piver nimble trimaran

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Dock Find: 1992 Piver Trimaran Multihull Sailboat

The auction ends soon for this donated oddball of a boat, known as a Piver Trimaran, a multihull creation from the mind of entrepreneur Arthur Piver. The company pioneered this novel design, and demonstrated its ability to perform cross-continental journeys via high-visibility competitive events. The founder also encouraged DIYers to buy boat “kits” for final assembly in their own garages and backyards, like any other Kelmark GT. This example is a donated vessel offered here on eBay with no reserve and bidding to $2,300 at the moment.

The auction is set to wrap up later today, so get your bids in soon if a Piver is on your list of boats to someday own. The history of the company behind this method of boat construction is almost entirely wrapped up in the founder, the aforementioned Arthur Piver. He started out building three-hulled plywood yachts and began sailing them extensively, venturing across the Atlantic Ocean and later wandering out to New Zealand via the Pacific in a different trimaran that he also built himself. This confidence in the boat’s abilities led him to sell his boat assembly plans to enterprising DIYers who wanted to build their own trimaran.

Unfortunately, it was this faith in self-built boats that led some in the community to question Piver’s concept. Just like a kit car, some of the boats were crudely finished, and certainly not over-engineered for open water passage. But those boats that were built to a high level time and again demonstrated the viability of the three-hulled design, with owners of “strong” boats heading out to warm Caribbean waters in vessels built using the plans Piver provided. The listing for this donated example is limited in background information, and understanding how the owner approached construction would be good info for the next caretaker to have.

Strangely, the Piver trimaran has a somewhat tragic history as it relates to boaters who struck out on extraordinary missions only to end in heartbreak. Piver was one of them, lost at sea after borrowing a customer’s boat to perform a qualification run for the prestigious “Observer Single Handed Trans Atlantic Race.” Other Piver boaters faced similar misfortune a short time later, with two attempts at cross-ocean ending in one wrecked boat and another that floated aimlessly after its captain disappeared, with the trimaran now a deteriorating wreck on Cayman Brac. A colorful history for a most unusual boat – should this one be restored and taken out into the vast, open ocean?

Trans-oceanic? Yes. Intercontinental? Sure.

But not you’re not going “cross-continental” in a sailboat, unless it’s being towed.

this boat appears to be a Piver Lodestar. 35′ in length and 18′ wide. lived on it a few years in the florida keys. these boats are basically plywood with a skin of fiberglass, they handle well, don’t tack upwind too well but they sail fast off of the wind if you don’t overload them. plywood + fiberglass has advantages and disadvantages: reasonably easy and cheap to repair with handheld power tools, but being wood; they rot. you can cut out a rotted section with a sawsall in 15 minutes and create 2 weeks worth of work. you have to break this boat up to make it sink as it carries no ballast. I sank mine on purpose when I ran from hurricane Andrew in the 90’s and the boat was perfectly fine once I pumped her and dried her out. The boat I owned was the QueeQueg; built by a man named Quenten Cultra in the late 60’s in the Midwest. he motored down the Mississippi, went thru the panama canal and proceeded to sail around the world. I bought it in the late 80’s and had to rebuild her. sailed her to Mississippi in the 90’s and sold her in the early 2000’s; she was destroyed in hurricane Katrina..RIP Queequeg. buy this boat and expect a lot of work excising the wood worm. but it is worth it

Correction: I did NOT live on this particular boat! sorry for the typo!!!

This feels like the Donald Crowhurst story.

Exactly!!! He lied about his abilities, his progress in the race and eventually went crazy. This boat will make you crazy!!

I must be the only person never to have heard of Donald Crowhurst. Wow! In death he seems to have become the success that eluded him in life as the basis for a “Donald Crowhurst Industry” of stage, screen and literature. Crazy world!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst

Fiberglass over plywood stitch ‘n glue, no doubt abandoned at the marina when the PO realized the fiberglass has water intrusion and so the plywood core is slowly rotting away….

Break Out Another Thousand

if it has a running engine it might be worth the price of admission

Where is this located? What country? If U.S., what marina, what State? Can it stayed docked where it is at? What is the dock fees?

While beauty is always in the eye of the beholder this thing is a floating Quonset Hut. As Mr. Robbins notes above…

As a life-long boater, I remember Piver’s boats when they were new. It is my opinion multi-hull boats are not suitable for ocean-crossing. They are fast sailboats but the compromises make the interior cramped and the light-weight construction make them venerable to various risks. As to restoring any old boat, often the cost involved exceeds what a well maintained boat can be purchased for. Like cars, boats have gotten much better over the years. There is no cheap way to get into boating.

