Historical multihulls

I've never had a big boat, I always sailed as crew on "big" boats. Like said one of friends, we leave the problems to the owner, we take the pleasure of sailing. If we dismast, or destroy the spinnaker the bill is for the owner.

However in small boats I owned a Fireball (a race dinghy) I built and raced at 17 years old, two monodromic proas one of 14 feet Dragonfly by White, definitely too slow built in Constant Camber a tedious method, I gave it to a sail school. The other proa 18 feetx10 feet I designed and built in compounded plywood for jumping the waves at La Torche with the windsurfer fellows, I got it under 85 kg, great fun, some enormous crashes, the last one pulverized the proa and I ended at the hospital half drowned and totally bruised.
2 modified Tornados with spis, in shared property, built in group, used for coastal raid. Great fun. One is always sailing as hard and fast in the French way.
5 cats 18 feet with unirig 18m2 from 1984 to 1992, the purpose of these cats was to serve as laboratory for validating shapes, hydrodynamic and aerodynamic options in collaboration with a think tank team. Very fruitful results with lots of data, which were employed later.

Navigation in classic cruise not a lot. More with bit of racing as crew on monohulls beginning of the 70ies, I discovered multis and I got the virus.
A big dozen of Channel crossings monohull and cats, 2 Atlantic crossings while convoying a 20 meters cat and later a 22 meters tri all expenses and return paid plus wages, with nice weather, good wines and beautiful girls. The dream for the holidays. The skipper-professional convoyer was a friend.
A lot of short convoying race boats, mainly F40 and a few 60 feet tris, and a bug bunch of coastal raids with boats ranging from the Hobie18 feet, to the F40 catamarans. Raid means going full gas but with a part of navigation work like cruising. Making a route on a plastified map on a small beach cat is great fun...Plus like everybody, the habitual rounds in the water in front of the beach of the sail club. Choose a rich big club with hundreds of members and last fashion boats. That permits to try a lot of boats, as lots of owners are crying to find a crew. When you're a bit known as the technical specialist you must have a list like the most beautiful girl of the party.

 

Sounds like fun, I like the club idea. There is much to be said for small boats. I cruise ranging pretty far up the PNW coast used to use a mono uldb, went bigger for the waters and range. Raced monos back in school days. Finding Mike McMullen's and Rudy Choy's books in the library started me on to multihulls. Vintage is its own reward, part of the fun for me is keeping a piece of history sailing and surprising the modern world. Nothing like seeing an owner who spent several 100 thousand watch you pass him. The Nicol was a interim boat but worked so well it became a keeper, plus was built with very good materials, worth preserving and fun for a boatbuilder as a project.

 

Trimaran Spirit of Ireland ! Become the new owner of a Drama Queen on high seas.

Trimaran Spirit of Ireland ! Or: Become the new owner of a Drama Queen on high seas.

This 60 foot boat touched my eyes... and when starting reading about the history I became aware: its a real fighter having experienced many dramas on high seas since it was built in 1982.

Read on your own about the Trimaran Spirit of Ireland here. (P.S.: The boat is for sales since 2014. I would say roughly for a 33 year old boat ~100% overprized)

 

Is it rob James old boat

 

correct. and it boasts a rather checkered history. Not a good boat even when new, probably one to avoid now

RW

 

Yes, all infos about Rob's boat and its history here.

 

Richard, what do you mean with ? Naturally boats of the beginning 80th do not have the righting moment... with the classical bows and lower volume in front segment compared to trimarans of our times it might be named a "unsafely boat".

As a racing trimaran it wont be competitive anymore, but lets say using it as a faster cruising trimaran in the range of 14-16 knots I'd think its still a safe boat, isnt ?

To give a comparison... and for better understanding: naval architect Charlie Chapelle (founder and former owner of Technologie Marine / France) who built many successfully racing Trimarans is still sailing the legendary Tri Acapella Ocean, a boat designed by Walter Green from 1978 on, e.g. for Mike Birch... see the attachments as the yellow beauty looks today.

Seems for me one can have lots of fun on such elder (and seaworthy) boats nowadays sailing/racing the Route de Rhum as Charlie did in 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlnqPQfO4oQ


The amas of both boats, those of Acapella Ocean and of Spirit of Ireland look for me very similarly. Isnt ?

 

Acapella has new floats by Nigel Irens, cool boat that and campaigned by Charlie Capelle. The current owner of Spirit of Ireland has sailed her extensively in cruise mode and maintained the boat well from what I understand.

 

Won the Round Britain ... has to be a dog?

 

It was a very close finish in the 82 RBR. Remember its not just boats that win races, crew skill helps! And Rob was a far better sailor than Chay Blyth. But Chay is still a better sailor than Tony Bullimore. Apricot only won the 85 RBR because Nigel Irens was on board

CC had low buoyancy outriggers, very fine aft and a very fine main hull forwards. Over 30 years old, capsizes, rig failures and now in cruising trim I am sure it is a heavy boat so the outriggers are even lower buoyancy

I never sailed it though, but did watch it sailing. However I did sail extensively on GB4 with Don Wood

Paragon was extensively modified by Dave Alan Williams who raced on it in the 85 RBR.

RW

 

It does have to be strong to go through all that. It had a exotic layup for the time, wonder how the repairs were handled. Naomi was on board that day trying to turn it around, pretty awful. Rob's book is a great read still today. He sailed both and was pretty fair with the assessments. Incremental progress rather than a big breakthrough. I read it was lengthened at one point later on in a Multihulls Mag. Wonder if I can find the issue.

 

Lets say that racing boats should always be sailed as racing boats, in cruising mode or otherwise.

 

Where starts cruising modus, and where stops racing modus ?

hm... that is an interesting statement, and maybe a provocative one, too.

So I feel free to start a new thread about this question. I have not thought yet about it, so deeply.

Personally I'd cluster multihulls and trimarans specifically into four categories to get an understanding about an "old boat":

1. racing design
2. racing-cruising version (of the original racing design)
3. cruising version (of the original racing design)
4. cruising-racing version (modification of 3. to be competitive in regattas for amateurs)

But lets start this aspect newly in the thread here:

"How to sail/buy racing trimarans in cruising modus ?"

You are invited to participate actively.

 

As I noticed in my blog post, "Colt Cars GP" aka "Spirit of Ireland" has a total weight of 7.5 tons now... with a total sails area of 170 m2.

A newly 60 foot Gunboat Cat "naked" only has 2.6 tons built 100% in carbon. So we might call "Spirit of Ireland" a very heavy boat. But its not for free flying on foils.

For a 60 foot Tri I would not see it as too heavily. Or ? - As speedy long distance cruiser (with 2x 2 berth cabins) I'd say it is acceptable, isnt ?


So the interior design looked in 1993 (a photo from Multihull magazin)

 

The Kelsall Great Britain 4 won the 1978 Round Britain but was fragile - however the boat was very fast in the light and that is the reason the boat won. Later, because of weaknesses in a blow, the Kelsall was beefed up and gained too much weight, was low on its lines and made a poor impression.
It Colt Cars has been cruiser-fied today then the same poorer performance will be revealed because of weight increase.
But Rob James in his book Multihulls Offshore wrote he was definitely considering foils being placed in CC's floats. If that had occurred the too fine main hull bow and the low buoyancy pointed after sections of the floats would have, with foils, rectified earlier failings; foils would have lifted floats and main hull bow too - so CC would have been an entirely different animal.
Rob James was ahead of his times - a tragedy that he was lost.