Thursday 29 April 2021

The latest addition to the Ultime class Banque Populaire XI launches

 The latest Ultime to launch is the new maxi ocean racing trimaran Banque Populaire XI designed by VPLP and built by CDK technologies.  There appears to be a lot of thought put into low drag aero solutions on this new powerhouse.  

An article on Sailworld:

https://www.sail-world.com/news/237111/Launch-of-the-Maxi-Banque-Populaire-XI




Sunday 25 April 2021

Maserati MOD70 trimaran sets new course record for the Cowes-Dinard route

 Ocean racing trimarans Maserati and Powerplay have made a record attempt on the Cowes-Dinard route.  The result which is awaiting ratification by the WRSSC saw  Maserati set a new record of 4 hours 30 minutes and 49 seconds improving on the previous record set by the Phaedo team on Phaedo3 with a elapsed time of 4 hours 48 minutes and 57 seconds.  Powerplay who also broke the previous record set by Phaedo3 came in with a time of 4 hours 34 minutes and six seconds.

A video from Planet sail is here: 


Friday 6 July 2018

Photos of some deck details on maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 by Jason Gard

Thanks to Jason Gard, I'm able to share some detail photos of Spindrift 2 showing some of the systems like steering quadrants, lashings and composite fittings that are not often shown in any detail.










New Tony Grainger designed carbon TR36 trimaran ready to launch

The class leader of the new Grainger TR36 design is ready for launch.  Built by the team at Current Marine in South Africa who have done a beautiful job.  This boat is all carbon and it appears they have all tooling ready for another should someone else like to take the plunge.

From the owner:

Freshly Squeezed, a full carbon TR36 built by Current Marine South Africa , gets wet for the 1st time tomorrow morning. All being well and with the Knysna heads permitting, we will stretch her legs next week. Ultimately she will be sailed in UK waters.







Tuesday 19 June 2018

Shuttleworth 39' offshore racing trimaran launches

Andrew has launched his Shuttleworth 39' racing trimaran in the UK.  You can read more on the design at the Shuttleworth designs website.  The team managed to get the boat to it's target weight which is no mean feat for a racing trimaran design.  The boat has a reasonable interior for a racing trimaran.  Future plans are to race in the Round Britain and Ireland yacht race and extensive shakedown to get the boat optimally tuned.

http://www.shuttleworthdesign.com/gallery.php?boat=shuttle39tri

Some photos from the launching with rig yet to be fitted.









Tuesday 31 October 2017

Video of the launch of Ultime trimaran Banque Populaire IX

The Ultime trimaran Banque Populaire IX which has been completed by CDK technologies has been launched.  It integrates a foiling package which should allow the boat to foil in suitable conditions. This new trimaran is to be part of the Ultime Collective and will be campaigned in solo and crewed form by Armel Le Cléac’h.

Monday 30 October 2017

40' racing trimaran for shorthanded sailing designed by Kurt Hughes

One of my long term projects has been to build a 40' trimaran that is capable of demounting to a high cube container for transport.  Initially I was going to build Kurt's F40 trimaran stock plan but since that time my requirements have evolved somewhat. 

The new design allows for a little more space onboard and has standing room in the main hull.  Displacement at DWL is about 200kgs greater which has necessitated one more inch beam in the main hull and one inch greater depth, worth it we think for the extra payload which is needed to meet the offshore requirements for fuel load and water tankage.  It uses an outboard which is mounted up near the cockpit for easy access.  Length of the main hull has been shortened to 39'4 to allow it to fit into the slightly less stringent Cat 1 requirements for offshore sailing.  All hulls now have reverse bows and the main hull is now going to be foam sandwich rather than cylinder molded to allow for compound curves.  Floats may be cylinder mold or foam sandwich (not settled at the moment).

Rig is going to be a secondhand 18 metre aluminium mast that was salvaged off a Malcolm Tennant Bladerunner 43' catamaran it will be made into a two piece for container transport, sails were salvaged too and are reusable for my trimaran platform.

It's a relatively simple boat overall which should help with it's shorthanded brief.  We have gone with a single deep daggerboard to stay with that theme rather than float lifting foils.  Float rudders are being fitted in addition to the main hull rudder.  A little more complication but helpful if we find ourselves in main hull flying mode.  Float volumes are 200% of displacement so large but not massive. Not shown in the renders is the bow nets and bow rail which are necessary for safety when working the foredeck.

The other concern was budget so we are not going for a full carbon build.  There will however be carbon on the 0 degree axis on the beams which are deflection driven parts and possibly on the 0 degree axis of the floats if we go with cylinder mold construction.  Daggerboard, rudders on the floats and main hull are made to be able to retract for shoal draft and beaching if need be.

Kurt goes into detail on some features of the design in his post on his multihullblog:
http://multihullblog.com/2017/10/40-foot-performance-shorthanded-trimaran-for-owen/












Friday 21 July 2017

Trimaran Macif sailing in New York

"The Bridge" a race across the Atlantic pitted 4 Ultime trimarans against the Queen Mary 2.  The weather conditions were not favorable for the trimarans and they were not able to best the QM2.  The winning trimaran from the group of Ultimes was not surprisingly the newest "Macif" skippered by Francois Gabart took the line honors.  A video of the team out and about in New York has been published and gives a great look at this trimaran powerhouse in action.


