Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Summer 2008
Multihull Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Safety First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2008 Racing/Event Schedule . . . . . . . . . 3
2008 Racing/Event Descriptions . . . . . . 4
Arnie & Ronnie’s Adventures . . . . . . . 12
Multihull Pioneers Honored . . . . . . . . 15
NEMA Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
I n T h i s I s s u e
This article first appeared in theMay/June 2008 issue of WoodenBoatMagazine and is reprinted with permis-sion from Jim Brown and WoodenBoat.
The Multihull Tradition
Stone Age multihulls were the firstreal seafaring vessels known tomankind. Conceived in part as
vehicles of escape from overcrowdingand persecution in ancient Asia, theyserved on voyages of exploration andcolonization in the oldest tradition of all,survival. In these respects they may beconsidered the most “traditional” of alloffshore watercraft. Thanks to a fewtrail-blazing pioneers, tradition survivesin these futuristic multihulls today, andthe story of their modern re-inventioncontains a rich nautical heritage fortomorrow.
Five Pivotal Pioneers ■ WWooooddyy BBrroowwnn: Creator of the first
truly modern (light weight) seafaringmultihull, 1947
■ RRuuddyy CChhooyy: Creator of the first yacht-quality seafaring multihuls, 1958
■ AArrtthhuurr PPiivveerr: Creator of the firstseafaring trimarans for owner-building, 1959
■ JJaammeess WWhhaarrrraamm: Creator of the firstseafaring catamarans for owner-building, 1960
■ DDiicckk NNeewwiicckk: Creator of the mostwidely influential ocean racingmultihulls, 1972
In the can-do years after World War II, ascattering of inventive watermendevised light weight sailing rafts thatlooked like spiders but were built likegliders for soaring on the sea. After
much aquabatic barnstorming,many structural failures, and
often learning seaman-ship the hard way,
these inventorsevolved their mutant
vessels into a new genus ofboat – the modern catamarans and
trimarans. As early as 1662 there had been
efforts to update this ancient concept.So what, really, makes a modernmultihull modern? Not until the decade
MMuullttiihhuullll PPiioonneeeerrssThe Barnstorming Aquabats Who Created The Modern Catamarans and Trimaransby Jim Brown
beginning with 1945 did the essentialingredient appear. Inventors in such far-flung locations as Hawaii, Britain,California, Australia and the Caribbeanall struck upon the component that hadnot been present in the type since theStone Age; it was light weight. Many ofthe ancient multihulls were wonderfullylight for the materials and tools availableto their builders, but the advances inmaterials science during WW II nowbecame commonly and inexpensivelyavailable to anyone. Things like plywood,fiberglass, light metals, waterproofadhesives, synthetic fibers for sails andcordage, and stainless steel riggingwire… all combined to bring unprece-dented strength, lightness, stiffness andefficient use of wind power to thesesprawling structures. Often untrainedand unfettered by the traditions of marinearchitecture, and being unhampered bybureaucratic regulations, the pioneersbegan to apply to multihulls what they
continued on page 6
N E M A Summer 20082
The New England Multihull Association is anon-profit organization for the promotion ofthe art, science, and enjoyment of multihullyacht design and construction, racing,cruising, and socializing. The NEMANewsletter is published at no additionalcharge for NEMA members. The editorapologizes in advance for any errors.
Please submit articles to Judy Cox, editor email: [email protected] mail: 5 Haskell Court, Gloucester, MA 01930
Commodore Tom Cox978-283-3943
Vice Commodore Nick Bryan-Brown508-758-3444
Treasurer Catherine [email protected]
508-748-1551
Race Chair Bill Heaton401-934-1312
Secretary Ira Heller617-288-8223
Cruising Chair Bob Gleason508-295-0095
Newsletter Editor Judy Cox978-283-3598, [email protected]
Assistant Newsletter Editor Alan [email protected]
Fleet Captains Tony [email protected], 617-328-4109
Don [email protected], 508-631-5275
Directors at Large Richard [email protected], 617-734-24144
Ted [email protected], 781-631-5011
Peter Vakhutinsky781 718-0373, [email protected]
Photographer Martin Roos781-272-1683
Historian Les Moore978-768-7668
Life Members Dick NewickWalter and Joan Greene
Les MooreSpencer Merz
Bill Doelger
NEMA Web Site www.nemasail.orgSee the website for Membershipapplication and meeting information.
Elected Officers
Appointees
22
NEMA NEWS
Safety First
We have a great season ahead of us, highlighted by the 2008Corsair Trimaran Nationals the week after the Buzzards BayRegatta, with cruises open to all comers during the first two
weeks of August, before, during, and after this hallmark event. Checkboth the NEMA website and the Corsair 2008 Nationals site (you can linkfrom NEMA) for details as they are worked out. We expect a big fleet atthe BBR and there should be some keen competition as the Corsair fleettunes up for their races.
This year’s Buzzard’s Bay Blast in June will again be a destinationcruise with the annual NEMA barbeque/picnic on the beach at theGleason’s house. Last year’s NEMA North rally was a well attended andfun event, and this year it has been moved up to July so as not to conflictwith the August cruises.
I hope you have fun this summer on the water, and remember thathaving fun is why we put our boats and our bodies at risk.
It is with great sadness that I must relay the loss of 3 boats from ourfleet this year. Arnie and Ronnie Gould had a great winter cruising theirGemeni 3000 catamaran around the Abacos and the Bahamas but had amishap after making a safe landfall in the US. Their article in this issue isa lesson to us all, to never let our guard down; it also underscores thedangers of cruising in company. Great White, an Atlantic 46 catamaranwas en route to the Bahamas for some spring cruising when she got tooclose to a lee shore and wound up a total loss on the rocks; only the rigwas saved. The third event was the capsize of a Corsair 31 off the NewJersey coast during a spring storm. This boat was done in by the salvagecompany during recovery. Fortunately, there were no injuries to crew inany of these mishaps; unfortunately all three boats were lost.
The US Navy indoctrinates their enlistees with the following mantra:“The price of safety at sea is eternal vigilance.” Please take the time toplan your passages carefully.
Sail fast, sail safe, and have fun this summer. I hope to see you on thewater.
Tom CoxNEMA Commodore
Summer 2008 N E M A 33
DATE RACE/EVENT LOCATION CONTACT NEMA ORC NS CRUISE/EVENT
May 24 Owen M itchell Regatta Newport RI www.newportyachtclub.org ■
Jun 13 -14 Spring Off Soundings Watch Hill to Block Island www.offsoundings.org ■
Jun 21 -22 Buzzard’s Bay Blast/Picnic Wareham MA Multihull Source 508-295-0095 ■ ■
Jun 21 MYC Patton Bowl Manchester MA Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985 ■
Jul 12 NNEEMMAA NNoorrtthh RRaallllyy Marblehead MA Ted Grossbart 781-631-5011 ■
Jul 19 Black Dog Dash Vineyard Haven Dave Koshiol 508-748-1901 ■
Jul 24-25 Around Long Island Race Sea Cliff NY www.alir.org ■
Jul 25 - 26 New England Solo Twin Newport RI newportyachtclub.org/solotwin.aspx ■ ■
Aug 1 - 3 Buzzard’s Bay Regatta Marion MA www.buzzardsbayregatta.com ■
Aub 1-16 Corsair Rendezvous Cruise Marion MA ■
Aug 2 CPYC Make-A-Wish Winthrop MA Wayne Allen 978-665-7295 ■
Aug 6-8 CORSAIR NATIONALS Marion MA
Aug 9 Bowditch Race Beverly MA Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985 ■
Aug 10 - 11 Monhegan Island Race Falmouth ME www.gmora.org ■
Aug 16-23 NEMA Annual Cruise Moosehead Lake ME ■
Aug 17 EYC Hovey Marblehead MA Ted Grossbart 781-631-5011
Aug 23 - 24 Newport Unlimited Newport RI Multihull Source 508 295-0095 ■
Aug 30 Schooner Festival Race Gloucester MA Tom Cox 978-828-2181 ■ ■
Sep 6 JYC Regatta Beverly MA Steve McLafferty 781-405-1234 ■
Sept 12-13 Fall Off Soundings Watch Hill to Block Island www.offsoundings.org ■
Sep 13 Whalers Race New Bedford MA www.nbyc.com ■
Sep 13 BYC Hodder* Marblehead MA Tom Cox 978-828-2181
Sep 23 MYC Fall Series Manchester MA Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985 ■
Sep 28 Phil Small* Beverly MA Steve McLafferty 781-405-1234 ■
New this year: Only 3 starters required in any race to count for NEMA season trophy.
