At Duck Flat Wooden Boats, we have built a lot of cats and tris.
We don?t get into the tediousMultihull vs Mono Hull, and Cats vs Tri divides. We think that well designed boats in all their forms, properly handled by appropriately experienced sailors are all good in the end. The problem is that all arguments are around the exteremes. Ocean racing Monohulls whose keels snap off and roll over, killing their crew. Monohull cruisers which spring a leak and go to the bottom, killing their crews. Racing, and extreme, almost always, Multihull yachts that trip over themselves and roll in wild conditions going VERY fast; all of these things color the argument.
Reality check.
Both Mono and Multihull yachts of all sizes regularly circumnavigate the world and safely and happily carry their crews to all manner of joyous destinations in between.
Without incident.
Well designed boats in all their forms, properly handled by appropriately experienced sailors are all to be considered, and owned, in a way that they reveal themselves, and that if you sail any of them within the limits of your knowledge, you will get great pleasure.
The designs of John Marples, and Derek Kelsall we have special affection for. They both design easily buildable boats that look good and work very well ergonomically, hydrodynamically and aesthetically. Both designers have many thousands of sea miles under their keels and both have been pioneers of the modern era of Multihull design.
Welcome to OUR world of Multihulls.
Derek Kelsall?s trimaran, ?Toria? was the first Multihull to win the round Britain race. Way back. Since then almost all the major transatalantic races have been won by Kelsall designed boats. In the late seventies Derek?s interest shifted to Cruising designs, and especially catamarans. All Kelsalls may be built with round bottoms, hard chine bottoms, single or twin rudders, single or twin ?boards, or fixed mini keels; in the smaller sizes regularly demountable for occasional trailing
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Kelsall Trail 22 Mk 1 and Mk2.
The Kelsall Trail 22 Mk1 was a hit from day one. Three were building around Australia within months of our having the first plans for sale. It could sleep four people in the hulls and had dedicated space for a galley and room in one hull for the Porta Potti between the sleeping areas.
Jim Townsend built one and famously sailed through gales to Kangaroo Island; many other wild exploits later he sold the boat to a friend who sailed it in Queensland for a number of years before bringing it back south to Kangaroo Island.
Since then there have been a many others built around the country and several sets of plans have gone out on the bell hulled Trail 22 Mk2, we know some have been built but we don?t know where they are now.
0.36 Centreboard up, 1.22 Centreboard down
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Kelsall 27? Trail
In 1984 we were involved in building the Kelsall Trail 25?, which later became the
almost identical but longer via greater overhangs for and aft, Trail 27. This demountable
cat easily sleeps 4 in two wide, comfortable, hulls, a Kelsall design signature.
There is
good room for a head and basic shower, the bridgedeck is uncluttered and rooms,
the motor is sensibly mounted, and the boat floats in less than 300mm of water, boards
up.
Brilliant.
More useable room than some 30? ?Polynesian? style cats by 50%, far better performance and handling, 1/3 the draft and much better social space. And you don?t need to pull the bunks apart, mid sleep, to use the head!
Best of all, you can rely on all the Kelsall boats to tack well, every time. It?s nice not to be a hazard in harbor!
There are Kelsall trail 27?s all over Australia. One especially well built one often sails around from Coffin Bay, near Port Lincoln across the big water to Adelaide.
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Kelsall KC27
This is a really attractive family boat with unusual seakeeping and liveaboard qualities for a boat of this length.
Same hull building options as all of the range. The bridgedeck is what makes this boat feel so big.
There are two double cabins aft for two real people. You can even close the door! One single forward, and more could be slept overnight on the big saloon settees.
As with the shower and head, though I?d draw the line at two people??
Miles of stowage space, very good looks and that comfortable bridgedeck saloon, which means that you can sit six people down to a great meal, handed up from the comfortable full headroom galley in the port hull.
A classic.
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Kelsall Southern Ocean 34.
This big volume attractive boat is built in the same brilliant Derek Kelsall kit panel way, whereby you make all the presized plywood skin panels, along with glass and epoxy coating and prefitting of stringers as well as the permanent bulkheads off the boat. Assembly is fast and amazingly accurate. The round bilge versions replace the ply chine panel with constant curve strip plank sections that fit accurately anywhere along the space between the bottom plank and the topsides.
The 34 has really big aft cabins, a hull width that permits sitting comfortably AROUND a table for four to six, a permanent full head room galley and a proper shower and toilet. And miles of stowage.
Options include permanent mini keels, Single centre board through a centre pod under the bridgedeck that also carries fuels, outboard motor and rudder. Or two boards, one in each hull and conventional rudders, and vertical trim tabs for easier high wind down wind steering. You can also choose to set the boat up with bridge deck accommodation, if that is desired.
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Kelsall KC44
This is a really big liveaboard boat for two families. With an experienced crew and appropriate preparation the KC44 is capable of crossing any ocean, in safety and comfort. The bridge deck cabin is vast.
The two aft cabins are really that, walk around room, ample storage space and complete privacy.
One was completed here in South Australia recently and has been recently sailed by her owner builders from Adelaide in South Australia across the Great Australian Bight, up to Darwin and points north. Exactly what she was designed for.
This boat has two outboards in wells aft; a very economic and practical motor power soluution.
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