Great points Mark.

There is one way to get into boating that is not too expensive. Get a good deal on a used trailer and boat that is in pretty good shape, and learn to be proficient in performing maintenance, minor repairs, and upgrades. As long as you have a place to store it for free, such as your driveway or yard, then the costs can be kept in control.

Boating is the best thing, ever.

I owned a ’74 25′ Piver for several years. Was pro built in a yard in the North East. Overall, a pretty nice boat. Added a 10′ x 2′ keel to it. Made a world of difference in the way it tracked.

I once owned a Piver 36′ ketch rig which was one of the high end ones, professionally built, in the Oakland Shipyards…like a “dixie cup in the wind. A strong enough boat, and i had no problems with it. The one main engineering flaw was the tendency to “pitch pole” in heavy seas which could be disastrous to say the least…This sloop, especially from the standpoint of windage, appears to be rather sloppily built and it’s use should be confined to inland waters ..the helm in the basement is interesting…

When I logged in last night I had to check the URL. I thought I found Boat Finds! I mean where’s the engine? An old speed boat with a Hemi, yea I could see that but a sailboat?

A definite near coastal boat. I find the catamarans very comfortable for coastal excursions, depending on the length, the shorter the less favorable. Kind of like sailing a cinder block, bigger is better with these. That being said, I’ve seen too many news clips of these floating upside down in remote seas to make me want to leave sight of land on one.

Ended:Oct 13, 2020 , 4:00PM Winning bid: US $3,450.00 [ 62 bids ]

14 comments, 1 hits the nail.

It seems in every field the good points are also the bad. ANY multy-hull is inferior to the mono as once upside dwn – dwn side up is too difficult to achieve ∴ life’n limb R @ jepordy…

650 mi out to sea we survived the huracan in our 30 ft yawl simply due to being itself (not cat, tri or any other).

Its a Piver Nimble it was built by Contour Craft LTD in England and sold by Cox Marine. Still has the original name plate on the main bulkhead. It was first registered in the USA in 1992. It was Sailed from England spent 8 years off the coast of California. It was Sailed to Hawaii 2 times and Asia once. Its Old Name Was Trisum and the second owner still owns a sailing School named after the boat. Trisum Sailing out of Texas. I bought the boat for 3500. from E-Bay. It does not leak and has no dry rot but needs a lot of work. My Family and I are very happy with the boat. it has a hole for an outboard motor which I will glass over and install an electric motor. The inside helm is weird, will relocate it outside on the back of the cabin. Of course the list goes on. But i will say I will not be Sailing it to Hawaii or England. Whoever did that on this boat is much braver than me.

Hi Fred, please give me a call about your Piver Nimble ASAP when u can. I have a Nugget and desperately need to get some expertise from you. 530-440-3893. Today is July 25th, 2021

My uncle Alex Grimes with his crewmate Roy Garside in 1963 sailed a Piver Nimble built by Contour Craft, from England to New Zealand. You can read the story at https://grimesinc.neocities.org/ That’s something like 13,000 nautical miles with only an old sextant for navigation! The trimaran survived (with a few repairs) and was sold after reaching New Zealand.

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Nimble Piver

Used yachts for sale, sailing tris to 30ft,        nimble boats for sale, nimble piver boats for sale.

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• Sailboat Guide

Arthur Piver

Arthur Piver played a large role in the growth in popularity of the cruising trimaran through his various marine plywood designs aimed at the amateur builder using lumberyard and hardware store materials. He launched his first trimaran, the 16 ft (4.9 m) FROLIC, in 1958. His best known designs include the NUGGET 25, NIMBLE 30, LODESTAR 35 and VICTRESS 40. Piver created an entire industry of the amateur built trimaran during the 1960’s with ads that appeared in ‘Popular Mechanics’ and other publications. Thousands of Piver designed trimarans have been built around the world by amateurs and professionals alike. Additionally, Piver conducted extensive research in this field and published four books: ‘Trans-Atlantic Trimaran’, ‘Trans-Pacific Trimaran’, ‘Trimaran Third Book’, and ‘Navigation by Simulous’. Adding validity to his yacht designs, Piver crossed the Atlantic twice and the Pacific once in boats of his design. In 1968, Piver disappeared off the California coast while testing a new trimaran. A collection of his drawings is available at the Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, VA, USA.

