Sarasota Sailing Squadron

Author: Steve Marsh from The Finish Line

Thanks to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron for accepting the challenge of hosting a Regatta in spite of Covid. The hurdles to host a successful regatta are many and the Squadron met them with aplomb. Part swap meet, sailing clinic, jamboree, and camp cooking tournament, the SBMR never fails to deliver when it comes to mild weather, warm clear water, easy launch/docking, and shore side things to see and do.  While the social events were muted compared to years past (to the relief of barnyard animals and first responders everywhere.  But thanks for keeping the tazers charged anyway, Craig), the racing was just as intense, the venue just as scenic, and the sailors just as salty.

20 Corsair trimarans traveled from near and far to be part of this event.  As promised, the weather machine was set on “shuffle” and divvied out conditions from near calm to “should we reef?”.  Sarasota bay being protected on all sides makes sailing near the upper design limits somewhat predictable which helps expand your performance envelope. Seven races over three days kept sailors on their toes and the chiropractors in business for certain.

Typical of springtime pre-frontal passage in Florida, the first day dawned with a decent land breeze that was destined to quit right around first flag.  It was a lively 3 mile sail to the course from the dock with all the boats making their last adjustments.  Bad time to realize you left the beer cooler on the dock.  Fire that dude.

The race committee tried valiantly to run a race despite all the indications that this would be a drifter with large shifts and holes.  It was great light air sailing all the way to the giant hole at the top mark.  Hat Trick’s private breeze was not received well by the other sailors showing negative vmg.  Mercifully, the PRO announced the race abandoned as the breeze showed signs of backing 120 degrees.  Reaching to C-gate would have been an interesting twist.

A side note about the neat technology on the course this weekend.  The race committee used autonomous turning marks which kept station via GPS and other remote controlled wizardry, making minor adjustments to keep the course windward/leeward at all times.  Definitely nice to see a technical solution to assist mark boats in their challenge to keep the course and lines square.  Race Qs app is a crowd-source regatta tracker which has a lot of cool features.  Load it on your phone, set the start time, and the app does the rest while you’re sailing.  Replays later can be edited to add marks/starts, weather conditions, and group boats by fleet.  Displays can include VMG, SOG and a host of other data.

So, while motoring back to the committee boat to organize for race #2, the little “mark-bots” (think ) were busy scurrying across the bay to set the new course.

Races 2 and 3 were ideal with the seabreeze filling in to a moderate 10-12.  Races were tight, and little mistakes could add up big to those who were caught unawares.  A great first day to sort the boats out.

Saturday was forecast to be rainy and cold (high 60’s) but the PRO pushed on to get some races on the books in case Sunday turned into a blowout per the forecast.  The wind held for the most part in the 10-12 range, but the rain showed up and ended the day after 2 races.  Of course, after all the boats were tied up at the Squadron the clouds broke, the sun shone brightly, and the wind steadied at 14…  Second guessing never works

Sunday could be considered by many as “sporty”.  Clear and cool (upper 50’s to 70 by midday) with winds initially in the 18+ with gusts to 25 range.  Definitely nice to be sailing in protected water in conditions near your design windspeed envelope. If you’re going to build your sailhandling confidence, this is the time and place to do it.  No epic wipeouts or crashes, but there were some difficult spinnaker sets and drops in the conditions.  Races 2 and 3 were conducted in a bit more settled conditions with wind dropping to 10-12 with gusts in the mid-teens. Definitely tests your ability to shift gears to lighter conditions.

Overall, the Corsair course had high and low PHRF classes and the growing and incredible competitive did I mention growing 750 fleet.   In the 750 class, Hat Trick (first time on a race course with excellent prep by the FinishLine ) started with four bullets with Phil Styne brining his winning crew Todd Hudgins from the Nationals win in New England in 2008?  and highly experienced Corsair sailor Tom Reese to do battle with perennial  winner in the class Larry Geller.  Humility (Austin TX), Lucy Gene (Austin TX) and Tri Polar weren’t going to let either of those two hooligans get away with any slacking, and finish positions were traded often during the busy weekend.

The overall Corsair Nationals trophy went to Kathyrn Garlick on C 28r Evolution who sailed most of the last day with a torn main. Second overall was newcomer Alan Moore C 28r. Third was Larry Geller Sprint 750 beating out the 750 class winner Phil Styne with the overall time scoring system.

The overall Corsair Nationals trophy went to Kathyrn Garlick on C 28r Evolution who sailed most of the last day with a torn main.

Corsair National Regatta at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota Florida

There were old timers (I have had some Corsair or another for 29 years) and one boat was literally picked up by its new owner the day before the regatta and stopped by on its way to its new home in Wisconsin to put on a good showing.

