How about an audio interview about the CHS X19 Sport Trimaran — a new sailboat that is about to be built by Charlotte Harbor Sails in Florida? Charlotte Harbor’s proprietor, John Lange, was specifically looking for a boat with its features.

John was able to find just what he was looking for in this model, which is a design by Kurt Hughes. (My short audio interview with John is found below).

Kurt Hughes is a familiar name in the world of multihulls. It turns out Kurt had just completed a re-design of one of his earlier models — the Trikala trimaran — just prior to meeting John. Kurt’s Trikala re-design was just the thing John had been looking into building for customers.

Cool. Very cool.

What really blew me away though was the price they are going to be asking for this boat … at least initially. (We can safely assume the price will go higher in coming months, as material costs continue to rise). So if anyone is interested, they probably won’t want to wait too long before inquiring more about this one.

The initial pricetag: $14,995

Not bad for a 19-foot commercially-produced trailerable trimaran, eh? I mean, I was expecting a number much higher than that. So again, kinda cool.

Here are the proposed specs for the CHS X19 Sport Trimaran …

• A fast and comfortable day boat … take you and up to 3 others for a thrill ride.
• Overnight camping possible … for those with understanding partners!
• A big compartment in the front … accessible through a deck hatch.
• Smaller storage space available behind the mast … accessed directly from the deck.
• Ama hulls slide to center hull … for towing on the road.
• Shallow draft … for easy beaching and shallow water access.

Tentative Specs, we plan on reducing the weight by 120-150 lbs, taller rig and more sail area.
— Length overall: 19′-0″ (5.79 m)
— Length at waterline: 19′-0″ (5.79 m)
— Beam out: 13′ 4″ (4.12 m)
— Beam in: 8′-0″ (2.44 m)
— Draft: 9″/3′ 1″ (.25/.94 m)
— Weight: 540 lb (245 kg)
— Displacement: 915 lb (415 kg)
— Main Sail: 158 sqft. (14.63 sqm)
— Jib: 50 sqft. (4.62 sqm)
— Spinnaker: 161 sqft. (14.93 sqm)
— Upwind total: 208 sqft. (19.32 sqm)

Click on the controls of the following audio bar to hear my interview with John –

Once again, here is the specs page for this boat at John’s website.

And click here to visit the “build blog,” which will chronicle the planning and construction of the X19.

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