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trimaran removing centerboard

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by ar99kid , Mar 12, 2013 .

ar99kid Junior Member

hello i am a new owner of a telstar 26' trimaran that i bought as a project . now i am completely remake it and redesign all the interior space . this is intend to be a sail cruiser between adriatic , mediterranean and aegean sea islands , spending 10-15 days abroad for 4 people. the trimaran is 26 feet long and very narrow main hull with retractable centerboard in the pocket... from this point of view there i a lot of interior space sacrificed by the center board ! i am thinking allot to remove completely the centerboard its trunk ! because i am a new sailor i need as much advices as possible on this problem . how bad it is for my needs to sail without centerboard ? how bad is affected considering the there are 3 slim hulls in the water so i am thinking there shouldn't be much more leeway ... am i right ? am i wrong ? thanks for looking any help is much appreciated and please excuse my english i am located in romania...  

Corley epoxy coated

I'd not remove the centreboard or centreboard case. I'm not familiar with how the telstar trimaran is constructed but normally the centreboard case is a structural element that also helps with mast compression loads. Assuming you could remove the centreboard case you would need to replace the centreboard with some other form of leeway resistance possibly daggerboards mounted in the floats. Some cruising trimarans have used LARS (low aspect Ratio keels) for leeway resistance with reasonable success.  

Gary Baigent Senior Member

If you remove the centreboard and case, you'll have to fit (probably, don't know Telestar) a longer mast support from base to the keelson. But you MUST still have a board of some sort to compensate for the CB removal; otherwise you'll be going sideways when beating to windward - which will drive you insane with frustration. Since you're concerned about main hull interior space, the obvious place is in the floats. And doing this, you can make the float dagger boards asymmetric and gain even better performance than original; that is if the Telestar doesn't sail with all three hulls in water (which will probably be the case with your full crew, food and gear). If the latter is true, the daggers will have to be normal symmetric design. Here is an altered B24 with dagger foils in the floats, just behind the main beam connection. Yours could be straight or angled.  

Attached Files:

Copy of img_1903.jpg, mirandafoils.jpg.

thanks corley ! yes , indeed the mast support goes into the case , but i want to remake it also from a stainless steel polished pipe which will be much stronger than the original one . also will be some other mods in the plan for raising the strenght on the mast supporting parts. so your opinion is that i can get away with some "fins" on the amas ? i was also thinking about that ... removable ones for transport  

keysdisease Senior Member

Norm Cross designed keels for Piver Trimarans, the one he designed for a Nimble would probably be about right for a 26 Telstar. I owned a Nimble in the olden days that had fins on the ama's. They didn't do squat for leeway prevention and when you would fly a hull the fin would break water and make you steer a zig zag course, not good at all. Steve  

thanks Gary and Steve i am not an expert in boats shape in the water ... so i ask which dagger boat design is better : a long one along the hull or a short one but deep in the water ? because i am also considering in making a fixed one , outer on the hull , let's say 3-5 feet long , but only 1/2-1 feet deep so i can still work my way out on trailering the boat ... this boat is pretty heavy like 1.6-1.8 tons ( weighted when i bought it ) and i didn't sail it but from my research it doesn't fly the side hulls ... so all the time in normal condition you have all 3 hulls in the water .  

aa99, There are no rules ... but here is an exception - you MUST get weight out of the boat, that is if you don't want to wallow along like a fat hog. Also the heavier a 26 foot boat is, the more dangerous it becomes. So do not overload, nor place lengths of polished pipe inside. A light wooden strut will do the job and even better is to make a box beam strut for mast compression. Just build your daggers so they slide up and down in a case - then you'll sail well and still be able to remove them for trailering the boat.  

yes Gary , that i was thinking of also ! the actual center board piece of wood is like 30kg , the case seems also like 20-30kg . my mast support is like 5 kg ... i am very experienced in fiber glass , carbon fiber , TIG welding aluminum and stainless steel so i am not afraid of any modification . i have a tuning performance workshop here , but NO boat experience so it doesn't mater how hard it is , how complicated it is , i can do it but i need to learn what design , shape etc is better i was even thinking doing the amas dagger boards in carbon fiber and leave them on all the time . i can laminate and cook carbon so they can get hard as steel , be light and also able to support the distributed weight of the boat if sitting on a beach on all 3 hulls... thank you very much for all the help ! i need to study more , but seems that there are some posibilities to take it off and have another solution. this is something good for me and my interior .  

teamvmg Senior Member

the Telstar has an arched beam across the coachroof with and off-centre post to handle the compression of the mast. So, in this sense, the centerboard could be removeable. Trust me, you won't even be able to motor the thing in a straight line without the centerboard down - let alone sail it! some sort of board is needed, maybe in the floats. Which Telstar have you got? I had #22  

gonzo Senior Member

Centerboard trunks are often a structural member. Adding fins or boards to the amas will increase the bending force at the beams with a probable structural collapse.  