NEMA - NEMA Season trophy ORC - NEMA Offshore Racing Circuit trophyNS - NEMA North Shore trophyCRUISE - NEMA Cruise
*Alternate race if needed.
2008 NEMA Summer Event Schedule
See www.gmora.org/pages/racing-schedule.phpfor Gulf of Maine Racing Schedule.
N E M A Summer 20084
NEMA NEMA Season Trophy RaceNS North Shore RaceORC Off Shore Racing CircuitCRUISE Cruise/Event
Only those races with three or more paid NEMA rated racers at the start will be included toward the SeasonTrophy, ORC and NS trophy.
Owen Mitchell Regatta
May 24 NEMANewport Yacht Club, Newport, RI
Race from Newport to Block Island, RI.Good family-oriented event for thebeginning of the season. For more infocall Newport Yacht Club 401-846-9410.
www.newportyachtclub.org/
Spring Off Soundings Regatta
June 13 - 14 NEMAOff Soundings Club, Watch Hill Pt., RI
On Friday race from Watch Hill Pt. RhodeIsland to Block Island. On Saturday, racearound Block Island.
www.offsoundings.org
Buzzards Bay Blast Race/Picnic
June 21 - 22 NEMA CRUISE/EVENTMarion, MA
Around the buoys day races Saturdayand Sunday followed by raft-up inWareham with barbeque at Gleason’sSaturday night. The barbeque includesthe annual NEMA picnic. There is a nicesandy beach, good holding ground andtypically very protected.
Multihull Source 508-295-0095
MYC Patton Bowl Regatta
June 21 NSManchester Yacht Club, Manchester MA
Sunday around the buoys race. Socialactivities and trophy presentation at theMYC after the race.
Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985www.manchesteryachtclub.org
NEMA North Rally and Barbeque
July 12 CRUISE/EVENT
This year's rally will feature the alwayspopular barbeque ashore at TedGrossbart's house in the afternoonfollowing a leisurely sail around SalemBay. Triad (Newick 42 tri) will beavailable to take guests out for a spin,departure time crack of noon from Ted'sdock at Goodwin's Landing, 44CCloutman's Lane, Marblehead, MA. Thebarbeque will follow, around 4 pm.
Overnight moorings will be availablefor those wishing to arrive early. Trailersailors can launch on Winter Island inSalem, or behind the high school inGloucester, where there is overnightvehicle/trailer parking for a $5/day(launching during daylight, courtesyenvelope provided).
Come by land or sea; families arewelcome – bring the kids. Nema willprovide grillables and beverages – bringan appetizer, salad or desert to share.
Ted Grossbart, [email protected] 781 631- 5011 for directions and dock-ing/mooring details. Tom Cox, [email protected] 978 828 2181for Gloucester launching details.
Black Dog Dash
July 19 NEMAVineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard
This is always a fun event, and isgenerally the best-attended event on theNEMA circuit. Low key racing withbreakfast at the Black Dog Restaurantand famous Black Dog/ NEMA T-shirts.Pursuit start race of 20 nm and raft upalong the beach.
Dave Koshiol 508-748-1901
Around Long Island Race
July 24-25 ORCSea Cliff Yacht Club, Sea Cliff, NY
Overnight race around Long Island.www.alir.org
New England Solo Twin
July 25 - 26 NEMA ORCNewport Yacht Club, Newport, RI
Double-handed 100+ nm overnight raceout of Newport, usually around BlockIsland via Montauk and Noman’s land.
www.newportyachtclub.org/solotwin.aspx
Buzzard’s Bay Regatta
August 1 - 3 NEMAMarion, MA
Three days of racing around the buoys.Competitive racing. Well-run event.
www.buzzardsbayregatta.com
Corsair Rendezvous CruiseAug 1 - 16 CRUISECruising will be divided into threesegments. Cruises may be added,canceled, or changed based on weather,sea conditions, and number of partici-pants.
The first segment will be multi-daycruises forming between Friday 8/1 andSunday 8/3, and leaving Buzzards BaySaturday 8/2 and Sunday 8/3. Cruises willreturn to Buzzards Bay no later thanTuesday 8/5 so people can participate inthe parties, racing, spectating, and otherNationals events.
On race days (8/6 through 8/8), non-racers can join the spectator fleet or jointhe cruisers for day sailing to nearbyBuzzards Bay locations. On one of thesedays, there will be a Just For FunCruisers Race.
Following the race days, the thirdcruising segment will start on SaturdayAugust 9th and will continue on forvarious lengths of times depending onthe individual cruise.
Go to www.corsair2008.org and clickon Cruising/Overview for details.
KEY
2008 NEMA Summer Event Info
5Summer 2008 N E M A
CPYC Make-A-Wish Regatta
August 2 NSWinthrop Yacht Club, Winthrop, MA
12-15 mile (pursuit start) race aroundGovernment marks. Sit down dinner $25/person. Two dinners included with racing fee.
Wayne Allen 781-665-7295
Corsair NationalsAug 6-8Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MAA racing and cruising event for allCorsair-built and Farrier-designedtrimarans. See www.corsair2008.org for more infoand to download the Notice of Race.
Bowditch Race
August 9 NSPalmer Cove YC, Beverly, MA
Saturday around the buoys race.Dinner/party/dance afterwards. Verygood party.
Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985
Monhegan Island Race
August 10-11 ORCFalmouth, MELong distance race in the Gulf of Maine.Great hospitality.
www.gmora.org
NEMA Annual CruiseAug 16-23 CRUISEBob Gleason will lead the fleet aroundMoosehead Lake in Maine. Fresh waterand familh-friendly venue for trailersailors.
TMS 508-245-0095
EYC Hovey Regatta
August 17 NSEastern YC, Marblehead, MA
Sunday around the buoys in Salem BayTedd Grossbart 781-631-5011
Newport Unlimited
August 23 - 24 NEMANEMA, Newport, RI
Around the buoys racing short coursesin Narragansett Bay on Saturday.Sometimes one long race race aroundcConanicut Island on Sunday. Wellattended event with party Saturdaynight. Any NEMA member or guest mayregister to attend party.
Bill Heaton 401 934-1312www.nemasail.org
Schooner Festival Race
September 1 NEMA NS Chamber of Commerce, Gloucester, MA
Multihulls will have a separate courseand start for this around the buoys race.After race enjoy free dinner buffet,music, and fireworks. Awards receptionand free buffet after Sunday’s SchoonerRace including all crew for $35 registra-tion fee.
Gloucester is a great destination tovisit. Contact Tom Cox for mooring andanchoring info.
Tom Cox 978-828-2181www.capeannvacations.com/schooner
JYC Regatta
September 6 NSJubilee YC, Beverly, MA
Saturday around the buoys race. Socialafter at JYC.
