Friday, September 20, 2013

Prologue

The Seaclipper 20 is a beautiful plywood trimaran designed by Jim Brown and John Marples (www.searunner.com). After reading everything available on it on the web (especially on www.smalltrimarans.com: thanks to Joe Farinaccio, the keeper of the flame for small trimarans!), I concluded that this is the best boat for my needs: relatively simple to build and rig, capable of a good turn of speed, able to carry a few friends for a sail, trailerable and beachable.
I've been sailing small multihulls for several years (ranging from the common beach cats to the Supernova trimaran up to a Nacra Formula 18 catamaran) and I am convinced that they are far superior to monohulls, but being almost 55 I start to find sailing the F18 a bit too demanding. So, the Seaclipper 20 seems to be the ideal solution if one wants a spirited boat without the need of going out on the trapeze if the wind is more than 10 knots.
I then ordered a set of plans from John Marples which I received on August 6th: our sail number is 50. The plans are very clear and comprehensive (luckily enough I'm confident with the feet-inch-eighths notation!) and come with a detailed construction manual.
Plywood, as well as the material to build the so-called "flat out table", has been ordered and should arrive at the end of the month. I already have a good experience with plywood/epoxy boat construction, and already have all necessary tools.
I'll be building this boat in association with my long time friend and colleague Cinzia, who is an experienced J24 tailer and has been my crew on the F18 for a few years; other friends have promised to help. The boat will actually be built in Cinzia's garage. Actual construction will start  as soon as raw materials arrive. Stay tuned!