Winter 2005 - New England Multihull Association

Winter 2005
Photographer and Yachtsman, Christian Février
to speak at NEMA Annual Dinner, February 5
photos compliments of Christian Février and bluegreenpictures.com
The Edge II, Little America's Cup Yves Le Cornec, Ostar 1984
Christian Février
Annual Dinner Meeting
Saturday, February 5, 2005
Anthony’s Pier 4, Lynn Room
6 p.m. Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres
7:30 Dinner
8:30 2004 Season Trophy awards
9 p.m. Speaker, Christian Février
Reservation Deadline: Jan 28
Register online at nemasail.org/dinner
The Edge capsize, LAC 1986
Frenchman Christian Février is a man
of many talents. He is a yachting historian,
journalist and art director of
world repute. But first and foremost he
is known as a photographer.
One of the early founders of the
high-quality French yachting magazine
Voiles et Voiliers, Christian helped establish
the magazine’s innovative style.
Voiles et Voiliers is noticeable for its radical
layouts and the use of groundbreaking
photography – a direction set
by Février. Don’t miss this rare opportunity
to see slides of Christian’s work and
hear about his experiences.
The festivities begin at 6 p.m. at
Anthony’s Pier 4. The Annual Dinner also
features the 2004 NEMA Season Racing
awards, a delicious buffet dinner and the
year’s best opportunity to schmooze with
over 100 NEMA members. (Reservation
form and directions are on page 11.
Registration deadline, January 28.)
In This Issue
Letter from Outgoing
Commodore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Iceboating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Capsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
History of NEMA, part II . . . . . 8
Arvinda Dismasted . . . . . . . . 10
Gulf of Maine Wrapup . . . . . . 12
NEMA Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Jim Brown and Vaca Project . . 14
Member Classified . . . . . . . . . 14
NEMA Dinner Reservation Form 15

The New England Multihull Association is a
non-profit organization for the promotion of
the art, science, and enjoyment of multihull
yacht design and construction, racing, cruising,
and socializing. The NEMA Newsletter is
published at no additional charge for NEMA
members. The editor apologizes in advance
for any errors.
Please submit articles to Judy Cox, editor
email: jcox@inzones.com
mail: 5 Haskell Court, Gloucester, MA 01930
Elected Officers
Commodore
Vice Commodore
Treasurer
Race Chair
Secretary
Cruising Chair
Newsletter Editor
Appointees
Fleet Captain
2 N E M A Winter 2005
Tom Cox
978-283-3943
tom@sailtriad.com
Nick Bryan-Brown
508-758-3444
nbbre@yahoo.com
Wayne Allen
781-665-7295
wayne@20knots.com
Bill Heaton
401-934-1312
wtheaton@earthlink.net
Ira Heller
617-288-8223
nemasail@aol.com
Bob Gleason
508-295-0095
sailfast@themultihullsource.com
Judy Cox
978-283-3598
jcox@inzones.com
Tony Cabot
617-328-4109
tony@caboteria.org
Directors at Large
Ted Grossbart
ted@grossbart.com, 781-631-5011
Catherine Kornyei
catherine@themultihullsource.com, 508-748-1551
Photographer
Historian
Life Members
Martin Roos
781-272-1683
Les Moore
978-768-7668
Dick Newick
Walter and Joan Greene
Les Moore
Spencer Merz
Bill Doelger
NEMA Web Site
www.nemasail.org
See the website for Membership application and
meeting information.
NEMA NEWS
Letter from Don Watson,
Past Commodore
Dear NEMA Members:
December 31 marked the end of my term
as Commodore of NEMA. I will try to
remain involved in an unofficial capacity,
but after 12 years as Race Committee
Chairman, four as Vice Commodore and
two as Commodore, I am yielding to our
new Commodore, Tom Cox. I extend him
congratulations and good luck. He has
earned the position and has the full support
of the Board of Directors.
NEMA has been a great source of
friends and competition to me for many
years. I used to sit around the bar for
hours after work with co-workers, where
my friends and I would gang up on my
friend Dolph Gabeler who is now service
manager for North Sails in Portsmouth.
Dolph was always flipping his little cats
and having to be rescued by the Coast
Guard. He never tired of telling us how
great multihulls were, and most of us told
him to get a real boat. This all changed
when I went for my first sail on a Dick
Newick designed NATIVE that we built in
1983. This boat was a slightly detuned
NATIVE, but I will never forget my first
experience with multihull acceleration.
You see the puff coming, and instead of
just leaning over, the boat moves forward
with such suddenness that you
need to be holding on to something. As I
have told others, it can be habit-forming.
I was also struck by the culture of
sailing with and against good friends that
was NEMA. The best kind of sailing is
“it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s
whether you beat your friends.” These
are the people with whom you have
friendly rivalries, comparable budgets
NEMA Officers Elected
At the NEMA Annual Meeting held on
Dec. 16, 2004 the proposed slate of officers
was unanimously approved.
Congratulations to our 2005/6 officers.
Commodore: Tom Cox
Vice Commodore: Nick Bryan-Brown
Treasurer: Wayne Allen
Secretary: Ira Heller
Race Chair: Bill Heaton
Cruise Chair: Bob Gleason
Newsletter Editor: Judy Cox
and preparation time and the people you
seek out after the race. In my early years
of NEMA, Bill Doelger, Spencer Merz,
Dave Koshiol, Les Moore, Walter
Greene, Tom Bandoni and Larry Bedell
all set a tone of friendly competition free
from protests. You always wanted to win,
but you did not press an unfair advantage.
If someone’s boat was damaged,
you helped them fix it, but you still went
out the next day and tried to beat them.
Lately, the on-the-water competition
has gotten more serious, and the boat
handling is in many cases much better
than it used to be, but NEMA has
remained a great source of friendship
and adventure. Six trips to Halifax and
back have provided memories for a
lifetime.
This letter would not be complete if I
didn’t mention the help of fellow past and
present Board members. To Dave, Deb,
Les, Bob, Bill, Ira, Syd, Tony, Tom and
Judy, I say thanks. It has been a lot of fun
serving with you all. To more recent
members, Nick, Ted, Wayne, and
Katherine, thanks for your help and keep
up the good work. NEMA is a great club
with a great history. To the membership,
thanks for allowing me to be your
Commodore. We accomplished some
good things and others are yet to be
completed. I hope we can continue to
reach out to the Maine and Long Island
Sound fleets and offer more to them.
Work is being done on NEMA history and
I hope to help that process in the future,
for it is an interesting story. That’s all for
now, see you on the water.
Sincerely,
Don Watson
Corporate Membership category
changed to NEMA Sponsor
On January 13, 2005 the NEMA Board of
Directors voted to discontinue the current
Corporate Membership and instead
offerorganizations or individuals the privilege
of becoming a NEMA Sponsor. A
NEMA Sponsor is entitled to a small display
ad on the back of each newsletter,
an “advertorial” once a year in the
NEMA Newsletter and a link on the
NEMA website. A sponsor may obtain
member privileges by paying the appropriate
membership fee.

