power trimaran design plans

Ed Horstman designs started in 1960 with the TRI-STAR 40. TRI-STAR 40 was the first Trimaran to race in the Multihull Transpack race to Hawaii in 1966; taking second place. TORTUGA TOO, a TRI-STAR 39 similar to the design pictured above was the first Trimaran (Sept 1979) to sail from east to west around Cape Horn, experiencing 100 mph winds. Crewed by Husband and Wife who previously build a TRI-STAR 35 and sailed it to Africa and decided to build the first and larger TRI-STAR 39.You will find builder pictures of the 38-42-43MC “Family” of Tri’s in the gallery, showing TRI-STAR'S sculptured hull lines, spaces interiors, and spaces workable decks, comfortable doghouse. Typical features found on all TRI-STARS. Designs that have plans that are drawn and layed out for the first time builder. Designs from 14' to 80' that are being build and sailed around the world by the same first time builders.

Ed Horstman has drawn plans so they are easy to read by the first time builder. Plans cover all construction steps and include Full Hull Patterns along with my book Trimaran and Catamaran Construction. TRI-STAR hull building methods maybe either, Double Diagonal Plywood (DDP) or Foam Fiberglass Sandwich Construction (FFGC). Both building methods are covered fully in the plans and Tri-Cat construction book. For those planning to build using FFGC I include my FFGC book with plans. There are TRI-STAR designs sailing today that were build in late 60,s and 70,s using both methods of construction, some have been resold many times and keep on impressing there new owners with their sailing performance and, as always, their accommodations.

Ed Horstman has over 45 TRI-STAR Trimaran or Catamaran designs you too can build from a selection of Trimaran plans from 18ft. to 104ft. and Catamaran plans from 14ft to 55ft. For more information and details then on my web site see my Catalog and or Study Plans. "I am sure you will find a TRI-STAR design you will enjoy building and become one of the many satisfied TRI-STAR owners sailing the world over. Happy Sailing Ed Horstman."

Messing about in boats since 1975.  Online Since 1997.

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The 60' Power Trimaran 'Penny Wise' Larger Profile | Deck Plan & Interior Sketch Larger Perspective Aft | Larger Perspective Fwd Copyright 2000 - 2006 Michael Kasten The Concept The client stated the following: "I seek a marine mobile home primarily for long-term island/harbor hopping in the Western Pacific and the rivers of China, but capable of occasional long ocean passages.

My wife has three requirements:

• A lounge / house with a view
• Galley with a view
• Emergency sailing capability

Layout: I have few pre-conceived notions about layout but I have done a lot of sketching. The trimaran configuration is so narrow that there are really not all that many options for layout unless it has a wide topside blister or the length exceeds 60 feet, and 60 feet is already a hard boat to manage in port. Too much beam hanging out above the waterline looks funny, and may preclude trucking. I am open to all suggestions including a catamaran that does not break the budget.

The galley should be large enough for everyday living, the head (one is enough) should have a separate shower, not a grate below the toilet. My list includes lots of storage, a well equipped shop, and an office/computer/study area. It would be good if settees were long enough to serve as guest berths in port.

Appearance: I actually like 'spaceships' that look like the ILAN Voyager and Cable & Wireless, but for this vessel I prefer a more traditional looking boat in order to find better acceptance in third world ports. Except for the local fishing boats however, it is not clear what "traditional looking" will actually be for such a craft as this, given that the concept is most certainly not traditional...!"

Sails: There is no need to think too hard about an emergency sail. Indonesian trimarans routinely use rectangular sails on near-vertical yards hung from short masts. They could be awnings with the necessary fittings added. I prefer simple mechanical systems that I can fix myself, except for communications and navigation gear.

Materials: I like unpainted aluminum a la Northwest fishing boats, but given that construction will be in the Philippines, I think materials are confined by cost to sheathed strip planking and/or ply. At a minimum, the boat should be designed to accept routine bashing about in rough ports.  

On the face of it, a somewhat bizarre request; a tough assignment, at best: Come up with a "traditional looking" trimaran...?

Well, the result is certainly that. It would fit in well in any Asian port, and also would not be out of place among trawler yachts in a Western port. It is perhaps somewhat in the Wharram "tradition" though the hull form is quite different from those craft, and is combined with a pilot house that any trawler would be proud of.

