Hedley Nicol Trimaran Plans

No grammer police here. The wanderer's designed mast length is just a couple feet longer than the length of the boat so if it was any longer someone put in too long a one anyway. Check out the earlier thread postings for the Cavalier and Vagabond MK2 sail plans, the rigs are close to the ones used on wanderer. They use a 38' mast on a 36' boat with the ketch and yawl using a shorter stick. The previous owner of our boat moved the headstay fitting which made the angles wrong for the supports which we found out by dismasting on a nasty day. The good news is put in its proper place the ama bows didn't bury when pressed anymore. Study the proportions in the different rigs because Hedley really sorted out what worked best. My son and I have been doing a sailing restoration which means we have to be able to sail the boat every year. Safety and sail handling first which means the interior is just getting done now, the 1970 vinyl cushion covers are way past their shelf life! For us comfort is knowing the boat can handle any weather. We paint with latex to be eco friendly and touch up easily after the hords of sandy feet so we don't win any boat show awards but then we sail beyond the marinas anyway. To bad about the owner but at least he is telling you things now.

 

wel in that case the mast length may not be far off the right length. and just to make things clear the old owner is a very amusing old fella, and i tend to think most things he tells me now are based on his aging memory rather then on him lying to me, ive sat on the phone with him a number of times listening to some of his storys of live and what pops in and out of his head at the randomest of times, and as i said really put some time and care into the boat in years gone by, as age cought up with him as it will with all of us some day his doing pretty dam well to be springing up and down a 36ft mast at 89, and i can only hope ill be able to do the same when i hit 89 should i make it that long hahaha, so dont get the wrong idea that i dislike or am pissed with the guy, its more a frustration thing, oh and the mast im guessing use to be wooden ,as its now alloy so maybe theres the reason why he cut it as the replacement may have well been longer then the original mast, oh and my seats are all still wooden benches , but with some magic from the wife soon some nice softer seating for my now getting older *** to sit on haha, ito am leaving the non important internals to the last jobs, other then adding 2 new auto bilge pumps being added to the centre hull and wired to use in auto or manual mode, and the removing of most of the internal copper wiring thats falling apart, the externals are 1st on my list, to ready her for the 1000klm give or take jouney home, im just waiting on the wife to recover from her acident at one of the local stores while we where up woring on the boat so i can return as quick as possible to complete the work, giving the deck a anti slip painting and the upper hulls, till her next dry docking planed for 12 to 18month time, once all refit ideas have been decided on, then we'll strip the hull and repaint in a nice 2pak job, ok well time to get the young fella off to school, start a bit of work to warm up its a very cold morning and i see the sun coming up so im off to warm up in to, thanks for that info, cheers my friend till next time
regards
oh ps if you havent heard of predictwind.com give it a look its one of the best sailing assistances ive seen and now using, mention TOROA if you join up, there is a free version as well as a more advanced version,

 

Nichol Wanderer

Hi am rebuilding a Nichol Wanderer in Brisbane. Started out as a bit of a tidy up and fix a rudder problem - it had two when I bought it - long story. In the end I took her back to bare timber inside and out - reglassed with epoxy - basically rebuilt it with modern materials - tokk cabin and strange doghouse off and built new cabin with standing headroom and built dodger. I am a tri tragic - built a small cat and then another Tri from scratch but wanted to give rebuild a go. Just got to the finished 2 pac stage on the boat. I am rebuilding in Nichol's old yard at Gumdale, lots of history here. If anyone is interested, I can include some photo's of the rebuild.

 

Hea ! Photo's, lots and lots of photo's.
Long may your Big Jib draw, Johnny.