The Fastest Sailboats on the (frozen) Water
At speeds over 130 mph, ice boats are the fastest sailboats on the water, that is if you count ice as water.
Dave Koshiol gave an entertaining and informative presentation about the exciting world of ice boating
at the NEMA Annual Meeting/Holiday Party on December 16.
Tracing the history of ice boats Koshiol
described the early Dutch settlers’ boxes
with runners in the 1670s through the
development of the modern DN, named
after the Detroit News, which sponsored
the competition where the design was
introduced to the E Skeeters.
As a member of the New England
Ice Yacht Association, Koishiol and his
fellow ice enthusiasts report on ice conditions
around New England so they can
go to the fastest, snow free ice for their
weekly races. An ice boating telephone
Hotline is updated every Friday and also
posted on the NEIYA website
(www.cris.com/~Dn4762/) listing the
location for the next day’s racing.
Dave Koshiol raising the sail on his
DN racer
Winter 2005 N E M A
3

Multihull Capsize: Causes & Consequences
by Tom Cox
This year witnessed the capsizing of
three modern trimarans in the New
England Multihull Association racing
fleet within one month, one of which
involved a fatality. Because of the seriousness
of these capsizes, all of which
occurred inshore and within sight of
land, the NEMA board convened a capsize
panel on October 17, 2004, which
resulted in one of the best attended general
meetings in recent history. Seven
NEMA members, all of whom have
experienced capsize on modern multihulls
within the last 24 years, talked
about their experiences and shared their
observations. Following is a transcript of
the proceedings:
Don Watson (DW): We all love our
boats and understand them and have a
lot of fun on them, but all of us know that
there’s a deep dark secret that everyone
knows about, but doesn’t talk about
often. It’s very much on everyone’s mind
this year. I’d like everyone to talk about
their [capsize] experiences.
Peter Harvey (PH): We were
involved with this boat
(Andiamo, Corsair 31)
for a number of years,
sailing in the Dry
Tortugas, Fort
Lauderdale/Key West
races. Chris was a
Peter Harvey very able hand, an
underwater diver, a
very seasoned sailor. I was lucky
enough to sail with him for the past 20
years; he was a really great guy. What
surprised me the most was, doing boat
deliveries a thousand miles offshore,
packing life rafts, testing EPIRBs, I never
would have expected this kind of
tragedy 3 ½ miles from shore. We were
in the Off Soundings Regatta [Saturday,
September 23, 2004], short handed. The
forecast was 25 - 30 knots out of the
southeast; with 120 boats in the regatta,
including 7 multihulls. We were not
going to sail shorthanded on such tight,
fast angles. We left Greenport NY as
soon as we woke up in the morning after
checking the weather. At 0930 we came
through Little Gull after sailing for an
hour; the wind died, we knew a front
was coming through from the northeast
as we expected, but it was a couple
hours early.
Within a half hour the last squall
that I saw clocked 52 knots; the next
squall as we were taking down the last
of the main which had been double
reefed –we had the blade jib up, and all
but six feet of the main furled. We went
up a wave and the boat was in my face. I
watched the trampolines fill up with air
like pillows–then the boat came right
over backwards. It sat vertically for one
second, then I was in the water–I did not
have enough time to hold on to anything.
The first thing I remember when I hit the
water was my self-inflator going off, and
coming up behind the engine and the
propeller, feeling it hitting my head.
I pushed myself out from underneath
the prop, and then got up onto the
[overturned] boat to look for Chris. He
was not visible until I got to the other
side of the boat – I saw him under the
main hull and his self inflating jacket
was actually holding him up as he was
being pounded underneath the boat. I
reached through holes next to the tramp
and I was able to rip the [CO2] canister
from the vest – I was not able to extricate
him from underneath the boat
[immediately], even with diving for a
couple of minutes. I don’t believe he was
alive at the time I grabbed the self-inflator.
He never grabbed my hands, he
made no movements to indicate that he
was alive. I eventually got him
out–removed his vest, his slicker, he was
wearing bib overalls–he was a 220
pound guy. I think that one of the things
that kept him trapped under the boat
was the TEVA sandals he was wearing.
I think a line got caught around his
heel because when I finally got him out
he was wearing only one sandal. I was
wearing a dry suit, no shoes, and I had
taken off my vest so I could dive, and I
could actually move around. If I had
been wearing what he was, I would
never have been able to recover him.
We were on the boat with six foot waves
for about 45 minutes; I did CPR without a
response. All I could do was get water
out of him. I couldn’t let go of him
because his head would go underwater,
so I held him with one hand– I couldn’t
tie him to the boat.
We were taken in by a fishing boat
and got him to the hospital where he
was pronounced dead. They tried a
defibrillator in the ambulance but they
never got a response. The winds were
clocked ashore at over 80 knots. My
sense is that had he had a Spare Air
with a manual inflator, he might have
been able to extricate himself. The other
thought that keeps coming back – we all
prepare ourselves but you are never
truly prepared.
Paul Van Dyke (PVD): We had the
experience of capsizing/pitch
poling a 40
foot Antrim trimaran
(Zephyr) this summer
at the Newport
Unlimited Regatta.
We were taken by
surprise. We were in
the race–it was Paul Van Dyke
windy, 20-25 knots –
we’d done the 4.8 mile beat, and had
almost completed the run. Things were
going well, the boat was going fast, and
no one was thinking we were going to
capsize–it was the last thing on our
minds. We were a little complacent–it
was a good boat in a breeze. We made
our last jibe 300 yards from the finish and
we slightly overstood–we got through
the jibe fine, but we had to come up 5 or
10 degrees. The guys started trimming
on the spinnaker and we dropped the
[main] traveler when a puff hit and the
4
N E M A Winter 2005

