Small Trimarans Website

Joe Farinaccio, authour of Small Trimarans, An Introduction operates a very nice website full of great information about small three-hullers:

http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/

Joe devoted an entire chapter to Chris Ostlind and his designs. He recently interviewed me about my Mill Creek trimaran project and then followed up with the following brief interview about the XCR:

The XCR Trimaran – by Kellan Hatch

What are the standout features/benefits of our new Ostlind XCR tri? For me, the greatest feature of the XCR is its versatility. At its core it’s an expedition canoe.

Remove the outriggers and sail rigs and you have a very solid, high capacity cruising canoe that is light enough to car top. Leave the outriggers in their trailer configuration (7 ½ feet wide) and step one sail rig in the central mast step and you have a quick-to-launch daysailer, or leave the sail off entirely and you have a handy little motor boat that is easily driven with a 2ph motor.

The addition of aka extension tubes and the second sail rig give you the whole XCR package. I just finished adding snap buttons to the aka extensions and Virus-style ama attachment hardware, which makes it very quick and simple to change the aka configuration. Another excellent feature of the XCR is that it is very light and strong, especially if built the way Chris built mine, with strategic use of carbon fiber cloth and tubing.

Two men can pick up and carry the fully rigged boat. It moves well under paddle or motor and the kick-up rudder and leeboard allow you to sail it right up onto the beach.

How does this small tri perform? I’m still tweaking and tuning, but so far I’m very pleased. I sail pretty conservatively and I haven’t really pushed it for speed yet. I’m more concerned about stability and I tend to reef early.

This is my first experience with the cat ketch sail plan and I’m still getting a feel for it, but so far I’m delighted with the performance. And it’s a very comfortable ride. On a recent camp-cruise with my wife, Lily I was skimming along about 7-8 mph under reefed sails and she was dry and comfortable, reading a book, in the forward seat.

I’m at a place in my life where I really can’t get away for long periods of cruising, so my near-term plans are pretty conservative. I consider myself lucky to escape for three or four days at a time … a couple of times a year. Fortunately, even though I live in Utah – far from the nearest ocean – I’m not far from some very interesting cruising destinations.

I have visited some of the islands on the Great Salt Lake in the XCR and plan to a lot more there. I just did a 3-day camping cruise on Jackson Lake in Wyoming, which I consider one of the most beautiful places on earth. In a couple of weeks I’ll be spending a few days on Lake Powell in Southern Utah, which is another spectacular destination.

The other places that I have in mind for XCR cruising, assuming some more leisure time, are the San Juan Islands, the Sea of Cortez and the Kokopelli Cruise on Lake Powell. Other some-day plans include the Texas 200 (I did it last year in an inflatable trimaran and would love to repeat it with the XCR) and possibly the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge. I also fantasize about circumnavigating the Manicougan Crater in Quebec, which is a gigantic ring of water about 160 miles around.