Windrider 17 Trimaran Commentary by Jim Brown and John Marples
There was a Widrider 17 Trimaran at the WoodenBoat School this past August. Mac MacDevitt trailered his Windrider there so he could show it to Jim Brown, who spent some time away from his boatbuilding class. Jim and John Marples were teaching a class on how to build their Seaclipper 20 trimaran.
If you missed it, you can click here to read about Mac’s great Windrider trimaran camp-cruise, which was featured in a previous post.
Anyhow, while in Maine, Mac was able to get both Jim and John on video sharing some personal thoughts about both the Windrider tri … and multihulls in general.
Mac’s comments (and video) follow below. (Thanks for sharing it with us Mac)! …
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Jim Brown and John Marples Comment on the Windrider 17 Trimaran
by Mac MacDevitt
I headed over to Wooden Boat school in Maine in August to spend a day with Jim Brown and John Marples – the two most stimulating multihull guys I know. They were building the new Seaclipper 20 with a group of students.
I hauled my WindRider 17 along that I have set up for adventure beach cruising and set it up next to the workshop. Jim had just done a slide show the night before that featured some WR videos for all the classes and the staff, so there was a lot of interest in seeing the real thing.
I got to know some of the students and I had lots of people come over and check out my WR 17. Got some people to climb up and sit in the cockpit. Didn’t get to pop the boat in the water – some logistical problems – but it was a very rewarding experience.
But the best thing was that both Jim and John went over the boat, looked at my modifications, made lots of comments and suggestions for improvements. As part of this, they both took some time to talk about what makes this type of boat unique, and the advantages and disadvantages of the design. I captured some of this as best as I could – talking and shooting video at the same time.
I was again inspired by my time with both of these visionary and yet down-to-earth multihull gurus. The season is ending here, and did my last sail over the weekend. I am planning to fly down to Sarasota for the WindRider WOW event. I am especially looking forward to watching Jim Brown interact with the sailors who show up.
– Mac MacDevitt
Publisher’s Note: The Windrider 17 trimaran is featured in SMALL TRIMARANS