Steve McLafferty 781-405-1234
Fall Off Soundings Regatta
September 12-13 NEMAOff Soundings Club, Watch Hill Pt., RI
On Friday race from Watch Hill Pt. RhodeIsland to Block Island. On Saturday, racearound Block Island.
www.offsoundings.org
Whalers Race
September 13 ORCNew Bedford YC, S. Dartmouth, MA
105 mile overnight race around BlockIsland by way of Norman’s Land. DinnerFriday, brunch and awards Sunday.
www.nbyc.com
BYC Hodder
September 13 NSBoston YC, Marblehead, MA
Saturday around the buoys race.
Tom Cox 978-828-2181
MYC Fall Series
September 23 NSManchester YC, Manchester MA
Sunday around the buoys race. Chowderand grill social after with awards
Jeff Schrieber 978-312-1985
Phil Small
September 28 NSJubilee Yacht Club, Beverly, MA
Around the buoys Saturday makeup raceif needed.
Steve McLafferty 781-405-1234www.jubileeyc.net
N E M A Summer 20086
knew of flying, sailing, surfing andengineering with the new materials. Theoutrigger concept had been around formillennia, but now the modern multihullwas finally ready to happen.
As these boats emerged in the 1940sthrough 70s it became increasingly clearthat they were not replicas, reconstruc-tions, adaptations or imitations ofancient implements. Instead theyprogressed quickly through thousands ofprototypes, some of them rather unsuc-cessful, to finally evolve into somethinghauntingly traditional yet totally new. Incertain iterations today multihulls are theworld’s fastest, safest, roomiest,costliest to build but cheapest to run,most smooth riding, but most shoaldrafted seafaring watercraft yet known.
Despite fifty years of resistancefrom the nautical establishment, much ofthe maritime world – recreational,commercial and military – is nowembracing the multihull concept. Theimpending energy crunch, when coupledwith the multihull’s potential for unprece-dented energy efficiency, suggests thatmost lightweight, valuable cargoes (likepeople) could soon sail (and/or motor) invessels having two or three hulls. Manyindividuals have invested substantialportions of their lives, some life itself, increating this phenomenon, but few oftoday’s mariners – even multihullaficionados – know much about theorigins of this fast-breaking sea changein marine architecture. What follows arethumbnail profiles of just five of the manypioneers who – while working in wood,mostly alone and at their own expense –made pivotal advances in the evolutionof modern multihulls.
Woodridge P. Brown, 1912 – 2008Hail and hearty until his death at age
96, Woody Brown was the Orville Wrightof multihulls. He brought modern woodenaircraft-type construction into seafaringright after the close of World War II. ANew Yorker transplanted to Hawaii, he isbetter known as a record-setting glider
pilot and a pioneering big wave surf riderthan as a boat designer, but it was hissoaring and surfing that led directly tothe first truly modern, light weight,offshore multihull.
Working as a beach boy at Waikiki,Woody noticed that tourists, then agrowing throng, soon tired of sun andsand. Here was a business opportunity,so he and his island-boatbuilder friendAlfred Kumilae undertook to develop asailboat that could carry paying passen-gers out beyond Diamond Head into thereal wind and sea of the mid-Pacific. Todo this from Waikiki Beach would requirea very shoal-draft vessel with noappendages, and this implied somethinglike a raft, but Woody had sailed in theasymmetric-hulled outrigger canoes ofChristmas Island during the War. “Theywere so fast!” he says today. “We evensailed past the Navy’s motor launches! Itold the natives, ‘no white man’s boat cando that. When I get home I’m gonna buildme one!’” But to carry tourists into openocean he needed something more thanan outrigger canoe. It would still have tooperate under wind power alone, be lightenough to manhandle in the swash, shoalenough to slide over the reef, seaworthyenough to climb over breakers going outand ride the surf coming in. It would evenhave to contend joyfully with high-islandwilliwaws, mature ocean waves, and acargo of six tourists who would onoccasion experience the most stimulat-ing, even terrifying, thrill-ride on this
planet. This had to be quite some bucket!What about a twin-hulled outrigger?
Woody had designed and built hisown record-setting sail planes andspearheaded the development of themodern surf board, and Alfred was agifted woodworker, so together theyresearched the vessels of the ancientPacific people, built a 3’ model and then a16’ prototype. This R&D foretold thecoming Hobie Cat phenomenon, butWoody and Alfred wanted a seagoingcrowd pleaser. They learned a lot fromtheir experiments and pushed on intovirgin territory.
Working with their beach boycolleague Rudy Choy, using only handtools at their uncovered, non-electrifiedworksite they began construction of a38’er. Very lean, lightweight and asym-metric hulled, this catamaran was builtliterally as if to fly. They preparedfrequent-but spidery plywood ring framesand frequent-but-delicate lumberstringers, all of Sitka spruce. With thesethey crafted a bird-like skeleton that wasthen covered with a thin skin – quarterinch sheet plywood on the hulls' out-board “flat” sides, double-diagonal coldmolded 1/8” Douglas fir veneers on their“fat” inboard sides – all converging at arobust laminated mahogany combinationkeel, stem and sternpost. The stream-lined, cold molded wing joining the twohulls had internal trussed shear websthat were integral with main bulkheads inthe hulls. Consistent with classic wooden
Woody Brown was still surfing until shortly before his death at age 96
MMuullttiihhuullll PPiioonneeeerrsscontinued from page 1
7Summer 2008 N E M A
aircraft construction the weight of theskeleton and the weight of the skin weredivided more or less equally between thetwo and the weight of each, plus theweight of everything else – includingeven paint – was considered in grams.She was fitted with twin ruddersdrawing no more than the hulls, theirtillers connected by a bamboo cane, andshe was rigged as a simple sloop withclub jib and spruce spars. At 38’ long and14’ wide, she was hand carried to thewater by Woody’s many friends.“Hawaiians love to clown around,” hesays. “As the boat was moving towardthe water, two of the guys got under-neath the wing and made like they werecarrying the whole thing on the tips oftheir fingers." They christened her ManuKai (Sea Bird) and slid her into the sea.Thus began, in 1947, what anothermultihull pioneer named VictorTchetchet, would later call “The GlobalMultihull Era.”
Rudy C. Choy, 1923 –Operating boats like Manu Kai in the
tourist trade would become WoodyBrown’s vocation for the next forty years.He and Rudy Choy, a Korean-Hawaiianwith aspirations in design, also racedManu Kai in Hawaii’s very demandingconditions against local monohull boats.While she was a bit reluctant to tack,sometimes bore-off uncontrollably atvery high speeds, and made noticeableleeway when strapped to windward, itsoon became clear that she was not justa moneymaking, beachable workboatbut – when given her head -- was also astartling performer offshore.
By the early 1950s Woody and Rudycontinued on in the design and construc-tion of their next beachable-but-seagoing catamaran, the 40’ WaikikiSurf. Similar to Manu Kai but withminimal accommodations for passage-making, wider overall beam and moresail area, Surf was sailed from Honoluluto Los Angeles, 2,800 miles mostly towindward and through a mid-oceangale, in under sixteen days. This was a
daily average of about 180 miles, andtheir speedometer had registered 33knots in brief bursts. These seemedsupernatural feats at the time. Thepurpose of this voyage was to enter Surfin the 1955 trans-Pacific yacht race, buther crew was greeted in Los Angeleswith derision and entry was denied.
Derision didn’t stop Rudy Choy. Hebecame committed to designingcatamarans. He moved to Los Angeleswhere he and builder Hisao Murakamiproduced the 44’ Aikane (Friend inHawaiian), the vessel that Rudy consid-ered to be the first real ocean racingcatamaran. In both 1957 and ’59 Aikaneresoundingly – if unofficially – defeatedthe monohull “TransPac” fleet, thusdemonstrating the speed and safety ofcatamarans but reviving the mono/multischism that began with NathanielHerreshoff’s catamarans in the 1870s. Onboth occasions the Corinthian commu-nity apparently considered that it wasunder assault by “renegades.”