Sarasota Sailing Squadron as always was a great venue in-spite of missing the big dinner.

There was sponsorship by Corsair and The FinishLine. 

Special Thanks to Jim Bergoin, Billy Black and Mike Cantalana!

Read more:

The Corsair Nationals 2021 – a huge success for the Corsair Trimaran Community

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The Corsair Nationals 2021 – a huge success for the Corsair Trimaran Community

“This is the best multihulls racing event in Florida. The regatta was wonderful and very organized. We had a great time racing in the beautiful Sarasota Bay.” – feedback from Tung Nguyen, PHRF Low sailor from Bayshore Gardens Yacht Club.

READ MORE: REAL EXPERIENCES FROM THE EYES OF PARTICIPANTS

On a beautiful, sunny weekend – the first weekend of March, the SBMR hosted one of the best regattas in Florida.  The regatta welcomed 20 Corsair trimarans gathering together in the pristine waters of Sarasota Bay, Florida.  Here is the video recap of the regatta:

In addition to the 20 Corsairs, the SBMR Regatta welcomed some Stiletto, Windrider, Wetas and a variety of other catamarans and trimarans. The event was amazingly sucessful with 40 trimarans registered for 3 days of races.  All COVID-19 safety guidelines were outlined in the “Notice of Race” and all sailors, their crews and the organizers followed the restrictions to the letter of the law – for which we are all grateful.

COVID 19 safety guidelines were outlined in the “Notice of Race” and all sailors, their crews and the organizers well-followed the restrictions.

This year the regatta had our Corsair 880  hull #2 joining the PHRF Low series, sailed by Tula’s Endless Summer and Wright Yachts representative, Scott Wallingford. The competition was rather exciting for Billy and Sierra, who joined the regatta for the first time. They came in 6th in the PHRF race but it felt like a win to the regatta novices.

“We lost every race and blew out our spinnaker but the race committee said we looked like we were having the most fun so we will take that as a win! Lesson learned a boat filled hundreds of pounds of cruising gear for a month long trip isn’t as fast as an empty boat.” – Tula’s Endless Summer

Enjoy the nice shots of the regatta:

Cruising World has named the Corsair 880 Sports Boat Of The Year in the 2021 Boat of the Year competition! What an amazing achievement and positive encouragement to our entire Corsair team. A countless number of hours have gone into the design and development of this project and we are so grateful to receive this affirmative feedback confirming the positive impact of all of our hard work.

The Corsair 880 trimaran is built to be completely safe and comfortable for sailors of all skill levels. With the additional comfort features such as air conditioning, heating, refrigerators and more makes the Corsair 880 a revolution for performance trimarans.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 reasons why the Corsair 880 stands out in the busy market of sports sailing boats:

1. Built For All Adventures

Refreshingly modern yet simple interior design compliments the sporty nature of this speed machine. Careful attention has been paid to every detail of the boat to commit to cruising comfort that cruising sailors wish to experience without compromising on performance. The main hull is built to make sure it can deliver the mission of comfortable sailing adventures with full standing headroom. Moreover, the saloon area gives you enough space such as for reading, dining and relaxing. For instance, the galley offers a considerable space for cooking and meal preparation, a compact fridge and stove which should be more than enough for this sporty cruiser.

2. Extraordinary speed

Corsair Trimarans are well known for their ability to “fly” in the wind by generating their own high-power apparent wind. Without a lead keel to create drag, and with tangible buoyancy in design, construction technique and materials, Corsairs trimarans in general and the 880 especially are powered effortlessly by their high-performance design. Like most Corsairs, the Corsair 880 will easily surpass 20 knots.

3. Comfortable stability

Sailing the 880 at any speed and in almost all sea conditions, you will find the wide unfolded beam and huge buoyancy of these wave piercing floats a blessing. No more so is this noticable than when powered up on a reach as you watch those impressive amas “punch” through oncoming swell. The 880 design and construction applied the same traditional Corsair features that make them sail flat and fast, paired with the latest in hydrodynamics and CFD hull form design. All of this provides a supreme sense of security when sailing this rocket in even the worst of conditions, but add to this, the knowledge that a Corsair trimaran cant sink, allows you to sleep peacefully, even when scooting along at over 15kts.  In fact, even with with the hulls and all buoyancy compartments filled to the brim with water, the positive buoyancy of the materials of construction keep the vessel afloat even with all crew aboard.

4. Trailerability

The 880 is real cruising boat, yet trailerable across continents. Corsair is famous for the excellent trailering characteristics our trimarans offer, and this same ability proves true for the Corsair 880. Especially since she only takes a single handed sailor about 60 minutes to go from trailer to sailor and back again after a couple of practice runs. Corsairs fold up and extend effortlessly, the mast comes down in moments, the boats towed and trailered easily and smoothly which offers significant cost savings when compared to marina and on water maintenance fees.

