Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Boatguy30]

Re stringer fillets:

Maybe, the problem is also the rusting staples. Probably best just to sail it for 2-3 years and let next caretaker of museum to worry about that! Also a lot had been painted but owner had a guy strip it with paint stripper before I arrived. My pre-op team if you will

[Cavalier MK2]

I think Scrimshaw should be in the Smithsonian as a tribute to the owner build trimaran movement that started in the 60s. Several other designer builds survive demonstrating the durability and doability of the concept. Ed Horstman's original Tristar that was the first tri to place in the Transpac is in Hawaii and Norm Cross' 32R is still going. Marples probably rates a mention with Bachnaal.

One of the reasons I got my Nicol was the great materials used along with epoxy glue and copper staples....

Jimske I couldn't tell you about the polyurethane approach but I do believe in the benefits of epoxy coating enough that I stripped out my boat along with the interior and coated inside of the main hull, wings and cabins and still add a area every year. That leaves the amas and not much else at this point. Everything has to be as dried out as possible when you do it but instead of soaking in the damp air or splashes you can just wipe down or mop up improving the rot resistance. Okueme is light and strong but not at all resistant to rot so it might be worth considering. The number one thing for a wood boat is good airflow for ventilation so make sure there is a path everywhere. This is especially important in Searunners as the wonderful center cockpit structure can block the circulation around the trunk if provisions aren't made. Sealable inspection ports are neat in case you ever need to seal area off after a catastrophe. IE the flood in the bow doesn't flow into the stern etc...

[owly]

I've been trying to find photos &c for the Marples CC 35. It's obviously similar to the SR34 / 37 in basic layout, though the construction is completely different. The internet is full of photos of the various searunner models, structural diagrams, etc. but there is almost nothing on the Marples 35, can anybody point me to a site, or a boat listed for sale, as they often have fairly complete collections of photos. I have to admit that I rather dislike the swoopy front cabin top that eliminates headroom in the dressing room, and completely eliminates forward view from within. This strike me as a poor concession to styling at the expense of utility. The Searunners from the 31 on up are clearly designed for voyaging, for utility. The Marples looks to me like it was designed to compete in looks with the likes of Farrier / Corsair, Newick, etc. The simple solid utility of the Searunners may look "antiquated" amid today's racier, more performance oriented boats, but they would still be my choice for world cruising, long term live aboard, among trimarans. H.W.

[rossad]

I think there are many of the latest designs particularly with Cats and now Mono hulls with a more vertical front cabin. Like the Searunner. For that very reason giving room inside the cabin. Its about comfort. Even today the Searunner is a genius boat from tip to toe. It would seem the cockpit bimini to cover the area is a variety of design. They change the lines a lot of the whole boat design. But this cover is essential over the cockpit in New Zealand because of its climate.

[longjonsilver]

Originally Posted by owly

The internet is full of photos of the various searunner models, structural diagrams, etc. but there is almost nothing on the Marples 35, can anybody point me to a site, or a boat listed for sale, as they often have fairly complete collections of photos.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-voilier/vill...ationFlag=true

[owly]

Originally Posted by rossad

I think there are many of the latest designs particularly with Cats and now Mono hulls with a more vertical front cabin. Like the Searunner. For that very reason giving room inside the cabin. Its about comfort. Even today the Searunner is a genius boat from tip to toe. It would seem the cockpit bimini to cover the area is a variety of design. They change the lines a lot of the whole boat design. But this cover is essential over the cockpit in New Zealand because of its climate.

There really do not seem to be any "modern" trimarans except for huge monsters that are built with the utility and stowage of the older designs like the Pivers, Searunners, Crosses, Horstman, etc. The real cruising tris are a shrinking percentage of the fleet, leaving lower budget buyers with the devil's choice. One of the millions of inexpensive monohulls, or buying an ancient boat that may well not have been well maintained........ Unless one can afford the time and cost of self building one of these older designs......... if you can get the plans at all, which in the case of the Cross trimarans seems not to be the case. Do you want to build or sail......... that's the question. Most projects never get completed. H.W.

[owly]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-voilier/vill...ationFlag=true

Thanks for that......... It's pretty clear that the Marples 35 has less internal space for it's length than the SR34. It's interesting that the one berth shown does not extend beneath the cockpit seat like the Searunner, nor does that space seem to open aft from what I can see. These photos do help to build a better picture of the '35. H.W.

