PB Racer

The PB comes from the name of the kayak double: Portuguese Bend. This is an area of the coast south of the L.A. beaches where I grew up. I used to paddle, sail, snorkel and surf all over that part of the coast when I was a kid.

Copyright © 2005 Chris Ostlind

I wanted to keep the amas on the small side of things for weight, handling, size relationships, etc. I was looking to keep the main hull as the focal point so that its kayak origins wouldn't be overwhelmed by the typical trimaran ama thing. Some paddlers are very wary of having their sport hammered by sailors. The small size also completely opens-up the paddling compartment with no paddle swing arc restrictions.

Copyright © 2005 Chris Ostlind

The sail CE being low is important with the low buoyancy amas - and the crab claw works well for that. The rig, if I can get it to work well, should be able to drive this boat extremely well. The wishbone mast structure is to permit the sail to have an unrestricted arc for all points. I wanted to totally eliminate any need for another sail to keep the boat simple in handling and strings. I'm toying with the idea that the mast can lay down on the foredeck when not in use.

The hiking seats are removable with snap pins (like take-a-part paddles use) and stowable in the hull. Any questions or comments are welcome.

Comments

• A couple of thoughts:
  the outrigger and rudder foils are going to be great for sailing, but not so fun for paddling (or pedaling) I think. Also You might consider a mirage drive or two, as it seems to work well in hybrid sail situations.

  Posted by  on  07/03  at  04:22 PM

• Thanks for the comments, Michael.

  The ama foils are much more like canted, rotating centerboards so they are only deployed when the boat is sailing. The deployment can be adjusted for sail trim and point of sail for optimum lift and trim.

  Yes, the t-foiled rudder is that way all the time. For a small wetted surface penalty, you get reduced pitching moment and enhanced control in choppy conditions. I see it as a nice trade-off.

  The boat has been optimized for dual Mirage drive positions. I didn’t include them in the description as I felt there was already a lot going on with the design and I didn’t want to put too much stuff in the air to begin with.

  Chris

  Posted by  on  07/06  at  04:45 PM

• Beautiful design!
  However, I do believe that it would work better with a single larger outrigger with a small opposing righting platform. Three hulls make centering them very critical - two hulls are far more forgiving. Also, the beauty of the Crabclaw is its ability to self steer. Thus, you may not even need the outrigger foils, using only your rear foil with a dagger board on the main hull.
  I have a folding canoe with a trimaran sailing kit. With both outriggers in place, it would only sail well down wind. Center board was totally ineffective, with steering requiring heavy effort. Yet, after I removed my right outrigger (only 8 lbs!), the boat was instantly transformed. It now tracks exceptionally well and is steered by simply dipping a paddle in the water on either side.

  Posted by  on  09/15  at  01:58 PM

• Cactus, I had a similar experience with a Windrider trimaran. One summer I removed an ama, and the boat’s performance was dramatically upgraded. Yes it was lighter, but it also became “all of a piece”, rather than 3 widely spaced hulls that often seemed to be fighting each other. Interesting.

  Posted by  on  09/16  at  12:03 PM

• I had the same experience with my Ulua outrigger which I switched from a tri to an outrigger this summer.  Padding was immediately better.  Instead of flipping back and forth from one outrigger to the other, it tracked straight.  One day I’d like to switch from outrigger to tri and back to see the difference.

  Dan

  Posted by  on  09/14  at  07:19 AM