Nevertheless, Rudy’s achievementsdid not go entirely unnoticed. The June 6,1960 issue of Sports Illustrated carried asix-page article by the respectedyachting writer Carleton Mitchell titled"The Cats Squelch the Catcalls.” In thosepages Mitchell, whose traditionalyawl Finesterre was widely knownfor its beauty and performance atthe time, quoted Rudy Choy’sremarks about why he had tried toenter the TransPac race in the firstplace: “All Woody and I hoped forwas recognition, to be set up on aprobationary basis so we couldprove ourselves. If anythinghappened to show cats unseawor-thy, then legislate against us, but atleast give us a chance. We hopedto establish a precedent so that infuture the cats might become aseparate class.” Mitchell thendescribes the sensations of sailingin Rudy’s boats and concludes,“Perhaps the hardest thing for aconventional sailor to accept is theappearance of a larger cat. Theylook weird and box-like, breaking all
the accepted rules of nautical beauty.(Nevertheless) I admit having come toagree with the basic premise of WoodyBrown and Rudy Choy that ‘Catamaransare good honest boats. Despite mydevotion to a small yawl namedFinesterre, a new dream is forming in mymind, this time a catamaran, able to goanywhere… A sportsman’s homeafloat.”
Today’s production-built cruisingand chartering catamarans may wellmark their own birth at that statementmade by Carleton Mitchell almost fiftyyears ago, but some yachting punditsremained generally hostile towardmultihulls. However, Rudy’s achieve-ments now attracted the attention ofsome well-moneyed clients and sometalented partners. Californian WarrenSeaman, designer of the pre-HobieMalibu Outriggers joined with Rudy, andagain the master builder Alfred Kumilaecame aboard. Together they formedC/S/K Catamarans, and began toproduce an impressive series of splendidwooden cats for ocean racing andcruising. Soon they were joined by VinceBartelone, a gifted draftsman and artist,and by Gilbert Iwamoto, another expertbuilder, and now the C/S/K boats
A Rudy Choy Catamaran
N E M A Summer 20088
became beautifully built and quite lovelyto behold. Today they may be consideredthe first true yacht-quality multihulls.Among them were the 36’ Polycon for TVstar Buddy Ebson, the 43’ World Cat, firstlightweight multihull to circumnavigate,and the 58’ racer Seasmoke, for TV starJames Arness.
Rudy’s son Barry Choy, who wasraised around the action, later joined hisfather to design, construct and campaignseveral ocean racing cats includingAIKANE X5, a sterling thoroughbred inwhich they set a record for the 2,225-mile“downhill pull” from Los Angeles toHonolulu in 1989. Rudy and Barry alsodesigned, built and operated severallarge tourist catamarans, and they havebeen instrumental in the Hokulea project,which seeks to preserve the seafaringheritage of Polynesia through educa-tional voyages made in re-creations ofancient Pacific watercraft. Barry stillperforms multihull design services inHawaii, and at this writing Rudy is stillliving at age 84 but he is sadly indisposedfrom a stroke suffered in 2003. While it isfair to say that he was a protégé ofWoody Brown, we all stand on theshoulders of others, and Rudy Choycertainly blazed the trail to culturalacceptance from where Woody Brownleft off at inventive genius. This path wasextended by many others to today’seruption of both racing and cruising
catamarans. If Woody Brown is theOrville Wright of multihulls, then RudyChoy is the Glenn Curtis of Curtis-Wright.
James Wharram, 1928 – Like the old barnstormer William
Piper, who made private aviationaccessible to the common man, JamesWharram has made multihull seafaringaffordable to anyone with the pluck tostart from a set of plans. In the almostfifty years that Wharram designs havebeen available, some ten thousandaspiring seafarers have exhibited thatpluck. At his estimated completion rateof fifty percent, this is probably more realactual boats, out there “doing it,” thanfor the rest of all owner-built multihulldesigns put together. Furthermore, someof his designs are now being profession-ally built.
At about the time that Woody Brownand Rudy Choy were crossing the Pacificin their 38’ Waikiki Surf, this youngEnglishman was crossing the Atlantic inhis 23’ 6” catamaran Tangaroa. While theformer vessel was hell bent on competi-tion, the latter was heaven-sent forcohabitation. James, a professedminimalist, and his crew of two Germangirls often found things close in tinyTangaroa. The threesome was oftenseen to minimize even on clothing, andthis they found consistent with theirquest of living the life of “sea nomads.”
James’ book “Two Girls, TwoCatamarans,” firstpublished in 1969,emphasized adven-ture and romance.One of those girls isstill with James. Hiswife Ruth, now 86,crossed the Atlanticeast-to-west with himin 1956, and againwest to east in 1959,the first such cross-ing in a catamaran.She then drew theplans for their first-marketed design in1960. It catalyzed his
plans business and, working with severalother lady friends – all equal partners intheir design business – he designedmore boats, sold more plans, built morecatamarans, did more cruising and wrotemore chronicles of what he now calls“experimental anthropology.”
An amateur historian of consider-able depth, Wharram contends that earlyhumans dispersed themselves aroundthe planet “more by sea than by land,and his interest in seafaring vessels isbased on that premise. “I would havebeen happy with a Viking ship,” he saystoday. “Or I could have had a small dhow,or a junk-type craft. But I didn’t have theskills or the wherewithal to build suchvessels. As a result of my studies ofPacific sea craft, and of the voyages ofEric De Bischop (who sailed all threeoceans in a plank-built catamaran in the1930s), I realized that a canoe-typevessel such as the catamaran offeredthe most boat for the least materials andwas the least demanding of the builder’sskills.” So it is that James Wharram’s“Polynesian Catamarans,” More thanany other modern multis, purposelyresemble their ancient counterparts, yetwith a half century of sea time behindthem, they have evolved.
The early Wharram cats, nowtermed his “classic” series, wereconsidered by some to be rather crude.Their straight V-section hull forms, add-on cross beams and slatted bridgeplatforms made them simple andinexpensive to build, but their low-aspectsail plans and no-aspect underbodies(that is, no vertical underwater foils)made them something less than weath-erly and nimble. Nevertheless, their highunderwings, low sail plans and minimaltop hamper made them wonderfully safe.
Since the 1970s and 80s, Wharram’sPahi and Tiki series of designs have beenconsiderably developed to improveperformance. They still adhere to hisbasic dictums of V hulls, gaff rigs andlong overhangs, and their slatted bridgedecks still make them rather wet whendriven hard. However, an accumulationof successive refinements is said toWharram Cat
9Summer 2008 N E M A
make their performance comparable tothat of modern cruising monohulls. Truthbe told, this comparison holds for manyof today’s production “cata-roomarans”that sail no better than equivalentmonohulls. This is not enough for theracing multihull aficionados of today whohave become accustomed to boatspeeds similar to wind speed, and whorevel in the passagemaking joys of easy300-mile days.
It must be said that Wharram makesno claims of blazing speed for hisdesigns, but instead he focuses onsafety. He feels that many modernmultihulls are grossly overpowered fortheir weight or grossly overburdenedwith superstructure and its elevatedweight and windage. Accordingly, hisboats include neither the towering rigsnor the “school bus” bridge cabins ofmost contemporary cruising cats. Inconsequence they have relatively tightinteriors (no main saloon), and much ofthe communal living is done patio-styleon their spacious open bridge decks.
