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Portfolio Trimarans

QueeQueg 18

Posted by on 10/30 at 07:48 PM


Indian summer is officially over around here, and thoughts turn to winter projects in the workshop. I've worked up a little trimaran design, inspired by Solway Dory's Osprey and Chris Ostlind's XCR.

It's an 18' stitch and glue plywood, 5 panel hull, with tortured ply amas and aluminum akas. Hull beam is 30". sail area: 118 sq. ft. a high aspect leeboard would be included (not shown). It would be fun to day sail, and might make a good little camp cruiser. My wish list is as follows:

Must be:
cheap
Stitch and glue plywood construction
simple
pretty
trailerable
quick and easy to set up, take down
seaworthy (relatively)
launched in 5-6 months
room for 2
human auxiliary power

Would be nice:
car top
multihull
unusually fast
sleeping/camp stove room aboard

Last spring I found a partly finished Wharram 21 on Craig's List that was very attractive to me. It has the ply panels cut, the plans, and a new suit of Jeckyl sails. The design is proven, and I have the added advantage that most of the hardware and rigging could come out of the old Rozinante box in the garage. It met most of the "must" list, but the Wharram is far from quick and easy to set up, in fact maybe the worst. Set up would take hours! I'd have to moor it to get any real use out of it. It has great onboard camping room, but the interior is useful mostly for storage. It is too heavy to really drag up a beach, and in the end, I passed.

The tri meets all the "must" list (yea, I'll need to be clever with the set up, and even so it'll never match a well set up mono) the only thing it really lacks is good onboard sleeping for two. That would be a nice thing because here in the Pacific NW, most waterfront is private property and it's nice to hang on a hook over night in some protected cove. That said, plenty of people cruise in their kayaks around here, and if I take that as "the way to do it" then I'm no worse off.

Other good things about the tri is that it will be an excellent light air ghoster and should paddle OK. I have some old carbon windsurfer masts that I can cut up into the various spars required, though the main mast will need to be build of wood.





The name: Queegueg was the Pacific Islander harpooner from Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

Comments

  • Very neat and elegant, Michael. The rendering is equally appealing. Very tasteful!

    Posted by  on  11/04  at  12:34 AM
  • Love the concept!  Are you going to build it?  I’m about to start a Chris Ostlind design.

    Dan

    Posted by  on  11/30  at  12:16 PM
  • Is there any chance of this study becoming a developed design. I also really like the Osprey and own a Solway Dory Curlew class canoe. Would be interested in building a completed design.

    Posted by  on  02/08  at  08:30 AM
  • I live in Seattle and have just started looking into outrigger sailing/paddling boats appropriate for overnight trips in the sound.  (I come from the kayak side but have plenty of experience sailing).

    Your criteria closely match my own.  I would love to follow the progress of your project and see the completed boat.

    Robert

    Posted by  on  03/09  at  10:16 AM
  • Nice. I am working on something vaguely similar.

    I would use the stiffest carbon windsurf spar for the for’d mast, though, & make iakos of something else. You would save pounds aloft, right in the bow, reduce pitching/risk of breaking things!

    There will be enough sailor weight at the height of iakos that it seems bad to remove weight from this area using carbon and put it aloft by using wood masts....
    If mast needs to be taller, make a wood or Al stub mast to slide the carbon mast onto.
    just mho, ignore if you like....

    Posted by  on  04/03  at  12:54 PM
  • Something vaguely simlar. See also
    http://www.prencesita.com/newbanka.html
    http://www.prencesita.com/banka090104.html

    So far it is a good news bad news story.

    The bad news is my banka is way over built
    and heavier than need be. It took me about
    three trys to come up with a schem I liked
    for the akas ... along the way I decided to
    leave one ama off and it became an outrigger
    canoe :)

    The good news is I learned a lot and it should be
    in the water by summer.

    Now I almost know enough to design the next one.

    Learning,

    BobLQ

    Posted by Bob La Queyrobert.laquey@gmail.com  on  04/23  at  09:23 PM

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