NZTiger

Nice work, I did exactly the same trip 3 years ago when I picked up my GBE. It was moored right next to your proa in the Taipa river at the time and we sailed it back to Auckland. Had to motor about 90% of the way due to a lack of wind, which was excruciating to say the least. Good times though. It's a stunning stretch of NZ coastline to see in person. Picture attached of my son "helping" me with the planning. Cheers, Justin

Thanks for that. I think your number 1 might be larger than mine but I could use a similar setup just a bit further forward.

Just wondering if there is a best practice setup for the jib car on an 8.5 multi. If anyone is keen to post a picture or diagram of the setup on their multi, I'd really appreciate it. Minor adjustments seem to make a massive difference in the headsail shape and the resulting performance of our boat, but to change it I need to spend several minutes undoing knots and then retying them - which is far from ideal. Can't seem to find a photo of mine on my phone but will have a look. Thanks, Justin

When lying on its side there appears to be a line attached to the hull which I imagine they're pulling to help with righting her. It thought these boats were supposed to be self righting if the foils were configured correctly (both down?).

Following the division 7 race online showed the awesome drag race you guys were having all the way up the coast. Saying that, was that you guys who almost tripped over just after the start? Surely it must be like golf where you buy a round of drinks if you don't make it past the lady's tee. Maybe, if you don't make it past North Head you have to shout a round for the whole fleet.

One strategy that worked for me was to bundle all my insurance requirements (house, car, contents, boat) and shopping around with the proviso that it's all or nothing. Obviously this won't work for the dedicated marine insurance companies but it sounds like they're not interested in trimarans anyway. You need to carefully consider the policies on offer by non-marine insurers but it sounds like you're willing to forego the contentious aspects (racing, capsize).

I've had a reply from Bruce Goff, Maritime Officer at the Harbourmaster's Office: With respect to moorings in the Little Bucklands Beach mooring zone, you may be aware that HMB Marina have a consent to extend the marina and as such there are a number of moorings that are effected by the project and will need to be resited. Along with this work is also a project where a small number of moorings currently lay outside the mooring zone and these mooring owners are also been contacted and advised about the need for moorings to be positioned within the mooring zone. Attached is

Not sure where you're located or if it's any help but I recently had one made for my GBE from bgsails.co.nz They're located in East Tamaki, Auckland. I'm very happy with the price and workmanship. (I don't have any affiliation with them).

Thanks for that. I'll give them a try.

I'll definitely check the Pelagic out. Does the Pelagic setup require a separate base unit for wireless connectivity? or is it integrated into the standard setup? The website seems to sell a remote without a base unit.

Yeah, that would be the holy grail of setups. I think I drooled on my keyboard while reading those posts. My budget will constrain me to something simple to start with but will ensure that whatever I go with can be upgraded to the wizardry that you speak of.

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like they have their place. I'll probably select the model based on room constraints in the cockpit. Saying that, I quite like the idea of a wireless controller which could persuade me down a certain track, particularly if I want to try some singlehanded racing in the future. Next question: Given the lack of space in the GBE cockpit, I'm thinking about installing it so the automatic tiller device runs fore & aft connecting to an extension running 90 degrees off the tiller. I realise this would put the compass bearing 90 degrees out, but if the tri

I'd be interested to know if anyone operates an autohelm or tillerpilot on an 8.5 multihull. I'm thinking that it would be useful for sail changes and deck management if you're shorthanded or sailing with non-sailors. I imagine actually sailing with one would be quite inefficient relative to having a capable human on the tiller. I also realise that there are certain conditions where you wouldn't want to leave the steering responsibilities up to a robot which can't feel the wind gusts. If anyone has any experience with one I'd be keen to hear about it. Cheers, Justin

I have a mooring closer to the HMB marina extension area. (Catamaran next to the Trimaran in Island Time's photo). I've been looking for information about the effects on mooring holders from the extensions and can't seem to find anything published. Mooring holders were apparently given an opportunity to contest the resource consent application but no issues were formally raised (Can't remember where I read that). I've asked the council/harbourmaster for some information and will pass that on when I hear back.

