The following is a full, unedited article from Multihull designer Jim Brown, entitled, “TakeOff Window.” It’s officially about the lifelong work of Sam Bradfield in the area of hydrofoils.

More specifically, Jim writes about the 18-foot trimaran — OSPREY — that Sam spent the last years of his life making into an incredible hydrofoiler. The boat is a marvel of engineering and offers a sensation of flying over the water (according to those who’ve had a ride on it) that is absolutely amazing. (more…)

Here is a short but genuine treat … Jim Brown talking to Richard Woods about small trimarans. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, Richard has spent the better part of the past couple of years drawing up several new small trimaran designs (he refers to these as the “Strike trimaran” models).

It’s always interesting to listen to guys with so much multihull sailing, designing, and building experience talk about this sort of stuff. But it’s not hard to imagine Jim’s conversation with Richard about the benefits of sailing small tris, along with building them in wood/epoxy, inspiring a whole lot of listeners to take the plunge into this area in the world of small boats. (more…)

When it comes to Piver trimarans, the “Nugget” model is arguably the best designed and most successful one. In this post I link to a webpage at OutRigMedia.com, which features Jim Brown talking with long-ago-friend Mike Eaton about some of their work with Piver trimarans (plus lots of other stuff too). (more…)

Here is another sample audio clip from the “Multihull conversations with Jim Brown” audio series. In this recording, Jim speaks to sailor, self-boatbuilder and marine entrepreneur Mike Leneman.

Mike is the owner of MultiMarine in Venice, CA, which can be found on the web at www.multimarine.com. In this segment, he shares some out-of-the-box thinking on how to build wood/epoxy boats (including small trimarans) quicker by doing certain techniques differently. (more…)

Jim Brown interviewed small trimaran sailor and self-boatbuilder Frank Smoot on the topic of small trimarans last week. In this audio clip featured on YouTube (below), Frank shares how he got into building and sailing his own homemade trimarans. Frank even started his own website so he could post free information about them at www.DIY-tris.com.

In the full audio interview (in MP3) from which this clip is taken, Frank talks about some of the techniques that he uses to create boats that are both lightweight and strong … yet inexpensive (as compared to typical boatbuilding costs). (more…)

In this post, Frank Smoot shares another update on one of his DIY Trimaran models. And it’s very cool.

Wait until you read about how this new small trimaran handles :-) Some new photos of the hull are included below also. (more…)

In this sample audio clip, Jim interviews Lyles Forbes, who is the chief curator at the Mariners’ Museum, in Newport News, Virginia. During the entire interview, Lyles shared about an exhibition that is (at the time of this recording) about to be opened at the museum. It encompasses some incredible stories of survival … after sailors had to abandon their ships at sea. He also talked about (more…)

As a follow up to last week’s post, Jim Brown narrates this short video featuring the launch of a SeaClipper 20 trimaran. This one was built in a class that Jim and John Marples led at the WoodenBoat School last summer. (Be sure to check out how this craft really “takes off” when hit by a gust during the last few seconds of this clip … Whoosh, and she’s gone :-) (more…)

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. (more…)

A couple days ago, Jim Brown forwarded these photos taken by a friend during the launching of the Seaclipper 20 trimaran built at the WoodenBoat school. Both Jim and John Marples taught one of the boatbuilding classes there this summer. The fact all participants were able to get this boat to the point where it was able to sit on the water (in just under 2 weeks) is remarkable.

I asked Jim if he’d participate in a short phone recording with me so he could share a few thoughts about the Seaclipper 20 trimaran boatbuilding class. He kindly agreed. (more…)

Here are a couple of pics (and a short video too) of a new Seaclipper 20 Trimaran. Jim Brown and John Marples led a class at the WoodenBoat School in Maine these the past couple of weeks. (Actually, I think this boat took shape in about 9 days.) And this was the result. (more…)

The second volume of Jim Brown’s memoir, “Among the Multihulls,” is now published. And what a book this one has turned out to be!

I asked Jim if he would record a short audio (via phone call) with me and talk a little about ATM, Volume Two, and he kindly accepted the offer. (more…)

After watching the video illustrations & commentary created by Jim Brown for Chapter 3 of his book, “Among the Multihulls: Volume One” (seen below) a viewer left the following comment on YouTube (to which Jim offered some more details) … (more…)

Windrider trimaran owners can now build a ” Windfisher ” platform for their boat. What exactly is the Windfisher?

Well, it turns out Jim Brown is having some fun once again. He built a very functional platform for his own Windrider and is offering to share the plans for it with others. (more…)

Jim Brown and John Marples are going to conduct a Seaclipper 20 Trimaran building class at the WoodenBoat School in Maine this summer. For participants, I can only imagine this event will be one of those life experiences displayed on their “most memorable moments” shelf. (more…)

If you haven’t heard, multihull pioneer Jim Brown has finally released volume one of his memoir, entitled, “Among the Multihulls.” (Volume two is now in the works). (more…)

Below are some photos of the first Seaclipper 20 trimaran built to date. It was constructed in Florida and these photos were taken of the first trial sailing run of this new Jim Brown/John Marples creation. (more…)

In light of the updated, re-release of Jim Brown’s classic book, “The Case for the Cruising Trimaran,” I thought tri fans might enjoy an interview featuring Jim talking about this publication. I requested one, and Jim kindly sat down with me for a few minutes on the phone as we talked about some of its contents. (more…)

Jim Brown’s newest trimaran concept, the Seaclipper 20, was on display just a few days ago in Florida. Here is a construction photo and sea trial video clip … (more…)

John Marples gave me permission a couple of weeks ago to announce that he is currently working on a brand new model in the “easy-to-build” Seaclipper line of trimarans. He and Jim Brown are calling it the “Seaclipper 24 Trimaran” because it’s obviously going to be in the 24-foot range.

One thing that will separate the 24 from the just-released Seaclipper 20 model is a “cuddy cabin.” This was something Jim Brown wanted to include on a boat this size … if it wasn’t too big. (more…)

Jim Brown has just released 2 videos about “the Multihull Pioneers” of the 20th century. There is a good mix of both trimarans and catamarans in these 2 videos, which you can view right here. (These videos are short versions of much larger ones).

This stuff is priceless! And it’s pure fun regardless of whether one prefers trimarans or catamarans (or even proas). Every multihull enthusiast should take these videos and promote them far and wide on the web. Small trimaran fans will especially enjoy the section on Arthur Piver, and his circa 1950s-60s trimarans, such as the Piver Nugget. (more…)

Is the boatbuilding method John Marples and Jim Brown called “Constant Camber,” which was used years ago to build slender hulls for trimarans and catamarans, still a viable method for boatbuilding? You bet it is. (more…)

Multihull designer Jim Brown is releasing a new design very soon. He and his partner John Marples have officially named it the Seaclipper 20 trimaran. The name “Seaclipper,” of course, is associated with a famous line of trimarans Jim has produced over the years. Jim’s original name for this rugged new small tri, however, was the “Janganda.” Why? (more…)

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on a brand new Small Trimarans book (book #2). I tried hard to come up with a creative title for this one too — and I think I got the creative juices flowing and maxed out to a boiling fever pitch. As a result, I finally settled on a name for this new book on small trimarans. It’ll be entitled, (drum roll please) (more…)