Is the result strange? I think not -- it is instead quite a neat little ship!

To fit a sail rig would be quite easy, and if primarily used as an "emergency" get-home affair, it could easily be a Chinese Junk type of schooner to keep the rig low.

For 'get-home' sailing, one might want to have dagger-boards or centerboards arranged to not interfere with the accommodations. Mast placement is always problematic to the interior of a vessel, so in this case, they would probably be deck stepped, and in that way could be made to easily be lowered.

The "Sitting room with a view" is accomplished in the Pilot House, with a wide settee facing forward. A table forward of the settee allows meals to be taken there for a good view of the harbor. Another larger settee and table arrangement below provides privacy for evening dining as well.

The requirement for "a galley with a view" is well met in my view, since the galley is located centrally below the fore deck, and is of a generous size. As for the view, it would be quite good. The galley is forward of the amas, so they would not be an interference. The fore-deck spans the full width of the ship, extending from bulwark to bulwark athwartships, and from the pilot house, all the way forward until the anchor well is reached at the bow. With generous ports within the bulwark outboard of the galley, plus several good sky lights, all requirements are met.

An alternate location for the galley would of course be to lengthen the pilot house, and place the galley within it. In spite of the excellent view from there, this arrangement has multiple disadvantages. It would raise the center of gravity of the main hull due to the longer pilot house; it would locate more weight aft (already pushing the limits); it would place a lot of activity in the piloting area, always a disadvantage; and it would make food preparation underway during the night watch somewhat of a risk to the helmsman's night vision. For a true voyaging vessel, the piloting area is best reserved for just that, and for comfortable lounging while at sea or in harbor.

Below, forward of the settee are a pair of office-like desks with swivel chairs. Below aft, there is a generous shower to starb'd, and a large head to port. Right forward is a very spacious double berth with a big shelf / locker forward of that. Farther forward yet is the fo'c's'l locker to house the anchor rode.

In order to achieve any sort of meaningful 'shop-space' the vessel would either have to become longer, or one of the interior spaces would have to serve multiple purposes. For example, if it could be tolerated to locate the shower within the head compartment to port, one could then dedicate the starb'd compartment to being a shop-space, or possibly an office, or even an extra guest cabin...

Naturally, in such a long and narrow living space, the width of sole is very restricted. One can raise up the sole in the outboard areas if it is needed, and then arrange for comfortable seating for whatever task is contemplated, whether this be a shop area, shower, office, or what have you.

On the Exterior, one could arrange a nice wrap around seat at the stern and maybe a BBQ / bar on the aft face of the pilot house on either side of the 'stack.' There is plenty of foredeck area for sun bathing, and with a mast and boom there, one can easily arrange an awning for a bit of shade...

Though not illustrated in the above-linked drawings, there could be a 'trampoline' net arranged between the main hull and the amas, extending from the forward beam to the aft beam... a great place to hang out under way...

The amas themselves are quite small, and should be kept water tight with a secure hatch. Each could become a small 'kid's cabin' and they would have their own 'private vessel' to command... Alternately, though it is best to keep them as light as possible, they could be used for light weight storage, say for fenders, lines, sails, etc.  

Materials of Construction

Given the type of vessel in question we can definitively say a few things about the materials of construction:

• Building a vessel of this type in steel would be completely out of the question.
• Aluminum alloy would be an excellent choice for the hulls, the decks, the pilot house structures, and for the cross beams. If built in aluminum and NC cut, the building of the hulls would be very quickly achieved.
• Plywood is certainly a quick method of construction, and if covered using a composite resin / laminate, there would be very good strength, lightness of structure, and ease of general maintenance.
• Cored FRP construction does offer several advantages, among them strength, longevity and freedom from general maintenance. Naturally, FRP construction of any type will be much more costly in terms of materials than any other type, particularly if construction were to be in a remote part of the world.
• In order to achieve the best laminate quality, we prefer vinyl ester resin or epoxy resin. With these, the logical fabric would be Kevlar or another high strength fiber such as E-glass or S-glass. There is little point with a cruising vessel to use high-cost exotic fibers however such as carbon fiber. While light and stiff, carbon fiber is quite expensive, thus it is ordinarily ruled out for this kind of boat.

