Reviews and Designs

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Wonderingmind, Apr 6, 2012.

  1. Wonderingmind
    Joined: Apr 2012
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    Wonderingmind New Member

    I am currently looking for circumnavigating trimarans for my father and his new wife. Looking to see if anyone can point me in the right direction as far as length and builders to be looking out for as well as any design layouts for these boats. thank you for reading and gettting back to me with information on this situation.
     
  2. Stumble
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Stumble Senior Member

    Why a tri? For long distance cruising they are very weight sensitive, and don't tend to really make better time than a mono.

    A more detailed SOR would be helpful in making recommendations.
     
  3. brian eiland
    Joined: Jun 2002
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    brian eiland Senior Member

    Interesting choice/ how old is your father and his new wife,?.... and how experienced a sailors are they?
     
  4. Corley
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Location: Melbourne, Australia

    Corley epoxy coated

  5. Stumble
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Stumble Senior Member

    I would point out that Juniper at 54' has about the same displacement as a Beneteau 38. Adding a typical amount of cruising gear would destroy this boats performance. Doable certainly, but why?
     
  6. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    It's not me asking the question I'm just giving an example of how it could be done. Maybe this blokes father is a keen trimaran sailor and is prepared to live with the reduced displacement? Quite a few multihulls have circumnavigated including a 30' foam sandwich Crowther catamaran so it's both possible and practical maybe the owners of said boats have accepted reduced sailing performance for the improved performance in other areas such as comfort at anchor and shallow draft. As much of a trimaran enthusiast as I am I'd question the choice of a tri over a catamaran for cruising as they have some habits which can be annoying to some people such as doing the flip flop at anchor if they have substantial dihedral and the reduced load carrying that comes with the trimaran format.
     
  7. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Trimaran Defense League(!)

    =================
    There are legitimate criticisms of trimarans as cruising boats-to some extent.
    Speed costs-usable room and money. But just for the record: the fastest sailboats on the oceans today are trimarans.
    I would highly recommend that you and your family charter a few different boats(cats and/or tri's) if you can to get an idea of what they are all about.



    Pictures,L to R: 1-3 "Serena" a 60' trimaran designed and built by Gene Walker(now called "Grand Oasis"-here are interior pictures: http://1cyc.com/catamaran/grandoasis/ )
    and sailed from the west coast of the US to the east coast and now in the Carribean. Fairly unique layout with a cockpit and helm station on each side and an inside steering station as well, 4) Banque Populaire-probably the fastest ocean going sailboat around now and one of the largest sailing trimarans-having just completed a circumnavigation in record time. 130'.....

    click on image-
     

    Attached Files:

  8. redreuben
    Joined: Jan 2009
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    redreuben redreuben

    Horstman trimarans tend to be love/hate as far as looks go but they are credentialed cruisers, have the displacement to cary a load and don't have any dihedral so don't flip flop. And would be closer than any as mono equivalents for space. Being a Tri the motion is a lot more pleasant than either a cat or a mono. They seem to held on to by their owners for long periods of time which tells me something but they do come on the market at very reasonable prices, I would look at foam fibreglass builds if possible. IMHO :D
     
  9. cavalier mk2
    Joined: Mar 2010
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    Cross cruising trimarans, Brown Searunners, Marples trimarans the Farrier 36b and 39, larger Dragonflys, some Hughes and Newicks are all cruising trimarans and of course Nicols and some Crowthers. I really think that a cruising tri needs some wing or cabin overhang bunks for sea berths to keep the settee clear. If you treat them like a airplane they're the only way to fly.....
     
  10. oldsailor7
    Joined: May 2008
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    oldsailor7 Senior Member

    .

    You have got to be kidding.
    A sailing Tri has just sailed round the world in the fastest time of any form
    Of surface transport ever. :eek:
     
  11. Stumble
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Stumble Senior Member

    I don't discount tris for speed, but all up speed is just so rarely a cruisers first desire it seems silly to me to sacrifice everything for that when most of your sailing will be between two relatively close points. Most of my cruising, even on a 8kn boat was less than two days a trip.

