Trident Marine Warrior 35 (Primrose)

M

Murt

New Member
Joined
24 Nov 2022
Messages
7
Visit site
Hi all,
I'm brand new to this form and am looking for design documents for a Warrior 35 built by Trident Marine, designed by Agnus Primrose. Built in 1973. I bought her in August of this year and am currently upgrading her. I intend to fit her out as a live aboard in the next years. Because of this I would like to have the design documents so that any changes made will not impact on her design and structure.
Kind regards,
Murt.
 
Hello and Welcome

Unless you are very lucky I very much doubt such documents exist or would be publically available. If there is a Warrior 35 Association they might know. Both of the boats I have owned from the 1970's and 80's don't even have a sales brochure.

Good luck with your hunt.
 
I think @BobnLesley might have a Warrior 35?

As others have said, I'd be surprised if official drawings can be found. But for what you're planning, it's usually fairly straightforward to work out which bulkheads are structural- the important points being anything that holds up the rig, usually via a mast compression post and chain plates. I wouldn't mess with those at all.
 
I'd caution against making too many changes to fitted joinery - refitting a boat is not the same as doing up a house. Some people have totally stripped hull interiors and basically wrecked the boat forever, as they grossly underestimated the amount of work involved in properly refitting new bulkheads to a curved space.
 
Kelpie said:
I think @BobnLesley might have a Warrior 35?

As others have said, I'd be surprised if official drawings can be found. But for what you're planning, it's usually fairly straightforward to work out which bulkheads are structural- the important points being anything that holds up the rig, usually via a mast compression post and chain plates. I wouldn't mess with those at all.
Click to expand...

Ours was the Challenger 35 (shared hull, with a stern cockpit lid on it) and sadly we sold it in New Zealand. As noted it's a completely different boat to the 38/40s and I've never seen any design drawings, either but as noted, the design/layout is fairly straight forward and 'normal'. Our plan was to buy a Warrior but on discovering the Challenger (there aren't many) decided that we preferred it; that said I'd have no qualms in recommending a Warrior as an ocean crossing liveaboard.
 
Murt said:
Because of this I would like to have the design documents so that any changes made will not impact on her design and structure.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure how much some original drawings would help with this.

One similarity with buildings re: structural work would be - if you’re not sure, employ a surveyor.

Structural work is not a problem on a boat (or house!) but you need to need to know what you’re looking at. A drawing won’t really help. You either know a bulkhead is a bulkhead - or you don’t (if so, employ a tame surveyor and shadow them as they go through the boat).

good luck!
 
Murt said:
Hi all,
I'm brand new to this form and am looking for design documents for a Warrior 35 built by Trident Marine, designed by Agnus Primrose. Built in 1973. I bought her in August of this year and am currently upgrading her. I intend to fit her out as a live aboard in the next years. Because of this I would like to have the design documents so that any changes made will not impact on her design and structure.
Kind regards,
Murt.
Click to expand...
Bestbetifyou want it your changes verifiedis to get a grp surveyor to advise on any changes you wish to make and for resale purposes have him do a survey when finished.
 
Sandy said:
Hello and Welcome

Unless you are very lucky I very much doubt such documents exist or would be publically available. If there is a Warrior 35 Association they might know. Both of the boats I have owned from the 1970's and 80's don't even have a sales brochure.

Good luck with your hunt.
Click to expand...
Yes,
I am aware that I'm looking for a holy grail of sorts but I shall proceed in my hunt. ;)
Regards,
Murt.
 
Stemar said:
I presume you've seen this page

Warrior 35 archive details - Yachtsnet Ltd. online UK yacht brokers - yacht brokerage and boat sales

Other than that, I recall an article in PBO years ago where they asked the owner of one what she was like going astern. "Oh, she does what she wants and we pretend we meant it"
Click to expand...
Lol,
yes there is more than a bit of that when going astern but not quite out of control. You just need to start from a distance. (NM) ;)
That is the page that gave me a glimmer of hope that something may be found on this wonderful INTERNET of ours.
Kind regards,
Murt.
 
Have you considered changing your expectations rather than the boat? They were designed to live aboard and by all accounts are excellent cruising boats. I would suggest any change will be for the worse in this regard. If you make more space you remove storage. Add appliances and increase power needs, meaning more time at the fuel dock.
Read the book “get real, get gone” it’s a real eye opener!
That said, if by “liveaboard” you mean cheap slum in Brighton marina then consider a different boat and leave this one for the cruisers.
 
