‘Swing-wing’ trimaran

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 17

‘Swing-wing’ trimaran

Trimaran To Tahiti. By D. E. BarryMartin. Collins. 229 pp. Appendices, maps, plans, illustrations. $15.95. (Reviewed by Graham Billing) While the debate between the virtues of multi-hull and displacement yachts continues it is exciting to read of an original architectural approach to building a large trimaran.

resilient working platform. Combined with a lattice section mast “Majando” survived the worst weather of her Tahiti voyage — off the North Island east coast on both outward and homeward legs. On both Occasions cracking appeared in the beam hinges and had to be repaired at Napier — one up for the mono hull enthusiast one would think. But Barry’s conclusion is that the

“Majando,” a 40-focfter, is as “unsinkable” as the well-known Wellington architect and yachtsman “Barry” Barry-Martin could build her after two years of research and design work. He chose what he calls a “swing-wing” configuration for the beams connecting floats to hull — hinged steel trusses to absorb wracking stress. Each float has the buoyancy of 80 per cent of the total displacement to avoid “tripping” capsizes. The result, according to Barry, is a stable and

boat is a joy, never heeling more than five degrees. She has touched 18 knots on a reach. “Majando” tackled some difficult navigation of reef passages in the Tahiti group of islands and the book is full of useful information for mariners. The writing is pleasing though the crew so anonymous that mutual experiences fail to leaven the diarylike narrative of Barry’s island experiences. He reports little that is controversial, but can make the reader pine for such romantic places.