    This is why I originally asked why the OP wanted a tri in the first place.
     
  12. Wonderingmind
    Joined: Apr 2012
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    Wonderingmind New Member

    i would first like to thank all of you for your various answers and intriguing questions. I would like to get to stumble first, there paln is one that takes then from rounding SA straight to AUS. as far as time on the water, the two of them have been avid sailors for the last 5 years and he has been an avid sail for almost 20, on small boat and 5 on the big ones. they have tried multihulls and found they love the speed and overall ability of the style. I myself am a small boat guy (mainly due to funds and time. LOL!) though i have loved the multihull in this as well. to those that have sent ideas of boats, i would love to know where such boats can be found for sale as the regulars methods seem to be coming up dry. Thank you all once again for your insight and your time, may the wind be ever on your face.
     
  13. guzzis3
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    guzzis3 Senior Member

    We're about 15 years too late to be having the multi vs mono argument.

    Now to boats. You haven't said new or second hand. You mentioned builders in your first post so maybe your looking to commission a boat ?

    Anyway if your looking for new contact the designers, they can put you onto good builders experienced with thier stuff.

    Chris white has been mentioned. Here is Horstman's website:

    http://www.edhorstmanmultihulldesigns.com

    Looks like he's just updated his website. Hm.

    http://www.searunner.com/about.html

    will get you in contact with John Marples, and by association Jim Brown.

    I can't think of any other currently active cruising tri designers. Kurt Hughes ?

    http://www.multihulldesigns.com/designs_stock/52tri.html

    As has been suggested for long distance druising cats have largely squeezed tri's out of the market. Both have advantages and different "character" so it's your call, but if you do consider a cat:

    http://sailingcatamarans.com/

    Richard Woods posts to this forum sometimes. A real gentleman and VERY good designes.

    http://www.wallerdesign.com.au/

    Mick Waller lives a few hours from me. Never met in person but talked on the phone. Mostly timber, some nice stuff.

    Be aware there are some people who are fanatical about this designer or that, this boat or that. By all means listen but don't let yourself get sucked in by salesmen or "fanboys". Assess what YOUR after and get the boat to suit YOU.

    Also realise the second hand market is incredibly depressed at the moment. Lots of cheap boats about, less than the materials cost of replacing them. At the risk of sounding arrogant though do post here before you sign anything. There are lots of lousy, even dangerous boats out there which you really WOULDN'T take into blue water.

    A proper survey is worth it's cost many times over.

    If you want sources of second hand boats post again and I'll pop some up.

    There you go, worth what you paid for it :D
     
  14. Corley
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Richard Edlin has also done some pretty spacious cruiser/racer trimarans and is an active designer.

    http://www.boatdesigner.co.nz/reviews/bw2001.htm

    Another designer that comes to mind is Chris White.

    http://chriswhitedesigns.smugmug.com/CUSTOM-POWER-TRIMARANS/Trimarans/Hammerhead-54/10528211_w7RzJT#!i=739616003&k=piPQx

    The problem with buying a suitable trimaran is that there are relatively few modern boats around in the larger sizes suitable for cruising. Catamarans have mostly displaced trimarans as the cruising boat of choice (more room for a given length). The other problem is most people who buy trimarans keep them for a long time so the market never has many at any given time. It's worth doing a search on.

    http://www.yachtworld.com

    Newick Traveller trimarans are a good cruiser/racer style yacht that would be worth considering.

    http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/2005/Custom-Newick-Traveler-52-Trimaran-2238481/Tunisia
     

  15. warwick
    Joined: Jan 2012
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    Location: papakura south auckland new zealand

    warwick Senior Member

    another trimaran that could be considered is the french Neel trimarans. They appear to be a modern version of the 60's, 70's trimarans with full width accommodation on modern hulls and floats. the sizes at present are 45 and 50 feet. web site www.neel-trimarans.com.
     
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