Richard Woods Woods Designs

There were three (at least) Telstar variants, the original, very small interior, a mark2 and the mark3 which had more room and an interior tray moulding. The last were built in 1980. Tony Smith of Gemini fame built them in a yard next to Derek Kelsalls. Paul Gelder, ex Yachting Monthly editor had one I suggest you check out forums in the UK and contact Mocra to find more owners apart from teamvmg If you do take the case out you will need to reinforce the hull bottom as I imagine the case added a lot of stiffness, essential when you beach the boat I would be wary of adding boards in the outriggers, there will be high side loads on the skin and you'll need extra bulkheads and local reinforcing. Probably you'll need to take the decks off for access Why not put a LAR keel on the main hull. Maybe 400mm deep, 2000 long It will add buoyancy and be lighter than the case/board. Ideally you want a high aspect ratio, ie deep and narrow. But ideally you also want shallow draft (not so important in the Med) so a long and shallow keel is better. Its also better when you dry out and walk to the front of the boat. You don't want it tipping onto the stem Richard Woods of Woods Designs www.sailingcatamarans.com  

I would be wary of long keels and the variations on the main hull because they are urine poor compromises, poor lift to drag because of their low aspect ratio which results in poor windward performance - and still a fixed keel to flop the tri over on its ear when drying out. Sort of like a motor sailer compared to a yacht; pathetic as a motorboat, near useless as a yacht. Since you are a skilled bloke, the area below the old CB case requires reinforcing; a stringer of high density foam or wood with glass/carbon box weave laminated over the filled in slot, will do the job. It is basic, straight forward and simple. And since you're going to be putting in some hours doing modifications and getting rid of the draggy slotted CB, might as well do a proper job: daggers and cases in floats. You won't regret it.  

after last night and all the info i have read and all the support here ( thank everyone for helping me !!!) and the fact i have cut away half of the inner deck and seems that with a few minor mods i can bare with the CB case after all , i am facing two options : 1. leave the case in place , but cut away all that is in surplus and try to make wider the walk space and also deeper in the hull so i can stand across all the lenght of the boat. this will be on the right side... on the left side i also thiking to cut the molded floor and make some reinforcement from the CB case to the hull . another thing is ti cut it lower to the min possible level and make a sealed top with only one small hole or something like this for the rope to pull the board in or out ... this will also need to cut the board on the top but this won't sacriffice any of the water area when down ! please see the pic 2 the second option is to cut away completely the CB case and remove it , glass the bottom , reinforce it where it is needed and have a simple , wider walk space . this one leads to other two options from the responds i get from you : a. one long LAR keel at the main hull bottom or two on the amas ! in this case where is the best position looking form the side of the boat ? close to the center or can i move them a bit to the stern , to the end of the hulls ? b. make two dagger boards in the amas with retracting mechanism ... reinforcing the amas hulls to accept this king of load . for better understanding i have put some pics also with the connection of the amas to the main hull so everybody can see how strong/weak they are ... thank you for looking !  

20130312_132523MIC MOD.JPG

20130313_082003micmod.jpg, 20130313_082039micmod.jpg, 20120711_205644micmod.jpg, 20120630_151657micmod.jpg, 2388481254_78de473832_bmicmod.jpg, 20130313_081809micmod.jpg.

Lock Crowther's (marvelous) Buccaneer 24 had a dagger sort of like a cross with a centreboard, meaning it was set in the case, raked aft, and loaded from the interior (maybe there was a cover in cabin top for entry, have forgotten how it was done) a dagger but you closed the top of the case, halfway up the cabin height interior, with a canvas top, like closing a duffel bag; you tied strings and this kept the water (mostly) out of the cabin (although at high speed water thrashed around under the canvas). So what I'm suggesting is cut away near all your centreboard case, leaving enough slot for a dagger, toss your CB and build a simple dagger a la Crowther. That way you will really increase your interior space. Better still, build your case right through the cabin top and build a high aspect ratio daggerboard, which you load from cabin top. Your water leakage problems are now gone, cabin area larger (except for the tall, narrow case going to roof) - did I mention, much better windward performance?  