That's a pretty convincing argument for the inner forestay. Just out of interest, if you dropped the main when trying to make progress in 40 knots and sail with the heavy weather jib only, would a GBE be controllable both upwind and downwind? and would you still get the inverted bend in the mast from the heavy weather jib pulling the crap out of the normal forestay? (assuming you didn't have an inner forestay)

Ok, thanks. It's looking like a becket block + cleat on the bottom and a block at the top. Time to go shopping.

Both the inner and outer shrouds on my GBE connect to the same point on the hull. The inner shroud connects to the mast about 75% of the way to the top and the outer shroud goes almost to the top. From what I can tell, the inner shroud is standard on a GBE and there was no outer shroud on the original design. I'm guessing the outer ones were added to support larger downwind sails. My outer shroud connection appears to be less than ideal and needs sorting. (Pictures attached). Note that the current arrangement has a wire rope ending about 2m from the connection point and 6mm braid b

Great, thank you. So far my to do list consists of: - 12 additions/modifications to the boat, rigging or sails - 35 items of safety equipment/tools/navigation aids/medical gear I'm guessing the sail/rigging modifications and electrics will be the two biggies. The rest should be fairly straight forward. I think I'll go for two independent electrical systems, one in each hull to avoid running cables between the hulls. Given the way we use the boat, I would like most of the cat 3 modifications to be removed when not in use and then easily re-installed when required. Is there a st

Just for clarification on the inner forestay issue. When the main is deep reefed, the tension on the mainsail pulls the bottom of the mast towards the stern which gives the main an inefficient shape? Is there a safety/gear breakage issue as well? Given my decidedly average sailing skills and that the cat 3 racing we'll be doing will be more about completion than performance, I wouldn't be too concerned about sailing performance in a race that's blowing hard unless we're talking about turning the boat into a dangerously uncontrollable pig in a crazy sea state.

Thanks for the help. I have a fairly good understanding of the safety gear (flares, EPIRB, grab bag, rig cutting tools etc) requirements. We're at Cat 5 at the moment (except for the depth sounder) and purchased a lot of the Cat 3 safety equipment when we sailed the boat to Auckland from the far north. In a nutshell my issues are: - Design/build the electrical system from scratch which covers: Nav lights, tiller pilot, bilge pumps, VHF radio, depth sounder etc (looks to me like electric bilge pumps are not required for cat 3) - Where do you put the nav lights on an 8.5m catamaran?

Hi all, Encouraged by the new rule about not needing a liferaft for the Coastal Classic, I'd like to understand what's involved in getting my GBE to Cat 3 for this year's event. I have a standard GBE II (High Velocity M7290) with virtually no modification and would like to understand what needs to be done to get the big tick. I've worked my way through the safety regulations of sailing and made myself a shopping list but I'd like some advice on exactly what some of these requirements would look like on a GBE and who I can use to get some work done properly. Ideally, if there's

Agreed. WindDan is several levels above the coastguard app in terms of weather data.

Great job. Thanks for the comprehensive reply. Given me a lot to think about.

Looks stunning. A few questions if you have the time and inclination: - Did you arrange for the prod to be put on? (If so, was it a major mission?) - What sails did you carry on the prod? - Was the mast up-spec'd to carry the sails on the prod? - Are those running backstays? - What headsails go on the forestay given there's no self-tacker?

Mattm, here's the best photo I have with a clear view of the cockpit on my Ross 830, Solo Convoy. Nolipoli, it's also in the Tamaki estuary. I'll message you my contact details and we'll sort out a visit. My thoughts on the cockpit well are that it's great for pushing through the chop (prop is always underwater), convenient to use (starting, throttling, stopping), however it's noisier and has a speed penalty of an outboard mounted on the transom. I'd like to put a prod and a light-wind asymmetric on the boat. Would be keen to hear from anyone who's done that.