[owly]

Tri versus Cat I'm nearing the end of The Voyaging Multihull by Thomas Firth Jones. (cr 1994). An excellent book with some valuable insights into nearly all aspects of multihull voyaging. Of his insights, probably the most interesting is the payload comparison. The cat generally seems to have about double the payload per foot water line. This is a huge consideration for anybody who doesn't have an unlimited cruising and maintenance budget. A bigger boat means higher initial and ongoing costs. For example, I've admired Kohler's KD860 catamaran for some time in a number of respects. At 28' more or less, it has 140 pounds more payload than the SR37, and 1140 pounds more payload than the SR31. A draft of only 16" and a beam of a tad over 18'. If one were building, the cost to build would probably fall pretty close to the SR31 with the full enclosed wing. And the construction appears even simpler than the Searunners. Starting with a blank sheet of paper and a pile of lumber and plywood, it would be difficult NOT to make that choice. In the real world I will be buying a used boat, and the Searunner 37 is probably what I will end up with, though I would prefer the 34. You can't begin to build for what you can buy used for. H.W.

[Cavalier MK2]

The Mariners Museum in Newport News got some Cross plans a couple years ago when D.H. "Nobby" Clark's collection was donated. They probably need to be scanned but the fees are reasonable. The guy to talk with is Bill Barker who handles the archive end of things.

[owly]

Originally Posted by Cavalier MK2

The Mariners Museum in Newport News got some Cross plans a couple years ago when D.H. "Nobby" Clark's collection was donated. They probably need to be scanned but the fees are reasonable. The guy to talk with is Bill Barker who handles the archive end of things.

I'm not personally interested in building, but know someone who is. Thanks. H.W.

[owly]

Can anybody quote actual Searunner weights as equipped? What is included in these weights? Presumably rig and sails, but not ground tackle and rode, what about interior fixtures, motor, cookstove, cooler, cushions and bedding, cabinet work, sinks, etc. Is there a chart detailing where the actual water line will be at different loaded weights. How much over loaded are you if you are an inch below the standard waterline? Is there such a thing as a boat scale so you can determine the empty weight of a boat you are looking at? On a trimaran with it's weight sensitivity, that could be an important part of a proper survey.

H.W.

The Searunner website lists the following weights empty and loaded. The term used is displacement, but means the same thing

SR31 5500 and 7000 payload 1500
SR34 7000 and 9000. payload 2000
SR37 8500 and 11000 payload 2500
SR40 10,000 and 13,800 payload 3800

[Mark Johnson]

Originally Posted by owly

Can anybody quote actual Searunner weights as equipped? What is included in these weights? Presumably rig and sails, but not ground tackle and rode, what about interior fixtures, motor, cookstove, cooler, cushions and bedding, cabinet work, sinks, etc. Is there a chart detailing where the actual water line will be at different loaded weights. How much over loaded are you if you are an inch below the standard waterline? Is there such a thing as a boat scale so you can determine the empty weight of a boat you are looking at? On a trimaran with it's weight sensitivity, that could be an important part of a proper survey.

H.W.

The Searunner website lists the following weights empty and loaded. The term used is displacement, but means the same thing

SR31 5500 and 7000 payload 1500
SR34 7000 and 9000. payload 2000
SR37 8500 and 11000 payload 2500
SR40 10,000 and 13,800 payload 3800

We have a SR 34 with just slightly less payload than the 37, but way more than the 25 or 31. The 40’er is HUGE, and has considerably more payload than the 34/37’s.

As for fully loaded for cruising, no Searunners float with the transom to hull junction at the real WL, as is drawn. Wishful thinking or “goal”, I don’t know?

The “payload” is with the boat loaded lightly with normal stores and half tankage.

We lived aboard for 12 years, with no homebase, so had tax records, lots of tools, etc. for finishing the boat.

With 30 gallons of fuel and 30 of water, and an awning, SCUBA tank, OB motor, 130 lb RIB, 4 solar panels, 4 season clothing, 30 lbs of books, 4 anchors and tackle + the Dinghy anchor, mask and fins/BC for two, washing buckets, 4 fenders, garden sprayer shower, 6 dock lines, spinnaker in a sock, dinghy oars, spares, a month of food, 4 tool boxes, etc...
Plus, we have a RADAR, a refer, SSB/VHF, 8 fans, dozen lights, memory foam, watermaker, entertainment ctr...

We were “at least” 1,000 or 1,500 lbs over, putting the transom about three or sometimes 4 inches submersed, but always, keeping the ama’s elbows out of the water.