A very light weight interior would be quite important as well. For this, we specify the use of honeycomb panels for the joinery flats wherever it is practical and easy to do so. One such material brand is Nida-Core, possibly the most cost effective among the HC panels. Nida Core panels have thin plywood skins bonded to a phenolic resin honeycomb core. This produces very stiff and light weight interior joinery with more or less the same labor cost as with standard plywood construction.

Ideally the struts / cross-beams would be laminated wood, and would be tapered. If the hulls were all plywood, construction would be very fast. In that case we could detail all the sheets for NC Cutting by a 2-axis router. For maximum construction speed and the least number of man-hours we could make use of the "stitch and glue" method of hull construction. This would allow eliminating many of the heavy carlins and chine logs common to traditional plywood construction. Each hull could be quickly built upside down until the deck is reached, then turned over.

If built in cored glass, the mould would be simple to build using flat pressed board panels, and would of course be built upright. To detail the mould for NC cutting would be quite easy... we would simply put the 'structure' of the mould on the outside of the hull surfaces rather than on the inside...! The result would be a 'mould kit' which would quickly snap together.  

The hull is a simple single chine type in order to provide the ultimate flexibility in choice of construction materials. The general shape is a V-bottom on all hulls, using a shape somewhat reminiscent of the US east coast sharpies. The transoms are all arranged to be similar to the sharpie's fantail stern, and with a brief little "kick" upward at the stern. The prominent bow is a tribute to the possibility that this may be an Asian built vessel. With a junk rig, all the more fitting.

Of course the amas (the outer hulls) would not be deep in the water. Opinion varies quite widely on this, with some even advocating that amas be completely clear of the water with the vessel upright. In my view, the amas' hulls should just "kiss" the water when at rest with the vessel in an average load condition. This would immerse the keels on each ama, so they would never be entirely free of the water unless a sail rig were provided and the vessel were under a press of sail.

A monohull or a power catamaran can be designed to carry enormous cargo, however a trimaran cannot tolerate being overly burdened with the accretion of extra weight (most cruising vessels seem to suffer from this...!). Vigilance will therefore be required in order to preserve the inherently excellent performance that such a vessel has to offer.

Opinion is also divided on the best fore and aft location for the amas. In this case, the amas have been located quite far aft so that they can provide added buoyancy where it is needed most, due to the weight of engines and PH, etc. The aft location will help minimize any tendency to trip, and will provide the maximum in terms of tracking ability. In the aft location, the amas will also help the stern of the vessel resist squatting at speed.

Naturally, if sailing ability were to receive greater emphasis the amas would be located farther forward. The amas would not be moved beyond amidships however, as that would introduce the potential for tripping as well as possible steering anomalies.

The amas need to be as light as possible, so fuel and water can not be located there. Still, the amas need not be empty... The amas are 26' long by 3' 9" wide, so a perfectly comfortable berth could be placed into each ama with room to spare, making each one a little microcosm for young sailors... A little water tight combo house-companionway for observing the ocean... very nice indeed!

I have modeled the hull and house as drawn, and I've also modeled the house with considerably less "saddle" shape. Please see the links above for images of the hull model.  

Power & Range

The trimaran allows the use of an efficient single engine and there is no need for roll attenuation devices. A long slender hull is the very ultimate in terms of efficiency.

Power would be via a diesel engine located below the Pilot House in the main hull. Overall, all systems must be kept as light as possible. Therefore, one can presume there would be a single engine of modest size to adequately drive the boat; that there would be no generator per se, and instead a very adequate 12v DC system would serve electrical needs; that tankage would be kept to the minimum; and that construction materials would be as light as possible.

If very long range were a requirement, then emphasis could be placed on the vessel's sailing ability, for which purpose as mentioned the Chinese Junk rig would be an ideal choice. If that were chosen, the rig would likely be similar to that shown on our 50' Renegade . A sail rig would offer the ultimate in terms of range, get-home power, and the fun of sailing...

For the Penny Wise, if built very lightly as intended (around 26k to 28k lb. total in the light load condition), power could be in the range of around 65 - 70 hp, and that would attain a speed of around 10 knots depending on the load condition.

However due to being very light, narrow and long the hull is capable of exceeding that speed by quite a lot. In optimum conditions 15 knots would be possible, but ... that would require 165 hp...! On a more rational note, we'd prefer a maximum of around 95 - 100 hp total, sufficient for 12 knots depending on load condition.

