On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:34:56 -0700 (PDT), Frogwatch
wrote:



Another consideration for trimarans is room below. An F27 has about
as much living space below as a Catalina 22 monohull. An F31 Farrier
has about much room as an Oday 25 below and my 28' S2 monohull has
much more room. However, the tris are trailerable and fast.
Before I built my Tolman Skiff, I was serious about building a 32' Tri
and considered both the Farrier and Kurt Hughes designs. Both have
kits to install the folding structure but Kurt Hughes seemed to
suggest what he called "demountable" amas. These do not fold but are
carried above the main hull on the trailer and are attached to the
support structure at the marina and it was supposed to be fairly easy
but i do not remember the drill.
One reason the trailer tris are so small inside is because they are
made to be less than 8' 6" wide for legal trailering. Both Hughes and
Farrier said their boats can be built wider (9' 8") giving much more
room but this would require a special oversize trailer permit. I
checked into this and you would have to buy such a permit for every
state you entered but it is good for a year in FL. The wider version
is not available as a production boat.

Good info. I know the tris are light on below deck space, but don't
plan to cruise much beyond a few days.
What I like about them is speed under sail, seakeeping ability, and
fishing platform.
If I end up on the gulf, going 20-30 miles offshore for grouper could
be more safely done in the tri than in an open boat.
And with a lot less gas!

--Vic