This was a MAX, for going to sea. Now, if we bolt something new to the boat, we remove something of equal weight. Our new RIB is 50 lbs lighter!

The stuff you can carry is way more than you think, but you have to keep the elbows out of the water at least. If simply living on the hook somewhere, no big deal, UNTILL you head out again.

[Boatguy30]

I believe the first numbers, "light ship" are meant to include:
Working sails
Winch handles
Dock lines
Fenders
1 working anchor and short chain
Water tanks most empty
A small tool box

Essentially, what you'd have aboard a boat used only for daysailing. I really doubt it possible to get to that weight without using Okoume ply or maybe the 31 is close in 1/4"

[owly]

Mark:
Thanks for the comprehensive answer, I sort of expected as much. I've seen the term "elbows" used before, but have not figured out what it means??
I had suspected that the 31 even sailed single handed simply could not be loaded for an ocean crossing ....... to my satisfaction..... without being over the rated displacement. I don't believe in going off "half cocked". Too many things to fail on a boat to trust in providence. I'm someone who always assumes the worst and is always pleasantly surprised when it doesn't happen..... It never seems to if you are prepared, but that has never changed my inclination to be prepared even slightly. When things fail, it isn't a crisis if you are equipped.
The amount of tools, spares, etc that it takes for me to be comfortable if far more than most people...... tools are my life blood. I will probably be forced to go with the SR37 simply because the 31 is inadequate in terms of payload, and the 34 rare and expensive, and I'm poor, but it's a lot more boat than I really want. I want to spend my time cruising the world, and exploring interesting places, not working on a huge boat, and trying to figure out where my next dollar is going to come from because I sank most of it into a boat.
Multihull is not a negotiable choice. I don't want to live on my ear, on a boat that is designed to sink (ballasted monohull), or sit at anchor watching the mast sweep back and forth across 90 degrees of sky because of an ocean swell. A multihull is the ONLY reasonable live aboard ocean cruiser in my book.
I'm looking at the KD 860 cat..... longingly because they are simply not out there on the used market, and wouldn't be within my reach if they were. 28' long, 2400 lbs payload roomy bridge deck though NOT stand up, roomy hulls with standing headroom, low profile, high clearance, comfortably large aft cockpit, open netting bows, flat bottom with very shallow draft and no keels or centerboard or daggerboards, just horizontal anti vortex panels, and 18' beam.
The reality is that we all have to settle for something, and I really like the Searunners, and the 37 will do what I need.

H.W.

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

We have a SR 34 with just slightly less payload than the 37, but way more than the 25 or 31. The 40’er is HUGE, and has considerably more payload than the 34/37’s.

As for fully loaded for cruising, no Searunners float with the transom to hull junction at the real WL, as is drawn. Wishful thinking or “goal”, I don’t know?

The “payload” is with the boat loaded lightly with normal stores and half tankage.

We lived aboard for 12 years, with no homebase, so had tax records, lots of tools, etc. for finishing the boat.

With 30 gallons of fuel and 30 of water, and an awning, SCUBA tank, OB motor, 130 lb RIB, 4 solar panels, 4 season clothing, 30 lbs of books, 4 anchors and tackle + the Dinghy anchor, mask and fins/BC for two, washing buckets, 4 fenders, garden sprayer shower, 6 dock lines, spinnaker in a sock, dinghy oars, spares, a month of food, 4 tool boxes, etc...
Plus, we have a RADAR, a refer, SSB/VHF, 8 fans, dozen lights, memory foam, watermaker, entertainment ctr...

We were “at least” 1,000 or 1,500 lbs over, putting the transom about three or sometimes 4 inches submersed, but always, keeping the ama’s elbows out of the water.

This was a MAX, for going to sea. Now, if we bolt something new to the boat, we remove something of equal weight. Our new RIB is 50 lbs lighter!

The stuff you can carry is way more than you think, but you have to keep the elbows out of the water at least. If simply living on the hook somewhere, no big deal, UNTILL you head out again.Attachment 159435

[owly]

Only weighing the boat in some way will tell the story. Anything else is just speculation I would say.

H.W.

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

I believe the first numbers, "light ship" are meant to include:
Working sails
Winch handles
Dock lines
Fenders
1 working anchor and short chain
Water tanks most empty
A small tool box

Essentially, what you'd have aboard a boat used only for daysailing. I really doubt it possible to get to that weight without using Okoume ply or maybe the 31 is close in 1/4"