still have control when flying the middle hull!!!----done it a couple of times before the bottle went
15notts on one hull--adrenalin is brown

Kim

[aussiebushman]

Hi Kim

Thanks for your helpful replies. I'm delighted about the rudder answer as I would much prefer to leave the original A Class rudders intact and simply modify the tiller to suit the Tri.

I'll discuss the beam issue separately, so to avoid cluttering this thread. please contact me directly on alan.loveard@aspac-consulting.com.au so we can exchange pictures etc. Then we can decide what is relevant to add to a neew thread on this forum.
Best regards

Alan

[Delane]

Hi Kim,

That's a great looking tri you've created. And flying the Vaka,,,,wow.