Anyone cruising a Corsair F37?

[Cavalier MK2]

I noticed in a recent issue of Latitude 38 that a Corsair 37 broke its carbon mast in the recent Farallones race. It snapped a few feet above the deck and broke again in the fall. They weren't really pushing hard, loping along in the big seas. While that sort of thing is usually a tuning issue, allowing the mast to get out of column ,it might be an idea to check into it more. Carbon is brittle stuff....

[Catamarancrew]

Wow thanks that is good info on the 37 mast. I read lat 38 every month don't know how I missed it. Corsair now builds there own carbon masts and all 37's have corsair masts. It would be great to find out why like you said it may well have been a tuning issue, On my 31 I have a souther spars carbon mast. The cord on the corsair mast is huge, it is not under built that is for sure. In fact when I saw it the first time I thought it almost looked clunky, heavy and way over built.

[Catamarancrew]

Originally Posted by tomfl

The fact that there are more Ian Farrier designed trimarans sailing than any other trimaran designer puts him in a class by himself.

While I agree with you that Ian is one of the great trimaran designers. Without John Walton, yes for those that don't know it is that Walton Sam Walton's son, starting corsair and selling every F-27 they produced at a huge loss to introduce the brand, Ian would most likely be just another designer for the home build crowd. Also if you take away the Corsairs you take away probably 90% of Ian's boats then he would not even be close to the most prolific tri designer Jim Brown and Piver both would have him smoked. So my point is that Walton/Corsair dumped huge money into the infusion and moulds this made unreal performance boats at a production price point. To this day the majority of the Corsair line up are Ian's designs. They made each other. They both build great boats but the fact is Corsair can do it significantly cheaper because of there production facilities and dealership network.

[Mike w]

My Corsair 37 will be arriving the end of June so can tell you about it after then. I talked to previous owners and they were very happy with them. The boat comes with a 5 year structural warranty and they assured me they would take care of any issues. I received updates on the build and they actually delayed by two months to redo the mast so think they are on top of this.

For the price it is 1/2 the price of a Aussie built F39 so I can afford a whole lot of repairs. Also prefer the outboard setup. Very simple and one less thing to hit. Fast and enough space. Was a perfect choice for me. A cat was too big and too slow. I can pull up into many different places like atolls and mangroves or up to the beach. A real plus for me as we all kiteboard and want to have beach parties on deserted islands. Also get up close to sport fish along the reefs.

We'll see. There no such thing as a trouble free boat, but the Corsair has a lot less crap on it than my old 46' cat, so I'm sure I'll be spending a lot less time fixing stuff regardless.

I'll give you my honest report. I am not one to talk up my boat just because it's mine. If there are any flaws I'll let you know upfront.

[tomfl]

Mike I will be interested in your report.

[Cavalier MK2]

Cheers Mike, looking forward to the reports, its fun dialing a new boat in and there is a lot of interest in the Corsair for the value and performance combo. Sounds like the compression load allowed too much movement with the designed stay geometry. Wonder if they changed the stays or added laminate in the flexing area....good to hear they stand behind the boat.

[Mike w]

Alright took TANG my new 37' out for a test run, but didn't have a GPS to clock the speed. All I had was my Navonics on my iphone and misquoted 34 knots. I'm guessing 20 my friend thins 18. So looking at seeing what you guys think. The Ama was almost fully under at times so was pushing it.

Tang 37' Corsair Trimaran - YouTube

[deckofficer]

I vote 20+ kt. Nice little rip for a break-in cruise. Life in the fast lane.

[tomfl]

Looks good so far. It is not so easy to guess how fast it was going, but clearly you were moving right along. Have you been on a C31 and if so how would you compare what I will call the feel of the 37 compared to the 31.

[deckofficer]

Mike, didn't that look sweet?

[tomfl]

Thing is the water was close to being flat with a steady wind. This is just the kind of weather you want for your first shake down sail.

I will be interested in seeing how the c37 sails in a sloppy sea.

[Mike w]

Sorry never been on a 31, but was told the race version is faster than the 37' Regarding choppy water we had a lot of that too. 10 foot steep waves in 17-24 knots full main and full jib. We were doing about 12-14 knots through the stuff and had to say it felt a bit scary, due to the speed, and wave height, but this is my first time out on the boat so natural to feel a bit on edge. The motion is a lot better than my 46' cat in these conditions but felt more at ease on the 46' cat due to size and weight of the boat. This was just my feeling but an experienced person would know the limitations much more.

The boat is really a rocket ship. As we were heading back I could just make out the Red Buoy, and estimated we will be there in about 10 minutes. Wind was about 10 knots, then a gust hit went up to 20 knots and we were at the buoy in about 2 minutes. Just flying. The Boat weighed in at 3,500 kg with a big 25hp engine on it and all goods. Very light and well built. More a Racer and need 3 people to make sailing fun.

[tomfl]

Thanks for the update Mike. I am still on the fence about a 37 or a 31. The 31 has the ability to go 55mph to windward on a trailer, but the 37 has added room and I would guess more comfortable in any kind of sea.

In your vid it looked very fast and the guy on the netting seemed to be quite comfortable.

[Mike w]

Hmmm the other side of the boat was under, I was getting pretty nervous. This was pushing it for sure. Unless you are racing or a speed junkie and can afford some things to break, I wouldn't want to be sailing this fast. Also it feels a lot faster when actually on the boat and not watching the video. 15 knots I feel happy. 17, start thinking what if. 20 get ready to dump and make sure crew are on their toes. Just my unexperienced opinion though.

[JJ77]

Looks awesome Mike!

Cheers,
JJ