Sailor Eric Dahlkamp shares an update on the small trimaran he built out using a repurposed Snark for the center hull. He is now in the process of tweaking this craft so both he and his wife can enjoy it in their retirement.
See the previous posts about this particular boat here and here.
Eric has some great building skills, which enables him to both build a boat that looks great and sails well. (I shall try and not be too jealous in this regard, okay :-)
Many thanks to him for sharing this new info with us.
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Eric writes:
Here’s an update on Squirt. Remember my Snark Sundancer conversion? Well, she is launched and sailing.
Just have headsails to add – halyards and sheets. Got ideas how to do it. Will give it a whirl next week. Should work.
Took her out with a Julie in February for a first sail! Used the old Sundancer sail and rig. This time, yesterday, had the modified Lazer main and beefed up mounted. Was fun. Learned a lot. Rudder is undersized for the weather helm. Tacking is fine except without a jib she tries to go into irons. Easy remedies. Stern drags two-up, but that’s because she’s a small boat and I like cookies.
All in all I’m pleased. Julie likes it a lot. It’s small and easy to handle. Her style. Crosswins was just too much for her. And everything happens to fast. Squirt is slow enough to make it much more comfortable for her to handle.
Video shows what a lovely day we had.
Cheers,
Eric
Maiden voyage –
Previous videos:
How she morphed into a tri –
First sail –
Like the way you fitted the oarlocks on the amas. I put them on the vaka (see my Snipe Hobie trimaran on this blog). This works okay for moving the boat in light winds or helping push the boat through a windy tack; however, they are really too short to get any torque in heavy winds to get out of the grass and into the lake. I have tried a Minkota 55 and a 2.5 hp 2 stroke; however, still a little anemic in pushing the vessel through the grass into the open water when the wind is coming at me at 12-20 knot gusts. Your set up appears to give plenty of torque and circumvent the problem of a prop getting choked out in the grass and the boat getting blown back into the weeds. Your oarlocks appear to be production manufactured. If so where can I order these for my Snipe Hobie tri? I already have the 9 foot oars on my sliding seat rowboat. Thank you and your boat appears to be a marriage of function and beauty.
Hi, yes oarlocks are from Duckworks Marine Supply and risers I cut down from standard SeaEagle raft ones. Took 2+ inches from middle of riser the re-epoxied back together and reshaped. Mounted to wooden base. Worked out real well. Can row standing or sitting. Hope this helps.
https://duckworks.com/1-2-gaco-oarlock-sets/
https://www.seaeagle.com/Accessories/oars-paddles/set-of-2-oarlocks