Anyone Ever Sail a Piver Nugget Trimaran ?

[Texas Tri]

I am a newbie poster here. I have just taken the plunge and picked up a beater 24 foot trailerable trimaran. It needs lots of work but it has good solid fiberglass amas and main hull.

It is a “Texas Trimaran”. These were built in or near Corpus Cristi Texas in the late 60’s and early 70’s. It is a fiberglass production version of the Piver Nugget. Have any of you ever sailed a Texas Trimaran 24 or a Piver Nugget? I would be very interested to hear about the sailing characteristics of this boat. I am in a little bit of a strange situation in that I will be rebuilding a boat that I have never sailed. It would be very helpful if I knew her strengths and weaknesses. I think my boat was built around 1970. I assume this design has probably been tweaked since then. I believe that the amas are unfolded during the launch. As the boat is launched off of the trailer, the amas are extended by buoyancy. I believe that this is the same procedure on Telstar tris. If anyone has had experience sailing/launching a standard or a modified Piver Nugget or a similar design, please give me your opinion. I'm a bit leary of the locking mechanism also. It seems week. At this point, I have to decide whether to modify the folding mechanism and the beams or to rebuild to the original 1970 design.


This particular boat hasn’t seen the water for ten years and has rotted in a back yard since then. The hulls and amas are solid fiberglass. The deck and cabin are plywood/fiberglass All the fiberglass seems pretty solid but the wood deck on the amas, and some of the wood in and around the hinges is rotted. Pictures can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14273927@N03/1453667238/

I'm sure I'll end up spending more than I should on this project, but the solid fiberglass hulls are in great shape and I guess I'm just a sucker for old boats and maybe a glutton for punishment.

[Ex-Calif]

You definitely have picked up a project there. That coach roof looks like a camper shell off a pickup truck.

Lot's of opportunity to make a very pretty boat. Keep us posted - I love to watch other people work - LOL.

Seriously - I am a grease and bolts guy. Engines and mechanical stuff.

I am always impressed with fit and finish people. My work in this area comes out functional but not always pretty.

[tdeanesr]

this boat was modified from pivers nuget plans. molds were made at lasco marine in alviso, ca. hulls were sold to texas trimarans, to finish. any more info can be obtained from boatgeorge@hotmail.com. who was the owner of lasco marine. the molds were made in the early sixties.

[slrrls]

I found this topic here by searching for either texas tri.
I followed the email for boatgeorge and he replied. Said he didn't mind if I post his reply here.
I know the post is old but this was info that should be added for anyone else that does a search in the future, so here it is.

""Hi, actually, the Texas Tri 24 was built by a different company in Arlington, Texas called Texas Trimarans. They were in the process of making molds for a 30 ft tri, and we already had molds for the 24 ft tri based on the Piver 24 Ft Nugget, but with rounded shape hulls and decks instead of the flat plywood shape. We sold the hulls and decks only to Tex Tri, and they built the rest of the trimaran. We sold many sets of hulls/decks until they produced their own.
>
> Sorry, but I have no specs or info on that boat. We built our own 24 ft glass tri called the Triumph 24 which used the same hulls and decks with a wood glass covered wingdeck structure. We built both a cabin model and an open day sailor. Most were trailerable. We were located in Alviso, CA, near San Jose, and built during the 1960's. Our last all fiberglass Trimaran was called the Tradewinds 28.
>
> Sorry I can't provide any additional information, but there may be more on the internet.
>
> Good success, gl

[slrrls]

I just found one of Georges boats for sale online so I'm storing a picture of it here for history buffingation.
Small version but never the less.

[slrrls]

Also wanted to post a picture of the texas tri I picked up recently, it needs some work. It has already been greatly modified. The cabin space is tight now so if I like it and keep it then I'll be expanding the cabin, we'll see. I'm really leaning toward getting the plans for the scarab 650 and build their folding arms for the amas.
I really don't want to pay dock fees and ins so it needs to be trailer-able for me to enjoy.

[Cavalier MK2]

The Pver plans were donated to the Mariners Museum in Newport News Virginia where they can make reprints at cost. They also house the Newick collection.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Wowsa... I just learned the translation for Texas-Tri = Pee-ROJ-ect!!!

Ya'll got major cajones, but they do look like fun!

Good Luck!

[Cheechako]

Too bad they installed that Port Ama upside down!

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Too bad they installed that Port Ama upside down!

Cheech... I thought it was pure genius ... no???