Folding Tri- the ultimate Med boat?
- Thread starter Sea Change
- Start date
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
My wife being hyper organised, I am not allowed to keep anything in those lockers. So it’s safety pins out, retained now on fancy spliced 3mm dyneema lanyards, flip the clutch on the backstay, wrap the fold side of the endless line and crank like crazy
You don’t want to be hanging about in our harbour mouth, what with endless visitors, ferries, and a nasty chop from the northeasteries we’ve been having.
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
The installed tankage on a 920 is 50l of water and 23l of fuel. That's not much for a hot place that might be windless. On my 35 those capacities are 140l and 80l which is still low for the size of boat.
ylop
Well-Known Member
Comparable to a Bavaria 32 (120L of water, 90L fuel), plenty of space for jerry cans. I’m guessing your human capacity is probably similar to or a little less than a Bav32, which whilst officially a “6 Berth” boat is in my opinion really a 2+2!
That said a Bav32 is designed with med sailing in mind. A tri looks a lot of fun when sailing, at the slight compromise on comfort when not. If you lived ashore in the med and needed a boat for weekend / the off week of adventure it would be good. If you wanted to spend a whole season exploring the med, the interior would probably get frustrating.
westernman
Well-Known Member
Every day is a school day. Thanks.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
You’d certainly be filling your water tank regularly. Though the solution really is to drink more beer. Fuel, I guess if you need to do a lot of motoring, it’s a limitation that can only be overcome by carrying fuel in cans. We take 10l spare if we’re crossing the Channel. But generally, the boat’s sailing ability means there’s not much motoring to do. If the wind goes light, our first recourse is to the code 0, not the motor. But I think ylop is right, as a day/weekender and maybe the odd week long trip, they work. The boat is not a liveaboard. It was never designed to be. It’s a pocket cruiser designed for ex performance dinghy or cat sailors who like to raise their pulse rate. Paul Elvestrom was a customer, as was Roland Prout. We bought our first DF from his estate.
ylop
Well-Known Member
Angus, you have displayed worrying behaviour here, the authorities will be alerted, we have a psychopath in our midst.
Nobody has ever opened a tube of Pringles and left them half eaten.
AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
Probably about the same space and capacities of a DF35 with a 32' mono. Then what is probably the biggest issue becomes apparent - cost. A 2010 Bavaria 32 is about £45 to £50k. The same age DF35 is over £200k.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
In the end, buying a boat, a toy, is about smiles per pound spent. Everyone has their ideal, folding tris are not for everyone. I’d prefer it if folks could just deal with the debate without making stuff up. Honestly, it’s worse than owning an electric car. Your price ratio there probably holds through the Dragonfly range. You could spend 20k on a decent 26 footer, or nearly 80 on a 920. What you do depends on how highly you value the sailing experience.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
I have to confess to being more of a motorsailer guy 
- our Catalac suits us just fine, but I can see the point of a Dragonfly in the med. Every boat is a compromise, but it really does seem to suit the OP's needs.
Big tanks? Aircon? Buy a Mobo - a big one, and take out a mortgage to fill it up or park it in a noisy, overcrowded marina. As for moving it by road, I hope you're sitting down when they tell you the price.
Alternatively, park your Dragonfly in a quiet corner where keels can't venture, and carry bottles of water to extend the time between shopping trips. Water's heavy - it's death to the performance of a multi! Yes, it might slow you down a bit, but you'll still be going faster than any mono you're likely to meet. Not much accommodation? We had a Snapdragon 24 for years, and it wasn't rare for us to go a week or more without setting foot ashore. Add a cockpit tent, and you've got a sunshade for when it's hot, and an extra room when it's wet or cool. We'd be sitting outside looking out at the world when pretty much everyone else had retreated below.
Ah, if I were 20 years younger...
- our Catalac suits us just fine, but I can see the point of a Dragonfly in the med. Every boat is a compromise, but it really does seem to suit the OP's needs.Big tanks? Aircon? Buy a Mobo - a big one, and take out a mortgage to fill it up or park it in a noisy, overcrowded marina. As for moving it by road, I hope you're sitting down when they tell you the price.
