Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Roy M]

WILDERNESS status report:

It's now the end of June in San Diego, our gray mornings are gone, and work continues on the boat. I'm still doing nonskid refurbishment, but it's down to the last stages. I just found out that my mainsail has arrived. That means I have to get a number of sub-projects completed prior to unbagging and installing this beautiful, powerful addition to my boat. The completion of the paint, installing the mainsheet and traveller permanently, rigging the running backstays, and completing the cockpit steering and cockpit engine controls. Much of the work has already been done, but the pesky little details need finishing before I move up to the next phases.

I need to temporarily install the sail to confirm fit and additional rigging (outhaul, three reefs, making and installing the sail emblem, etc.). Then, I need to measure for the stack pack sail cover and get that built. Then, I will be able to build and install the "boom cage", an addition that I came up with for some customers of mine. It's a tubing structure that will contain the sail cover and mainsail, and makes the lazy jacks space further apart, avoiding entanglement with the full length battens, and gives me a solid handhold when furling the sail on the cabintop in rough weather. And, the whole ensemble allows me to quickly stow and close the sailcover singlehandedly.

Nothing happens quickly, but it's very rewarding.

[rossad]

Hi again Roy.
Just wondering when you will be in the water ready to go.. have you got a splash date or sail let's go date.. just wondering..... remember Hawaii was going to be our rendezvous. I think you mentioned Hanalei Bay. Haha... I have worked out how to sail there from NZ. Maybe next year to be honest.

[Roy M]

Hi Ross, in a time of Covid, supply chain chaos and some pretty scary domestic and international weirdness, I am happy to have a place to work on my boat, have some resources to work with, and to be healthy and happy. I'm not making any schedules these days, but meeting up with you in Hawaii is VERY appealing. Tomorrow I start painting my starboard side and foredeck nonskid, which will be followed by the portside. My mainsail arrived earlier this week but needs the sail emblem, battens, sail cover, mainsheet and blocks, traveller, running backs and lazy jacks. Lots of details to cross off the checklist, but it's moving forward. The rest of the sails are currently in process, so I have no control over them. I'm going to go over the engine with a fine tooth comb. It only has less than a hundred hours, but I want it to be completely dependable. Then, there's the haulout. I'm going to be in the yard, pulling the drive shift, prop, cutlass bearing and shift log, popping off the rudder to install the trim tab for the Auto-Helm auto pilot, installing the two LED underwater lights, removing the old speedo and depthsounders, and then putting in the new replacements. Oh, and installing the new centerboard.

So, you can see why I'm avoiding a schedule. Most of the gear is in my storage unit, but one cannot take supply chain for granted. For want of a bronze bolt, my kingdom could come to an end.

Lots of toys are still in storage, like spare chain, anchors and rode, galley gear, and other playthings, but those just need their future homes cleaned of dust, then repainted. And, by the time I get them stowed, I will need to make a number of shakedown cruises to ensure I remember how to use them. Then, charts, provisions, and arranging and training crew. I love it!

[Roy M]

Next year, in Hanalei!

[rossad]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Next year, in Hanalei!

wholly! heck that sounds like a lot to do. But then maybe not too much when things start rolling together if you can work on it each day. Yes the lockdown Covid thing really hit hard in NZ also and still seems to have effects. I have quite a bit to do also.. watermaker.. hotwater cylinder.. new winches new dodger etc etc. I am wanting to sail around NZ first this summer and learn how to sail this thingmebob single handed. Then tackle the bigger wider spaces from New Zealand going east. You might be able to give advice on the foresails for Searunners. Is the Mule still a working sail or is it kinda not used anymore. Maybe i should get rid of the Mule. Im not sure weather to keep my 2 front stays together or just have one and the staysail behind... i am kinda not sure what to do with my rig, to be honest. Searunners are not keelers so they kinda need different things going on. What are you using up front may I ask.??

[rossad]

Hanalei looks nice on google maps.

[longjonsilver]

Looks good Roy. Keep at it. You will get there.

[rossad]

I understand all that but it still doesn't help my workload or pretty much anything in my living life. Maybe when I die it will become useful.

[catsketcher]

Gday Rossad,

Searunner lover but cat owner here. I think the mule is old hat. To upgrade the Searunner rig I would be thinking a nice tri-radial 110% genoa on a furler. Also a nice flattish staysail.

Searunners have large staysails so they can use these in strong winds to windward. You will find your boat has lots of design features from days before furlers so you may like to upgrade.

A good 110% triradial genoa on a furler could be taken up to about 18knots or so (I guess). Then you furl it away and use the staysail and then unroll some genoa again (I know that sounds dumb, but that is the way I like to use our genoa with our staysail - get rid of it completely and then let it out again - it seems to set much flatter than otherwise and provides some balance until we reef the main.)

Then when the wind comes in more you furl the genoa entirely and go on staysail until the wind blows so much you get scared - I love my little staysail.

Downwind you may want to have a little prodder added to the bow and run a Code 0 off it. I love my Code 0 on a free fuff furler. This means you can have a slightly smaller genoa and carry it unreefed to higher windspeeds. I also love a symmetrical for dead downwind running.

I would get rid of the twin forestays and pop a furler on the boat. If you get a Code 0 then you can run that and the furled genoa at the same time and get the same effect as twins, with the advantages (and cost) of the furlers.

As for the mule - I never really understood the idea of a low aspect headsail. Jim probably designed it for the cloths back in the day - but now we can have much more efficient shapes with our headies and carry them through a far greater range so I would ditch it too.