With 400 USG and a 15% reserve, range would be around 3,000 NM at 8 knots. That's enough to reach Hawaii from any West Coast port - and then some.

Now that's what I call economy and good speed...!  

The 'design-study' budget for this vessel was limited in the extreme, therefore the vessel's name (and its implied meaning). As a result, the 'Penny Wise' remains 'Pound Foolish.' In other words, the concept design presently awaits a more qualified owner to pursue the remaining drawings, design calcs, propulsion and resistance calcs, etc.

Even so, I believe the concept of the Penny Wise has excellent merit, especially for long range cruising. A few of the reasons for that opinion are as follows:

Monohull power passagemakers expend terrific expense on roll damping, which in this case would just not be an issue. Relative to active stabies, the amas would be silent and efficient. Relative to paravanes, the amas would be very simple, would require no tending, would provide extra space and extra buoyancy, and would not present nearly the amount of drag induced by paravanes.

There have been some very impressive voyages in power trimarans of late. The whole concept has engendered a completely new vessel type: the ILAN (Incredibly Long And Narrow). An internet search for ILAN will turn up quite a few interesting precedents for such a vessel, and should illustrate the practicality of the concept. With an ILAN type however, the hull materials must be light weight in the extreme, thus they require quite an extreme budget to build...!

The adventure with this particular assignment has been:

• To create the best combination of economy and efficiency
• To somehow nail down a style that gives the vessel a "traditional" aspect
• To create a type that lends itself to alternate building methods
• To provide an aesthetic that will have the best chance to "fit-in" regardless of where the vessel may be found, whether that may be in the South China Sea, or the South of France...

All of those design requests have been admirably met in the Penny Wise...

Similar Designs...?

We have developed various prototype designs for multi-hull craft, including catamarans and proas. We have also developed a series of mono-hull vessels which are quite similar to the Penny Wise. They share quite a lot of design traits with the Penny Wise ...

Other designs in the "Peregrine / Renegade / Moxie" Family:

36' Molly | 43' Moxie | 49' Quinn | 50' Renegade 61' Peregrine | 82' Peregrine | 100' Amazon | 164' Peregrine 60' Pennywise Trimaran | 70' Peregrine-on-Thames

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Where does the base for most new design work come from?

A reader recently asked, "Are there any rules or formula to follow when starting a new boat design or are they created more by eye and experience? If the former, can you briefly explain what they cover and historically where they came from?"

This is an interesting question but one that could fill several volumes if answered in detail! However, Here is an abridged overview of the situation and where we came from. First, let's take a brief look at the historical base of modern naval architecture.

Ships and boats have been around for LONG time. Their design was then indeed one of eye and limited experience. But a few thinking people tried to learn the effects of various changes in hull shape through model testing—and a couple of famous names come to mind.

Around 1500, Leonardo di Vinci reportedly made 3 models and tested them, while one of the first known Americans was Benjamin Franklin in 1764. But it was a William Froude in England who was the first to discover a way to correctly upscale the model data for full size craft. He was born 200 years ago, on November 28th 1810.

Froude's initial involvement with ships was to study dynamic stability but then he got a commission to try and create more efficient hull shapes. The Admiralty funded the first test tank in his home town of Torquay, UK (1872) and he was soon testing models and devising a way to compare them with the full scale ship—now known as his Law of Comparison and involved the now famous 'Froude Number' or Fn.

In its dimensional form, Fn is also known as the Speed/Length Ratio and is equal to Velocity (in knots), divided by the square root of the Waterline Length (in feet). It's really worth remembering this ratio, as it enables floating boats of vastly different sizes to be compared, as far as many of their characteristics are concerned.

Between 1868 and 1874, Froude went on to test all sorts of hulls and the first 'bible' on ship design was written based on many of his discoveries. Although more recent tests throughout the USA, Europe and now even Asia, have further refined the data, Froude's principles have basically remained intact.

He created numerous Coefficients as ways to compare different shapes and tested displacement forms with varying proportions and ratios. He also did a series of tests on flat planing surfaces with steps in them, spurred by ideas from a Rev. Ramus. He also discovered that hull resistance was primarily made up of two components that varied independently from each other… namely frictional resistance and wave-making resistance and devised ways to calculate each from model tests. For the former, he did an extensive series of tests with surfaces of different types to establish frictional coefficients that are still considered valid today.

