Need a new Tri!

[finleyg]

Hello;

I did try searching for an answer but didn't see much. I am selling my F28R, a great boat, incredibly fast and fun, but not so great for coastal cruising which is apparently what my wife and I like to do. I am looking for more comfort for cruising and snoozing, decent toilet facility, and most importantly, ease of trailering, including setup and takedown (because of cruising amenities, it took 2.5 hours from highway to water or back with my F28R, no matter how I tried). I am intrigued by the Telstar 28 and Dragonfly 28, perhaps the Cruze 970 (but likely same issues as F28R). I throw myself on the tender mercies of those who have one of the aforementioned models for advice about what to get next.

Fin

[miketaz25]

Do you by change have a link to the listing of your f28r?

[snort]

The F-32 (Farrier) might be the way to go. I've sailed the Telstar on flat water and really liked it, but someone who's owned one opines that it's not a great platform for choppy waves (hopefully, he'll chime in here).
The 'trailerable' part is probably the sticking point for 'comfortable cruiser', but hopefully someone will have another idea or two.

[senormechanico]

Have a look at the Dragonfly 920 as well.

Dragonfly Trimarans by Quorning Boats of Denmark | DRAGONFLY 920 Presentation

[alansmith]

Multihull Direct out of Subic Bay, PI has the Farrier F33 and it has refridgeration, toilet, stove and can be customized with aft cabin or long cabin....they are excellent coastal cruisers and Carib boats...IMO...talk to Michael Mallory..president...great guy
unbelievable finnish jobs...

[finleyg]

Those are all good suggestions! Was a little worried about going as big as the F33, mostly for ease of trailering, putting up/taking down the mast, same issue with the 920 as it requires removing the Amas in order to trailer it. The 920 sure is beautiful, though.. I'm sure the F33 is extremely fast...

Anybody sail the Dragonfly 28? Or cruise in the Telstar?

[brownoarsman]

I've sailed a lot in a Telstar (50+ times, but only daysails) and helped launch and load it five times.
The custom mast lift is really cool, but it sure feels rickety sometimes when you are doing it! We could generally have the mast up in 45 minutes, then more time to rig sails. What was really difficult for us was pinning the forestay. Even with a totally loose backstay, it was always a pain and often took one of us sitting on the spinnaker pole with the clevis pin ready and the other almost standing on the furling gear to get it down far enough. We could probably have loosened the forestay, but where would the dub be in that?
The sails were always off Groton/mystic, so no big waves, but when there was chop we didn't notice it.
As far as cruising in it, the water tankage is very limited. The head is a lift able vberth cushion with a privacy curtain. Fine for spouses, don't bring your friends.
The centerboard helps a lot preventing leeway, without it you'll skitter sideways. It's not a fast tri, as fast tris go.
The outboard can be connected and disconnected from the rudder stock which allows great maneuverability.
One thing I was never clear on was whether the akas would ever have to be rebedded. That would be a pain in the ass.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[brownoarsman]

Also the anchor locker is very small. Danforth and 100 feet of rope as I recall.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[brownoarsman]

She's very easy to launch and load, forgot to mention. Play with the weight bow and stern and she'll slip off.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[ejlindahl]

My wife and I have a 1996 F31 AC and like several in our fleet enjoy 1 -4 week trips in the San Juan Islands and beyond. A bit bigger to trailer and raise the mast than the 28 but I do both alone sometimes.

My Opinions: The F31 head is much larger than the F28 CC (center cockpit/aft cabin) "telephone booth" which I have used before, The F31 UC has even a bigger forward head but IMHO it is wasted space. The galley of the F31 is in a better, more out of the way, place as well Also the F31 has full head room through out if you're under 6' 1". I first wanted an aft cabin version but couldn't find one. I thought the aft cabin could be our garage for folding bikes, inflatable dink, paddle board & kite gear. Instead we now use the vee berth for the bikes and the huge under cockpit area for the deflated inflatable and paddle board. I think our AC version (aft cockpit) has a longer cabin. The result is that the pull out berth is huge and we love it. The pull out is so easy, especially since we always cruise with sleeping bags so we don't need to make up a bed with sheets and blankets. We had an old truck camper and i hated the effort and time to set it up for the kids. The Farrier/Corsair pull out berth is fast and easy, as fast as you can pull out a drawer in your kitchen cabinets. Both the V berth and aft cabin are too small for 2 adults to sleep comfortably and I don't think the aft cabin in either the 28 or 31 has the large pull out berth. A couple of our fleet members have put water makers and furnaces in their 31s.

You should visit the Yahoo Fboat and Fboats. Lots of info there. I think the 31 is the best. However if you won't trailer often the F36 or C37 would probably be twice as big. Beware of the older Corsair 36 as there are some reported problems. Big old thread on that in Sailing Anarchy. There are several active multihull fleets around the US. Check em out if you're nearby. Ours is Northwest Multihull Association. SFO has BAMA Bay Area Multihull Association and there is at least one back east as well.

One of our fleet members trailered their F31 to the Bahamas from Seattle and spent 3 months cruising. Check their blog: Scroll down to the beginning. You will see that they enjoyed cruising so much that they are selling their 31 and have bought an Outremer 42 in Tahiti. If you want a well outfitted F31AC I would buy theirs. Ask Steve Marsh at The Finishline in Stuart Florida about it. I wish it was closer as I'd be tempted to trade up to it.
Good luck.

[finleyg]

Thank you Brownoarsman, that was on point information! Appreciate it.

[Factor]

Regarding the Telstar, see TELSTAR TO ALASKA blog at that link.

[brownoarsman]

You're welcome! I should add to that despite what may have come across as a negative review, I actually really enjoyed my time on the Telstar 28. The motion was very nice, not twitchy really, and my girlfriend would usually fall asleep on a settee below almost immediately. Wider hull than your average tri, which detracts from its comfort, but makes it very spacious inside, much more so than, say, a sea clipper 28. I could easily see myself coastal cruising one of them for weeks at a time provided you rigged the holding tank to pump overboard and carried extra water.
Never ever felt like the Telstar developed weather helm. Do not put the 50 hp motor on, it's too ridiculous. Also, the ama folding mechanism is a thing of beauty, though it will eventually chip the fiberglass a bit after a few bad dockings but having the Amas slide under the hull rather than up alongside it both keeps the hull/deck joint out of the water, and makes it very comfortable to put the boat in a slip and get on/off.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[brownoarsman]

Factor and OP: quick point of clarification, are you talking about the new Telstar 28 built by the Gemini company out ofnmaryland or the one originally built in England. I was referring to the new one (out of MD) in my posts. They are now out of production.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[finleyg]

I really am interested in the Telstar and definitely the newer model, especially for its fast on/off water and coastal cruising propensities.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum