Telstar amas

[murraymints]

I am thinking of getting a Telstar trimaran from the 70s.
How easy is it to drop the amas down for storage

[Rapanui]

Pretty easy once you free off the bolts. From memory you have 2 pivot points per ama which are only really used for folding, locking bolts on the top and a locking strut on the bottom held with a number of chunky bolts. The whole lot is galvanised as standard, but if not maintained or used freeing the bolts can be an issue. Invest in buying or hiring an electric impact driver and they should free off. Probably worth stripping the metalwork off and getting it regalvanised to prevent rust streaks if its in poor condition.

[murraymints]

Thanks for the info. How do I support the amas when the bolts are undone.
Would a halyard be enough to support the (unknown) weight to allow them to be lowered safely?

[Rapanui]

I never thought of using a halyard but it sounds a good idea. I used a couple of people. The only issue is to ensure the main hull is well chocked so that it does not rotate when lowering the hull.
We liked our Telstar but outgrew it when kid no 3 came along.

[Rapanui]

The amas just hang on the pivot. You can block them up with wood blocks and a bit of carpet to prevent gel damage.

[murraymints]

Originally Posted by Rapanui

The amas just hang on the pivot. You can block them up with wood blocks and a bit of carpet to prevent gel damage.

Hi Rapanui
Thanks for your info. With the size of your new boat, you get get a few more kids in-

[nautical62]

I owned one of the older Telstars for a while. I would call it more of a trailerable pocket cruiser, than a trailer sailor.

To raise the amas I attached a line to a cleat foward and one back, which went under the ama with the middle making a loop hanging out in the middle - basically supporting the ama in two places. I used a long 4X4 with pulley and winch to hook the middle of the rope and winch the ama up. I used one on each side to avoid blocking and to support both amas at once.

Note that if the amas are not supported, you can easily tip the boat over sideways on the trailer when the amas are out. Also be very sure, the amas are supported well when going under to drive the pins in. One of those crashing down when you are under there could kill you.

I found the Telstar a real joy to sail in protected waters, but lots of under deck slamming in any seas.

[Rapanui]

We cruised our Telstar across the channel for several years with 2 kids. Kept light it was fast and very sea worthy, the design was way ahead of other tri's at the time. Its weakness was that it pitched a lot in a head chop which would stop it significantly. Tony Smith claimed it could not be capsized because of the design and I certainly felt safe in it. We had a lot of fun in it and did some serious cruising