new trimaran from Jim Brown/John Marples

[xsboats]

John Marples recently completed the drawings of the Sea Clipper 20 a swing-wing trailerable trimaran, which Jim Brown first envisioned back in 2002. You can hear more about it on Small Trimarans. I had the honor of building the prototype for Jim, including having Jim spend the final chaotic week prior to launch working with my apprentices and me in our shop. I highly recommend this design for any of you who would like build your own fast trimaran that can also be taken home and admired in your driveway.

[pedcab]

Very, very interesting!

Don't really fancy hobbie, prindle, dart, etc rigs on trimarans but hey, at least they're widely available...

[xsboats]

We bought a complete Hobie 16 on a trailer to cannibalize for the rig, sails, gudgeons ,etc... Sails alone would have easily exceeded the $400 spent. The Seaclipper 24 we are doing next will be built with a J-24 rig. Jim and John chose the Hobie rig for the very reason that you mentioned : availability.

[pedcab]

Originally Posted by xsboats

We bought a complete Hobie 16 on a trailer to cannibalize for the rig, sails, gudgeons ,etc... Sails alone would have easily exceeded the $400 spent. The Seaclipper 24 we are doing next will be built with a J-24 rig. Jim and John chose the Hobie rig for the very reason that you mentioned : availability.

That's what I thought so...

I would consider such kinds of desings if I was to replace my nugget24 in a near future, but now I'm pretty much satisfied...

The possibility of recycling one-design rigs is very atractive, except for the somewhat exagerated colourfulness of Hobbie's sails which I dont't particularly like...

[xsboats]

The sails are definitely a little on the festive side, but the price was right. If you are thinking about replacing your Piver Nugget at some point, you may want to consider building John Marples' Seaclipper 24. I have a few drawings of it available for download free of charge on my website. It is the big sister of the S.C. 20 , but sports a cuddy cabin instead of the large open cockpit of the S.C. 20.

[xsboats]

Jim Brown just released a video on Youtube of the seatrials of the Seaclipper 20 trimaran conducted here in St. Augustine.