Trimaran sea school?

[extravert]

Does anyone know of any sea school that can teach trimaran sailing? I would be interested in practical stuff, ie they would have to have one. The sort of boat that I would expect would be a Corsair, Dragonfly or similar.

Anywhere in the world would do.

 

[Guest]

Can't help you on the trimaran school, but couldn't help thinking you must be the first post regarding multihullls. Are you going from mono to multi? If so I would be interested to know your reasons - other than speed.

A pity there is not more enthusiasm about them on this board. With all the new technologies multihulls are definately a viable alternative, but I suppose in the UK you really have to think about marina prices. However, Trimarines with folding floats are a good compromise.

 

[extravert]

Yes, I am most certainly considering moving from mono to tri. Not to a cat though, I would want upwind performance and tacking ability as well.

The reasons I am considering this are...

everyone I know who has sailed one reports that they are just more fun than monos;
I am not particularly interested in space and comfort, it's a low priority;
I like boats that don't hang around, particularly in light winds;
performance monos like my current X99 are hard work to sail and need a big crew to go at their best.

Corsair and Dragonfly tris both fold to avoid extra marina charges. I have seen this done on a Corsair and it seemed simple enough.

If a tri was a similar price to a similar sized mono there would be no doubt that I would have one. However, their big problem for me (and I guess many others) is their price. A 9.2m Dragonfly or a 10m Corsair are both about £80k, which is a lot of money for not much. You'd get a lot of Ben/Jen/Bav for that price.

I definitely want to see what they are like in the hands of an expert and get opinion on what they are and are not capable of, hence the need for a sea school.

 

[jamesjermain]

None

I don't think any sea school teaches trimaran sailing as a speciality. Of course much of the seamanship and all the navigation is the same (except that your passage planning speeds will be a bit higher).
However, for specific training in handling tris, the agent will be able to oblige. This is certainly true of Multihull Promotions (Dragonfly) and, I am sure of Corsair too.

Theree has been a certain amount of chat about multihulls on this forum. The interesting thing is there's a general concensus that multis are good news but very few people actually buy one. Mooring charges are an obvious reason but, away from the Solent, where there are plenty of swinging moorings, this need not be an overriding consideration.

JJ

 

[extravert]

Re: None

Unfortunately it is the sailing aspect of a tri that I want to find out about, not the seamanship. I have my yachtmaster offshore already, but I would not consider myself competent to take out a tri in a blow safely. I would not know how far they can be pushed, would probably be over cautious, and therefore not get the best out of one.

I shall try the manufacturer's agents and see what they have to say. Perhaps it could be part of the deal of buying one of having a weekend of instruction included.

Everyone mentions berthing costs, but isn't this solved with a folder? The impression I get from their manufacturers blurb is that it is reasonable practice to fold out/fold in everytime you go sailing, it taking only a couple of minutes, and they can be motored around in sheltered water with the floats folded in. Is this not reasonable in practice? Any tri sailors out there to shed some light?

 

[david_e]

Re: Folding tri\'s

Just interested to know how small they fold up and whether you would be keeping it in the same berth in Pwllheli marina or going for an end berth? And if you are can I have yours please?)

 

[extravert]

Re: Folding tri\'s

They fold up pretty tight, for example the Corsair F31 goes from a beam of 6.8m open to 2.5m folded, which is narrower than my current boat at 3m. I don't know how maneuverable they are under power when folded, my berth is not the easiest being near a blind end, and there are some expensive shiny boats nearby to keep clear of. That would be something else to practice in a school's boat.

I would not want a hammerhead berth if I could avoid it. Last time I had one (with my previous Extravert) a large powerboat was leaving its berth nearby under control of the owner's teenage son in a cross-wind. He wasn't taking sideways drift into account, gave it a load of throttle on one side when he realized he was drifting, and the boat swung round and its stern quarter made a large dent in my topsides.

Any change of boat (and possible change of berth) is not going to happen soon anyway, lots of pocket money saving to be done yet, so don't hold your breath!

Hey with a draft of 40cm I might be able to stay in Portmadog for more than the 10 minutes I get at the moment. Last time I went there at bang on high water (3 weeks ago) there was only 50cm under the keel and had to leave straight away. It must be getting shallower.