 

sounds interesting triwanderer, I’m planing to get back up very soon and have my girl down is bris, would love to see your fit out idea's and maybe steal one or two ha-ha, and I’m keen to see your dodger set up, one of the 1st few things I would like to get done and out of the way before summer come, and although I see an easy dodger to make the problem side would be that you couldn’t stand in the cockpit while the dodger top is up, or be able to sail if dodger sat higher then the boom, my plans I’ve scribbled up is to have a 3 piece set-up, part 1 covers the entrance hatch and is used as a spray deflector, part 2 will zip to part 1 covering over head for them hot shiny sunny days, this will have zip on side panels, for rainy or rough etc. times,(nothing worse then sitting in a wet cold cockpit for hours) and the 3rd part will be extra framing to raise the top over the boom to allow for standing, easy moving about when anchored in a fav spot, throw the dinning table on the football field oh sorry I mean on the deck ha-ha,
be nice to run into another wonderer, well not run into but you get my meaning

 

You can get a digital download of AYRS publication #55 from the AYRS in England that includes a Wanderer article with profile and sailplan + accommodation drawings. There is also a first hand account of the flight of Vagabond 1.I'm finishing up wooding my interior for the epoxy treatment and new interior install so I know the effort you've put in. Our lengthened cabin on the modified Vagabond MK2 includes a standing area under the dodger but in use we are just sitting there anyway and will make changes, the hard top comes off for a cockpit extension. Jim Brown's Searunner dodger is worth checking out on Outrig.org.

 

g'day cav
yes i did see jim browns, only i think he has a deeper cockpit, looked as if he could stand, boom to cockpit floor in mine would be 5ft maybe less, and fit out, well think i need to just sit in her for a few days and go from there, prehaps a moden look internal, or a wood finish, only prob with the wood finish is shes been painted fulling inside, that = a lot of effet to get back to a wood grain that may or may not be a nice grain after all that work lol,

 

You're right about the stock boom height, they kept it low to get a good endplate effect. Ours is higher at about 7 feet with the foot and boom of the slightly smaller main raised by shortening the luff. I've see wanderers done that way. When I recut my spare main I'll try it stock length to see how much difference the sail area makes. Don't forget to duck!
I'll probably finish the new seating bright but will go back to latex for the hull and overhead. That 2 pack paint is too toxic for me to contemplate. We stick to a workboat finish and skip the problems of yacht gloss, especially its tendency to show off the imperfections !

 

Wanderer rebuild

Some photos of the rebuild attached.

 

well that looks great, the engine bay I can’t believe the diff. If I could afford to truck my boat 200klm inland to home wow hats off to you! that’s very f-ing impressive triwanderer,
though your side hulls are longer then mine it looks from your pic also it could be just the angle but your keel seems longer or deeper but not sure could just be the pic, my draft if 0.7 of a meter, keel length I haven’t measured so cant say, but the rest is identical , other then the roof extension and the railing around the aft cabin etc.
I’ll up load some pics when I get a chance to take some good ones, you certainly have put some work into this, I love that engine bay and sorry my new friend lol I’m gonna steal that idea and work some of what you have done into what I had planned for my engine bay and storage area, wait till you see mine I’ll be embarrassed after that seeing how good that looks.
Pic of the rear cabin is somewhat dif setup, but could just look that way from what’s missing, in the rear enclosed bit you have there.
I have 2 x 100lt S/S fuel tanks in the rear section, which I intend to remove and replace to elsewhere, thoughts are to put one tank either side just aft the motor.
I don’t have the box on the left? An ice box I’m assuming, if not it has given me a place to move my fridge/freezer as its about the same size and takes up to much room in the main cabin for my liking, although I was also thinking of turning the aft cabin into a twin birth cabin only not knowing where the head and shower will be moved to in doing so. so still some thoughts and planing to go,
Pic with the drill and tools on the bench? A got no idea where that is, looks like the rudder shaft in the rear? Oh looking towards the motor from the rear cabin right?
Next pic is you I’m guessing mounting the aft cabin roof on, I like the extension height as I’m 6ft and my shoulders are close to the roof with my head fitting outside the hatch , now if anyone remembers when I mentioned the old owner telling me how he had cut 8ft of the mast off in the belief that the boat wouldnt tip over? anyway Well if I add say 2 or 3 ft of the mast and sleeve it on, I’m thinking only 3 feet shouldnt have the need for the rigging to be extended, (ill have to look in to that unless any one has thoughts) then raise my boom the 2 to 3 feet, allowing me to do the same only prob not as high as you have gone, yet is a little hard to tell from the pics just how high it is, may be less then it look.
I have a short P bracket on my prop shaft, but like the look of your set up.
Interments panel looks great and very modern I like it,
And what a finish to the hull she looks like she was built yesterday, hats off to you I for see a long time before mine looks anywhere near as nice but has certainly given me hope again with me baby, after spending now close to $20,000 over the budget that was set for the boat after the mishap and a few things found that were not picked up in before hand, and that extra $20,000 meant for the hard stand down a ruby bay and the refitting out and full outside clean up, I dare say I will never get to strip her back like you have, but then she is quite solid and only has a few chips here and there (ok maybe a few more then a few ) so I don’t think I’ll have the need to but surely made the finish come up great.
Ok question time, is she in the water yet? Or still on dry land?
All I can say is WOW!!! And that I’m not sure I like you any more lol jokes, here’s hoping to that if we ever meet, to us getting along with each other lol

