Solway Dory Trimaran

Doug - thanks for your interest in my little tri. I've put some images here to avoid going OT on the pocket cruisers thread.

Solway Dory have made rigs, outriggers, leeboards and rudders for quite some time now, and are a very small outfit based in the English Lake District. They are leading lights in the development of open canoe sailing, and have a number of production sailing canoes, including the Osprey, their largest, a trimaran, with larger outriggers than the other models.

My cruising tri is one of two the two proprietors of the company made for themselves. It is larger than the Osprey, designed specifically for cruising the West Coast and Islands of Scotland, and the increased hull volume over the Osprey gives considerably more freeboard, and ample capacity for camping gear for two. The video that El Guero posted is indeed of the two ketch rigged tris, in the company of one of the smaller sailing canoes. Here are some pictures of my boat, Snufkin, and some links.

The tri can be carried a short distance by two people, but carrying it 200 yards this summer when I messed up the tides was a ball ache!

I really like the simple simple unstayed rigs, that can be reefed by unhooking the kicker and spinning the mast. The beams and outriggers are lashed, simplicity itself, but SD's new boat has a really sweet system using aluminium spars for the beams. They have keyways on, and simply rotating the beams to the correct position and locking them fixes beams and outriggers in place.

Does up to about 12knots in a fresh breeze on a reach. I fancy it is slightyl faster on a fine reach than a broad, actually, but that might just be me.

Comparatively modest rigs and high volume outriggers mean that it should be impossible to capsize in all reasonable conditions.

Really well balanced with the ketch rig - sails itself!

http://www.solwaydory.co.uk/

http://www.solwaydory.co.uk/products/custom-designs/



















And a great picture of the new Solway Dory Tri, from Solway Dory's own Facebook page:

 

Nice looking boat, Tiny. It would fit right in at the Everglades Challenge next March.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6opzzOkOjB0

 

TT, thanks for the pictures. I like the freeboard on these boats-at least on the main hull. Having designed built and a couple of small tri's(and many rc trimaran models), I think freeboard is lacking in many "modern" designs.
These boats look like fun!

 

Pretty.

When are sending some our way?