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The problem is that the reinforcement or modification has to be done in the whole structure if you shift the boards from the center hull to the amas. It is not just a local reinforcement at the amas. Also, the behavior of the boat will change drastically. The board is the main pivot point when you are tacking, that will change outboard.  

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• Introduction

Press photos

• Family photos
• Press articles
• Voyage course
• Trimaran notes

Alex Grimes

Makes first ever voyage from england to new zealand in 30ft trimaran yacht in 1962/63.

Alex Grimes made the 14 month voyage from his home town of Wells Next the Sea , Norfolk sailing in a 30 foot trimaran named 'Trinui'.

This record voyage for a craft of this kind was documented by D.H. Clarke in his book 'Trimaran Development' as the first trimaran across two oceans, and the first multihull across the Pacific after early Maori migrations.

He set sail 21st September 1962 and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on 14th December 1963, as quoted in the press at the time,

"... a splendid feat to sail a 30-foot trimaran 11,000 miles across the Atlantic, through Panama, across the Pacific, at one stage several weeks out of touch with the rest of the world, to Auckland in New Zealand ..."

The yacht was built in Norfolk by Contour Craft of Gorleston (subsequently Cox Marine, Ipswich) following Arthur Piver's Pi-Craft plans for the Nimble trimaran . Essentially the craft was built of plywood with an external fibreglass coating to hulls and wings.

Below is a copy of the Editorial Comment from Norfolk Eastern Daily Press 15th December 1963 announcing the arrival in New Zealand.

Copyright Eastern Daily Press (note: print layout modified for web page)

There appears to be one particular inaccuracy though: it is more like a total sailing distance of 15,000 miles (13,000 nautical miles), not 11,000 (9,500 nautical miles), which is probably the 'Great Circle' distance as measured on the globe.

To follow up the reference to Frank Dye of Watton and sailing his cockleshell of a dinghy to Iceland, click here .

These are the press photos taken by the EDP newspaper at the time of departure from Wells

All press photos copyright Eastern Daily Press

I think the radio in the background was a Grundig Yacht Boy shortwave set. It was the sole communication equipment taken on board, capable only of receiving transmissions.

Partly visible on the wall is a photo of his elder brother, Leslie, my father, who also became a Master Mariner in the Merchant Navy.

Some of our own family photos

We took these when i went with some of my family to wells from yorkshire in september 1962 to wish my uncle alex a safe voyage..

The quality is not so good as they were taken with a miniature 35mm film camera.

Building of the 'Trinui'

Eastern daily press article dated around end of july 1962.

"He intends to sail across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal and to call at Tahiti and the Cook Islands on his way ... Mr Grimes is the second son of Mrs and the late Mr [William] Grimes. His father was in the navy in the first world war and at one time was a member of Wells lifeboat crew. His elder brother Leslie is the master of a coastal vessel ( Ashleigh ex Magrix ) ."

"He has no previous experience of sailing but he hopes to get used to it on board the new trimaran."

"While in New Zealand he has been chief officer on a coastal ship ( Maranui ) and he intends to take up a similar job when he gets back there."

Crewmate recruited

Eastern daily press article dated 11th september 1962.

"After searching for a crew and companion for a voyage to New Zealand in a trimaran, Mr Alex Grimes a 37-year-old merchant navy officer from Wells has chosen a King's Lynn seaman ... Mr Roy Garside, aged 21."

Damage to 'Trinui'

Eastern daily press article dated 27th may 1963.

"A freak sea at the beginning of the month just off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands damaged the port float ... he [Alex] says he expects to be in the Cook Islands for two or three weeks ..."

"Pulling into Pape'ete, he was most impressed by the powered bicycles that went streaming by, ridden by Tahitian girls with long hair way down past their waists and all with flowers in their hair and wearing brightly coloured sarongs."

"He described the meals on board ... I cooked rice with dehydrated peas while Roy cooked dehydrated spuds and beans called caraotas [black beans] and garbanzo [chickpeas] beans. One tastes like butter beans, the other like hazel nuts."

Arrival in New Zealand

Eastern daily press article dated 15th december 1963.

