wrote in message
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I am considering building a Farrier folding tri. I realize I will not
save much money but boat building has gotten me so I just wanna do it.
My old 28' S2 monohull will allow me to sail while I am building.
Here are the questions for any tri sailors.

I plan to keep her out of the water. So, at what length of boat would
you consider it such a hassle to step the mast, unfold etc that you
would eventually put her in the water for good?

I had an F9A that was on the marina as I found getting on and off the
trailer too much for each sail - may be different if you plan to race and
have a real crew. My wife strongly objected to the trailer hassles.

On the other hand a fellow clubmember with an F31 leaves it on the trailer
at the club with rig up but folded and has done for many years - he's a keen
racer and usually has a competent crew.

While all the systems Farrier has worked out for mast raising etc work and
could just be done in the time he states it's a very busy period. With a
small/family crew I'd look at a smaller version (F25/F27/F28)


Do you take advantage of her extreme shoal draft much?

Depends where you sail- here off the northern east Australian coast with the
Great Barrier Reef, if you don't have shallow draft you miss most of the
good spots.


While cruising do you really notice increased speed over monohulls?

Difficult to answer- they are much faster than monos and cruising in light
airs is magnificent. In stronger breezes while cruising I found I reefed
early to keep the spray down eg reefed main and no 3 jib in 25 knots to
windward- tacked about 75-80 degrees and averaged 7-8 knots. Once averaged
19 knots on an 8 mile leg reaching in a race but the leeward halfof the boat
was pretty wet.


Is the limited amount of fuel you can carry for an outboard a problem?
(compared to the several day amount of fuel for a diesel in a monohull)

My 9.9hp 4 stroke used just less than a litre per hour- when cruising I
lashed a couple of fuel containers in the nets so had 50 litres. Lasted a
month. Water was more difficult and only lasted 2 weeks.


Plans are available for both standard width for trailering (8.5') and
the X version which is 9.5' wide folded. They say a simple permit is
needed for this wide load but I have not checked for FL. What is your
impression of this?

Can't answer- I had the 2.5 metre wide version- just over 8 ft. Towing was
no problem with a suitable vehicle.


Possibilities include:

1. Buying an older F27 and refitting her with new standing rigging and
new sails and fixing any stress cracking. I estimate purchase price of
$55,000 with over $15000 for sails and rigging, etc. Problem is
getting the $55k together at one time.

2. Build either F-9 or F-9AX (31')

3. Build the newer F-32

Building would be done with the vertical foam strip method. The
folding parts can be purchased for about $15000 or built.

Any thoughts? I realize building does not save money (I know from
experience). I tend toward very spartan cruising where I consider a
porta-potti to be decadent so interior furnishings are not a major
issue for me. If I build, I will not worry about re-sale value.

In general the smaller the boat the greater the fun. I'd look at the smaller
sisters.

Peter HK