The slit in the leech, with reinforcing tape behind the slit, makes me think of aircraft flaps. You could potentially get more lift from the sail at low speeds if you can master slit technology to create a multi element sail. 😉
Nice setup! So you’re mainsheet… it looks like there’s a central mainsheet, and then almost an a-frame / german mainsheet as well for tension? I’d be really interested to hear how it goes and whether you feel it gives enough main control…. Our tri currently has a horrible setup and I’m looking at alternatives. Also, is that one of the Sleipner pod bow thrusters? If so, ours came with one also and they’re great, but just be careful of mooring lines getting wrapped around them when the wind dies. We run an ama bridle and then a central line to stop us driving over the mooring line…
So far the mainsheet systems working great. Gives us lots of options for sheeting. Bow thirster is a tunnel thruster so no issues with line getting caught 🤙
Can't think of another trimaran on this planet that I would want then this sweetheart. How does boat speed vs wind speed compare to your original Spirit? I would guess your old one is even better at being so slippery due to weight and set up over many years of tweaking her. Weigh in Skipper?
Yeah we’re pretty stoked to have found this old girl when we did. It was four years of patiently waiting but it’s been well worth the wait. Her spends actually pretty good. She’s now heavy with cruising gear and provisions for the pacific but even on a beam reach the other day she was pulling 8’s in 10’s which is pretty amazing. Sail wardrobe isn’t up to scratch and we can’t sheet the headsail in well so the upwind numbers aren’t reliable yet. Slightly bigger sail area and some modifications to her deck layout and rigging and she’ll have more than enough speed for us. It’s the light winds where the two boats will be further apart but heavy they should perform similarly as this boat easily does 20’s. Stay tuned we hope to have some better numbers and videos as time goes on. 👍
Yep we did a video on the final jobs that were done in Panama that included the panels being fitted why and how. Check it out at this link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z2thp69xOu8.htmlsi=KE7awWOVOpIiNPsc
Been Wondering what you guys have been doing, looks like a Macmansion compared to the original Spirit but still looks to be very slippery. Do you have any vids or blog about the refit since buying her?
Great to see you guys cruising again 👍 After I asked the question heaps of your vids came up on my feed, as I’ve been doing a refit on Cactus away from home RU-vid has been my main entertainment so I look forward to catching up with all your new adventures.@@TrimaranSpirit
Hilarious to hear you talking about upping the horsepower and admiring your existing hi tech carbon sails with the latest go fast slots. Serious question: for someone like you with worldwide experience, what sail loft will you use for that deck sweeping Genoa and reacher? When you talk about fabricating a longer prod/bowsprit, where do you plan on doing that? Will all the bow railing be going? As always, the video footage of your first passage is beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Many thanks. Our plan is to live onboard for a few years and to really get to know the boat then we’ll look at doing a full refit some place like the east coast of Australia. We’ll be doing the rig and sail work there at the same time.
Nice simple sheeting system. No expensive track. You could make it more simple by only connecting the lee line. (So the windward line doesn’t risk taking your head off) That can be just a single line, let main out a bit more than needed, cleat it down, the sheet in main.
Swinging centreboards are a great idea…but then you realise there is no way to clean them, or the box. Do you have access from inside? Do you have a method of closing the slot behind the board
@@TrimaranSpirit maybe ,especially the headrail the same , your boat speeds up very easily, so if you increase the sail , youl get to the point where you cannot put it all out quicker, a part furled sail isn't efficient, so why not change the inner sail , you get more versatility with run them both in light winds, and just the smaller in heavy winds, a yanke isn't a bad sail, I crosed oceans in this way,
Nice to see the Avalanche again. I heard Rob had sold her. By the way I am the skipper who took her from La Paz to Culebra Bay. Best boat I have ever sailed in 50 years. Watch those hatches over the crew bunks. They leak like mad, lol. Fair winds. PS: You will use that bow thruster a lot. Parking that thing is like parking a tennis court.
Yea! So great to see her sailing again. I was aboard just after her Hawaii racing days :). It's a short rig, so yes please ditch the heavy bow railing and sweep that jib foot. She deserves a nice light 8' aluminum sprit that pivots up via bob stay 4:1 tackle. And move the anchor back to the beam, like the BC guy did on Aimelee. That stuff'll get her nose up & running better ;). I can get photos of the Explorer44 solar mount behind aft beams - could be a great solve for the hammerhead too. I'm about to move them back there on F39 Ravenswing. VERY happy for you both to stay in high performance tri land!
Awesome she’s definitely been around from what we’ve heard. It’s lovely to have a boat that’s so well known. We’re looking forward to bringing her back to life over the coming years. Hopefully we’ll get to cross paths on the water sometime. All the best 🤙
I lost track of your channel but good to see you have a new boat. Moved up from a sports car to a hot saloon! I’ll check up what you have been up to. Been watching how you old boat is going too ! Cheers Warren
SWEET, looks awesome. Small pulpit, tramps from the bow to the amas, longer bowsprit, maybe move the chain locker and windlass aft of the akas. What a boat. Even with your super high tech sails.
sweet tri in a sweet spot to sail by the looks. Are you worried by the surface area of your trampolines catching swell and doing damage to a hull or float?
The purpose of trampolines in general is to resist (heaving) waves as little as possible while still providing a footing for sailors. And to reduce weight compared to a longer (more forward) arms or bridgedeck.
Nice. Just a thought on hatches. One of the reasons Donald Crowhurst went spectacularly wrong was that his hatches leaked very badly at speed. Like your simple tie downs. But can I suggest fitting a spray / water deflector to the deck in front of the hatch. Then a wave will pass over the hatch rather than under the hatch. Haha, as you panned out, I see you might have them!
I've coped with an offset board for decades. Diff to clear shells from inside the case I know. During the ashore Covid refit, I recently made a slightly thinner composite board which is positively buoyant. It really slams itself right up now! I deliberately ordered a working high clew roller Genoa. Plus a bigger code0 whose endless roller attaches to the bow roller.. I'd keep the railings. Good for pets or kids, or any crew in bad weather. It is a fast cruiser.
Boat looks beautiful! Congrats and thanks! The high foot is a great safety feature for visibility. Chris never had extreme power in the sails, preferring safety and steady speed over very high power. That's one reason his rigs also aren't incredibly tall. Taller rigs also increase heeling forces, risk of capsize (like in a squall), etc. Every design decision is a tradeoff, and Chris biased them towards safe, fast cruising. In short, it's a feature, not a bug.
Many thanks she’s a pretty cool old design 🙏 As most know we enjoy sailing tropical areas where there’s mainly light airs so we may increase the sail area in time we’ll see. Chris informed us that the small rig height was due to the need to cruise the Intercostal waterway on the US east coast? Some of his cats have large rigs and I believe two have capsized? My point of view is that it’s the crew that makes a boat safe or dangerous not the rig height.
@@TrimaranSpirit Rig height was for a couple reasons. One is bridge clearance (air gap). The other is lower heeling moment. If you want to build a performance world sailing boat that can handle big seas, the taller rig becomes a deficit. Better to have a shorter rig you can maximize more often, than a taller rig that adds momentum and heeling moment in storms. Remember, these are meant to be performance cruisers and not pure racers. A tri has strong performance even with a shorter rig, and the risks of a taller rig are more appropriate for a pure racing boat.