Alternatively, park your Dragonfly in a quiet corner where keels can't venture, and carry bottles of water to extend the time between shopping trips. Water's heavy - it's death to the performance of a multi! Yes, it might slow you down a bit, but you'll still be going faster than any mono you're likely to meet. Not much accommodation? We had a Snapdragon 24 for years, and it wasn't rare for us to go a week or more without setting foot ashore. Add a cockpit tent, and you've got a sunshade for when it's hot, and an extra room when it's wet or cool. We'd be sitting outside looking out at the world when pretty much everyone else had retreated below.
Ah, if I were 20 years younger...
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
Of course if its really is just a day/picnic boat that is needed, a DF800 or Farrier F24 would work perfectly well. £25k would sort that.
John_Silver
Well-Known Member
…..or fit a water maker…….was rafted with a JOG fleet, of SunFasts, last season, in Le Havre. They seemed to reckon on running with empty water tanks and living off their water makers. For weight saving. On their cross Channel races.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
I am racing next weekend. We’ll pump the tank out and carry 5l in a plastic container.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Water makers need power, quite a lot of it = big batteries = weight, or a lithium conversion = expensive, but probably worthwhile on a Dragonfly, plus lots of solar to keep it all going (where are you going to put it on a folding tri?)
I'm sure all that isn't insuperable, but it does need to be considered. There's also the fact (AIUI) that water makers like to be used regularly. Time sitting in a marina or on a mooring between trips is when they tend to go wrong.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
The difficulty is that there is no such thing as "Med" sailing that leads to an ideal boat. There is only what you want out of a boat and the conditions you expect to use it in. First the Med is a very big place and second people "use" it in a variety of different ways. The dominant one for sailing boats is short term usage (charters/holidays) requires a boat with a large amount of space above and below decks, lots of gear for hot weather living, large engine as in most areas opportunity for long periods of sailing are limited either by the pattern of use (2-4 hours to the next bay/marina) or lack of wind. Hence the dominance in the market of the 10-14m boats from the big builders. A subset of this sector is the liveaboard who maybe cruises more extensively and wishes to remain self sufficient for longer. They tend to have the same requirements, but more storage, tankage, power requirements so often use the same types of boats but for 2 people instead of 6 and a big gantry on the stern to fit enough solar to support their lifestyle (read Baggywrinkle's many posts on kitting out his new boat).
There are also many areas where local sailing conditions support sailing in smaller day sailer weekend type boats from land based facilities. South of France and parts of Italy for example, where an 8-10m sportsboat would be a good choice. A Tri would fit this type of use just as it does in N Europe BUT for all the reasons given by others it is a minority choice - but perfect for those who enjoy the unique sailing experience and have deep pockets. If you are looking for something that gives you the ability to cruise and have sailing performance on tap then a tri is not the type for you.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
My pockets are not overly deep, we bought a tatty boat and brought her up to standard. But its true that everything costs a little more on them. Dyneema everywhere, advanced laminate sails, dyform wire. It pays us back with a rooster tail 10ft behind, responsive helm, and the ability to make progress in under 5kn of wind.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Med moorings. Lazy lines. You are gonna need a shipload of fenders. Plus a passarelle. All add weight. Seen loadsa cats all across the Med and the occasional non folding tri.
Probably great in Lake Solent. Med though? Nah. In my opinion.
Probably great in Lake Solent. Med though? Nah. In my opinion.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
For cruising we normally carry a round dozen large fenders. We leave most in the tender for racing, along with the light inflatable, spare fuel, wetsuits and paddle boards that normally get lugged everywhere. Still at up to 20kn. I do think Angus and I have been honest about the boats. Storage volume is massive, we have the outriggers too, we can get a paddleboard in its bag through the hatches. We also frequently venture out of lake solent. Really, anyone would think only a madman would buy one from the ill informed crap that is posted about them. And from you, Captain, I kinda didn’t expect it.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Guess you aren't familiar with med moorings, lazy lines and boats crammed in marinas often poorly handled. There are no pontoons to protect your fold up bits. There is a high chance of damage. That's not
ill informed at all. Nice boat, wrong place.
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
There's no cure for poorly handled, apart from s Bruce Roberts design. But otherwise, I am familiar, have moored in my share of med harbours in all sorts. Though mostly 8metre classics, delicate for other reasons.