Going to convert my Snipe sailing dinghy into a trimaran- Need advice f

[Curtisfromcarlsbad]

I want to be able to singlehand without fear of capsize and go out of the bay into the ocean but stay swimming distance to the coast. The Snipe capsizes easily and singlehanded would be a major chore to right. Also I can increase my load by 450 pounds and carry more than two people aboard if I do this. I will use two "Hydrobike" plastic pontoons 10 feet long, 10 inches wide and 30lbs. apiece. I want to use two "akas", 1 1/2 inch steel conduit about 16 guage (feels extremely strong: I was unable to bend it with all my might at Home Depot) by 12 feet. Home Depot does not carry this length only 10 foot so this week I will try to obtain it elsewhere. The Snipe is 15'6" long, 5' beam and 400 lbs give or take. Is 12 foot the ideal width of my new beam or should I go wider or narrower and why ? Thanks.

[deniseO30]

Just a thought... Why not plan on learning how to handle it rather then prevent it? Outriggers or Amas will go under when the boat heels in a gust. and they will actually cause the boat to not only broach but may flip stern to bow at the same time.
Allot of the fun people seem to have when racing and sailing dinghies is the flipping, broaching and righting the craft.


I've seen mast floats and lots of floatation in small boats for sailing fun. I don't think trying to prevent them from going over is going to work.

Someday I'll report on the fun, if I ever get out there with my 8ft walker bay dink and sailing rig.

[Curtisfromcarlsbad]

Thanks Denise. One of the other sailnet members just capsized his Snipe while sailing solo - see my thread "Single handing a Snipe" page 3 to read his story. His mast broke. That is why I want to do this. And to carry my wife and two kids. It is a real tippy boat. I am willing to forfeit some speed due to the increased weight and drag from the amas. I have no intention of racing and want to go into the ocean where the swells are larger. I should be able to sit farther aft to prevent pitchpoling and I will add some reef points to the sail. My main focus is on convenience and safety before perfomance.

[CalebD]

Sell the Snipe.
Start looking at smaller keel boats like a Catalina 22', Rhodes 19' etc. Most keel boats are pretty hard to capsize and more appropriate for day sailing with the family.
Then there are beach catamarans and trimarans - but they all can be tipped over.

[Curtisfromcarlsbad]

I can only fit a boat that on it's trailer does not exceed 5' ,11.5". The Snipe was one of only boats that can fit this bill.The walkway to my back patio is 6' only the last 1 foot of a 30' span.I can hand push the Snipe on it's trailer to the back and out of our sight and without taking up a premium driveway space. The walkway is wedge shaped and starts at 7' plus then tapers down to 6'. Blame the original developers of this tract? Lol! If they would have gone 6' for the whole span I would be relegated to a Hobie Adventure Island. Not that they are so bad but they don't point as well due to lack of boom. I have sailed the Snipe a few times and really like it. It trailers like a dream, so light I can't even feel it. I moved down from a brand new Macgregor 26m to this 30 year old Snipe. I can rig the Snipe solo at the launch ramp in 20 minutes compared to the 2 hours for the Mac. De rig time is 15 minutes. Adding the pontoons will add about 6-7 minutes if you count the time to store the pontoons on the top of the hull of the Snipe and tie the two akas to the mast . The boat will still be under 6' wide at the outer edge of the tires, so I can make it disappear into the far reaches of the back of my house. I'm only going to sail a couple of times a month. The Snipe is just about the perfect boat for me. I don't have any more money for a different boat and have already tried bigger. Rig time and physical exertion required to rig are extremely important to me as is the 6' width requirement. I don't want to pay storage fees or lose a driveway space. I am basically 90 percent happy with my Snipe as it stands now. I just want to add the pontoons to stabilize it more and fly the jib when solo. I work 100 hours a week so rig time/energy is paramount. Also the time and difficulty of connecting the trailer to the hitch is important. I can do the Snipe by hand and even parallel park then detach the trailer and hand push it in reverse up my driveway to the walkway. I would like advice more related to the actual pontoon width rather than getting talked out of my plan. I do appreciate your intentions though so please don't be offended.

[Boatsmith]

Sell the Snipe.
Start looking at smaller keel boats like a Catalina 22', Rhodes 19' etc. Most keel boats are pretty hard to capsize and more appropriate for day sailing with the family.

You are just going to mess up a Snipe spend money and time and end up with at best a crummy boat. JMO do what you want

[CalebD]

No offense taken.
While I agree with BoatSmith, if you must pursue this option I'd check out the design of the Telstar 28' trimaran to use as a 'model' for your ama dimensions: TELSTAR 28 sailboat on sailboatdata.com

[jcalvinmarks]

I'm not an engineer or anything, but the engineering sounds all wrong here. 16ga steel conduit? Just because you can't bend it with your hands doesn't mean that a 10 ft plastic float being dragged through the water at 4 or 5 knots won't snap it like a twig. And how is this going to be fastened to the boat? Bolts? Screws? Lashings? If you've got 12 foot of conduit across a 5ft beam, that leaves 3.5 ft hanging outboard. I think that sort of leverage is going to be very tough to overcome.

If I were going to make a guess at how all this turns out, I'd say the first time you get a good heel going and dip one of the pontoons in the water, it's going to snap the tubing, the boat is going to broach to, and it's going to capsize, only now it's going to have the windward pontoon still fastened to it, adding another complication to the knockdown situation. As others have said, knockdowns and capsizes are a part of dinghy sailing, and you really ought to be able to deal with that as the boat is designed. (Incidentally, that's the main reason I cashed in my O'Day DSII for a keelboat.)

But hey, as they say, don't believe anybody who tells you something can't be done unless they can show you the broken pieces of their version of it. I have plenty of broken pieces to show, but not of this concept.

[davidpm]

Curtis the nice thing and frustrating thing about on-line conversations is that often we don't know much about the people we are talking to.

You for example may be an engineer with a full workshop with a backyard full of parts and all kinds of engineer friends that will be happy to help you.
It is all about the capabilities of the people involved. How much money, time, energy, equipment and expertise they have. A lack in one place can be overcome with an excess someplace else.

You specifically said you don't want to be talked out of this project so I will respect your wishes.
What you have heard so far is that this idea is not trivial to accomplish and probably not cheap either.
Make sure you take pictures we are looking forward to them.
Good Luck.

You asked for specific help.
I would want confirmation of your idea that you would increase the load carrying capability of the central boat as much as you say. The ama's are typically not in the water at the same time. Even the one that is in the water seems to be just bouncing on the waves. This is an engineering question a tri engineer would know and maybe you could find out by lurking on a tri engineering site. Most tri's go out of there way to reduce weight in the ama's so it is very possible that in tri engineering ana load carrying is not added to the boats load carrying.
I don't know this to be a fact but from your point of view it would significantly change the desirability of the project even if I'm only partly right.

[puddinlegs]

Consider using two laser hulls and a couple of shaped logs to tie is all together. Cut a Farr 40 carbon rig in half, and then you'll never capsize, ever. I think you'd have quite a boat. Let us know your circumnavigation plans. Maybe you can join me on my laser. We'll be a flotilla of sorts. That's kind of like a tortilla, but with boats.