Sailor David Hughes takes time to share more about the boat named MAD DASH. You can read his first impressions here.
Mad Dash is a Seaclipper 20 trimaran he recently purchased and is now enjoying in Maine.
David writes:
We just had our first sail as a family on Mad Dash and the cliff notes summary from all is: WOW!
We had a blast screaming around Portland Harbor (Maine) in 12-15 knot winds and then added the fun of surfing down 3 foot waves as we sailed up the shipping channel.
We were sailing by this one slightly larger monohull (25-28 foot) as my son pointed out the waves and then we just started surfing. They kind of gave us funny look as we were hooting and hollering as we sailed/surfed by them. To be frank, their boat looked quit uncomfortable as it rolled back and forth in the waves and having sailed monohulls in those conditions, I am intimately familiar with their comfort level. Well, it didn’t take us long to leave them astern. We then sailed across the channel and circled back just past their stern. As we went buy, the captain of the monohull boat commented; “man your boat is fast”. Fast it is, there were many times I had a rooster tail of water shooting up into the air from the rudder as we sped along. All under complete control, dry and comfortable. Well done!
My wife is a fair weather sailor and was not too sure of this boat, She would have preferred a nice big deep cockpit like we had on our Rozinante (an L. Francis Herreshoff’s 28 foot ketch). At the end of the day, she said that she always felt comfortable and safe on Mad Dash. She was concerned about going as fast as we were, but in the end loved it. My youngest said “I liked the speed, it’s not like other sailboats.” My oldest liked working the jib. When we were in flatter waters, the kids climbed out onto the amas and had some fun dragging their feet in the water as we sped along.
Funny thing, as we were on the beach getting the dingy ready to row out to the boat, my wife noticed this couple rowing in. She thought it was a couple we had met years ago who also owned (and still does) a Rozinante. Sure enough it was. Well the conversation turned to what we were now sailing and I told them it was the trimaran. Well a gentleman that was with them got all excited because he had already bought the plans for the Seaclipper 20 and was rowing around Mad Dash just the day before checking it out. He was going to leave me note hoping that I would call him. He wants to get on Mad Dash and pick my brain. He did ask me about tacking because he had some concerns about how quickly it came about and after yesterday’s sail, I can confidently say the seaclipper 20 tacks as quickly as any fin keel/dagger board/centerboard monohull. A full keel monohull is slower in a tack.
I still need to fine tune the rigging. I know I don’t have it quit right yet but I’m getting closer. I’m not convinced a rotating mast buys you all that much more in performance, at least not at my skill level, and frankly I don’t like the mast rotating freely on the mooring so I try to secure the mast using lines to prevent rotation. My concern is with fatigue as the boat constantly moves on the mooring. Maybe I’m over thinking it.
We need a little more practice getting on and off the mooring. Dealing with the dingy and the amas as you slip away from and approach the mooring takes some thinking. Not sure if I should leave the dingy on a long painter or tie it close to the mooring. Yesterday we had it close to the mooring and as we came up to the mooring I just positioned the boat such that the dingy was captured between the two hulls. Seemed to work, but any suggestions would be appreciated.
Again to all: Well Don! Jim and John on the design and to Bill on the construction.
Best Regards,
David Hughes
Cape Elizabeth, Maine