The writer has recently beenprivileged to cruise for a week in theGreek Islands with the Wharrams ontheir 63’ cat SPIRIT OF GAIA, a spellbind-ing craft in which they have circumnavi-gated the world. We lived as if in avillage; all communal activities – sailing,lounging, dining, and even washing up,were done on deck. All the privatehabitations were arranged around the“commons,” and indeed the privacy ofseparate cabins in separate hulls, eachbulkheaded watertight from the othersand all accessed only through the deck,was unprecedented. From that experi-ence I can attest that the life of aWharram “sea nomad” is definitelydifferent but once embraced it is quiteengaging. It brings awake the dream ofundiscovered islands, unrestrictedfreedom and uninhibited lifestyle. All atonce you’re there, exploring an unknownworld in the next Stone Age.
At age 80 James now lives andworks with his original wife Ruth andwith Dutch woman Hanneke Boon.Hanneke has proved to be a boon all
right. Her shellback savvy, her artisticrenderings complete with lots of sun andfun and skin, and her expressive, highlydetailed, hand-drawn builder’splans,have elevated her to full co-designer status with James. Whensailing their big cat “Gaia,” in which theyhave circumnavigated the world,Hanneke is definitely in charge. Jamesproclaims, “I’m not the captain here, I’monly the Admiral.”
The unique Wharram family hasintroduced thousands of landsmen to thefulfillment of creating one’s own seago-ing boat, and to the minimalist,vagabonding essence of living on thewater and in the world. So here’s to theAdmiral, his crew, and his entire armada.It is the most enduring formation of allseagoing modern multihulls.
Arthur L. Piver, 1910 – 1968Enter the “trimaran.” The word was
coined by Victor Tchetchet, an eccentricRussian artist living in New York whodesigned and built several small,plywood, day sailing double-outriggercraft starting in the mid 1940s.Tchetchet’s boats were fun on LongIsland Sound but they had small, short-bowed outboard floats and so tended todive the lee bow in gusts. They werecranky in stays and did not sail well towindward. Art Piver (“rhymes with
diver”), a San Francisco publisher withsoaring, surfing and seafaring in hisbackground, was experiencing the sameproblems with a small kit-built catama-ran at about the same time. The two mencommunicated through the AmateurYacht Research Society (AYRS), aLondon-based grapevine for the world’sprofusion of boat nuts tinkering withdesign. With encouragement from JohnMoorwood, publisher of the AYRSbulletins, Piver imagineered a 16’trimaran that had long, buoyant floatbows. It also had shallow ends on themain hull, and its floats were mountedhigh so as to barely skim the water whilethe craft was in stays; these featureswere to encourage tacking. This boatalso had a deep, dinghy-style dagger-board and rudder, these to improveupwind performance and allow thehelmsman to keep the vessel goingstraight when running down steepwaves. In trials the little boat provedquite responsive. It sailed well upwind,changed tacks dependably even in steepchop without backing the jib, and surfeddownwind under firm control. Severalwere built locally (including one by theauthor) and were tested rodeo-style inthe boisterous conditions of The GoldenGate. Some suffered dramatic-but-instructional failures of rudders, dagger-
Piver Trimaran
N E M A Summer 200810
boards, and masts, but in time theproblems were resolved so that the 16’Piver-designed Frolic trimaran dideverything that the catamarans of theday did not. It was arguably the first“perfect” modern multihull, 1957.
Piver soon designed a 24’ version hecalled Nugget. Intended as a four-placeopen daysailer, the author built the firstone fitted with a tiny cuddy cabin. Mybride and I named her Juana andpromptly sailed coastwise into Mexico,this despite the fact that Jo Anna wasfive and a half months pregnant when wecleared the Golden Gate. Like our sonSteven, the seafaring trimaran also wasborn in 1959.
By the time we returned fromMexico Art Piver was building for himselfa thirty-foot trimaran, enormous com-pared to JUANA. He trailered it in piecesto Massachusetts, assembled it thereand sailed, with the help of two crew, toEngland via the Azores. It was the firsttrans-ocean voyage in a moderntrimaran, 1961. As mentioned, theHawaiian catamarans of Woody Brownand Rudy Choy had made Pacificcrossings in the 1950’s, but Arthur Piver’sself published book “Trans AtlanticTrimaran” was timed perfectly to appealto the counterculture of the sixties. Itbombastically extolled the virtues ofseafaring in trimarans, and the craze ofbuilding three-hulled anti-yachts took off.
Piver’s original 30’er was to becomea prototype for the popular Nimble classof which many hundreds were eventuallybuilt of plywood. Then came his 35’Lodestar design, in which he and hisViking-like crewman Rich Gerlingdoubled the Pacific. In other designs theyredoubled the Atlantic and Pacific, Piverwrote three more books, and with thehelp of then-fledgling designer LaurenWilliams a crowded stable of newtrimaran designs was drawn; they soldlike hot cakes. This soon led Arthur toexhort in his advertisements, “DiscoverWHY there are thousands of Pivertrimarans.” He referred to monohulls as“ordinary boats,” to the ballast keel as “atechnical absurdity,” often joked “we
have more solutions than we haveproblems,” and rightly claimed that hiscruising boats could be built “for theprice of an ordinary automobile.” For awhile in the middle sixties it is likely thathe had the most active yacht designoffice of the time.
As might be expected, his boats andhis promotions were controversial. Duein part to his largely neophyte buildersand the sparse how-to informationfurnished with his plans, many of hisboats were crudely modified duringconstruction, often with grotesque tophamper and excessive weight. Tosimplify construction and increaseinterior space the vital centerboards,featured in his original Frolic, Nugget andNimble designs, were eliminated fromlater plans. The resulting vessels, oftensailed by greenhorns, justified the claimsof the traditional sailor – “Thosetrimarans won’t go to windward, won’tcome about and won’t track downwind.”Even Piver’s competitors-colleaguessometimes protested that he was doingmore harm than good. In some iterations,however, when built by real craftsmenand sailed by real sailors, these earlytrimarans exhibited truly splendidproperties of speed, sea kindliness andsafety.
The potential was there for ArthurPiver to become a kingpin in Americanyachting, but his tenure was brief.Hoping to qualify for racing singlehanded across the Atlantic, in 1968, heset sail alone in a borrowed 25’ trimaranbound from San Francisco to San Diego.Sadly he and his boat were never seenagain. Besides his devastated family heleft a jolted multihull movement and alarge stable of offshoot trimaran design-ers (the author among them) wonderingwhat would happen now that “TheSkipper” was gone. It would be manyyears before the trimaran would showitself to be not so good a load carrier asthe cat; but it is debatably faster, safer,smoother riding, more maneuverable andweatherly under sail, more energy-efficient under power and the dominantocean speedster of today. Arthur Piver
crossed oceans in the early prototypes.He was the Charles Lindberg of tri-marans.
Richard C. Newick, 1927–Like most pioneering multihull
designers, Dick Newick began his workusing flat-sheet plywood and stripplanking in his strongly performance-oriented designs. He broke with that“plywood box” norm in 1971 when histrimaran Three Cheers was launched.This vessel utilized the cold moldedconstruction method in her hulls and aone-piece, totally integrated crosswisebridge or “wing aka” to connect thethree hulls. Three Cheers had not onlythe sleekest, most sea kindly hullsimaginable but the wing aka, whichresembled the top of a big boomerang,comprised the superstructure of thecabin and contained the bunks, galleyand stowage areas. It was sculptedbeneath to either deflect or decapitateonrushing wave crests, and wasintegrated with the hulls to achieve astrikingly organic anatomy that seemedevolved by nature over eons.
