Randy Smyth's Trimaran

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Doug Lord, Mar 9, 2011.

  1. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    This boat is fascinating! Here are the specs found on SA:
    LOA-20' +20" sprit
    BEAM- 18'
    MAST-26' A-class mast
    SA UPWIND-185 sq.ft.
    DOWNWIND-337 sq.ft.
    WEIGHT-168lb.
    ----
    He beat the Tornado by 15min. this year in the Everglades Challenge!

    A sequence is here(scroll down) showing Smyth righting the boat with some help : http://www.catsailor.com/Steeplechase/Steeple09Story.html

    click on image:
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  3. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  4. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Thanks for posting this up Doug It's certainly a very interesting and quick boat of course Randy is no slouch either in the sailing department :D
     
  5. gypsy28
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    gypsy28 Senior Member

    1 person likes this.
  6. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Sizzor

    I'm really glad you found that-good to know the actual story.
     
  7. patzefran
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    patzefran patzefran

    Scissors

    I am very interested on this tri, but I have some concern about the data you provided.
    first, A class cat mast are 9 m (33ft) length.
    Second, 165 lbs (75 bkg) is the minimum class legal weight of an A class cat (all carbon).
    Scissors is a longer (20 ft / 6.10 m ) and beamier boat , with a jib and a screecher.
    I think 250 lbs (at least) would be a more realistic figure for Scissors.
    Perhaps Randy Smyth could say more on this.
    Obviously this tri is not designed to fly the mainhull.
    I would be curious to get some GPS performance data on it.
    Cheers.

    Patrick

    A class cat and Trimaran backyard builder / sailor
     
  8. Manfred.pech
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    Manfred.pech Senior Member

  9. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    ===============
    I'm not positive(I'll check into it) but I believe those figures are accurate. Look at the "20' (and under ) thread" * and look at the specs on the Ultralight 20 trimaran by Ted Warren-LOA 20', Beam 15' Weight 175lb(race version).
    Also in 1969 the Gougeon Brothers built a C Class trimaran that was just at 300lb and it beat all the C Class Catamarans.
    * http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/multihulls/small-trimarans-under-20-a-43650-10.html start at the end

    =======
    Here are the Ultralight 20 specs compared with a couple of 20' cats:
    NOTE-- I don't know about Sizzor but Teds boat is designed to fly the main hull and can also be equipped with ama lifting foils.

    Tornado Specs
    --LOA 20'
    --Beam 10' 1"
    --Sail area 236 sq.ft.
    --Weight 340lb
    =================
    Nacra 20 Carbon
    --LOA 20'
    --Beam 10.5'
    --Sail Area 279.8 sq. ft.
    --Weight 375lb
    =================
    Ultimate 20-race version(Ted Warren)
    --LOA 20'
    --Beam 15'
    --Sail Area 248 sq.ft.(+156sq.ft screecher)
    --Weight 175lb
    __________________
     
  10. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    --------------------
    Here is a post with accurate data-I know this guy and his post should be ok:
    (Here is the thread on SA-post #5 by "Adventure Tri" http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=101366)
    --- 26' A Class mast could mean an A Class mast cut down to 26'

    Posted 02 January 2010 - 03:35 PM

    Got to see it first hand 2 years ago, lined up on the beach next to it with a Raptor. Did a quick horizon job on me. Very high SA to weight ratio, and length to width ratio. In the last Everglades Challenege, Scizzors stayed ahead of a well driven Tornado until it ran into mechanical problems.

    I asked Randy about it a year ago or so, and he shared a few stats:

    168 lbs total weight
    20' long with 20" sprit, modified A-cat hull
    18' wide OA
    26' a-class mast
    Upwind SA: 185
    Downwind SA: 337
     
  11. Gary Baigent
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    The first A Class cats built in tensioned ply, way back in the 1960's-70's weighed 75 kgs - no exotics ... but their masts were lower; it is only the last couple of decade or so that the rigs have reached around 31 feet.
    Your 9 metre mast height figure is actually less then 30 feet, not 33 as you have it.
     
  12. Ilan Voyager
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    Ilan Voyager Senior Member

    Tornadoes and Class A are made for lasting years of competition, specially Tornadoes that are able to sail in strong winds and harsh seas without breaking. So the scantlings are happily not the same as of Scissors.

    Scissor is made just for one person in rather light conditions so it has minimal volumes with minimal scantlings. It's an option. However the number of DNF shows that the scantlings are truly minimal...mostly a lot of foam and a bit of fiber. With 2 persons in a 15 knots wind the wobbly (intentionally I think as it seems to have "independent" amas) structure will be suffering.

    The independent amas (like Adrenalin) may be a way, with some difficulties for dampening the movements or at some frequencies it can be frightening.
    We had a look at that beginning of the 90ties, and it was very difficult to engineer with a 60 oceanic feet. On a small tri is another matter...
    We tried on a 20 feet with oleo pneumatic shocks (by Fournales, a well known brand for bikes, motorcycles and planes) with intriguing results, we didn't went further because of the mechanical problems induced by a "hinged" 55 feet ama of 14m3 of volume.

    The videos are interesting. there are 2 very different amas which have taken a lot of volume, the are are now 14" wide against 8". It would be instructive to see this tri in race like the Texel against a ferocious opposition.

    PS Please, the Gougeon tri was in 68, a very long time ago, and made for very light winds on a lake. Always the same option light weather on flat water, like the Swiss lake boats. It's no more an actual reference,as the hulls are now very different. Just a nice remembering like the 1933 Alfa Romeo Targa Florio or the 1913 Deperdussin monocoque plane.
     
  13. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    ----------------------
    From p160 "The Evolution of Modern Sailboat Design" by Mead Gougeon and Ty Knoy:
    "Gougeon perfected downwind tacking in 1969 with his fourth trimaran, Victor T, which won the North American Multihull Championship that summer in Hamilton, Ontario.
    Victor T, Gougeon's trimaran of 1969, is 25'(7.62m) long and 18'( 5.49m) across the beam, yet weighs just over 300 pounds."

    ==============
    Being built for the Everglades Challenge is not necessarily being built for light conditions , particularly since the boat is mostly sailed in the ocean. Read the link to Randy's comments earlier in Post 8.
     
  14. CutOnce

    CutOnce Previous Member

    Nor should being built for Hamilton, Ontario be considered a Swiss lake boat. Lake Ontario is fundamentally an inland sea, and Hamilton Harbour is a major seaport, with huge lake freighter / ore carrier traffic. Many freighters for the Great Lakes are larger than you may expect - the current largest in operation is over 1000 feet long, with beam of 100 feet and displacement of over 14,000 tons.

    The Gougeon brother's operation in is western Michigan, on Lake Michigan. Anyone confusing Swiss lakes with the Great Lakes should crew in a Chi/Mac for some education.

    --
    CutOnce
     

  15. Manfred.pech
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    Manfred.pech Senior Member

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proa_file/:

     
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