maiden voyage

Woot! I finally go my Searunner 25 in the water.

We took it to a local lake at 4500ft eve. It motored at 7.5 mph and sailed at 9.9 mph, according to the hand held GPS. I did not see the 9.9 probably a GPS fluke but a saw a lot of low to mid 9s in gust probably between 15 and 20 mph. It was very gust conditions, with swirling winds.


She floats

First time I sailed her and I'm very pleased. Now that I know she sails well I will be turning her into a cruiser. When I get through with her she will not sail as well but compaired to the Columbia 30 we cruised on for a year in Mexico she will still be a race horse.


My dreams:

1 Convert her into a rear cock pit. 5’ x 6’

2 Extend one side of the center bridge deck 12", to create a 4' x 6' double birth. Doing this between the alma, mast, and shroud connections so as not to change the main structural points too severely.

3 Build a cabin top 14" high over the existing center cockpit. 8’ x 10’

4 Off set the centboard under the new birth side to create a easy passage to front head area.

5 To install a galley with a very small 12v fridge opposite the new birth.

6 Extend the main hull 2' aft. Too help off set the extra weight.

7 Off to the Bahamas.



You can see from this pic where I want to pop her out to make double birth, the area with the name. The area that I want to turn into the rear cockpit, is the single birth area.

Input is very welcome.

 

Congratulations. Looks like it will be a fast and fun cruiser. how long did it take you to build and how much did it cost you to get it to your first launch?

It appears the design is meant to be trailerable, so I would guess that any extra enclosed space will always be appropriated if you are going to cruise with it.

I have been taking an interest in multi hulls lately. Tell me, why would you choose a tri over at catamaran as a pocket cruiser?

 

Petros

I did not build it. It is a Searunner 25 built 30 years ago but it spent most of its life out of the water in a low humidity climate. I bought it demounted and spread all over a guys yard. I put it together in a couple of weeks, and am real happy with how she sails.

I was thinking about building a trailer tri cruiser but this looks to be a much better deal. I will have a very good boat with new electronics for well under $20k, and will only have a hundred hours or so in the rebuild.

I had a 30' cat for a while, but it did not go to weather very well, the interior volume was pretty badly cut up, and it could not be trailered. I thought about a demountable cat with a tent for a bridge cabin, but could not sell my wife on it. She likes the cats built like a condo but was not willing to go back to work to afford one.

Multi hulls are more fun to sail but not as forgiving. If you get caught with way too much sail up A mono will heal way over and spill the wind but a multi will break or flip.