This boat was almost shocking tobehold. Looking both avian and pelagic,she also had a vaguely reptilian purpose-
42’ Newick Creative Trimaran
11Summer 2008 N E M A
fulness about her. Whether roosting atthe dock or streaking through the wavesshe just looked right for the job ofshowing the world how a small sailingcraft could sustain very high speed inextremely rough water and awfully hardwind. She had demonstrated her ability insome races, but while competing in the1976 Single-handed TransAtlantic Rase(OSTAR as originally organized by theLondon Observer), skipper MikeMcMullen set her on the risky northernroute to America and may have encoun-tered ice. Fragments of the boat werefound years later in a fishing trawl butMike McMullen was never seen again.Newick, visibly distraught from theincident, said, “If you’re going to playthese rough games, somebody is going toget hurt.” As with many revolutionariesThree Cheers led a checkered life andmet a tragic demise, but her ongoinginfluence was pivotal.
Sailboat racing had by now becomea major sport in France. The 1976 OSTARwas won officially by the veneratedFrench superstar Eric Tabarly sailing his73-foot monohull Pen Duick VI. Taberleywas actually beaten to the finish by thehuge French monohull Club Med, a 236-foot juggernaut sailed – yes, single-handed – by Alain Colas. Colas waspenalized into 5th place but both vesselshad taken about twenty four days tocross from France. There was a largecontingent of French journalists at thefinish in Newport, Rhode Island, and thisgenerated a lot of tricolor hoopla in thequiet harbor town. To everyone’s greatsurprise, only one day after celebratingthe French achievements another boatappeared at the finish. It was a tinyNewick trimaran. Called the Third Turtle,she was in some ways the baby sister ofThree Cheers. At only 31feet-long thisVAL class production boat, essentially adaysailer, was sailed by the modestCanadian Mike Birch. At less than halfthe length of the official winner andabout one-eighth the size of the jugger-naut, this vessel literally stole the show inthe milestone event. Birch’s tiny trimaranwas described by at least one French
journalist as, “Zee reeal win-naire.” In a sense, the real winnerwas Dick Newick.
The French now began tostage their own racing events.The first Route Du Rum race wasrun in 1978 from Saint Malo,France to the island ofGuadaloupe in the Caribbean.Another French superstar sailorMichael Malinofski was sailinghis Kriter V (sponsored by theFrench Champaign producer), a68-foot monohull. As Malanofskiapproached the finish line,apparently far ahead of the fleet,again the redoubtable Mike Birchwas seen also approaching in avery Newick-like 38-foot trimarandesigned by Walter Greenenamed – for this race – OlympusPhoto. Kriter, at almost twice thelength of Olympus, was holding asubstantial lead but Birch surveyed hisposition and realized that the localconditions favored his trimaran. He also,recalled that the race sponsors had putup a generous cash prize for the winnerand he resolved to give it a go. Sailing inbreezy head winds he overhauled thebig monohull and finished first by ninetyeight seconds! The event demonstratedthat in order to win in such competitionone must be sailing in something otherthan a monohull. Then, when Phil Weldwon the 1980 OSTAR, sailing at age 65against twenty five younger men in the50’ Newick-designed trimaran MOXIE,France went multihull crazy.
In trying to identify the root cause ofthe French enthusiasm, nauticalhistorian Richard Boehmer has drawnattention back to Dick Newick and hisThree Cheers. In Boehmer’s words, “Ithink it was not just the speed but mainlythe beauty of Newick’s boats that sostrongly stimulated the aestheticsensibilities of the French. After ThreeCheers they jumped into multihulls withan investment of talent and funding thathas led to their three-decade dominancein both ocean racing and productionmultihulls.”
As a measure of the advances insailing technology developed mostrecently by the French, consider that thewinner of the first OSTAR, Sir FrancisChichester, crossed the Atlantic in 1960from east to west by monohull in 41 days.The current record is held by the 105’French trimaran GroupAMA3 at fourdays four hours!
Indeed the influence of DickNewick’s wooden boat Tree Cheers wasso far-reaching that nothing in themultihull world was ever the same again.By breaking the barriers of both perfor-mance and acceptance, he can becalled the Chuck Yeager of multihulls.
—Jim Brown [email protected]
Jim Brown is the designer of the Searunnerseries of ocean cruising trimarans, theinventor of the Constant Camber construc-tion method, and the co-founder of theOutRig! Project, a private initiative thatcollects preserves and disseminates thehistory and lore of modern seafaringmultihulls, their creators and their crews.Details are available [email protected].
Jim Brown with filmaker Scott Browninterviewing some Multihull Pioneers
N E M A Summer 200812
AArrnniiee aanndd RRoonnnniiee’’ss AAddvveennttuurreessArnie and Ronnie Gould spent last winter in the Abacos aboard their boat, Catatonic, a 1988 Gemini 3000. They had a wonderfuladventure and we regret that we don’t have room to print more about their trip in this issue. See arnieronnieadventures.blogspot.comto read about the whole trip. Their final episode, printed below, has a sobering ending, which may serve to underscore the need forvigilance on the water and the hazards of cruising in company.
Monday, March 10, 2008: Returning from the Bahamas by Arnie Gould
This will be our trip’s final episode,and difficult to write, but that isgetting ahead of myself. We spent
the last day in Marsh Harbour hangingout with Terry and Margaret, a Britishcouple who had come to the U.S. to buy aboat, since the dollar is so cheapcompared to the British Pound, and then,at least, in theory, sail it back across theAtlantic. We had become friends amonth or so earlier, but we had spentmuch of that time telling them that the2005 Gemini (similar to our boat) was notdesigned to cross the Atlantic safely.Terry has sailed a bit, Margaret is totallynew to sailing, but up for an adventure.
We spent the first day, Tuesday,sailing north to Green Turtle Cay, about25 miles away, before a front was due toblow through the next night that mightstop us from proceeding through Whale
Passage, which can turn very violent insuch blows. We had a nice sail up toGreen turtle, and Catatonic pulled intothe dock at the Green Turtle Club Marina.I had met the manager of the GTC on aflight a few weeks earlier, and she hadinvited us to visit with special rates andgreat food. “Bonnie” decided to anchorout.
That night the winds came and blewall night over 30 knots. We were glad tobe tied up at a dock. “Bonnie” made itthrough the night OK, but early nextmorning she started dragging anchor.With much ado, including 2 small boatszooming out to her assistance, there wasminimal damage done – a bent strut forthe wind turbine and some chopped upbranches on the side of the harbor. Terryand Margaret were fine but shaken up.
After waiting out the front and itsaccompanying northerly winds, we set
out on Friday with Northeast winds, andsailed all day, from 6:30 AM until 4 PM , tocover the 50 or so miles to Great SaleCay. The island is uninhabited, but a goodanchorage, where many boats stay for anight between long sails, since there arefew places to stop going in or out of theBahamas. That evening, we rowed overto “Bonnie” and discussed the next dayand the weather, since everything insailing is dependent on weather. Isuggested that we were probably goingto sail all the way to Florida – about 100miles, because of worsening weather,and that we should start out aboutmidnight after about 4-5 hours sleep.That would bring us in at dawn to a trickyshoal area that we had to cross andbefore dark to Lake Worth in West PalmBeach, so we could have visuals on that,too. Terry and Margaret refused to leavethat early, choosing instead to leave at 7AM the next day. I had a cold and wasn’tin the mood to argue, so we reluctantlyagreed.
We set off at dawn on Saturdaymorning, just before 7 AM with light windcoming from the North. This was notpredicted and we hoped that thenortherly wind would subside or clockaround, since Northerly winds rubagainst the southerly current of the GulfStream and can cause big nasty waves.The winds slowly built and stayed fromthe Northeast at about 10-15 knotsthroughout the day. Motorsailing acrossthe banks with both sails up we main-tained a good pace of about 6-7 knots. Atone point, as we were trolling a fishingline out behind us, they crossed behindus and we managed to “catch” an 8000pound fish called “Bonnie”, the otherSunset on the Gulf Stream
13Summer 2008 N E M A
Gemini. We disentangled the line with nodamage except for a snapped fishingline.
