Currently, we have 3 Trailerable Trimarans that we either race and/or cruise:
Seaclipper 16 “Leftovers” – Jim and his dad acquired this little trimaran in an unfinished condition. It is a plywood boat designed by John Marples. It sat in our shop for a while and after Jim’s dad passed away, Jim decided he had better finish it so he and nephew Colin got to work. Using bits and pieces we had kicking around, they finished it and Jim called it “Leftovers” (yes, he loves dinner leftovers too!). Of course our little tri is emerald green on the hulls with cream-coloured decks. It is 16′ long. It’s 11′ wide when unfolded, but it folds up to go on the trailer. Currently it has a 27′ mast and a main sail from a Tornado catamaran with 4′ squared off the top! Our friend and crew Paul lent him an asymmetrical spinnaker from a Nacra 17 which balances the boat nicely. This is pretty much a day sailor although Jim plans to race her in the 2017 Everglades Challenge – a 300 mile adventure race in Florida from just south of St. Petersburg along the Gulf shore, through some of the Everglades to finish at Key Largo. We will be updating the blog with race info soon.
F-22 “Raise a Little Hull” – Our pride and joy. The back story: years ago, Jim’s Dad Doug built a plywood trimaran from plans by Ian Farrier. This Trimaran was called “Tri-oomph” and we enjoyed cruising her for years. Below are a couple of pictures of “Tri-oomph” in The North Channel – our favourite cruising grounds.
When Ian began to sell plans to homebuild his F-22 in the 2000’s, Jim got excited over the new design and the possibilities for one design racing. The F-22′ plans called for a foam core and fibreglass construction making for a much lighter and faster boat. The plans were acquired and a new project was begun. After about 5 winters and a meticulous build involving lots of family and friends, “Raise a Little Hull” was launched in the Fall of 2010. She is exquisite. Sadly, Doug passed away the following spring but we are very thankful he was able to sail her a couple of times.
Once “Raise a Little Hull” became our primary boat, our beloved “Tri-oomph” was sold to a lovely young couple in Massachusetts who seem to love her as much as we did. Fair winds “Tri-oomph” and enjoy the salt water!
“Raise a Little Hull” is 22′ long and 18′ wide. She has a centreboard (the trunk is offset and forms the upright for the port settee; this makes no real difference to the way she sails) and a daggerboard rudder which Jim has modified to kick up as well. Ian’s designs are fantastic and the boat sails like a dream. The amas (pontoons) provide a lot of buoyancy (as you can see in the bottom picture in the grouping below – she didn’t capsize and Jim said the helm was fine!). She has easily done 13 knots fully-loaded with cruising gear and towing a dinghy! She weighs about 1700 lbs and folds up to 8’3″ on the trailer which makes her great for towing. Carleen towed her this past summer with a Jeep Liberty with no problems.
She is comfortable inside with a much more open v-berth due to the shorter beams designed by Ian Farrier (the beams hold the amas onto the main hull). When we cruise, we add a porta potti, camp stove and barbeque…actually, when we race we have those aboard too except maybe the barbeque. Nothing like watching hard core racers leave cushions on the dock while Carleen prepared coffee and an omlette down below before the start! (Carleen takes her role as Snacktician very seriously)
We use UK Halsey Sails for the fully-battened square top main and furling jib. We have a screecher for downwind. No spinnaker yet. She is great fun to race and her green hulls are pretty memorable. We, along with our crew Paul, have had pretty good success with her in regattas from Florida to Lake Erie and Toronto.
Our good buddy Paul (shown above at left) has been an indispensable crew and our two wins in 2016 in Toronto and Put-In-Bay are in a great part thanks to him!
Our dinghy, affectionately known as “Little Greener” is actually Greener II. Our original Little Greener was plywood and glass but was stolen off of our lake! Bastards! New Little Greener is made out of foam and was the practice piece before “Raise a Little Hull” was built. Greener floats like a leaf on the water and tows like nothing. We love her. Jim sometimes uses a tiny 2hp motor on her with “string” steering. Hilarious!
Corsair F-31 Our newest aquisition. She is a new-to-us boat. She is a 1995 Corsair production boat designed by Ian Farrier. She is 31′ long and 22′ wide when unfolded. Like our other tris, she folds up to go on a trailer (a dual axle trailer!). She is the aft cockpit model with the galley forward on the starboard side opposite the enclosed head (ie. a bathroom with a door!!). She can sleep 5. She is powered by a fully-battened main, furling jib and screecher along with a 9.9 hp outboard when needed. She has a daggerboard so her maximum draft is about 5’5″| and minimum draft about 1’3″ so we can still go gunkholing in the shallows. Which is a good thing as she is currently waiting for us in the Bahamas (as I write this in 2016)!
There is a lot more to this story that will have to be told a little later. Basically, we will be heading to the Bahamas to the beautiful island of Eleuthera in February to pick her up and sail her back to the US. No further plans yet. Will there be emerald green added somehow to her? Stay tuned!
Update 2018: Click Here to read our posts about bringing Her home!
Trailer Tri Adventures 