Murt said:
Lol,
yes there is more than a bit of that when going astern but not quite out of control. You just need to start from a distance. (NM) ;)
That is the page that gave me a glimmer of hope that something may be found on this wonderful INTERNET of ours.
Kind regards,
Murt.
Click to expand...
Many of the boats were home completed so there is a lot of variation in the detailed fitout. However the two bulkheads either side of the mast are both structural and should not be altered. The space in between the main bulkhead and the aft bulkhead to the cockpit, that is the saloon/galley/chart table was often changed. The one in the Yachtsnet review is the standard one as Primrose deigned it, and very similar to the Moody 33 which was his next production boat (although otherwise very different type).

The Warrior layout set the standard for liveaboard cruising boats from UK builders (Moody, Westerly, Colvic etc) for the following 10 years or so and still has a lot going for it, despite the fact that in this hull form it results in rather cramped accommodation. Would urge you not to mess about with it too much. It is what it is and difficult to see what you could do to improve it as a long term long distance cruising boat.
 
lustyd said:
Have you considered changing your expectations rather than the boat? They were designed to live aboard and by all accounts are excellent cruising boats. I would suggest any change will be for the worse in this regard. If you make more space you remove storage. Add appliances and increase power needs, meaning more time at the fuel dock.
Read the book “get real, get gone” it’s a real eye opener!
That said, if by “liveaboard” you mean cheap slum in Brighton marina then consider a different boat and leave this one for the cruisers.
Click to expand...


Tranona said:
Many of the boats were home completed so there is a lot of variation in the detailed fitout. However the two bulkheads either side of the mast are both structural and should not be altered. The space in between the main bulkhead and the aft bulkhead to the cockpit, that is the saloon/galley/chart table was often changed. The one in the Yachtsnet review is the standard one as Primrose deigned it, and very similar to the Moody 33 which was his next production boat (although otherwise very different type).

The Warrior layout set the standard for liveaboard cruising boats from UK builders (Moody, Westerly, Colvic etc) for the following 10 years or so and still has a lot going for it, despite the fact that in this hull form it results in rather cramped accommodation. Would urge you not to mess about with it too much. It is what it is and difficult to see what you could do to improve it as a long term long distance cruising boat.
Click to expand...
Hi Tranona,
I think I need to clarify my intentions. I may have created a misunderstanding. I'm not looking to change the structure (bulkheads, I understand how that works). I want to be able to make sure that the information I have is complete and correct. Thats it, I have no intentions of making major changes. I'm currently upgrading Nav, installing Radar, AIS, a water heater, air heater...
I want the drawings so that I can have a better feel of the space that I have at my disposal, Sail area and how adding more sail may affect the balance... future thinking and projects. Call it a foundation for a wish list. Drawings help me see what I want more clearly. Where to put things, which orentation, etc... and not loose or waste space/time.
Kind regards,
Murt.
 
OK. As already hinted at I doubt you will find the original drawings. The design dates from the dying days of the Illingworth and Primrose partnership. You can see the similarity between the lines and those of Gypsy Moth and several of the one off racers such as Outlaw with the short waterline and cutaway forefoot. These had a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a handful downwind because of the lack of buoyancy aft and the rudder forward. Suspect that this is masked in the Warrior by the small sail area, particularly the main. In case you don't have it this is a link to the sailboatdata page sailboatdata.com/sailboat/warrior-iii-primrose which shows the low SA/Disp and above average Disp/WL. Figures like this were considered proper for a "blue water" cruiser at the time, although actual sail area would be greater because most would have large overlapping genoas. Never seen one with a bowsprit or cutter rig so presumably weather helm is not a big issue and there are ways of getting decent sails within the standard rig. However it could well be that some were built with taller masts as the displacement and ballast ratio suggests it could carry more sail.

You have probably noticed in the yachtsnet review a sketch of the lines. I suspect this comes from a magazine article from back then. It was common for Yachting Monthly to publish analysis of designs when they were introduced and Angus was a regular contributor then. Not sure how you would find out as the back copy service has been dead for years.

Hope this helps and good luck with your project.
 
Hi @Murt,

I have a late Voyager 35, same hull but different lid. Standard boat had the same rig as the Warrior. However, my boat was fitted out for long term/offshore cruising. It has a custom rig, twin spreader mast that may be a few centimetres taller than standard and cutter rig with jib on a short platform bowsprit. Interior bulkheads and semi-bulkheads around the mast step as standard and looks similar to the Warrior. As my working sail area is probably a bit bigger than standard (although Primrose did draw a cutter rig to the stemhead without bowsprit) and my rig is heavier than standard you could increase the sail area a bit.

Have sent you a PM re copies of brochures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top