The Bridge 2017: Trimaran Macif - New-York ESTV from New-York Euskadi Surf TV on Vimeo.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Rob Denney's racing proa Bucket List hits the water and has first test sail

Rob Denney,
                     Innovative multihull designer and self confessed tinkerer has launched the prototype of his Bucket List 40' racing proa design.  The prototype has a number of innovations such as a telescoping rig a self righting system is in the works and also a "fuse" for the mainsheet that dumps power to prevent capsize.  The boat can be demounted into a 40' container for worldwide shipping along with three other sisterships allowing an instant one design division to be created at any event you may be interested in attending.  Initial base pricing seems to be somewhere around the 50kUSD mark.

More details can be found on Rob's Bucket List proa build blog which you can find here:

http://harryproa.com/?p=424#more-424



Still plenty of issues to be sorted out in the shake down phase but a short video of the first test sail is here:

https://www.facebook.com/Harryproa/videos/vb.1635980886634440/1929006950665164/?type=2&theater

And a photo of the prototype at the pontoon:



Friday 3 February 2017

Kurt Hughes, updates to Daysailor 23' trimaran design

From Kurt's Multihull design blog:

http://multihullblog.com/2017/02/23-trimaran-update/

I finally got the first run of modeling the updated 23 daysail trimaran. Version B will have ama rudders and the even hotter version C will have foils. It is a developed plywood/epoxy unit with core vacuum bagged onto the flat surfaces needing that. And carbon fiber where it helps. At around 360 kg lightship weight, it can be built for around $5000 us in construction materials. The connecting beams should be carbon mast sections. The camper version comes next.



Tuesday 31 January 2017

Kurt Hughes Sailing Designs updates on 27' trailerable catamaran along with 31' and 35' trimaran models

Kurt Hughes has posted renders of updated trimaran and catamaran designs he is currently working on.  You can find more details at Kurt's blog and his Multihulls design website.

A 27' trailerable and demountable catamaran which is nearly at stock plan stage:

http://multihullblog.com/2017/01/27-cat-update-3/



A new 35' trimaran design

http://multihullblog.com/2017/01/the-new-35-tri/




and an updated DF31 trimaran with carbon/ply crossbeams:

http://multihullblog.com/2017/01/df31-new-update/


Francis Joyon and the IDEC team smash the Jules Verne Trophy record.

Francis Joyon and the IDEC team on the maxi trimaran IDEC Sport (formerly Groupama3) have claimed the Jules Verne Trophy in fine style slicing 4 days, 14 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds off the existing record held by the 40m trimaran Banque Populaire V.  Francis Joyon and his crew sailed the 22,461 theoretical miles in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds, at an average speed of 22.84 knots

Press release from the IDEC team:

http://www.idecsport-sailing.com/the-fantastic-six/?lang=en

Francis Joyon spent the whole day yesterday talking to the media and meeting the public in Brest, where he moored the maxi-trimaran IDEC SPORT after sailing around the world in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. Along with his crew of five, he revealed what happened during this circumnavigation. From the magic of a boat appreciated for her ability to sail quickly for a very long time to the lack of hierarchy in the crew and the discreet help from Marcel van Triest.

read more here

A video of the IDEC team crossing the finish line:



and a video of their arrival and docking in Brest:


Tuesday 27 December 2016

Thomas Coville smashes round the world solo multihull record.

Thomas Coville has improved the solo multihull record previously held by Francis Joyon by more than eight days!  The new record is 49 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes and 38 seconds (yet to be ratified).  The record was set on Coville's latest trimaran Sodebo Ultime.  Sodebo Ultime was built reusing some parts of the Original Geronimo the original crossbeams reused and strengthened combined with new fronts on the floats and a completely new main hull.

There is more information in this article by Scuttlebutt Sailing news:

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/12/25/thomas-coville-sets-new-solo-round-world-record/


Sunday 11 December 2016

A visit to Andrew Stransky's self designed and built catamaran "Fantasia"

While the Stransky's were in Melbourne attending the World Sailing Cup so their daughter Mara could compete in the Laser dinghies I visited onboard their beautiful catamaran "Fantasia".  It's a lovely performance cruising catamaran and I've compiled some notes on the boat on the linked page.  Andrew is offering building plans for the "Seven Seas 50" and support through the construction process.  He also still has hull moulds available to speed the building process.

http://trimaranproject.blogspot.com.au/p/visit-to-andrew-stanskys-self-designed.html

Saturday 12 November 2016

Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultime breaks current solo multihull record from Ushant to the equator on Sodebo Ultime

Thomas Coville on the maxi trimaran Sodebo has made it to the equator in 5 days, 17 hours and 15 minutes (yet to be ratified) improving on the current solo multihull record held by Francis Joyon of 6 days, 16 hours 24 minutes.  What makes it even more impressive is that the new record is only marginally slower than the record set by Banque Populaire V in its fully crewed format that took 5 days, 14 hours and 52 minutes to cover the same segment.

https://www.sodebo.com/fr/voile/actualites/article/ouessant-equateur-nouveau-temps-reference-solitaire-nouveau-record-pour-thomas-coville