 

[coachone]

I don't think there are any schools that use tris as a teaching boat .The person to contact is probably Mick Welch of Multihull Promotions, 01273 813113, he imports the Dragonfly range which is by far the most popular trimaran brand.
On the question of berthing I own a 35' x 19' Catamaran and find no particular problem finding visitors berths in marinas. Permanent berthing may well be more difficult/ more expensive, but I hardly ever get charged extra for being a [visiting]cat. If challenged, I point out that motor boats often have very wide beams and they do not have a policy of surcharging them!
If marinas are an important part of your cruising then don't get a cat, but if you want speed, comfort, space and an ability to dry out and go gunkholing there is no better craft.
Most sailors who slag them off have never sailed a decent one and don't know what they are missing.

 

[chippie]

I have an old Piver Stiletto circa 1973 which is a fast sailer even when up against today's fast monos. You are right in saying tris offer exciting sailing,and if I had the money i would probably go for a Farrier(is that the same as a Corsair?). While I avoid bad weather as much as possible the boat has always felt secure in all weather I have been out in.
If you are an experienced sailor I dont think it would take too long for you to get to grips with the handling of one, as like all yachts you do get signs of when it is time to reduce sail. The worst experience I had was in my early days of ownership where we had set off before the wind with a lot of sail up and were quickly into open water where a large swell was running ,turned onto the wind and found that we were well over canvassed with the boat heeling like a monohull. The boat handled it OK but it taught me a good lesson in a very graphic way.
Enough of my rambling, if you see a trimaran you like, go for it ,you'll have some good sailing. There's nothing quite like a good tri moving along well, in the groove.

Fair winds and fast sailing to you.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by chippie on 14/10/2002 21:51 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[david_e]

Trimarans

On a rare visit to Pwllheli this year I noticed a trimaran outside a boat yard opposite the yacht haven. Is this by chance the one you are looking at?

 

[extravert]

Farrier is the designer, Corsair is the current builder of Farrier designed tris. I believe they used to be built by someone else as well.

 

[extravert]

Re: Trimarans

No.

There seems to be very few for sale in this country, and those that are for sale are a high proportion of the new price. I will consider new if I cannot find a reasonably priced recent used one. However, neither the Dragonfly nor the Corsair importers have replied to my email enquiries. I thought they sold very few of them in this country, but I must be wrong. If they can't be bothered to reply to a potential customer they must have more demand than supply.

 

[david_e]

Buying new

If my own experience is anything to go by do not be surprised at a different standard of communication to the normal commercial world. One firm never sent any information despite three separate requests over a 7 month period, in the end I had to go and get it in person, then it took them 6 weeks to answer a simple query, but for that one of their new boats would be parked in my berth. (not Dickies I must add, who are fine!)

 

[Twister_Ken]

Parlez-vous?

Les connaiseurs des multicoques sont les francais. Si vous parlez francais vous pouvez chercher le monde des .fr, afin de trouver une ecole nautique, et les tris a vendre.

Try http://www.lalandriais.com/pages_fr/les_trimarans_doccasion.htm for example

 

[Guest]

Hi

I was in the same position as you in 1999 when I bought my trimaran (my first big boat), so I can pass on some practical advice on this. I stepped up from the F18 beach cat to a 32' racing tri, in 2001 I ran my first Fastnet campaign

The main issue as I see it is coping with higher average speeds (brush up on your rules of the road), use of apparent wind in down wind sailing, upwind VMG maximisation, the rest is pretty similar to mono sailing. A big confidence booster is understanding the physics of what keeps you upright as there is no keel.

I can pass on a number of contacts within the MOCRA organisation which administers and represents multihullers in the UK

Send me a private E mail and we can chat some more

Cheers

 

[extravert]

Re: Parlez-vous?

Je parle enough to comprendez that, but je pense that peut etre je may struggle un peu si je was aller to an ecole nautique where toute les lecons etait en francais.

Car les francais sont des connaiseurs des multicoques, pourquoi est il il n'y a pas constructeurs francais de multicoques-a-trois? Ils construisent toutes les autres types des bateaux. Peut-etre il y a un constructuer francais des multicoques-a-trois, mais je suis ignorant.