On Oct 24, 6:52*pm, Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 24, 5:49*pm, Vic Smith wrote:



On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:27:46 -0400, "mmc" wrote:
saw one those folding trimarans this morning on the Indian River near the
192 causeway, think it was a F-27.
There was barely enough wind to ripple the water but those things are so
light the boat was making probably 4-5 kts. He (or she) was definitely going
faster than the wind speed on a reach.

Wish I'd seen that. *I'm thinking more and more that I'd go for a tri
over a Mac 26. *Have to get in shape though. *There's another tri
that's a little slower than the Farriers but has other advantages.
Can't remember the brand now.
But unless I get off my ass and start exercising, it'll be a Carolina
Skiff. *If I can get over the gunnels without too much huffing and
puffing.

--Vic

There are Dragonfly trimarans that are supposed to be just a bit
slower than the Farriers. *For just going fast, you might consider a
Windrider trimaran.

Another consideration for trimarans is room below. An F27 has about
as much living space below as a Catalina 22 monohull. An F31 Farrier
has about much room as an Oday 25 below and my 28' S2 monohull has
much more room. However, the tris are trailerable and fast.
Before I built my Tolman Skiff, I was serious about building a 32' Tri
and considered both the Farrier and Kurt Hughes designs. Both have
kits to install the folding structure but Kurt Hughes seemed to
suggest what he called "demountable" amas. These do not fold but are
carried above the main hull on the trailer and are attached to the
support structure at the marina and it was supposed to be fairly easy
but i do not remember the drill.
One reason the trailer tris are so small inside is because they are
made to be less than 8' 6" wide for legal trailering. Both Hughes and
Farrier said their boats can be built wider (9' 8") giving much more
room but this would require a special oversize trailer permit. I
checked into this and you would have to buy such a permit for every
state you entered but it is good for a year in FL. The wider version
is not available as a production boat.