oat went over just like it was a beach
cat. It went over very easily and it took
me very much by surprise. Looking back
on it, if we hadn’t trimmed the spinnaker
so tight, if we’d been able to ease it
quicker–but it was on a self-tailer and I
told them to trim it. If someone was holding
the spinnaker sheet in their hand
they could have eased it. It went over
very fast–the boat didn’t stop, or stall. It
was one complete motion–the boat went
in, then straight up. I grabbed the traveler
line, then I was hanging, then I was in
the water up to my chest, then I jumped
up on the trampoline. One crew member,
Duane [Zelinski, the owner] was in the
cockpit and went down below. Two guys
were out on the net, one on the main,
one on the spinnaker. The fifth man,
Louie, was forward and he actually had a
self-inflating life jacket on and he got
stuck momentarily–he was pinned under
a small forward lacing under the boat but
he was able to get out. I saw everybody
was accounted for. No one got hurt;
there was little damage to the boat. We
did not break the mast or anything.
Ted Grossbart (TG): Rosebud II is a
formula 28, a scaled
down formula 40 with
a bigger rig–an
extreme boat and we
had added racks to
the boat so it was at
that point 28 feet long
and 34 feet wide.
This was in the
Ted Grossbart
Gloucester Schooner
Race [September 1, 2001], gusty, with
sharp lulls, up and down. We had been
sailing fine, letting stuff out in the gusts,
and pulling in in the lulls during the first
part of the race. It was an offshore
breeze and close to the shore you get a
lot of funneling. We were on a close
hauled to close reach course and got hit
by a puff that was much bigger than we
had before. There’s some question as to
whether the jib sheet jammed, but I don’t
really think that was the issue. We went
over at 45 degrees, the bow went in, the
boat went up, and started to come back
[up]–we thought we were all right. Then
we got hit by another gust and quite
slowly [we went over]. We’d been doing
about 28 plus. Once you’ve gone over on
the side you’re way up in the air, two or
three stories up looking for a landing
place. Most of the crew was out on the
rack which hinged with some slingshot
action, so they went in first. It was really
a sort of best case situation with no real
injuries, just black and blue marks, and
no serious damage–we were sailing a
week later. [We were] right along the
shore, the harbormaster and Coast
Guard were there.
The Coast Guard at first didn’t want
to help, then the harbormaster came
over, took a line and got us almost all the
way over but they didn’t have enough
horsepower. We also didn’t have a bridle
rigged. Once the Coast Guard saw it
was going to work they wanted to join
in. They flipped us back over and had a
pump, then took us back into Gloucester.
The obvious lesson is we had too much
sail area up. It’s an extreme boat, we
knew we were on the edge, we were
thinking capsize, and we got caught.
Ira Heller (IH): Syd and I were sailing
in the NOOD Regatta in 1995 [in
Mothra, an F27 trimaran]. The race was
being held in upper Narragansett Bay
near Gould Island. There had been a hurricane
that passed south of the Atlantic
coast with large rollers coming into the
bay. It was blowing out of the north at
about 25 knots with the wind against the
waves. It was a windward/leeward
course and we were sailing with a symmetric
spinnaker. I found it difficult to
jibe. We decided the best course of
action before we passed the mark was
to take it down and handed the spinnaker
sheet to a monohull sailor [with little
multihull experience]. We stuffed the
bows into a wave doing 15 knots and the
boat slowed down, the stern started to
come up, we got hit by another gust and
the fellow holding the spinnaker used it
as a brace to hold himself instead of
releasing it, so it continued to pull the
boat over the bows. I held onto the tiller
to hold myself from sliding into anything.
I found myself in the water–I ended up
underneath the boat. I realized I was in a
dangerous situation, and I was hoping I
was choosing the right direction to
swim–it’s very disorienting There’s limited
visibility in the
water–maybe 6
feet. I had the
presence of mind
to grab a breath of
air before I hit the
water. I didn’t
know where anyone
else was until
after the capsize. Ira Heller
Sydney Miller (SM): At the time we
were glad we weren’t wearing our autoinflating
life jackets,
and we were glad we
weren’t tethered to
the boat. I was on the
net getting ready to
take down the spinnaker
and I remember
thinking I wish there
was another way to
Sydney Miller take the spinnaker
down. I thought I would be counting
heads, and hoping I was not going to
have to go diving looking for anyone. I
was very aware that when the boat
came over there were going to be lines
everywhere. In most cases we have all
been incredibly lucky that up to this point
no one has been entangled. It was largely
luck. I was glad it was daylight, and I
was glad that we were racing and there
were other boats around. It was an
unfortunate combination of wind and
waves, but it was also user error.
Joe Colpitt (JC): I was asked to help
the owner of a 49 foot lightweight cruising
tri [sail] from Martha’s Vineyard to
the Virgin Islands in November, 1981. We
left the second week of November. After
a day or so I heard on the radio that a
hurricane was south of Cuba. It turned
into an extra-tropical cyclone and swept
north at us at 30 knots; it caught us about
200 miles north of Bermuda.
We beat into it going south for quite
a while, then turned around and started
to run before it with the storm jib. We
didn’t have a drogue or a sea anchor. It
kept building and around 9:00 at night,
we plowed into the huge waves right up
to the main beam, all three hulls, then
they would pop up, and we would plow
in again. I kept jibing the storm jib accicontinued
on next page
Winter 2005 N E M A
5

CAPSIZE, continued from previous page
dentally, and finally it blew up–now we
were surfing under bare poles, it’s blowing
about 60 knots and the waves are
about 25 feet. It was hard to keep the
boat going straight down the waves–the
boat wants to kick out, to broach. I think
that what happens is in the big waves
that are breaking, the surface is coming
down at the same speed as the boat and
your rudder is really not biting into anything.
We’re helpless, the boat broaches.
The next time it happens, a big wave
comes, and we’re down in the bottom of
this trough sideways, broached and it
flips us over like a pancake. It was really
gentle. I was on the helm, the owner was
down in the cabin looking for something
to use as a sea anchor or a drogue, with
the companionway lashed closed. If
we’d had a drogue I think we would have
been fine. I’m on the helm, holding on to
the wheel, the boat comes down on top
of me there’s some air space under the
cockpit. I took a breath, swam over to
the companionway, unlashed it,
unhooked my harness and swam inside,
then we lashed it closed again.
We had a moped under the cockpit
and it had gasoline in it, so now we’ve
got gas fumes inside the boat with us. I
had told the owner to find a hand drill
and a hand saw put them where we
could get to them because I figured we
were going over. We cut a hole in the
bottom of the boat, and within an hour
the rig has broken off, and is hanging by
a shroud or the forestay or something,
and the companionway sliders are all
blown out. During this time we put the
battery right side up, picked up the
canned goods from the overhead [underneath
our feet] and put them up out of
the water, and got the moped and
shoved it out the companionway hatch.
We lived in the boat for three days
[in immersion suits] until we got rescued.
[They kept watch from the overturned
main hull. I dried out a paperback book
page by page and read while sitting
there, occasionally looking about for a
ship on the horizon, sighting several, but
none close enough to be able to see
them. After three days one looked close
enough, so I fired off a flare, after which
the vessel diverted its course. He then
Joe Colpitt
fired off two more
flares to guide the
ship to their location].
Walter
Greene (WG): I
was about a
month ahead of
Joe. I was lucky
that I knew Phil
Weld who capsized
in Gulf
Streamer in 1976 Walter Greene
and he talked
about it a lot. We educated ourselves
about it a lot. We had survival suits
aboard Gonzo [53’ Greene trimaran]. I
was taking the boat from Yarmouth
Maine to the start of the Rhum race [La
Route du Rhum start in St. Malo, France]
in October of 1981. We got stuck in a
storm blowing from the northeast and
we were trying to go to the northeast.
Eventually we reduced sail, put two
reefs in, three reefs in. Eventually we
said we’re going to not worry about getting
to the race and we turned around
with it, just as Joe did.
We had three people on the boat,
one not a lot of experience, the other
with a lot of experience. Nye Williams
and I hand-steered for 12 hours apiece,
each hour we changed. We were sailing
bare poles, no sails at all, for probably 24
hours before we capsized. We were
going against the Gulf Stream- the seas
were really big. The Coast Guard told us
the seas were over 50 feet in the
Stream–I don’t know which part of the
Stream we were in. There were 3 of us
on the boat, 3 different stories about
which way the boat capsized.
I was steering the boat at the time. I
felt that we fell into a hole in the sea. The
boat wasn’t really going very fast, about
8 to 10 knots. A 53 foot boat, and to me it
went down and the bow dropped off and
the boat just came over. I was in the
cockpit and had a sport-type life jacket
on, I didn’t have the harness on–I just
didn’t want to be clipped in to the boat,
and I came up underneath the net (a true
net, not a trampoline). Everything was
fine, I was all there and took a breath,
and I dropped down again. I went underneath
the ama and climbed on the boat
on the side. No big deal to get on. We
had a port hole that we cut out to make
an escape hatch–the two guys inside
handed me out a drill and a saw–you’d
be surprised how fast you can saw
something when you need to do it. If you
ever do capsize and you’re way offshore,
don’t rush to build yourself an escape
hatch because if everybody’s communicating,
everybody’s fine. You’ll find that
you want to put it in a particular part of
the boat and you may not know where
you want to put it for an hour or so.
Survival suits–super important we
lived in them for about a day. VHF radio
[handheld, waterproof]–super important.
Get that guy on channel 16. You can talk
to the Coast Guard–you could in 1981
and you still can. A super tanker tried to
rescue us at first and we had communications
with him; eventually we told him
“you’re doing a great job but we don’t
want to see you again.” He came at us
upwind and crashed into us bow on–it
seemed like the tanker had a hundred
foot beam. The Coast Guard has a picture
of us from a plane with a trimaran
right at the bow of a tanker going about
two knots. It was sort of like getting
blown onto a seawall, it wasn’t so much
a ship. Eventually the Coast Guard came
with a 240 footer which is a twin screw
boat–the screws were coming out of the
water. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be
rescued by them either. They came into
the wind, they came upwind to us, and
one at a time we swam over to them with
the survival suits on. They put a handheld
line on us underneath our armpits
and pulled us through the water up to the
6
N E M A Winter 2005

