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TRIFLE PROJECT

by Gary and Joanne Lepak, Port Townsend, WA. 

This is a rebuilding project of an unfinished boat. We bought the three hulls in May of 1998 with the idea of replacing the lower part of the main hull to increase the displacement for cruising. This seemed like a good idea at the time as the price was very low. It is an economy project. Of course it has turned out to be a lot more work than anticipated but a lot has been learned. It's been fun too, but progress sometimes seems agonizingly slow.

 The boat is a KHSD (Kurt Hughes Sailing Designs) D-30, hull #4, begun near Eugene, OR in 1989. The builder worked on it for 7 years part time and finally decided to buy a boat and go sailing. We bought the 3 hulls, crossbeams, and a lot of fiberglass, and brought them to Florence, on the Oregon coast, where we live. The main hull deck, cockpit, and interior were complete. 

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With the rounded-V bottom we felt the payload capacity to be too small for our cruising needs. We expect to spend 3 or 4 months at a time living onboard, maybe longer if we're comfortable enough. This picture shows the hull after I had turned it over, cut out most of the skin to be replaced. The 2x2 frame in the middle is an approximation of the new shape, showing the added displacement.
The bulkheads were replaced with new shapes. Cedar strips were used to make round chine's. Then the hull was planked with 3/8" ply and glassed.
This is the finished product as of January, 2000. The hull joint is just a bit above the waterline. As of April, 2000 progress has been made on the daggerboard and rudder, some more of the hulls painted. We are hoping to find used spars, and sails, perhaps an F31 rig or something similar. Our latest launch estimate is fall 2000 and we expect to use the boat mostly in Northwest waters.

We'd be glad to receive email at gnjlepak@olypen.com  or to show the boat to anyone passing this way. Call ahead at 360-461-1497. There are many more pictures and details of the project on the Multihull Boatbuilder website: http://www.multihullboatbuilder.com/workshop/Trifle/Trifle.html

Note: Due to a change of circumstances "Trifle" is now For Sale.