Perry Design Review: Dragonfly and F-24

I thought we could combine the review of these two trimarans. They are similar in concept in that they have retractable amas (floats or outriggers); both packets are trailerable; and both have caught on with remarkable speed.

I am confining the reviews to multihulls this month, but I am not going to try to convert anyone. As I have said before, the biggest differences between monohulls and multihulls may be philosophical. Multihull sailors will tell you that they sail upright and very quickly, although I find many reports of speed to be as grossly exaggerated as they frequently are with monohull sailors. The multihull advocate will ask you why you sail around with all that lead hanging on your boat. We answer, "It keeps us from tipping over and staying there."

These arguments have been worn out. Perhaps the difference is just one of style. Isn't that the same reason one sailor chooses a recreation of an English oyster boat and another a slicked back French Euro cruiser? My advice is to develop and appreciation for the varieties. My office CD collection includes Pink Floyd, Pat Metheny and Pavarotti and I have moods to go with each. Sailing should be the same way. I can blast across the bay on my windsurfer, press fit myself into my kids' El Toro or just motor around the San Juans on the Valiant 40. Boats are wonderful. We should all have several.

The F-24 follows in the wake of the highly successful F-27. The F-24 is handsome with nicely sculpted lines by designer Ian Farrier. All up advertised weight is 1,800 pounds. Beam with the amas folded is 8 feet 2 inches and with the amas extended 17 feet 11 inches. Draft with the board up is 12 inches.

The accommodations are minimal at best but you could sleep four very close friends. The head is nestled under the V-berth. The galley stretches along the port side. If you take away the extended beam of this boat, you will find a very small boat and the only was to increase accommodations would be at the expense of performance.

The Dragonfly is a bigger boat with an LOA of 26 feet 2 inches. It is designed by Borge Quorning and built in Denmark. It too is a handsome design that shares the retractable amas feature with the F-24 and F-27. The biggest difference is the method of folding and the fact that the beam with the amas folded on the Dragonfly is 9 feet 6 inches. In order to get the Dragonfly down to legal trailerable beam, you have to completely remove and stow the amas upside down.

Note that the amas of the F-24 hinge with the pivot at the main hull that pulls the amas straight inboard. The Dragonfly uses a fore and aft hinging arrangement that pulls the amas aft to add about four feet to the LOA when folded. It takes about a minute to retract the amas.

Accommodations of the Dragonfly are similar to that of the F-24 with the singular advantage of two settee berths. Vertical clearance in the V-berth is minimal and once again this may be fine for a very small family, but privacy is nonexistent.

The Dragonfly weighs 2,315 pounds and has an ama extended beam of 19 feet 7 inches. The photos show a boat that has attractive lines and a good turn of speed. In competition, the Dragonfly has proven to be very effective, racking up impressive wins in many long distance races.

Corsair Marine, the builder of the F-24, has been very successful and with over 200 Dragonflys delivered the same could be said of Quorning Boats. We are not seeing novelty craft here. We are seeing the beginnings of a type that will endure and, no doubt, win a lot of people over to sailing.

Boat Specifications
F-34