ow of the ship. Professionals are much
better at rescuing people than commercial
seagoing people in big waves and
such. I could say, we should have had a
drogue for sure, and I wouldn’t recommend
running at all.
I generally now like to see people
lay ahull, or have a sea anchor out over
the side of the boat. And I think that on a
catamaran or a trimaran the diagonal
from the ama stern to the opposite bow
is the longest distance on the boat and
you ought to present that to the waves.
I seriously think that every situation
is slightly different and when you’re offshore
trying to survive a storm there isn’t
going to be any pet formula that’s going
to solve all your problems. I learned a lot
there in a really short time. One thing I’ve
learned is that multihulls can capsize in
any direction. Going backwards is not a
good thing at all.
Don Watson: Maybe you guys
would like to talk about safety equipment
that needs to be on the boat before you
leave the dock.
SM: A knife that doesn’t need two
hands to open, attached to yourself with
a lanyard
PH: Manual inflatable life jacket
preferably with a built in harness–self
inflators are to be avoided
Tom Grossman: A tether that can
release instantly from the harness under
pressure
PVD: Alternate 1: sport type life
jacket that you can swim around in for
inshore use
PH: Alternate 2: A dry suit with gaskets
at the neck, wrist, and ankle, with
polypropylene underwear
Bill Doelger: 406 EPIRB, with a built
in GPS unit, registered in your name with
a description of your boat
WG: Immersion suit, Gumby type
WG: Waterproof handheld VHF tied
to yourself or stowed in a safety locker
IH: Preferably one that can work on
AAs if the internal pack goes dead
Tom Cox [TC]: Working survival
suit–good for cold weather wear and for
flotation. Some have an oral inflated pillow
and tourniquet straps to limit water
circulation through the legs
PH: Spare Air
TC: Satellite telephone Globalstar or
Iridium) in a waterproof box
All: All safety equipment should be
tethered in an accessible place
TC demonstrated the above equipment
with the exception of Spare Air, a
sport life jacket, and a 406 EPIRB. It was
quite instructional to inflate a vest and
then attempt to deflate it while donned.
A 121.5 mhz.EPIRB with a dead battery
was available for an example of a good
thing not to have.
Don Watson: I’d like to hear about
boat handling procedures. What would
you do differently to avoid a capsize?
PVD: Don’t put the spinnaker sheet
in the self-tailer.
SM: Less sail area in windy, gusty
conditions. Take the spinnaker down
early, or don’t fly it.
JC: Drogue off the stern, like we
used on Greenwich Propane during a
Transat delivery.
Dave Koshiol: We deployed a 3' -
4'diameter drogue off the stern of
Greenwich Propane, a 40' Newick
Panache trimaran during a Transatlantic
delivery; it reduced the boat speed from
the teens to 4 knots.
WG: Lay ahull with the daggerboard
down only as deep as the rudder, beam
to the seas so the boat can slide sideways.
Dennis Neumann: Heave to with
storm jib backed across a deeply reefed
main with the helm down. [He employed
this tactic during the storm that flipped
Andiamo, although in less gusty conditions
in the middle of Long Island Sound].
PH: Replace fine mesh trampolines
with larger mesh nets that let water and
air pass through easily. [Bob Gleason
noted that all three of the F31’s that are
know to have capsized head over heels
had fine mesh polyethylene fabric nets
as used on jumping trampolines, as
opposed to the larger mesh fabric with
pinky-size holes supplied on stock
Corsairs].
Tom Bandoni (TB): Instruct all crew
how to depower a spinnaker by blowing
a sheet, the tack, or the halyard. Get rid
of self locking winch handles–disable
the locks.
DW: I’d like to discuss the placement
of an escape hatch. ORC
Tom Cox demonstrating a self-inflating PFD
[USSailing Recommendations for
Offshore Sailing, ORC Special
Regulations] requires them to be
installed in boats over 39.5'. For those
under 39.5' the place must be marked
where the cut will be made.
DW: On Swampfox I marked the
lowest possible spot in the boat which
will be the highest when inverted, avoiding
structural areas.
WG: For permanently installed
escape hatches, as low as possible but
above the waterline. The bottom of a
wingdeck is not a great place.
The following methods of righting a
capsize boat were discussed:
TB: Bridle off the bows, towed bow
over stern; the main sail is left up which
jibes against the shrouds and acts as a
drogue/sea anchor and allows the sterns
to dig in; the boat will often roll off to one
side; sometimes flooding the stern may
be necessary but difficult.
TG: For inshore boats, carry your
own bridle and righting line so a reasonably
powered motorboat could assist.
IH: Bring a folding boat to the dock
after dropping the mast. Fold the near
ama in, and roll the boat upright with
lines from the extended ama over the
main hull.
This was a sobering meeting, one
well attended by 60 NEMA members, a
record for a winter general meeting. The
audience remained glued to their seats
throughout the 2 hour panel discussion
in spite of its running concurrently with
the final game of the 2004 World Series.
–Tom Cox
Winter 2005 N E M A
7

The History of NEMA, part II of a series
by Spencer Merz
8
The first part of this series written by
Les Moore in the March 2003 edition
of the Newsletter dealt with
the history of multihulls in general and
the early years of NEMA dating back to
1966 in particular. With the Internet now
available to almost all, comprehensive
historical articles are easily found and I
do not wish to regurgitate this enormous
fund of material here.
The first Newsletter article may be
found at nemasail.org/pdf/march2003.pdf
pages 6 and 7 for those who are interested.
Les Moore and I have compiled a
skeletal outline of NEMA from 1965 to
1991 which includes for the early years
club officers, speakers, and race events,
and this document is available as an efile
upon request for those curious. We will
depart here from this earlier historical
format and deal from time to time with
various boats and personalities in early
NEMA history that have distinguished
themselves in various notable ways.
Some of the early craft have come and
gone, consigned to a backwater grave or
converted into matchsticks. Some were
home built, some were designed by people
new to the multihull concept, some
would look at home on the race course
or cruising grounds today. Of particular
note is the explosive growth of multihull
technology in a very short time compared
to the growth of other technological
advancements, and the period that
will be addressed in this series takes
place primarily in the 1980s when new
designs and new materials were evolving
at a particularly rapid rate. A similar
growth period occurred with heavierthan-air
craft early in the first half of the
20th century, but otherwise technical
advancements were either spurred by
war or took place over decades.
The first boat under review is a 38'
Newick trimaran design built by Tom
Bandoni in Wareham MA. Dick’s wing
deck Panache II as originally built was
38' x 27' and was calculated to come in
N E M A Winter 2005
at 3500 lbs empty. Material was Airex, a
new at that time closed foam core material
which could be sprung into place
over frames and then glassed over. From
Tom: “The laminate was strictly unidirectional
S-Glass and polyester. The whole
first layup event, attended by 14 helpers,
was coached by Rory Nugent, owner of
the 31' Newick Proa Godiva Chocolatier
and one of the original employees of
Daffy Duck Marine on the Vineyard
which produced all of the production
Vals including Mike Birch’s Ostar third
place boat, Third Turtle.” Tom was taken
by the multihull bug when reading of Phil
Weld’s 1980 OSTAR victory in Moxie, and
was bitten for good when sitting on a 20'
Supercat in Buzzards Bay and seeing
Moxie and Olympus Photo fly by. He
spent three years overall seeing his project
to completion, which involved some
2,000 hours of time of his and many others
over a 19 month period to launch day
on April 19th of 1983. Aquila (Italian for
eagle) launched within her weight figure
which was an important factor influencing
her eventual turn of speed, as a well
known and lamentable fact is that once
weight goes into a boat it can never be
taken out. She competed in the
Under construction
Newport-Bermuda multihull race followed
by the Buzzards Bay Regatta of
that year. It was in this race series that
Aquila first sprouted a temporary bowsprit,
which helped her offwind performance
immeasurably. Here she was regularly
to the course marks before Phil
Weld’s 60' Gulf Streamer before being
overpowered and outsailed to the finish
line.
About the dedication required to
build a boat, Tom recalled a trimaran
builder in British Columbia who said
“you have to have an iron bar in your
stomach” to build a boat, and the number
of partially finished boats seen in
boatyards and backyards before the proliferation
of factory-built fiberglass boats
bears testimony to this statement. Tom
recalls further regarding launch day:
“Built inland in Walpole Mass. And
trucked, full width over Rtes 95,128, and
Morrisey Blvd, to Malibu Beach,
before/at dawn in a freak snowstorm
(April 19) Towed by my six cylinder 1/2
ton Chevy pickup. With three methods of
communication to State and local Police,
and four flag vehicles, and five DPU permits.
Even still an anxious commuter
passed me by driving under the wing of