5. Light Weight

Weight saving is one of considerable elements that Corsair takes very seriously in all of our designs. Exhaustive research has been put into the design of the 880 to eliminate unneeded weight, which itself makes the boat safer on the water as well as safer on the road through reduced braking distance and lower loads. A fully optioned Corsair 880 weights roughly 4410 pounds (2,000 kgs) ready to sail.

At 29 foot, the Corsair 880 continues a long and successful series in this mid sized cruiser, from the legendary Corsair 27, the Corsair 28  and now the revolutionary 880, this model is destined to once again be considered a legend among real Sport boats.

Read more:

The Corsair 880’s Interior Design

Corsair 880 To Be 2021 Best Sport Boat Of The Year By Cruising World

“I always wondered why Corsair emphasised high wind photos of your boats in advertising. The Corsairs are wonderful cruising boats. Particularly in warm shallow waters like the Bahamas.”

Hans Millenaar

View current Corsair models here>>

Why choose a trimaran over a monohull?:

Safety

Corsair Trimarans provide safe sailing excitement for the whole family

The first item on this list might surprise you.  But trimarans are exceedingly safe – in fact many, including all of the Corsair trimarans, are virtually unsinkable.  They’re foam cored, and relative to the displacement of the boat, the buoyancy of the materials is very high. Even were a Corsair to be fairly well destroyed (think passenger ferry) the remaining debris would remain at the surface providing something to cling onto. But there are some other interesting stats as well.  Kids love trimarans – the nets make for great fun.  And were they to fall into the water its reassuring that there are so many places for a person (or child) overboard to grab onto – see the net lines and the beams themselves in the picture to the right.  There are also good places at the main transom to haul out a wet, heavy, miniature crewmember.

Speed

No gimmicks. Trimarans simply deliver stunning speed without foils, wings or electronic aids. Speed might have slipped from number 1 factor to number 2 in recent years – and given the advent of foiling monohulls you might think that’s fitting.  But consider the costs involved in foiling monohulls and you’ll quickly find that Corsair trimarans have a far greater dollar-to-knot ratio. Operationally, trimarans are now seen as almost conventional in high-speed terms.  So you can clock up 20-knot plus speeds with a boat that has a 35-year track record of success and safety, and without the need for professional crew.

Stability

For a trimaran, this counts as “heeling”

While you, the reader are no doubt the hardiest of sailors, there’s also no doubt that not everybody you sail with will be! Corsair trimarans, and most others, have a max heel angle of 12-14 degrees depending on the model.  That’s “flat sailing” in monohull terms.  And it means that rudders and daggerboards keep a reassuring grip and the speed therefore feels more effortless on the helm.  That surefootedness transfers over to your crew – they’ll detect the confidence in the boat and the skipper.

Small Marina Footprint

Fold up and take only a small marina berth or land space

To achieve anything like the speed, and just a bit of the stability and comfort underway, you’d need a relatively large monohull by comparison.  But due to the folding mechanism, a Corsair trimaran keeps a very modest marina footprint.   Better still, they can be lifted (when folded) and are therefore easy to keep ashore.  Want to keep your boat in the water but worried about growth on the floats/pontoons?  Anti-fouling wraps from 3M are available from Corsair dealers – remarkably long lived, these are easily replaceable, and maintain a very quick surface.  Boat bags, which keep growth away from the floats and main hull, are available for mooring and marina use.

Above Deck Space

Check out the huge unfolded beam of the 24-ft Corsair 760

Anyone with children will immediately identify with this one – Corsairs are fantastic for their wingnet and bownet space.  When unfolded, the huge beam provides pound-for-pound the best boating platform around.  The nets are often used as sleeping hammocks in extremely hot climates – not just for an afternoon nap, but actually during the night.  And most trimarans can be fitted with a bimini, sail shade, or canopee when the sun is strong.

Trimarans are Synonymous with Trailerability

The new Corsair 880 Trimaran will be the Ultimate Trailer-sailer

In the next article, we’re taking a deeper look at trailering trimarans through an interview with the undisputed supremo in trailering tri’s – our very own dealer Werner Stolz from Germany.  Trailerability is absolutely central to creating a new holiday experience every year, and for the racers it opens up a whole new world of high speed multihull regattas.  That’s why Corsair trimarans are built light – of course it improves your sailing speed, but it also keeps your trailering weight down and reduce road risk.  And that’s why the floats fold underneath – so your boat doesn’t get longer on the trailer when folded.  For those who don’t want to commit to the same sailing grounds every year there’s no better solution than a Corsair folding trimaran.

Read more:

Trimaran docking made easy

Corsair 28R won third place in Kieler Woche 2019

Corsair 880 design news