As we approached West End,Bahamas, the last point of land beforethe Gulf Stream, we encountered 2sailboats going the other way. We hailedthem and asked how the conditions werein the Atlantic. They reported 4-6 footwaves with Northeast winds. They alsoreported that the weather was supposedto deteriorate over the next day (weknew this from NOAA reports on the VHFradio which we could now receive), but ifwe hurried up, we might get acrossunscathed. We thanked them andproceeded without much difficulty onthrough the last set of shoals near WestEnd called Indian Passage – about 5miles of shallow water surrounded bycoral heads.
We started into the Gulf Stream andall seemed fairly calm, about 2-4 feetwaves with 10-12 knots of wind comingfrom the Northeast. We were able tomotorsail and surf down the wavescomfortably going from 6-9 knots up anddown the waves. As the sun was setting,we were getting tired but the going wasfairly easy. About 6 more hours to go.
That evening the winds and wavesbegan to increase. The boat was surfingheavily, occasionally causing the personat the helm (Ronnie and I took 2 hourshifts), to occasionally have to wrestlewith the steering as a large wave wouldpush our stern sideways. All the time wekept “Bonnie’s” lights in sight, occasion-ally hailing each other about our headingor just to check in to see if everythingwas OK. At one point I radioed “Bonnie”that we had just had a flying fish land inour cockpit, but it was too small to keep,and Ronnie insisted that I throw it back.
As we approached the coast ofFlorida, we saw a huge glow from all thelights on shore. Specifically we startedseeing occasional bright lights in the skythat would appear and then disappear.We were 30 miles out and realized that itwas airplanes taking off from West PalmBeach airport. Additional strange lightsstarted appearing, and we could not
discern the entrance to Lake Worth – justtoo many lights. There was no moonlightto help and everything was backlit by thelights from the shore. Finally about 1 mileoff the coast, with the aid of our GPS, wedecided that a set of 3 green lights wasprobably the entrance to the harbor wehad been looking for. We weren’t sureuntil we got much closer, perhaps 1/4mile away. Ronnie went up and loweredthe mainsail – we had already rolled upthe jib earlier, since the wind wasvirtually behind us and it was difficult tofly it at night with all the wave action. Itwas about midnight when we hailed“Bonnie” that we were lined up in thechannel, but she replied back that theywere having some serious problems.
First they could not start theirengine, and did not know why (laterfound out it was a torn rubber washer).Also they could not furl their foresail, itwas stuck open. As we were trying toadvise them, a pilot boat coming out ofthe channel hailed us that a cruise shipwas coming in and that we had to get outof the channel. The pilot boat’s attitudewas nasty, and I considered telling himoff, but since we were occupied withBonnie’s troubles, we decided to sail outof the channel. Also, since the northeastwinds and waves were kicking up wewere being driven out of the channelanyway. For about 30-45 minutes, wecontinued to circle “Bonnie”. Finally,they managed to get their jib closed, butwere still unable to start their engine.Without any control or power the wavesand wind were driving them into shallowwater, and we radioed them to throw outan anchor and call Towboat U.S. Afterthey threw out the anchor in about 8 feetof water, it held and they called Towboat.The Towboat was scheduled for about 5minutes arrival, and Ronnie and I decidedthat they were safe. Ronnie was notfeeling well from all the hours andwaves, so we headed in and told“Bonnie” that we would meet up withthem the next day.
Having taken over 1/2 hour toshepherd our buddy boat to seemingsafety, Catatonic had been driven down
the coast away from the inlet entranceby now 6 foot waves and 15 knots ofwind. We started heading back to theouter green light, but saw another greenlight towards the harbor. Our boat has avery shallow draft, and it is almostalways safe to cut corners on buoys,where thin water is present. We alsoknew that it was approaching high tide.In the blackness of the water and backlitby the shore lights, we made a left turn toalign ourselves with the 2 green lightsthat represented the entrance to theharbor. No more than 10 feet fromalignment, Ronnie screamed out“ROCKS!, TURN LEFT. TURN LEFT! “ Asecond later, I saw the rocks – black,about 5 feet high, and very jagged lessthan 20 feet off our bow. I threw theengine into full reverse, but it washopeless. The 6 foot waves threw us ontothe rocks. Somehow we spun counter-clockwise so that our stern was nowpinned against the rocks. The waves keptlifting Catatonic and crunching her sternonto the rocks – a horrible sound ofbreaking fiberglass. The engine died (itactually was pounded off and into thewater we found out later) and the lightson our boat started to flicker and thenwent out. A couple of seconds later, ourbatteries started smoking and then blewup. I saw that the only way to get off therocks was to sail off, so I tried to openour jib, but it was jammed. As the boatcontinued to pound against the rocks, Iissued a “MAYDAY” to the Coast Guardon channel 16. They replied quickly andasked for our situation and position.Either Ronnie or I responded at differenttimes as to where we were and ourcondition. They asked if we were takingon water, and I replied “No, but we are indanger of breaking up”. I raced forwardto try to unjam the jib furler and to seethe condition of our dinghy – it was welltied down – and I decided that if thingsdid not improve quickly I might cut thedinghy free so that we would have abackup boat. I had my very sharp knife inmy pocket. Ronnie continued to talk tothe Coast Guard. As I came back to thecockpit, Ronnie had found the entangled
N E M A Summer 200814
furling line for the jib and shouted to trythe jib again. I pulled hard, and it opened,filling immediately and pulled us off therocks. The whole episode on the rocksseemed like an eternity, but was lessthan 5 minutes.
Ronnie checked on the bilges below,and there was a slight amount of waterin the port bilge. By now the Towboatwho had been headed for “Bonnie”knew of our situation and was routed bythe Coast Guard to us instead. He calledout to me to see if we were “Catatonic”. Isaid, Yes. He came alongside as wesailed slowly under jib alone and threwme a line with a bridle. Since our maincleat is the strongest, I attached it to thecenter cleat, and he began to pull us intoward the entrance. The Coast Guardhailed us to see if everyone was alrightand if we were taking on water. This timeI responded that we were alright, but wewere taking on water. I had to reset thebridle to either side of the bow, sinceCatatonic was slewing all over the place– now we knew we had lost our ruddersand unknown until now, our engine wasbeing dragged through the water by only2 ropes, having been driven off of thetransom by the pounding on the rocks.
As we were towed inside the harbor,the Coast Guard boat pulled up alongsideus, and repeated the question aboutwhether we were taking on water. Ireplied “Yes” again, and they theninsisted that we get off our boat. It istheir job to ensure safety of lives, andwater coming in dictates that they tookus off. After gathering our passports,money and wallets, we got off. Theyassured us that we would be able to getback on the boat for the rest of our stuff.They then proceeded to ask us a lot ofquestions. There were about 6 or 7 ofthem on board – most in their early 20’s,the oldest one about late 20’s.
Besides standard name, address,citizenship questions, they asked aboutall of the equipment (mostly safety) thatwe carried on board, who was at thehelm and whether we had taken anyboating courses – we had. The chief ofthe Coast Guard crew concluded that he
could not write us up for any citation -we had done everything we could andhad our boat in proper condition.
After that some of the crew startedtelling Ronnie a bunch of horror storiesthat had happened on those rocks, atugboat sank there last year, anduninsured sailboat sank there severalweeks ago. Finally one guy whispered toRonnie that they had just missed therocks themselves at night last week andthat “don’t tell anyone, it wouldn’t be toogood for anyone to known that”.