the boat! Note, I used the same truck
and trailer to bring Larry and Barbara
Bedell’s 50' trimaran center hull (Barbara
Ann IV) from Dover MA to Tripp’s in
Westport, MA.”
Calamity befell Aquila in the Spring
of her second season, when sailing up a
waterway near Buzzards Bay her aluminum
mast caught an overhead power
line that had dropped below the height
stated on the chart, and the high current
discharge took out all the electronics
and traveled to the water via the cabin
top, causing heavy delamination.
Fortunately no one on board was injured,
and the boat was delivered to Greene
Marine in Yarmouth ME where Walter
Greene repaired the housetop and built
and fitted a rotating wing mast designed
by Gougeon Brothers in Bay City MI.
Aquila was put on the market and purchased
by a group of men from FL who
took her south for a time. The southern
latitudes apparently did not agree with
her, however, and she returned to MA
helmed by Steve Black. Renamed and
entered in the 1988 OSTAR, or C-Star as
it was known that year, Eagle picked up 2
more feet of length in the form of a stern
scoop to take full advantage of the 40'
class in which she would compete when
an open stern extension was installed. A
later addition was an outboard bracket
to support a 9.9HP Yamaha engine.
Installation of a wide, low profile dodger
permitted a degree of shelter for offshore
work. She was assigned sail number
60 for that event, and carries that
number to this day. Steve and Eagle
raced to England winning the multihull
class for the Legend Cup which acted as
a feeder race for the C-Star where Steve
finished 4th in class. Steve then competed
in various short-handed NEMA races
for the next two seasons after which
Eagle acquired owner John Barry, a CT
resident and businessman, as her next
owner in the fall of 1989.
It was in Whareham at the end of
the first leg of the Newport-Boston race
at that time where I first went aboard
Eagle and met John and Steve at the end
of a very rough and wet first leg completed
only by a fraction of the starters. John
fitted a serious all-weather bowsprit
Greenwich Propane entering St. George’s Cut, Bermuda
from Hall Spars to the upturned snout of
Eagle the following spring which
allowed her to carry offwind headsails in
all weather. At this time her original symmetrical
spinnaker was replaced with an
asymmetric chute. John sailed and
raced her extensively up and down the
East coast of the US from Halifax to the
Caribbean, and for one winter she
remained south under the care of Tom
Cox who saw that she got to the various
starting lines in time for John to leap
aboard for the various race events.
John continued to campaign the
boat, increasing his confidence along
the way until he participated in the 1994
double-handed Plymouth - Newport
transatlantic race where he placed first
in class. For this event the boat was
delivered to Plymouth via the Azores by
NEMA members and longtime racers
Debbie Druan and Dave Koshiol. John
then undertook several assaults on the
Newport - Bermuda record, finally winning
this race and setting a course
record in 1996. During the course of
these attempts under her new name of
Greenwich Propane, she underwent
weight reductions which included
removal of her rolling furler gear in
efforts to enhance speed. The goal of the
Bermuda passage record accomplished,
John moved on to a larger Chris White
designed tri in 1998 and passed GP on to
NEMA member Terry Britton who sails
her as Trike. Under Terry’s control she
underwent structural repairs prior to
competing in two Marblehead - Halifax
races where she most recently took line
honors in 2001. Trike is now reportedly
basking in the Caribbean.
Not normally mentioned in stories
about race boats is the fact that somehow
every boat has to retrace her steps
and return home, this without the glory of
the race but with many of the same discomforts
and risks. Greenwich Propane
was no exception to this rule, and during
the early part of her career as GP I probably
had as many miles aboard as her
owner, with Tom Cox running a close
second.
From her beginnings in a shed in
Wareham, Aquila has done two Atlantic
round trip crossings, including three
crossings under full race condition, several
Marblehead-Halifax races, a
Chesapeake Bay race, several races in
southern waters, and multiple trips up
and down the Intracoastal Waterway.
She has been pressed to the limit but has
never experienced structural failure of a
catastrophic nature. It is safe to say that
at least 25,000nm have passed under her
hulls. She was drawn by a master
designer, built by an exacting craftsman
of first class materials, and has been fitted
with the best of sails throughout her
career. Still going strong after 20 years!
–Spencer Merz
Winter 2005 N E M A
9