"Mr Grimes' mother yesterday received a cable which told her of his [Alex] safe arrival in New Zealand ... When I opened the cable and read what was on it I felt immensely relieved."

"Although I always knew he would get there I was a little worried at times as every mother would be. My only wish is that I could have been there to greet him as he came ashore."

Visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh 1963

Alex arrived in Auckland the same year that Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh made their second visit to New Zealand and this video perhaps gives a flavour of the country at that time.

Extract from 'boatdesign.net' blog

First trimaran voyage from england to new zealand.

"... after the first Piver Nimble voyage from England to New Zealand made by sailor Alex Grimes ..."

Copyright Boat Design Net

Rough chronology of the voyage

(some dates estimated by landlubber author), plot of course taken for voyage, (again, course estimated by landlubber author).

Google Map of the approximate course of the voyage:

and you can also click here to view in Google Maps in a new window.

And after completing the voyage ...

Trinui was sold soon after arriving in Auckland and Alex worked for several years in the New Zealand merchant navy, including being master on the ferry between North and South Islands.

Alex's eventual home in New Zealand was near Kohukohu , Hokianga Harbour.

Quoting from a letter received from a close friend after his death in 1998:

"Alex acquired a small house and a couple of acres in the far north of NZ, at Kohukohu , on the Hokianga Harbour. Although a somewhat isolated spot, he walked for hours with one or other of his two dogs, over the local hills."

His crewmate Roy Garside settled in New Zealand, joining the Union Steam Ship Company and sailing for about a year as Second and Third Officer. He then changed career direction and studied surveying at Otago University, graduating as a land surveyor in 1968.

He returned to Britain and married his childhood sweetheart, Ruth, and eventually went back to New Zealand where he worked as a land surveyor firstly in Dunedin and then Christchurch. He died in 2003, aged 63, of an inoperable brain tumour.

In his obituary in the New Zealand Pess, it was noted that he navigated on the voyage with just a 1924 sextant (no modern technology, such as GPS or two-way radio). He is quoted as saying about the voyage:

"At worst, it was standing waist-high in water at the helm, battling a gale and surviving on onions and custard powder. At best, it was being greeted in tropical ports by friendly people."

Notes on Piver 'Nimble' trimarans

(copyright pi-craft designs).

Description of Piver Nimble construction

"The Nimble was 30 x 18 foot with a weight of 2240 lbs (optimistic), some claim 3800 lbs, and 325 square foot of working sail area. An optional 240 square foot genoa and a 650 square foot spinnaker were available. The floats had mini fins on them for lateral resistance. The draft was 2 foot with a hard chine main hull and deep V floats. It was a plywood timber build with 9 mm plywood on the hulls, decks and bulkheads with 18 x 25 mm stringers and 19 x 65 mm chines. The forward box plywood cross beam was 450 x 225 mm. The box beam was of 9 mm plywood with 2 layers of 9mm the closer to the centre line. The aft beam was 250 x 225 mm of the same construction. Additional timber strips were added to the box beams for strength."

Extracts from Pi-Craft Trimaran catalogue 1970

Trimaran strength.

Arthur Piver owner of Pi-Craft wrote in testament of his trimaran's design,

"The supreme test occurred [in 1960] , which was the crossing of the Atlantic by NIMBLE. You can sail around the harbor and along the coast for a hundred years and still not know how your boat would act in a storm far at sea. The voyage began inauspiciously, consisting of drifting around the Nantucket Lightship for several days in dead calm and pea-soup fog. Then things began to really happen. A storm arose at night - developing into ten days of continual NW gales which thoroughly tested the trimaran and its crew. The boat was at first run off before the tempest, with a warp dragging astern according to custom, for what had been acknowledged the most dangerous situation was to go too fast down-wind for fear of broaching (an uncontrollable turn into the wind) or running clear underwater at the bottom of a wave. Once the trailing warp twisted upon itself, apparently reducing its drag, and as the wave steepened prior to breaking, the trimaran simply surfed ahead of it, and the wave broke well astern! This was all that was needed to know, and the warp was henceforth pulled in, and the boat surfed for hour after hour, with no water on deck except for wind-driven spray from adjacent breaking waves. Then an even more exciting discovery was made - if the waves were sufficiently large NIMBLE could surf across them like a surfboard, giving even greater speed and more choice of direction."

and of its strength,

"Despite simple, unballasted construction our trimarans are proportionately stronger than any other type. Consider the case of the one which landed on a Hawaiian reef in the late Fall of 1963. For over 20 hours it was smashed against jagged coral by large seas and received only MINOR damage. No other boat - regardless of type of construction - could have withstood such a merciless beating. Again this was a display of the reduction of impulse forces by light weight."

