Supernova trimaran

In that photo there is no sea to be seen, Upchurch!
I recall seeing the boat struggling with 2 crew in waves.

But, to atone for my sins I did a little googling about Ib Pors Nielsen (who died in February 2011) and found a couple of nice things:

Nielsen was a pilot stationed in Jutland after WWII and for a while he worked on restoring a 1930 Mercedes Model S which he'd bought for Dkr6,000. LINK

Further up in this thread, Manfred provided what seems to be the best link about the Supernova, a page where the original owner's manual can be downloaded, and there's a nice little onboard video showing speed.

My own opinion is just that the Supernova is too small a boat. But Nielsen later designed an even smaller boat at 12 ft, equipped with a genaker! He called it the "Superstar MkII" and I'd never heard of this design before. Here's an entry in the Danish multihull club magazine in 2007, describing the boat as being built in 2000, in fiberglass, and having a 2 part mast, genaker stowed on a furler, and a telescoping genaker pole. This boat was also car-toppable:



I prefer Nielsen's 30 ft Fleuret. I once had occasion to observe one in a race and it is a nice-looking boat. Here's a video:




In addition to his designs of the Pinta, Supernova, and Fleuret, Nielsen designed some modernistic chairs (a big industry in Denmark) and this photo shows his stackable chairs which feature a rocking function! You might say there is 'trimaran thinking' in the shorter front and rear legs!




(and back to the Supernova, it's said to have a weight of 92 or 94 kilos)

 

That was a pretty good atonement.

Small boats will always be limited.
I didn't really think a Hobie 16 was a very good boat, but they sold an enormous number, lots of people learned sailing because of them.

 

I have a hobie 3.5. I like it's light weight, easy rigging and light wind abilities, but it barely carries me and I would like to bring a guest so I have been toying with the idea of building a trimaran with a 16ft main and the rig amas and rudders from the 3.5 with a roller furling jib added -Essentially a mini tremolino.

This supernova looks to be very similar in specifications/capabilities so I am wondering how desirable the result is?

 

Sell the 3.5 and splurge on a Multi 23. Spend your building energies on modifying it à la Randy Smyth's recommendations (among other things the centerboard needs modifying).

Then you'll have a pretty good beach-trimaran!

 

Blackburn,

I found a Multi 23 new for 32,000 Euro.
I also found a Hobie 3.5 for $200.

That would be quite some splurge.

 

Remember this, Upchurch; Larry spent something like 200 million dollars, and he only got to helm the boat(s) a couple of times.

What the heck would you then expect to get for $200 ?

Try to keep things in perspective!

lol

 

I think the weta is a more mature evolution of the concept but the Supernova is quite pleasant to sail. I often singlehanded mine and was quite happy with it, what was nice was it wasn't overpowered had a light helm and was easy in my view to tack versus beach cats. The original intention was for one design racing and it shows as there are a lot of areas that are not optimized such as the flat plate centerboard and the rather heavy main hull construction.

The other option is to build from scratch something like Kurt Hughes 16' beach trimaran. I think one of the members on here (spiritwolf?) has the original design gizmo which had quite a good reputation for performance. He might be able to comment more on the boat.

http://www.multihulldesigns.com/designs_stock/daysail/16_tri.htm

 

Blackburn,

That is what I was trying to do.
Get a little reasonable perspective.

I can't see where the OP is talking buddies with Larry. But I've been wrong before.

 

Still think the Piver "Frolic" is a sleeper 5Mtr. Very, very simple to build, fast and trailable without any folding or sliding complications. Plans are still obtainable from the Maritime Museum.

 

Thought this was interesting from the AYRS shows the frolic and other small trimarans from 1958. Reverse bows on eggnog hows that for ahead of it's time?

http://www.ayrs.org/repository/AYRS23.pdf

Here is their repository by the way, lots of interesting reading in there.

http://www.ayrs.org/repository/

 

I like the looks of that 'Lapwing.' I am not sure the concept of keeping both amas out of the water works, but it looks nice.

 

Odd responses -people who don't own supernovas badmouthing them and recommending big expensive tris (they don't own either) that can't be car topped. I am not looking for a five figure expense and I have learned that boats I can not carry are undesirable. I have a 9M tri -it sits in the driveway as the years pass -big mistake.

The supernova looks like great fun but it lacks diagonal stability. The floats should have been mounted forward. I suspect my 3.5 based tri will be prone to the same if I am not careful.

 

I know, I know...

I enter these threads against my own better judgement, where the ideal boat is dirt cheap, car-toppable, preferably consisting of some Hobie or Tornado parts stuck together, and whether it instead is a 40 year old design is of little import.

lol

 

My goal is to develop a boat that is a joy to sail or paddle, can be stored in a closet or trunk, sent cheaply through the mail, carried on a plane or a bus and cost less than $2k new. I want a boat, not a dependent.

 

Why not build a trailer?