Today we hear from a long-time boatbuilder & sailor Bill Murphy. He shares the story of how he got to build one of Dick Newick’s smaller trimaran designs – the Outrigger 26. For some of us, this would be a wonder boat to messabout with in America (once upon a time).
Many thanks to Bill, for sharing this short article with us, along with the images :-)
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“The moon in the water
turned a somersault
and floated away”
– Japanese Haiku writer “Ryoto”
My wife Linda, and I built the Outrigger 26 Newick designed trimarans — twelve of them.
The boats were originally named Somersault to reflect the built-in, patented righting system by which a single sailor could right the boat even if he or she had suffered minor injuries in the capsize. We thought that such a system would appeal to potential buyers. Also, there was considerable concern at the time as to the safety of multihulls as ocean going vessels since they could “flip”, and then what?
As it turned out, once we had solved this capsize problem, no one cared about it. Owners of some early boats went so far as to simply removed the blocks of foam which were essential to the righting system, in order to get more living space in the cabin. In subsequent boats we just eliminated the righting system.
When we first approached Newick to design a boat of which we would be the builders, we owned a Tremolino. We wanted a larger boat with an aft cockpit, and, an essential — a south seas flavor. Dick’s response was a boat in which the hulls and cross arms are joined and held together, not by nuts and bolts, but by ropes, ultimately trampolines.
She is a fine example of the lasting power of good design. The boat is very flexible and “fits” into the waves and seas almost like a living creature as it sails. There have been differences of opinion among owners regarding flexibility. At least one restricted all movement with steel cables.
We know two of the boats are no longer sailing. We are interested in knowing the whereabouts of any others. We are especially interested in a final boat which we tried to launch on Chincoteague Island. When it’s outboard failed the owner decided wisely enough to just trailer it to his home. This boat was the first and only which had a rotating wing mast. We have long wondered if the mast worked successfully.
We of course know of Klaas Parrel’s Somersault 26, mentioned elsewhere on this site, which rotted for some years neath the palm trees in the southern Caribbean before being shipped to Holland where she was lovingly repaired and now proudly sails and races.
Should someone perhaps find a somersault rotting in some inner-city building in the Americas, or wasting away somewhere east of suez where garlicy smells accompany the tinkling of temple bells, I say “go for it”, let the adventure begin.
Update – 09-13-21: The following video was just sent featuring the Outrigger 26 Trimaran under sail. Look at it fly…
Hello,
there are two threads about the Somersault 26 in The sailing anarchy forums. Owners of the S26 tuned in and there is a list with the current positions and owners.
Technical thread here, lots of links to youtube videos
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/215012-newick-outrigger-26somersault-26/
Technical thread here, lots of links to youtube videos
https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?/topic/208050-newick-summer-salt-26-akas-sockets/
Hello Bill,
can you write something about the re-righting system of the Somersault? Perhaps with some drawings? This is very interesting to me, because Iam working on a new design that will be a lookalike of the Somersault / Outrigger 26.
I am following the same path as Dick Newick with a “narrow and low” main hull with a big cabin on top. This has massive advantages for the home builder. Construction will be epoxy plywood with 3 planks / single chined.
Hi Michel, I apologize for taking so long to reply to you.
The Outrigger 26’s high cabin top originally had about 10 inches of water proof foam in it, running from side to side, and from the cabin entrance, forward about three feet.
If capsized, we capsized the our boat with the crane where the Chicago river enters Lake Michigan, the boat just floats there upside down, the foam in the cabin top supporting it.
On the forward deck, close to the bow, is an opening with a screw top 2-3 inches in diameter.
To right the boat, reaching under water, the screw top is opened, and rotating “around” the mass of foam, the bow of the boat fills with water and rotates to the point where the mast surfaces, or is more or less horizontal to the water. Then, the screw cap is replaced, the water pumped out, and the boat completes it’s righting. Thus the name Somersault 26.
Sorry, have no diagrams for this. I tried it with scale 2″ to 1′ model. Also spent considerable time in the, less than pleasant , Chicago river waters. Wish you the best in your project.
Were I building another 26 footer, I’d try Derick Kelsall’s swift-sure method. Also have a Newick Val builder help me to make it with a Wing aka. Regards, Bill Murphy
My friend Bill Yates owns an Outrigger 26 with a rotating aluminum mast. Not a wing section. He bought it a few years ago, and keeps it in Gloucester, MA.
We own boat # 8 formerly Bluescape (I believe) now Ladybug. She was purchased from a gentleman in Paris Maine. He purchased it through Don Wigston from a fellow in FL. I have spent the last years repairing her and sailing every summer on Sacandaga Lake (reservoir) in upstate NY. Among the repair projects were: new trailer with slide out & jack up ama supports, repairs to the akas, repair to the bulkheads inside the amas where the akas fit, repairs to the bulkheads in the vaka where the akas fit, repair to the mast base, repairs to the cockpit & aft bulkhead, added a bow sprit, and made jacks to help jack the amas off the akas.
Did the original daggerboard taper to an elliptical tip? I made ours with a simple domed off square end. How much does this increase drag at speed? We easily sail to 14-15 knots, but have on occasion, with difficulty hit 18.5 k nots.
I have the prototype, which came up for free on Sailing Anarchy. I snagged it in Colorado in about 2016, but family stuff came up and I ignored it in my garage until last year when I started in on the refit. I have gotten distracted with a million things, but am making progress and am excited to finish it and get out on the water. I just got contact info for a previous owner of this boat, I have not yet heard back but hope to find out more of the history of it.
I would also be excited to hear about how the prototype was built, and where and by whom if Bill Murphy would be willing.
Here are a few videos from friends who have helped me work on the boat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tZorzhNiE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf1IrFhVHhA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrIg9nMhSXs
The videos are of course frrom before. I have some pics up on FB from in-process, and there is a Google group that has some pics up too.
https://groups.io/g/Somersault26/editsub?id=10308650
“To right the boat, reaching under water, the screw top is opened, and rotating “around” the mass of foam, the bow of the boat fills with water and rotates to the point where the mast surfaces, or is more or less horizontal to the water. Then, the screw cap is replaced, the water pumped out, and the boat completes it’s righting. Thus the name Somersault 26.”
Bill:
Aha! There is a pipe thread fitting in the bow of the prototype that had me wondering. Perhaps this is what that is for? Did you do the capsize testing on the prototype or one of the production boats?
Anton