Arvinda Dismasting
by Tom Cox
BANG! It sounded like a 12 gauge
shotgun blast at close range. The
next moment I lifted my head,
peering through a red haze of blood, and
checked that both eyes worked (they
did) and that my teeth were intact (they
were). I noticed an eerie calm devoid of
the sounds or sensations of wind or
wave which moments before had whistled
and surged, and saw the rig lying
across the deck. I immediately began
exclaiming and shouting orders like
“#$%! we’ve been dismasted!...I can’t
believe we’ve been #$%!ing dismasted.
We have an engine that works don’t we?
Put it down, start it. Where’s the mast - is
it pounding on the hull? Disconnect it
before it can hole us.” Tom and Cindy
said I never lost consciousness, but was
“disoriented”, as it took them 6 or 7 minutes
to quiet me down sufficiently and
get me to call the Coastguard on the VHF
for assistance.
NEMA members Tom Wilke and Cindy Finch,
onboard Arvinda, Summer 2004
I had been delivering Arvinda, a ten
year old homemade 38’ plywood catamaran
with a 50’ homemade plywood wingmast
from Cape Cod to Norfolk with the
new owners aboard on Monday,
November 8, 2004. They have plenty of
heart, but not much experience, and had
hired me to help get their new home
afloat into the ICW where they could
handle her safely themselves. We had
departed from Westport Harbor at first
light under double reefed main and
motor. The wind was NW 10 to 15 knots
with gusts to 25 – exactly as forecast.
Once clear of the local shoals we altered
course towards Newport, and I noticed
that the mast rocked every time we
mounted a small sea - the standing rigging
was slack and needed tightening. I
decided to delay raising the jib, and we
cautiously motor-sailed with main eased
until we found a lee along the shore
beneath Beavertail Point. We struck the
main, and ten turns all around
made for a nice tight forestay.
We raised the pinhead Dacron
main, still double reefed (about
300 sf), and the 150 sf Dacron
blade jib and stowed the outboard
motor. We then set sail for
Block Island and Montauk
around 1230, enjoying a leisurely
lunch while broad reaching
down Narragansett Bay, passing
Pt. Judith around 1330. The sun
shone, the breeze was fair, the
autopilot tracked smoothly, and I
felt comfortable with the sail
plan, everything hoisted to the
strong point of the mast where
the shrouds and forestay were
“Jesus” shackled to the mast
hound. Arvinda was carrying
about 450 sf of sail and was perfectly
balanced. The forecast
called for the wind to gradually
moderate to 10 knots by morning
and shift to the north where it
would remain for several days -
perfect for our planned passage
under the lee of Long Island and along
the New Jersey shore all the way to
Norfolk. The 18 mile reach from Pt.
Judith to Montauk was to be our longest
stretch of open water for the entire 300
mile passage.
We had been close reaching SW at
8-9 knots in two foot seas for about a half
hour with true wind on the beam, tracking
nicely with only an occasional plunge
of the bows. A small gust filled the sails
and the boat accelerated; Cindy
exclaimed, “11 knots, 12 knots…” I stood
up, bracing with my left hand on the
coach house edge, and leaned across
the cockpit to view the GPS. We had
briefly touched 14 knots and were making
course; I was just sitting down when
the mast exploded without warning. It
shattered halfway up the tube near the
spreaders (compression failure) and toppled
over towards the port ama stern.
The starboard cap shroud came down
across the cockpit and caught me on the
back between the shoulder blades and I
pushed me face first into the aft edge of
the coach house. I sustained a “tripod
fracture and blowout” in medical speak
(broken upper jaw, eye socket, sinus
cavity, and nose). Had the shroud struck
a few inches higher it would likely have
snapped my neck, possibly killing me or
worse.
The dismasting occurred halfway
between Block Island and Point Judith,
RI, about 4 miles out, less than a mile
from the 1B1 buoy. The Coast Guard
responded on the second pan-pan call
on VHF 16. A sport fishing boat, which
Cindy had the presence of mind to wave
down, stood by. After I sat down and
dialed up the Coasties I started feeling
dizzy, so I laid down on the bunk with my
feet raised on my duffle while I explained
our situation – dismasted, no flooding of
the boat, everyone wearing life vests,
position, details on the man injured,
nature of the injuries, etc. The Coasties
dispatched a 25’ surf boat and a 44’ cutter
from Point Judith and arrived on
10
N E M A Winter 2005

scene within 20 minutes. They put two
men aboard - a medic to take my vitals,
and another man who stayed aboard
Arvinda to help Tom and Cindy. The
medic determined that I had dilated eyes
and a concussion; the two men evacuated
me onto the 25 footer, which I was
able to board with minimal assistance.
“That’s my seat, right?” I quipped, pointing
to the co-pilot’s swivel chair in the
doghouse, “And I’m driving.” “No, you’re
going to lie down in there,” responded
the bosun’s mate pointing to the forepeak.
“That looks like a bucking bronco
berth to me –I’d rather you pull the cushions
out so I can lie down right here.”
They obliged. I told the Coasties not to
bother calling Tow Boat/US as the owners
had no insurance, and if they were
going to tow Arvinda, they should keep
the speed down to under 10 knots
(Always the Captain, barking out orders).
They managed to rip out Arvinda’s bow
cleats in their enthusiasm to catch the
surf boat anyway, but it was darned nice
of them to provide Tom and Cindy with a
guest mooring in Point Judith when they
pulled in 20 minutes later.
The local fire department EMT’s
were waiting on the dock and lost no
time strapping the patient in and racing
to the local hospital. The dismasting was
at 14:15 and I found myself in South
County Hospital in Wakefield, RI by 15:30
- those Coasties do good work! The
technicians took xrays and a cat scan,
and the doctors determined that I needed
more help than they could render
(plastic surgery). They dosed me with
some morphine and shipped me off in an
ambulance bound for Mass General
Hospital in Boston where I was stitched
Arwinda under tow with broken mast
up in the emergency
ward and released
around midnight. I had
reconstructive surgery a
week later from which I’m
still recuperating.
Everything functions normally
and I have only a
small scar on the cheek
as visible reminder; the
facial bones served well,
protecting my eye, and I
was lucky not to lose any
teeth (or my life, for that
matter).
Aftermath: Arvinda
has been hauled out at
Tripp’s Marine in
Westport, MA, from
whence we took our illfated
departure. Tom and
Cindy continue their
odyssey aboard his
camper-converted van;
they are searching for
that magic bit of land in a
sunny clime where they
can park their home afloat.
I’ve advised them to forego a new mast
and put a second Yamaha 9.9 four stroke
on the port side to balance out the one
on starboard, and make the boat into a
motor cat. Two other experienced sailors
gave them the same opinion, completely
independent of mine!
I now have a bionic skull with 4 titanium
plates embedded, permanently
held in place by machine screws. Two
months later, recovery from the surgery
is slow but steady with lots of swelling
and numbed nerves which are slowly
coming back to life bit by bit; it looks like
I’ve had botox on the left side
of my face. This is expected
to go on for another month or
more. I’m off for another sailing
adventure on a delivery
from the Bahamas to Puerto
Rico in February. This time
the rig is a Composite
Engineering all carbon wingmast
on a solid 42' trimaran
platform.
–Tom Cox
Arwinda
Lessons learned:
1. Survey your boat before you
buy it; if you don’t know how, hire a
pro. Tom and Cindy went in “blind” on
a dream, and wound up paying full
rate for a poorly maintained vessel
which needed tons of work. With a
survey, they would have detected
many structural flaws which could
have been remedied before purchase,
factored in to a discounted price, or
steered them clear of the deal all
together.
2. Trust your guts. If the rig looks
shaky, don’t use it. Even though I personally
supervised the repairs to the
mast during haul-out, I knew it was
under-engineered and poorly constructed.
In hindsight, any wind over
15 knots was simply too much for this
rig, even with the tiny scraps of sail
we had up.
3. Make sure everyone aboard
knows how to use the VHF, and make
them practice with it. Keep a spare
antenna not mounted to the mast.
Winter 2005 N E M A
11

