Archives

Throughout this decades-long adventure that constitutes the modern multihull
movement, the main characters were remarkably diligent about capturing and chronicling
their journey. Most of the participants have left us but their captivating stories remain. It’s
all here and searchable.

On our ‘playful’ relationship with the sea and my newfound frame of mind on multihulls

Besides resembling a waterborne sleigh, or a canoe with training wheels, where do multihulls belong in the human scheme of things? In the Stone Age, they helped us populate the planet’s largest space. In the Space Age, they may watch us ...

Why Multihulls

I was born with eye trouble. As a kid, I was unable to play ball games or board games, but I was strangely drawn to playing alone with model boats. It’s been one damn boat after another, ever since.In my teens, I was failing at everything I ...

What’s Next, Jim?

About 30 years ago, I joined up with a young Canadian cinematographer named Scott Brown (no relation), who had the lofty idea to make a definitive documentary film on multihulls. I had contacts,and he had cameras, so we started running around the ...

Tri and Tri Again The Windrider Story

Originally written for Professional Boatbuilder Magazine.Developing, designing, refining, and marketing Windrider’s line of 10’–17’ (3m–5.2m) rotomolded polyethylene trimarans. by Jim BrownThe takeover of the ...

A Pioneer's Passing

This is the eulogy of James Wharram, written by his long-time wife and design partner Hanneke Boon, both true multihull pioneers. James was the last of my multihull colleagues from the 1950s, and while we were never really close, his ...

Askari Searunner 40 Trimaran

This is the story of Askari, what i know about her past, how I acquired her, the wonderful people who helped me bring her back to life, and what i am doing right now with her.Hope you enjoy the story. (Be sure to also listen to the newly added ...

AMONG THE MULTIHULLS (CHAPTER 1)

SummaryAMONG THE MULTIHULLS (CHAPTER 1) by JIM BROWNDate happened: 1969>72First chapter for Jim Brown’s memoir of modern multihull history and lore. Has many illustrations on our VIDEOS page or at our YouTube channel.ABSTRACTChapter 1: To ...

Takeoff Window The Sailing Hydrofoils Of Sam Bradfield

The levitation is subtle, but the acceleration is overt. To stay with the boat, I crouch on the trampoline, my fingers clutching through the Spectra netting. I croak to no one, “It’s like flying in your dreams.” There is no spray, ...

The Failed Drowning of Woody Brown

This is a thumbnail biography of the man who designed and built the first modern, light weight modern multihull, 1947.The manuscript had to be somewhat condensed for Cruising World Magazine, where it served as a eulogy after Woody Brown’s ...

AMISTAD – A Little Piece of Multihull History

Published in Multihulls Magazine, Nov-Dec 2009, pp. 60-65by Michael Reddy – michael @ reddyworks.com 1 – Alive and Well at 39On January 2nd, 2005, I drove towards the Nelson Sailing Center, in Toms River, New Jersey. It was Friday ...

The Case For The Cruising Trimaran (PREFACE)

THE CASE FOR THE CRUISING TRIMARAN (PREFACE) by Jim Brown Date happened 2010/3/15 Author’s preface to the third edition of this 1979 book on multihull safety.AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION OF THE CASE FOR THE CRUISING TRIMARANBy ...

Counterrevolutionary Craftsman – Catching Up with Meade Gougeon

This is the original text, more or less, of a profile article on Meade Gougeon writn.by Jim Brown and submitted to WoodenBoat Magazine in December, 2013. With substantial cutting to suit space and focus needs, it was published in the January ...

Restoring the Trimaran Named “THAT”

One of Jim Brown’s most outstanding clients was a “can-do” individual named Mark Hassall. Jim talks about Mark here, and also features him on audio (as he was sailing thru a hurricane) here. Mark lived an amazing ...

Nautical Lore Capercast 84: THE FLEDGLING EAGLE

THE FLEDGLING EAGLEIn this 34-minute podcast, the listener is plunged into a detailed description of EAGLE, a 53’ catamaran designed by Paul Beiker and just launched by Fast Forward Composites of Bristol RI.The backstory of the ...

Nautical Lore Capercast 85: BUY THE BOAT BACK

BUY THE BOAT BACKIn this caper, Jim shares the story of his summer 2019 ride on one of his “cattlemarans” in the Caribbean.Jim sails along on a big catamaran with his entrepreneur-boatbuilder-sailor friend Doug Jane to deliver the boat ...

What's A Multihull? For those who have little or no idea

Basic Multihull Configurations1. Catamaran… Two hulls, identical, spaced wide apart2. Trimaran…… Three hulls, one larger in the center, one smaller on each side 3. Outrigger…… Two hulls, one large and one smaller4. ...

David Brooks and Far Horizons

I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer of 1965, and soon met up with a group of young radicals who saw that life on the water held out an alternative to an ordinary lifestyle. Those were the days of hippies, drugs, communes, ...

Nautical Lore Capercast 12: Cat-Tri Comparisons, Part One

CATAMARAN-TRIMARAN COMPARISONS – PART ONEIn response to feedback from listeners, this “caper” is the first of a three-part series on comparing different types of watercraft: rafts, dugout canoes, catamarans, trimarans proas and ...

WHIRLAWAY (Little Pedal-Powered Catamaran)

At the end of the last ice age, torrents of meltwater carved great gullies in the coast of what is now eastern Virginia. When the ice was gone, these watercourses were abandoned until the whole tectonic plate slowly sank – it is sinking still ...

Throughout this decades-long adventure that constitutes the modern multihullmovement, the main characters were remarkably diligent about capturing and chroniclingtheir journey. Most of the participants have left us but their captivating stories remain. It’sall here and searchable.