 

Congratulations Triwanderer! You certainly have done a great job. The inboard installation is impressive, abut the nicest one on a Nicol I've seen, there is one on the Wanderer Hawk comes close. It is great you've been able to haul out and get it all done at once. Your hard dodger looks practical for the rain or sun, they do make life more comfortable and it will still have less windage than the average cat. Your amas are longer than stock. Hedley Nicol extended the amas on Vagabond 1 the race version, when he sold it and it looks like the same was done to your boat. They help keep the stern from squatting at high speeds.
Taow the stock stern layout featured the head in the stern cabin with bunks extending forward under the cockpit to the main cabin bulkhead with a passage through. They could do this with the outboard at the stern. Most inboards are under the cockpit but yours looked more forward so maybe you can work something in. If not I'd keep the head in the stern and have some storage. Some boats have put fuel tanks into the wing close to the centerhull but it needs to be done well to allow for air circulation and support for the weight.
Again, Great work triwanderer, I'll post some cabin pictures after the summer but it looks like next year before I get to the stern. Your keels have been deepened too over stock so you should do well to windward. What is the old Nicol Yard like now?

 

yes i do have to single biths that run under the cockpit, but has been used as a storage area and motor i have an inboard that sits to the front side of the cockpit and a few inches or so forward of the entrance hatch,and yes the head is a head workings to making the aft cabin into a double birth, ive always found it more comfy to sleep in the stern as to the bow, so im still keen on the double birth idea, but till i work out the head then the way it is the way it stays, i could put the loo in the side hull, lmao would look funny sailing by sitting in the hatch looking out chest hieght haha, its a shame its not a little wider on the NAV desk side a few inches wider and you'd fit a head and shower in one right there, it be tight but doable if just a for a few inches lol

 

Taow you'll need to extend the rigging, even if you're thinking a fractional setup. I'd add your extension to the base of the mast and keep the masthead fittings. Check out the fittings by Staylock and Norseman for ideas on extending the stays you have. It shouldn't be hard and you can reuse the fittings when it is time to replace the wire.

 

will have to look into it some more, ive seen mast a few feet above rigging on many a boats out in moretonbay, and i only need 2 extra ft to have the boom head clear, but i will have a yarn will allen when i get the boat into back into bris, no use wasting hes time till ive worked out all my questions get as much knowlage as i can, although ive sailed on and off since 12, first in the cadets and then on to small cats, little bigger day cats, hobby, murry, a few mates boats and our last boat being a 22ft boomerang, majic little things they are, trailorsailor and now my 1st tri as a part time live aboard, and once summer comes and goes, i should have saved enough to put her on the hard and spend a month or 2 getting stuck into her, i know how i want it, it just in the making the ideas and plans work with what i have, space etc. anyway ive been up all night sorting through boat gear and writting a prefloat jobs list,
one i might add that i have written over and over again and again lol , got to get it all in the right order hahaha, nothing worse then ticking off a job reading the next and saying oh **** i needed to do this one first then the one i just did haha later guys been very interesting chating, and im still amazed at how good Triwanderer boat looks, there are a few things i liked and will extend the new ideas to work from to bring my girl to my own style, want and needs, night night 1038am and going to bed, and its the first day its sunny and warm out side,
ps on a more personal note, my name is Alex, plesure to meet those here i have both Triwanderer and your self cavalier so far

 

it has been both most interesting and very worth while