The Trailertri 720 Revisited
The Trailertri 720 was one of the original Farrier designs, being a Mark II version of the venerable Trailertri 680, both designs being among the most popular of all Farrier designs and even rivalling the F-27 in number. In fact 25 Trailertris of various types gathered together for one race weekend way back in 1983 - a number that is still very respectable today.
Good used Trailertris are now well sought after, particularly in Australia where most were built, and where it has achieved the reputation of being a great family cruiser, fast and bullet proof! Many are now over 15 years old, and with no low cost modern replacement available (not yet anyway) many 680 or 720s are now being refurbished, the latest being by Peter Hackett in Brisbane.
Peter actually lived on the same Brisbane street as myself back in the seventies, when I was busy building the first of these funny folding boats under my house. Being a teenage monohull dinghy sailor, he decided to visit one day to see what was going on. However, he was then warned by his father to "stay on the monohull side of the road, and give that Kiwi a wide berth" (I wondered why he never came by again).
But Peter saw the light after growing up, particularly after an exhilarating ride on Peter Groot's Tramp in the Bribie Cup, with 25 knot winds, and passing his monohull mates having all sorts of problems in their LSD's (lead stabilized devices), while he was steering with just two fingers.
Peter has now spent some time in completely refurbishing his Trailertri 720 "Try Flying", which was recently relaunched in Australia at the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club (QCYC), Shorncliffe, Brisbane, on August 25.
Ian Farrier
Just repainted and almost ready for fitting out - this brings back memories!
Peter writes:
Hi Colleagues from around the world.
Just a couple of pix and a few lines about the awesome weekend just had here.Saturday was a great launch celebration with 40 + friends coming to see what I have been stuck to for the last few months. A cheap champagne sprayed over the deck, a few drinks, and a lot of admiring comments, finishing off with a dusk cruise up Cabbage Tree Creek.
Today was a fun race and season opening at QCYC with a sail past under flags, and an afternoon fun race with a handicap start. This is actually our first race in the boat, no kites allowed, for the fun factor, and the handicapper making us start late with the back markers, most of which were big Adams type lead mines. Luckily the course was a double sausage with reaches both ways, one tight, the other awesome. 15-18 knots, 1.5 m swells, and a couple of happy blokes and two of their children sailing got the tri up to 14.9 knots down some of the better swells. Must remember to put the cabin boards in next time though.
We won overall by a minute, and if that wasn't enough of a buzz, the inspection inside the floats to find that they are now nearly dry compared to 6 buckets in one and three in the other before the rebuild was good news.
Have a good week,
I know I will.
Peter
Launching! Note new bow pole socket
At the dock and looking good
Sailing in the QCYC Open Day event