We finally got towed into a dock atRybovich Marine, a famous powerboatbuilder, where the Towboat captain,Brian, attached an emergency batterypack to our bilge pump to stabilize thewater coming in. The bilge pump workedwell and went off every 5 minutes or so,meaning it was keeping up with the leak.I later found the other hull leaking andturned on that bilge pump also. By then itwas about 3:00 AM and we were all shot.I laid down on Catatonic, totally shot, andfell asleep for a few minutes on an oldsailbag. Ronnie went over and found that“Bonnie” had been towed in to the samemarina, and they invited us to sleep therefor the rest of the night. Exhaustionallowed us to sleep after much conver-sation over our experience. The conclu-sion was that we were fine – no bumpsor bruises and that was all that wasimportant.
The next morning, I helped Brian
tow our boat around the dock so that shecould be hauled, and knowing what hadhappened to us, he offered his quote ofthe day to me – “ A friend in need is apain in the ars”. I laughed and told himthat I had thought of that but didn’t say itto anyone. The boatyard hauledCatatonic out and we all saw the damageto her hulls. Very bad as water pouredout of the aft section of her. I hadremembered that 13 years ago, I had putsealed Coke bottles in her buoyancychambers in the rear of her hulls just incase she was ever holed there. Well, ithappened, and along with sealedchambers above, the Coke bottles (about 400-600 pounds of flotation in eachhull) probably kept her afloat.
The final chapter of this saga hasnot yet been written, but the insurancesurveyor and the yard’s estimators cameto the same conclusion. The cost ofrepairing “Catatonic” would exceed herworth. She is very likely going to be“totaled” by the insurance company. ....We tentatively have decided to somehow“expand” our trailerable trimaran, whichis small inside, so that next year we cansail back to the Bahamas and enjoy thewonderful people and weather there.
–Arnie and RonnieP.S. Terry and Margaret have decided tohave Bonnie shipped back to England.
See arnieronnieadventures.blogspot.com toread more about Arnie and Ronnie’sadventures.
Port Hull Damage
15Winter/Spring 2008 N E M A
Adinner honoring multi-hull pio-neers will take place Saturday,June 28th at 6 pm during the 17th
annual WoodenBoat Show, held at MysticSeaport, Mystic Connecticut. Produced byWoodenBoat magazine, the list ofhonorees includes, Barry Choy, JimBrown, Meade Gougeon, Walter Greene,John Marples, Dick Newick and JamesWharram, all men who have played anintegral part in the evolution of current-day catamarans and trimarans. Each ofthese innovators will speak on theirdesign and building philosophies. Severalof their boats will be on display for all toenjoy. Limited tickets are still available. Atraditional shoreside barbeque will followthe presentations.
Carl Cramer, publisher ofWoodenBoat magazine says “For those ofus with an appreciation for the brave andoutstanding contributions of thesewonderful designers and builders, this isan unmatched opportunity to hear theirthoughts. Not just on multihulls ofyesterday, but their current projects, andtheir thoughts on the future.” Jim Brownauthored a feature article in the current(May/June) issue of WoodenBoat on thistopic, and on many of these pioneers.
Tickets for this tribute and dinner are$30. To purchase tickets, visit theWoodenBoat store web site at:www.woodenboatstore.com.
The three-day WoodenBoat Show atMystic Seaport offers something for allwooden boat enthusiasts and marinehistory buffs. Traditional classics andcontemporary wooden boats of everytype, both sail and power, will be ondisplay including cruising yachts,launches, runabouts, fishing boats,performance powerboats, daysailers,dinghies, rowboats, canoes, performance
shells, multihulls, and racing boats. Inaddition to seeing beautiful boats, visitorscan enjoy browsing through three tentshosting more than 150 exhibitors, includ-ing marine products, artisans, antiques,books, and craftsmen. Additional activi-ties include exhibitor demonstrations,workshops by industry experts, a daily filmseries, and exploring all the wonders ofMystic Seaport. One admission pricegains access to all the boat show displaysand activities of the WoodenBoat Showand Mystic Seaport.
To learn more about the annualWoodenBoat Show, and to sign up toreceive the show newsletter, go towww.TheWoodenBoatShow.com.
Mystic Seaport -- The Museum ofAmerica and the Sea -- is the nation'sleading maritime museum. Visitors exploreAmerican maritime history firsthand asthey climb aboard historic tall ships, strollthrough a re-created 19th-century coastalvillage or watch a working preservationshipyard in action. Founded in 1929,Mystic Seaport is open every day exceptDecember 24 & 25. Learn more atwww.MysticSeaport.org.
The Woodenboat Show is owned andproduced by WoodenBoat PublicationsInc. which includes WoodenBoat maga-zine, Professional BoatBuilder magazine,a series of online resources for boat-builders at the WoodenBoat Show.WoodenBoat magazine, the internationalpublication dedicated to wooden boatowners, builders, and designers, featuresa wide range of articles about woodenboat design and construction, reportingon both emerging technologies andtraditional methods. The WoodenBoatShow is an annual festival celebrating thedesign and craftsmanship of woodencraft. www.woodenboatstore.com
MMuullttiihhuullll PPiioonneeeerrss TToo BBee HHoonnoorreedd aattTThhee WWooooddeennBBooaatt SShhooww
Jim Brown's original Searunner 31' trimaranSCRIMSHAW. See her at the WoodenBoat Show,Mystic, June 27-29 or contact Jim [email protected] (804) 725-3167
1997 Warren 35 trailerable trimaran, “Veloce”.Custom designed for fast coastal cruising/comfortableracing. Spacious interior with over 6 foot headroom andlarge berths. Enclosed head with holding tank. Built byMaine Cat using fiberglass over Core-Cell foam.Composite Engineering carbon fiber beams and wingmast. Main, self-tacking jib, screecher. 9.9hp four-stroke Yamaha. Custom trailer. $125,000. Located inBeverly MA. Steve Mclafferty [email protected] 781-405-1234.
F31 CALVERT TECHNORA SCREACHERUsed eight seasons. UV cover. Still plenty of life left inthis sail. $400 OBOF31 CALVERT ASYMETRICAL SPINNAKERUsed eight seasons. Some patches and bottom paint“skid marks” Good back-up sail. $150 OBOAnxious to sell both sails. Make an offer!Contact Pat Harris, 203-856-0183, [email protected]
WoodenBoat magazine is looking for an existing Frolicor Nugget--preferably on the east coast to bephotographed for an article in WoodnBoat. The boatmust be in decent condition and ready to photograph.Contact Karen Wales, WoodenBoat, 207 359 4651.
FOR SALE
WANTED
P.O. Box 51152, Boston, MA 02205
First Class Mail
MMUULLTTIIHHUULLLLSS421 Hancock St., Quincy, MA
661177--332288--88118811www.multihullsmag.com
YOUR FULL-SERVICE MULTIHULL YARD
ON BUZZARD’S BAYCORSAIR WINDRIDER GUNBOATBROKERAGE STORAGE TRANSPORT
Box 951 Wareham MA 02571
508/295-0095sailfast@themulithullsource.comwww.themultihullsource.com
T H E
SOURCEMULTIHULL
DDeessiiggnnEEnnggiinneeeerriinnggDDeelliivveerriieess
215.822.57733442 Pickertown Rd, Chalfont, PA 19814
Paul van Dyke125 Old Gate Lane, Milford, CT 06460
T: 203-877-7621 F: 203-874-6059 M: 860-235-5787
W: www.northsails.comA DIVISION OF NORTH SAILS GROUP, LLC
Composite Engineering277 Baker Ave., Concord MA 01742
Carbon Spars Racing ShellsSpecialty Composites
978-371-3132www.composite-eng.com
Gregor Tarjan [email protected] www.Aeroyacht.com