Around 1886, a man named D.W. Taylor, a graduate from the US naval academy, went to England to study at the Royal Naval College and learned of Froude's work.

Once back in the US, he had Washington build an even larger test tank (1900) and then conducted a more extensive series of tests with an updated ship form, now known by naval architects world wide as the Taylor Series .

Later, a systematic series for classic planing hulls were conducted in England and called the Series 62 and these covered a fairly wide range of lengths and breadths.

In 1900, there were only 5 known model test tanks in the world. But there are now over 100, so many other Test Series have followed, and each provides a wealth of information for naval architects worldwide, as to what effect various proportions have on resistance, dynamic stability and sea kindliness.

One of the first test series to interest multihull designers was one presented by E.P. Clement in 1961, covering the test results for planing catamaran hulls . Although there is no time or space to discuss any of these tests here, many of them are now available on the web.

As far as modern multihulls are concerned, perhaps no one has used model test data more extensively than the renowned UK designer John Shuttleworth, and his early trimaran Brittany Ferries GB once held the cross-Atlantic record.

Editors note: See Interview with John Shuttleworth in this INTERVIEW section, also available via the HOMEPAGE.

Formulae and Coefficients

As noted above, the Froude Speed/Length ratio is very significant in boat design. Most descriptions and findings re hull resistance are directly related to it. For example it has been shown that a displacement hull creates a wave equal to its length at a S/L ratio of 1.34 and at that point, there's such a hump in the resistant curve that most ships cannot exceed it without a change in shape. Creating a flat planing surface, to give lift and effectively extend the boat's length through a flat wake aft, typically does this, but this can only be achieved with enough continuous power, something a sailboat cannot guarantee.

Other Coefficients of interest to the multihull designer are dimensional ones like the slenderness ration L/b, or the Prismatic Coefficient, (the volume of displacement divided by the product of maximum underwater cross-sectional area × L), which allows a designer to assess and compare the fullness of the boat ends. There are also basic ones like Length to Beam, Sail Area to Displacement and many other useful ways to compare one design with another, for performance, stability and sail balance. But these coefficients and ratios only serve to establish guidelines when designing by comparison and a lot of experience needs to be added-in to adjust these in the right way, as the purpose and size of any new design is considered.

Working from a series of controlled model tests could certainly help create better designs , but sadly, model testing has become very expensive and too few multihull designers avail themselves of the services.

Although a number of very interesting and revealing test series have been conducted in the last 20 years, few of them are out in the public domain. This means, that most multihull designers are tweaking older designs little by little, to hopefully arrive at something better.

It's been a safe way to go, and has produced some really high performing craft, but there is always the possibility that some aspects have been overlooked or that changes are canceling each other out and only very controlled tests can help to identify such issues.

Ships, by comparison, are almost always developed after reference to model tank tests—either through specific ones, or to the standard test series that now exist and are readily available. Even small boat designers could learn more from examining these tests, as through the power of the Speed/Length ratio, data can be readily downsized and anyway, most test models are just 10-20 feet long!!

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Welcome to this, the Woods Designs web site which we hope you will find is an interesting and useful introduction to our range of boat designs.

Based in the UK, Woods Designs is run by Richard Woods and specialises in the design of multihulls for both home and professional builders. Founded in 1981 we now boast possibly the most comprehensive range of catamaran designs in the world.

Click here for stock designs, which range in size from 8' to 38' and types include beach catamarans, open deck cruising catamaran, bridgedeck cabin cruisers, racing catamarans and trailable boats. We also have six small trimaran designs, eight power cats and a few dinghies. Over the years we have designed a number of one-offs, up to 70ft, so if you don't see your ideal boat here please contact us with your requirements and we may be able to help you with an unlisted design.

Click on the photo, right, or use the link in the heading menu, to see the complete list.

Boats can be built in a range of materials of which the most popular include sheet ply, cold moulded ply, strip plank cedar and foam sandwich. Like most designers we do not offer plans for catamarans built in steel or aluminium.

Nearly 3000 plans and over 200 production catamarans have now been sold. Boats are sailing all over the world. Cruisers have made many comfortable ocean crossings in complete safety while the number of trophies won is testament to the speed of the racing designs.