Gulf of Maine Wrapup
by Peter Garcia
Multihull participation in the Gulf
of Maine continued to grow in
2004. Over a dozen boats participated.
Competition was spirited and
the outcome in doubt until the last race
was finished.
Four trimarans sailed the Camden
Castine Races on Penobscot Bay in July.
The smallest of the four, Bruce Olson’s
handsome (he built it) Farrier 25A carries
a handicap of 50 seconds per mile. The
fastest, Dick Saltonstall’s Kurt Hughes 46
Faamu Sami rates -90 seconds per mile.
In light of the 2 minute and 20 second per
mile spread in the class, the owners
agreed to request a pursuit race, in
which the slowest boats start first and
the fastest last. The theory is that all will
reach the finish at the same time. The
real reason was to avoid letting Dick
Saltonstall finish dinner in Castine before
some of the slower boats arrived.
Olson’s Farrier, Quickstep started
first, followed by Peter Garcia’s vintage
Newick Tricia Alegra about 10 minutes
later. The first leg was upwind in flat
water west along the south shore of
Ilesboro. Flying Fish, Charlie Pingree’s
54' Chris White Hammerhead (also built
by the owner - and flat gorgeous) started
third, about 7 minutes later. The conditions
were good for Quickstep and
Alegra, but perfect for Flying Fish. Half
way up the weather leg she was churning
upwind at about 10 knots, and had
earned back her handicap by reeling in
both smaller boats. Shortly after, Faamu
Sami did the same and began to bear
down on Flying Fish. It became a two
boat race as the two boats showed their
impressive speed in flat water and about
10 knots of breeze. As the two neared
the weather mark near Searsport, the
breeze died and the race became a
drifter to the finish off Camden. Flying
Fish held off Faamu Sami to win. Alegra
was third.
Sunday was sunny with a light
southwest breeze that built a bit after
noon. After another pursuit start the fleet
proceeded back to Camden, east around
Ilesboro. The two speedsters were again
vying for first place by the leeward mark
off Robinson’s Rock. As the breeze filled
in Faamu Sami power reached in double
digits to finish first, followed by Flying
Fish and Alegra. Flying Fish and Faamu
Sami tied for first for the weekend.
The next weekend, Jake Van
Beelan’s Walter Greene tri Friends joined
Alegra at the Sequin Races, hosted by
Southport Yacht Club. Friends won the
pursuit race Saturday. Our Southport
hosts outdid themselves with food and
steel band music Saturday night. Sunday
the fleet was treated to an exciting
demonstration of speed. Blake
Macdiamid and Peter Smith unwrapped
their tricked out 20' beach cat, climbed
into the trapezes, and blew the doors off
the competition in a light to moderate
southwester, sailing most of the time at
better than twice wind speed. Friends
was second and won the regatta.
Next was the Monhegan. Four started
the 109 mile race; Flying Fish, Friends,
Irish Lady (a Corsair 27 tri ) and Alegra.
The first leg to Cape Porpoise was
upwind in a light, shifty southwester and
a 2 foot swell. Friends rounded first at
6:37 PM. Flying Fish was 14 minutes
behind, and Alegra a full 35 minutes later.
Irish Lady retired. The breeze went very
light as the fleet jibed downwind in the
night toward Monhegan. Dawn found the
three remaining tris within sight of each
other approaching Monhegan Island.
Flying Fish rounded the Monhegan whistle
at 6:35, Friends at 6:40 and Alegra at
7:02. Sunday morning was warm and
frustrating as the breeze died, filled in,
and then died again. Late morning the
sea breeze began to build and all three
tris enjoyed 10-15 knot reaching to the
finish off Portland Head. Flying Fish took
line honors in the early afternoon, followed
by Friends and Alegra. Alegra
saved her time in the rising breeze and
finished first on corrected time. Flying
Fish corrected to second.
The MS Regatta was the largest
multihull regatta in Maine in 2004, with 13
boats in two classes. Only one Gulf of
Maine participant, Alegra sailed.
Four multihulls came to the line for
the Yarmouth Race, and the stage was
set. Alegra led the season championship
on points, and Flying Fish was second,
but the scores were so close, whichever
boat beat the other would likely win the
season Multihull Circuit championship.
After 175 miles in light and variable south
easterlies, Alegra again rode a rising sea
breeze to the Friday finish to beat Flying
Fish, and win the season championship.
The margin was 28 seconds on corrected
time. As always, Yarmouth hospitality
was splendid. The small multihull crews
did their best to party with the numerous
and animated lead belly sailors, until
sailing back to Maine on Sunday.
In September many members of the
multihull fleet and the boat building
industry gathered at the Kennebunk
home of designer Scott Lambert to honor
the great multihull designer Dick
Newick. Designer of many famous racing
multihulls (Moxie, Cheers, Rogue
Wave), Newick has lived and practiced
in Kittery for the past 20 years. The party
was to bid him farewell as he slows
down his practice a bit, and moves west
to be nearer his grandchildren. Olin
Stephens turned up to join the celebration,
and photograph the gathering for
his friend Dick.
Multihull owners interested in participating
in the Gulf of Maine Ocean
Racing Association Multihull Circuit
should contact Peter Garcia (207-784-
3200) or Walter Greene (207-846-3184).
Both are Directors of the G.M.O.R.A.
–Peter Garcia
12
N E M A Winter 2005

NEMA SPONSORS
Maine Cat Wins Boat of the Year Award
Cruising World Magazine has enthusiastically
named the new Maine
Cat 41 as Best Multihull over 40'
with its annual Boat of the Year Awards.
The field of entrants was drawn from
models worldwide introduced to the
North American market between the
2003 and 2004 Annapolis Boat Shows.
Preliminary scrutiny whittled the initial
41 entrants down to 24 before a panel of
judges did on board judging during the
Annapolis Show followed by sail trials.
Dick Vermeulen, the designer,
defined the boat as one that allows owners,
“to cruise farther offshore, in
greater comfort, and with a larger payload
carrying capacity than that allowed
by the popular Maine Cat 30, of which
some 54 have been built since 1997.
“Our owners typically cruise for several
months of the year from Maine to the
Caribbean,” he said. “They require a
simple boat with a totally protected helm
that shows excellent performance on all
points of sail.” The panel loved
Vermuelen’s vision for a convertible
catamaran with a hardtop and soft sides,
to say nothing of the boat’s exceptional
craftsmanship and performance.
Maine Cat has been building high
quality performance catamarans in the
mid-coast Maine area since 1993 and
has an experienced crew of fifteen talented
and proud craftsmen. “Our success
and international recognition of
building superior products is a direct
result of our workers. This award goes
to our crew on the shop floor performing
a labor of love to produce a complex
engineered structure of true beauty,”
states Dick Vermeulen, president of
Maine Cat.
The Maine Cat 41 design has been
four years in development going through
many versions and launching a full size
prototype in 2002. One of the judges,
Steve Callahan, who has more than
70,000 offshore miles and himself a multihull
designer, states, “so much that is
right, really high-class equipment. It
handles extremely well.” The Maine Cat
41 will have a thorough review appearing
in an upcoming Cruising World issue this
winter. There will also be a new Maine
Cat 41 in the Bahamas for bareboat charter
in the fall of 2005. More details on the
boats and chartering may be found at the
company’s website www.mecat.com.
With deposits on order for boats
through 2005 and into 2006, Maine Cat
intends to expand by moving from
Bremen into the Rockland area and doubling
the size of the factory. The company
also intends to hire additional craftsmen
so they may continue to build both
models, the new MC 41 and their popular
MC 30, simultaneously.
Headboards for Today’s High Tech Rigs
by Keith Burrage, Skateaway Design
In the quest for optimal efficiency,
masts and sails are becoming taller,
lighter, better shaped, and stronger
with the aid of carbon, spectra and other
high strength materials. We are seeing
increased area and more efficient
shapes with the advent of big roach and
square top mainsails, especially on multihulls.
With numerous laminates and
battens adding weight and complexity at
the masthead, it has become increasingly
difficult to provide adequate strength
and support at this critical juncture
where low weight is highly desirable.
Skateaway Design offers a range of
mainsail headboards and clewboards
which provide strong, elegant solutions
to these requirements. Constructed of
high strength aluminum alloy with a
hardcoat anodized finish, Skateaway
Headboards are designed and manufactured
to be both lightweight and
extremely durable; they can be reused
should the sail require replacement. The
two most popular sizes are the SDC227
for mainsails of 200 - 500 sf, and the
SDD233 for 400 - 1000 sf.
Both models are of the Full Hoist
design type with recessed halyard
attachment points which project the
head of the sail even with the masthead
or higher, and can be equipped with a
block to facilitate a two part halyard
arrangement resulting in reduced weight
aloft and less compression load on the
rig. The additional area obtained from
the Full Hoist arrangement often exceeds
that of a conventional square top while
avoiding the inconvenience of tensioning
and releasing battens every time the
main is hoisted or lowered. The headboard
folds onto the top of the sail for
easy covering when the sail is furled.
The headboard is attached with press
rings and rivets; for very high load applications
webbing may be added through
the press rings.
These headboards have been in service
for 14 years and have been
employed with a variety of sail materials
by five major sail lofts with excellent
results. For further details, please contact
Keith Burrage at Skateaway Design:
215-822-5773; kaveathome@aol.com.
Winter 2005 N E M A
13