Have fun

Phil

[Cavalier MK2]

Mules look like a funny sail but they do work well in stronger winds. You get lots of power with less heeling, I played with one till it blew it up. That said, nothing beats the convenience of a furler, it is so much easier to adjust for the wind you don't put it off. Being sloop rigged mine has plenty of overlap but it can reef deep and still work. I have a staysail stay too that I rig and I wouldn't leave home without it. Downwind I use a flatter symmetrical chute of 1.5 oz nylon. These days I'm slowly recommissioning after the covid shut down and doing a few short cruises but am looking forward to more next year. Right now Id say we are rat rodding but I'm happy to get on the water.

[rossad]

The Searunner can take a few sails in bags because of the arma's but how many friggin sails does one need. I think a staysail is a must. I will keep mine on the furler which doesn't work it's jammed so I shall fix that. And with the 2 head stays I have I might put a furler on one and leave the other for a specific sail. Because all the power is from the headsails I hope to get it right. Going downwind directly or broad-reaching in light airs is what is really needed for either bending the wind around and not to use the motor. After 12 knots then the light downwind sails should come down. I still have my spinnaker pole strapped to the side of the boat. Never used. Long thing it is and i really don't know if i will ever use it. I don't know if i should even keep that spinnaker either though at least its the most colorful sail i have. Appreciate your thoughts and thanks for the good advice. A mule might be good once in a blue moon but that might not really be how i want to sail anyway. These modern sails seem to have cross overs developing. The geneka genoa and screecher Code 0. Before i go get a furler i better go see a sail maker and see what kind of furler i need. Lots to think about here.

[longjonsilver]

i thot mules were used between the masts on ketches. What am i missing here?

[Cavalier MK2]

Ok, Jim was probably inspired by ketches and schooners but for a Searunner the mule is a short hoist, long foot Genoa. Basically a equilateral triangle (almost) that goes on the forestay up to about staysail height and back almost as far as the Genoa. If you don't pinch they pull like a, you know, to windward..In strong winds I could get a knot more speed than the furled Genoa.

Lots of fun!

I got tuckered after about 8 jib changes in a day and made up that knot with the furler not needing to drop the sail to change for the wind.

I also have adjustable from the cockpit sheet leads and barber haulers on the jib sheets for when the wind frees. This works well enough to keep me from bothering with the chute for distances under 10 miles.

The chute uses guys rigged to the ama bows with snatch blocks going on the sheets. This lets you release the effect completely or guy off the ama bow. Another guy can be set from the.main bow when going closer to the wind but I hardly need to bother. Gibes are easily done without collapsing the chute, go ahead and throw that Spinnaker pole away.

[longjonsilver]

i can't find much about this boat. Only one pic in the ad.

https://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/95023

Altho she is not a trimaran, she is a Searunner. But i can't find anything on the Searunner 38 on Marples website and very little on the other Searunner Catamarans.

Ad says she is fast. How does that compare to popular cruising catamarans - Lagoon, Leopard, FP?

How is the accomodation inside?

Does she have a mini keel, a daggerboard or a centerboard?

Anybody know?

[catsketcher]

Looks like a great cat - a bargain from my perspective. Shame such a good boat is not worth much more.

As for your issues Rossad

I like a Code 0 for running from say a beam reach to a 3/4 or broad reach. If the wind is up I can sail lower but I love the Code 0 (mine is really a 40 year old drifter sail - you could use any light drifter or very light old number one genoa from a bigger boat). I often come slightly off course with it - head up a little on gentle days and then it starts its magic.

Say the wind is blowing 7-8 knots. If I head onto a broad reach straight away with the genoa and main, we go slowish - about 4-5 knots. BUt with the Code 0 up I head up a little and get the boat moving and the apparent comes forward. Then I can bear away as the apparent moves forward. We end up going the same direction but doing windspeed (or almost). It is magic carpet sailing and I really love it when we can do it.

If I need to run deeper I tend to fly the symmetrical kite. Like Cav (Hey Cav - good to see you again!) I fly the kite from the bows. I often run without a main and the boat loves that as the wind comes up. The autopilot loves it too as my boats gets very placid with no main up.

I have been experimenting with a new way to drop the kite. If there is no main up (I drop it behind the main if the main is up) I trip the barber hauler at one bow (the kite sheet now runs all the way to the stern turning block) and I pull the kite almost all the way aft on one side. This should be really easy on the Searunner where you have no outer stays (make this side every so slightly the windward side, by about 5 degrees or so). Then I drop the kite halyard and instead of the kite trying to fall over the bow (when I try to collect the kite from the foredeck) it falls on the side deck and the net, and it doesn't get wet. I am still pulling it in like crazy but it makes the whole thing much easier.

So I still love a Code 0 (from an old cheap drifter) and my old symmetrical. Great sails.

Your pole could still be useful. I don't like the idea of you having two forestays. That makes each one more saggy than if you had just one, so you lose windward ability for no real purpose. Many furlers come with twin tracks, so you could always haul up a second similar sized genoa for tradewind twins running. BUt if you get a Code 0 you could go square running by poling out the Code 0 and have ht egenny on the other side. One of the headies will need poling out. It tried this approach and its works okay. I used a sailboard mast as a pole with the genoa slightly to windward and the 0 on its own to leeward but it would work better if the 0 was slightly on the windward side and the genny on the the lightly leeward side.

The great thing about this rig is that you get lots of sail up forward for running and both sails are on furlers, so you get fewer potential stuff ups. So maybe keep the pole and check it out running with a Code 0 and a furling genny.

cheers

Phil