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The new "Mini Trimaran" as it is being called (for now) is an evolution of our work in small multihulls over the years. It combines elements of the successful  Expedition Sailing Canoe  and the " kayak trimaran " named 'Spongebob' into a new vessel. Hull #1 was cut out as a CNC kit in July 2020 and is now in the process of going through sea trials. Click here for Construction  Photos of hull #1   You can get a sneak peak of the builders guide here .

Features of hull #1 included a roller furling mainsail and headsail for easy reefing and a boom for superior sail control. For Hull #2 we went back to a non rotating mast with slab reefing and single line reefing instead. The amas retract into the center crossbeams to reduce the overall beam for trailering without having to demount the amas. A stern cockpit with a large kayak style cockpit coaming can be used with a spray skirt. Steering is accomplished with foot pedal controls or a tiller. The boat can also be sailed from the center cockpit and there is optional space to install a hobie mirage drive in the center cockpit. Ample storage for a full expedition load. The center cockpit is flanked by a pair of "wing decks" which are large enough for sleeping aboard with a bivy or cockpit tent. A leeboard is controlled with lines running to the aft cockpit. The hull incorporates an integral spray chine above the water line to increase cockpit comfort while maintaining a narrow waterline beam of 19 1/2" 

Length: 18’ 6” Sailing Beam: 11’ Trailering Beam: 6’ 8-3/4” Working Sail: 100 sqft Optional Spinnaker: 80 sqft Empty weight: ~290lbs Gear/water capacity: 150lbs Full Load Displacement: 620lbs (solo) PPI: 117lbs (pounds per 1” immersion Ama buoyancy: 275lbs 

Above: Hull #1 freshly painted. April 2021

Latest News: Plans and a CNC kit for this design are coming soon. Hull #1 and 2 are currently in testing and prototyping phases and we look forward to improving the design of the rigging and kit for future builders. 

Video from first Sea Trials in Jan. 2021. We were very pleased with the performance and look forward to further testing the rigging and design in preparation for releasing plans and kits for this design. You can note in the video that the boat is being sailed totally empty so the bow rides a bit high. 

Hull #1 made the trip to the 2021 B&B Messabout and we had a chance to test here out. 

Hull #2 was completed and launched in January 2022. Changes to the design include adding some legroom to the aft cabin, and including space for a hobie mirage drive well in the center cockpit. Hull #2 does not have a roller furling mainsail but instead more traditional slab reefing. A Core Sound 17 mainsail is now the primary working sail and a furling code zero is again used for light air and an off the wind boost. 

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Multihullblog

44′ Power Cat

130 Trimaran Freighter

New 55′ Powercat

Andre’s khsd power trimaran.

Andre Cocquyt is now blasting around in his 34′ KHSD power trimaran.

Halwea Sea Trials

I just found this video of the USCG observed sea trials.

48′ Daycharter Hawea Arrives in Hawaii

After sea trials at Raymond, WA, my 48′ daycharter cat Hawea sailed to Oahu.

12′ Trimaran Goes To Small Boat Festival

In late July I took my 12′ trimaran design to the small boat festival. It was the only yellow boat there. And the lightest. It wasn’t really my crowd. All the other boats were heavy timber classics. While there I learned that small monohull guru, John Wellsford would be there.

loaded on the ferry in my F150

at the show

Hawea Launched

My 48′ daycharter catamaran built by Pedigree Cats was launched June 6th 2024 at Raymond WA. The boat was built for Woody Brown, son of the inventor of the Hawaiian beach cat. After sea trials it will sail to Hawaii. It will be operating on Waikiki beach.

Alii Nui, my favorite daycharter catamaran. 65′

#daychartercat

#kurthughessailingdesigns

My 32′ Cruising Trimaran

Sailing in Puget Sound.

My 46′ Performance Trimaran

My 46′ Performance Trimaran, now Pipeline 3.

A Whole Raft Of Pictures

These pictures came up in my memories. Most were on my previous phone, when the cloud only saved the camera library and none of the others. Some might have been posted here before, but you would have to go back a lot to find them. Good memories.

My 30′ cruising catamaran.

Remember the Time

This great picture of my 30′ cruising cat just came up in my feed. James and Emily sailed it extensively. CM developed plywood construction.

Catamarans and Trimarans with Kurt Hughes