Jim Brown's Vaka Project
Jim Brown came to town recently
with Canadian videographer Scott
Brown (no relation), to gather
input for his Vaka Project, which is
intended to compile, archive, and present
a comprehensive history of modern
multihulling from 1950 to 2000. His plan
is to eventually make the information
available to the public on paper, in
video, or on the web. This 50 year span
will form the core of a timeline which
will be augmented in years to come; the
scope of the project will hopefully
expand to be an ongoing comprehensive
history of multihulls from antiquity
into the future.
An informal open house was held
all day Saturday and Sunday, November
20 and 21 in a carriage house at the
beautifully appointed Addison Choate
Bed and Breakfast in Rockport MA.
Those in attendance represented a
cross section of dedicated NEMA members
including Larry & Barbara Bedell,
Tom Cox, Bill Doelger, Deb Druan, Tom
Jim Brown and Scott Brown
Grossman, Dave Koshiol, Spencer Merz,
Martin Roos, Al & Joyce Sunderland,
and Rich Wilson. Most attended a
gourmet dinner at the Alchemy
Restaurant in Gloucester after
Saturday's session.
For the open house, the two Jims
brought samples of the archival multihull
video footage collected so far and a
video portrait of the Library at The
Mariners Museum in Newport News,
Virginia. This museum actually WANTS
to be the premiere repository for modern
multihull material. Current archives
include personal collections (design
drawings and personal papers, photographs
and artifacts) of pioneer multihull
designers Arthur Piver and Dick
Newick. Jim has deeded his own collection,
and hopes that others will also consider
designating this world-class facility
as the archive for their own multihull
memorabilia.
Attendees were encouraged to
bring to the open house anything applicable
for “show and tell” plus a written
thumbnail account of their own multihull
involvement. Scott Brown also captured
some verbal renditions on video at the
open house, which with editing and
some embellishments will be used as a
"teaser" to obtain funding for this ambitious
project.
For more information about the
Vaka Project, contact Jim Brown at 804
725-3167, or outrig@ crosslink.net.
You can also talk to Jim at the NEMA
Annual Dinner on February 5th.
FOR SALE
Reduced! Fountaine Pajot Tobago 35 catamaran,
1994, excellent cruising catamaran, appreciated by both
genders; twin Yanmar diesels, electronics, Caribe RIB
with Tohatsu 8hp on davits, refrigeration, three double
berths, and many other options. $110,000 or possible
partnership. Call Paul: 781-925-3069 MA.
Tornado catamaran. Olympic class boat. 20 ft. length
x 10 ft. beam. Very fast boat for day sailing. Known
Hobie killer. Excellent condition, laminated sails, trailer,
Epoxy bottom, dynel deck, dry stored indoors. Asking
$4000. Contact Dan at 508-255-5925 or
captdts@msn.com.
F-27 Corsair Tri. 1991 #218. Calvert mainsail & Maxi
full batten jib in excellent condition. Genoa & symmetrical
spinnaker. Spare main/jib/spinnaker. Nets and Pacific
trailer

2005 NEMA Membership Renewal
Single Membership
Family Membership
Single/Racing Membership
Family/Racing membership
$25* ____________
$35* ____________
$45* ____________
$55* ____________*
* Includes the $20 race rating fee. NEMA racing members will receive a rating/renewal form in a separate mailing.
You can also print a dinner reservation, rating application or membership renewal from www.nemasail.org.
I would like to be a NEMA Sponsor ($100), which entitles me to extended advertising privileges with NEMA
Check here to use member information from the label on the back of this sheet
Name ___________________________________________________________________________________
Address _________________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip _____________________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________ Email ___________________________ Fax ______________________
Yacht Name _____________________________________
Home Port ______________________________
Design __________________________________________________________________________________
2005 Annual Dinner Reservation (Deadline: January 28)
Your Name ________________________________________________________
Number of reservations x $45 = $ ___________
Children under 10 x $25 = $ __________
Total Enclosed $________________
Guest names: ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Return this form with your check payable to NEMA to:
Wayne Allen, 8 Stratford Road, Melrose, MA 02176
20knots@comcast.net
or register online at nemasail.org
Directions to Anthony’s Pier 4
140 Northern Avenue, Boston (617) 482-6262 (Free Parking)
From the South: I-93 North to the Central Artery Tunnel in Boston. Take Exit 20 (South Station) and follow signs to South Station on
Frontage Road, which runs into Atlantic Ave. Turn right at the third light after South Station onto Seaport Road. Cross the channel
and turn left at the 2nd light into Anthony’s parking lot.
From the West: Mass. Pike East all the way to the end, then I-93 North, then follow “From the South” directions above.
From the North: I-93 South to the Central Artery Tunnel in Boston, then take Exit 23 (Purchase St./South Station). Turn left onto
Congress Street. Take the next left onto Atlantic Ave. Take the next right onto Seaport Road, cross the channel and turn left at the
second light into Anthony’s parking lot.
Winter 2005 N E M A
15

P.O. Box 51152 , Boston, MA 02205
First Class Mail
Annual Dinner Meeting
Saturday, February 5, 2005
Anthony’s Pier 4, Lynn Room
Guest Speaker, Christian Février
Reservation Deadline: Jan 28
Register online at nemasail.org/dinner
MAINE CAT
MC30 & MC41 Performance Cruising Cats
DICK VERMEULEN
P.O. Box 205, Bremen, ME 04551
1-888-832-CATS 207-529-6500
mecat@gwi.net www.mecat.com
Still
Water
1 Winnisimet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
(781) 608-3079
Ultralight water craft for low wake environments
· Firebird catamarans · Ultralight kayaks
· Low wake launches · Teaching barge
· Rowing shells
www.stillwaterdesign.com www.firebirdcat.com
Triad Marine
Satellite Telephone Sales/Rentals
Schaeffer Marine & Antal Hardware
Multihull Deliveries
978-828-2181 tom@sailtriad.com
www.sailtriad.com
Composite Engineering
277 Baker Ave., Concord MA 01742
Carbon Spars Racing Shells
Specialty Composites
978-371-3132
www.composite-eng.com
THE
MULTIHULL
SOURCE
P.O. BOX 951
WAREHAM, MA 0
2 5 7 1 T
508-295-0095 F
508-295-9082
YOUR FULL SERVICE BOAT YARD
ON BUZZARD’S BAY
CORSAIR / GUNBOAT
www.gunboat.info
RAVE / WINDRIDER
ALSO OFFERING CHARTERS,
BROKERAGE, STORAGE & TRANSPORT
www.themultihullsource.com
sailfast@themultihullsource.com
FOUNTAINE PAJOT, AEROYACHT H42, OUTREMER CATAMARANS
Gregor Tarjan , YBAA, SNAME , 800-446-0010, info@Aeroyacht.com
38' to 65', charters and sales, www.Aeroyacht.com
MULTIHULLS
421 Hancock St., Quincy, MA
617-328-8181
www.multihullsmag.com
MultiMag@aol.com
Design
Engineering
Deliveries
215.822.5773
3442 Pickertown Rd, Chalfont, PA 19814
kaveathome@aol.com