Sailor Chuck F. is currently building a DC-3 trimaran. He kindly answered a few of my questions regarding his boat building project and also shares some pics with us here.
Background info about the DC-3 trimaran can be found on this page. Building plans can be obtained from John Marples, the designer.
I’ve been waiting for someone to build this model. Even though it technically fits our criteria for being a small tri (insofar as it’s trailerable), it’s a boat that will be capable of crossing oceans (in theory, at least).
Creature comforts aside, this is certainly a boat that would offer a couple sailors tons of fun for weekending adventures and camp-cruising during vacations. (Thanks for sharing this info with us Chuck! :-)
Here is my short Q & A with Chuck:
Q: — What attracted you to this particular design/model?
A: There are a number of things.
I think the size for building and sailing for one or two people is right.
The swing wing design is the hot ticket.
The “constant camber” design is very stiff and I think visually pleasing .
I’ve known John and Jim for 40 plus years and their plans are hand drawn and they are both better builders than I am, making the plans very easy to follow.
John is always ready with help.
Q: — What has been the most difficult part of the building process so far?
A: Nothing is really difficult , there are some skills to learn if you are new to vacuum bagging .
Q: — Anything particularly enjoyable about the building project?
A: It’s all fun.
Q: — What has been the most unexpected part of it?
A: How hard it is to find suitable wood.
Q: — How has the “constant camber” method worked out so far?
A: There are a lot of pluses, almost ideal shape with minimum spilling and once the skills are learned it’s fast . I built all the panels alone.
Q: — Where do you plan on sailing it after it’s built?
A: No specific plans, of course all the local islands off the SoCal coast .
Maybe down the Mexican coast and up the Baja and trailer home from San Carlos. I would feel comfortable sailing anywhere, I believe it’s the almost perfect size.
This will be my sixth trimaran and I also owned one catamaran.
Making Constant Camber Panels for the Hulls …
Amas (floats) …
Vaka (center) Hull …
Chuck,
Thanks for sharing your project! I’ve been looking for word of someone building a DC-3 since it won the Wooden Boat magazine design award a couple of years ago. I hope you’ll keep us posted on progress. You mention you’re planning on sailing in SoCal; I’m in Long Beach and would love to have a look sometime. And if you need help at any point with moving stuff around, etc., please let me know.
Ken B.
wavsalr[AT]hotmail.com
Thanks so much for sharing your status with us Chuck! Your build seems to be going well. I recently purchased DC-3 plans and am looking over them to get the process straight in my mind. Reading John’s plans really is a treat. I bought plans for his little Gull dingy at the same time, thinking I might build one as a warm-up to CC before starting the tri.
What are you thinking about rigging the boat? John offers good specs for mast, boom, and rigging, but I am undecided about actually acquiring spars. I’d like to make some preliminary decisions before I start building, to have some idea of a budget. I’ll also call John and ask his thoughts when I have a list of questions … so as not to pester. :)
— Scott I. email shhecret[AT]gmail[DOT]com
For Scott Iverson: Unless the specs are very stringent, you would be surprised to learn how much stuff there is to be scavenged around for very little money. Three suggestions here: Tornado, formula 18 and formula 20 trimarans and catamarans. Add a diamond on masta and buy regatta dismissed sails. I have two euroepan dacron tornado sails given to me for free. If they are too flat for the anticipated speed of this tri (might well be) then look into 25 ft speedy monohulls such as platu 25 or similar. They tend to discard sails and rigging at a fast pace.
Hi anyone know the status of the building?