Compiled by Roger Grimes, October 2019

in memory of my uncle, Alexander Charles Grimes (1925 - 1998)

With thanks to Rosemary Dixon, Archant Library, Norwich for copies of Eastern Daily Press articles

Links embedded in above text

• Wells Next the Sea
• Alex's mother Susan Grimes
• Alex's brother Leslie Grimes
• Leslie Grimes' ship MV Magrix
• Wells lifeboat crew
• Alex's father William Grimes
• Alex's NZ coastal ship Maranui
• Tahitian girls on bicycles
• Kohukohu, Hokianga Harbour NZ
• Tay Vaughan PDF piCraft Trimaran catalogue

Patricio Chapa

A Few Words About The Captain

Originally from Brownsville, Texas, Captain Chapa spent ten years in San Diego, California as a sailing instructor, avid racer and charter captain.

He is a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed 100 Ton Master, with Sailing and Towing endorsements and is also a US Sailing Certified Sailing Instructor. Now settled in San Antonio, Texas, Captain Chapa is sharing his experience and introducing the sport of sailing to the Texas community.

The commitment to introduce others to sailing came long ago, with a promise made to Cpt. Steven G. Shawver.  The opportunity to serve as crew for the captain offered a chance to gain more experience at sea and improve sailing skills. This in exchange for a promise to always pass on the torch of seamanship knowledge.   Captain Chapa has tried to fulfill his commitment by starting the Trisum Sailing school in Texas and offering everyone the chance to “Trisum Sailing”.

The idea for Trisum Sailing was conceived in 2006, after the purchase of a 30’ Piver Nimble Trimaran, the “H.M.S.V. Trisum”.    This vessel represented freedom and adventure through sailing.    It provided many years of memorable experiences on the water and the means to share the experience with others. After 8 years sailing up and down the Southern California coast and Channel Islands, It was time to retire the vessel, but not the idea. The H.M.S.V. Trisum was the inspiration for the Texas sailing school, dedicated to sharing the knowledge of sailing, to promoting the sailing lifestyle and ensure the future of the sport.

His career as a sailing instructor began with an invitation to the Chula Vista Yacht Club to help the growing volume of interest in sailing.    The need for volunteers for the Junior Sailing Program offered an opportunity to work with the club Senior Instructor, Cpt. Glenn Burns, an “Old Salt” with over 40 years of experience in sailing instruction .    After several months of volunteering, he became hired on as an assistant instructor and continued teaching for several years until being offered the position of Senior Sailing Instructor.    Along with Junior Sailing, Capt. Chapa helped organize and run fundraisers for the Chula Vista Yacht Club and provided sailing lessons for new club members, non- member adults, and new boat owners at neighboring marinas.

Although Capt. Chapa participated in several beer can and yacht club’s sailing races with a variety of skippers, he did not become a dedicated sailboat racer until crewing for the Chula Vista Yacht Club’s racing chair, Cpt. Mark Clements.    Now the President of the Cortez Racing Association, Cpt. Mark Clements spent over seven years with Capt. Chapa, and together, participated in and won over 200 sailboat races, both in the San Diego bay and off shore.    The experience of racing on many different sailboats and rigs, working all crew and racing positions, along with 8 years of living aboard, all help make Capt. Chapa a well rounded sailor.    Now back in Texas, he is able to share this knowledge and experience with the Texas community. Trisum Sailing is available to offer a memorable sailing experience to anyone with the curiosity to try it.    The wind is truly a clean, free source of energy…and there is no shortage of it. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy it.

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trimaran Piver Nimble

j'avais vu sur la vilaine un trimaran piver -de 10m que je n'ai pas vu la dernière fois que je suis aller sur cette rivière,auriez vous des infos merci

Si moins de 10 m, c'est un "Nimble" construit par le chantier Gancel dans les années 60. Il y en a eu de construit en amateur aussi.

merci c'est bien ce molèle mais pas ce bateau

Toujours en recherche d’infos

J'en ai construit un dans les annees 80 et ai navigue avec

sur la cote ouest des USA pendant 15 ans ............ Que veux tu savoir ?

Phare du monde

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