Hi DF-owners,

is there anyone, who will lend his DF800/920 or –1000 for about 4 to 5 weeks in July or August 2007? – For the last 6 years I sailed with my wife with a monohull (HR352) in the Stockholm-skerries, Aalands and the Finnish Archipelago. But now I have come acquainted with a DF800 on lake of Konstanz and I think it is a much better way to sail in these skerries. – Then if you will do an offer please contact me at erhardbuch@compuserve.de. Erhard

Hi, New DF800 owner here.

Just wanted to say that I used Arne’s transport service to get my boat home to Stockholm from France and I am very satisfied with the way Arne dealt with everything. I can highly recommend contacting him if you need to transport your boat.

A few notes:

I think the waterstays require replacement every 10000 nm or 5 years whichever comes first (according to my 920 manual).

There is an excellent article in the latest issue of Multihull World magazine on synthetic rigging as was used in equipping a new cruising cat.

I believe that Jens actually considered using synthetic rigging as OEM equipment. It would be best to get his opinion on the subject.

Adjusting the waterstays would be relatively easy – screw the connectors deeper and deeper into the main hull and into aka. However, how would one attach the rope to the connector? This would require making custom fittings.

For understandable security reasons Dragonfly advises us to get new waterstays every 3 years. Although 85% of the many miles I made in my 920 the past 6 seasons weren’t rough at all, I think time has come to replace them next winter. For this reason and for a possible replacement of the mainstay-backstay combination I consider synthetic material. The advantages are obvious: far less weight by the same or even more strength, no more damages to the hulls (waterstays), deck (stays when lowering the mast) and mainsail (chafing when going downwind). The only disadvantage I can think of, and only in case of the waterstays, is that you have to adjust the stays after some time, because the material tends to stretch a little.

Many multihull sailors use synthetic stays, mostly from Erik Precourt from Canada (see www.precourt.ca) who also sells beautiful rigging accessoires to rig it all up.

Question: Does any Dragonfly sailor has experiences with this? Thanks, Luc.

Hi Patrick & Lars,
I had a DF920 Racing for 3 years in the Baltic and cruised the Islands of Denmark then south of Sweden & Norway in the first year.

The following two years my wife and I cruised the east coast of Sweden up to Stockholm and also into the lakes.

I now have a DF Extreme and for the last three years have cruised the east coast of Sweden which we love.

All of the Swedish skeries are really great, with plently of natural harbours and reasonably priced marina’s and harbours. Bornholm is worth the visit but does add time to a cruise. Have not yet been to Gotland.

Sailing through the islands is so easy. It is well marked but one needs to keep an eye on the charts as it is so easy to loose position.

I use a Ratheon colour plotter which for a relaxed mind I would not be with out. This is really really the area to use a good plotter. This is so true when sailing fast and that is why we have DF’s.

By the way, we reached 22.5 knots last year through some islands, the plotter sure came into it’s own then……..

I have a very good under cover storage in Vastervik and the price for the whole year was 7200 SKR I do however have a trailer which must help.

I have a 10.4″ Ratheon colour plotter SL631 Plus + charts for Denmark/Sweden and a tri-radial genoa (DF920) for sale (for details see For Sale at this forum).

If there any more questions please contact me. I will be in Vastervik early in July. ggww@btinternet.com

Regards, Gerry Weston-White.

I am going to sail from Skaerbaek to Stockholm in June and July. Anyone with good tips, places to see, places to avoid? How easy is it to find moorings or places in harbours?

We will do it in two phases: 20 days from mid-June and another 10 days from mid-July. Is it better to plan more time in the south or near Stockholm? What about Bornholm and Gotland?

Any kind of advice will be highly appreciated.

I used to sail a DF800R. Offshore-Sailing is not a good idea with that boat. It has a weak structure. The stability is only maintained by the waterstay/backstay diamond form. The hull gets “load cracks” where the beam/hull connection is. You will find this on most used DF800SWs.

On strong winds +6 Bft the whole boat is moving in itself running over the waves.

Now I own a Corsair 28 CC and it is a much stronger boat. I used to sail it on 4 Meter waves on North Sea (Helgoland) in a force 7 (having force 9-10 the two days before) and it was safe fun. – I would never have done this with a DF800.

Answer to Uwe and Monika Halbe,

hi there, I am sailing an DF920 extreme in the North Sea. Trips start from the island Föhr. You may contact me under peterpose@yahoo.de

Answer for Uwe and Monika Halbe, Germany, msg from 31 Jan 2006

Hi Monika und Uwe,

mein DF 800 MKII wird in der Ostsee gesegelt. Vielleicht ergibt sich was? Schlage vor Kontakt unter dejavuts@t-online.de. Torsten

Hello Dragonfly fans and owners!

Again this is somebody looking for a charter of one of these lovely boats – also an opportunity of sailing a DF for a couple of days together with the owner would be very much appreciated…

We are very much interested into sailing a DFs but cannot afford to buy an own one yet, which means that a test run at a dealer would make no sense. At the moment we sail a Warp 18 cat, which is a lot of fun (but we’re getting older…) ;o)

Has anybody tested the spi parasailor from Istec? (www.istec.ag)

Wich mainsail for DF800 Racing: mylar sandwich DC66 or dacron or Hydranet?

I just received the following e-mail, which I am pretty sure is some form of scam (I think it involves them overpaying on their cheque and then requesting you sending the balance back, by which time their original cheque has bounced). They have obviously picked up the ad for my boat from the Dragonfly forum. I know you cannot do anything to stop them picking up the info from the web site but it might be worthwhile putting out a warning to others.

“Dear,
l got your contact details through web directory(barche CLASSIFIED) that you want to sell your Dragonfly 920 ‘Ngalawa’,which l am highly interested to order for it.

Regards frank.” (sic)

It is my intention to sail clockwise round Ireland in my Dragonfly 920, Ricepudding IX along with Ken Duckling Dragonfly 920, Florence. The date we intend departing from Glasson Sailing Club, Lancaster, is 27th.May 2006, the first port of call in Ireland to be Howth Marina, near Dublin. We will then head south and hope to be in the Cork area towards the end of that week. We have are planning to take about a month to complete the cruise.

If any other Dragonfly owners are interested in joining this cruise, please do not hesitate by contacting me via email (normanwhewell@yahoo.co.uk) or by telephone, Lancaster, 01524 65784.

My tramps also have had the tramp material detach from the tape adjacent to the cockpit. With mine, the material was OK, it was just the stiching that had failed. Suggest you look up a tarpaulin repairer in your yellow pages. They will re-stich at very reasonable cost. Alternatively, use a sailmaker to re-stich.

I used to have a Farrier F-27. Their tramps have a reinforcing square sewn in to the aft inboard corner where you get out of the cockpit onto them. This is a good idea, as this part of the tramp immediately outside of the cockpit gets heavy use. Mal

I do a lot of daysailing, and very infrequently do I need to reef. I had noticed a few bits of sticks and dried grass on the deck while washing the boat, so I took off the boom end cap. To my surprise, there was a huge pile of sticks, grass, cigarette butts, and assorted trash in there! Birds have been using it as a home, probably for several seasons.

I tried the reefing lines, and sure enough they didn’t travel well at all! I’m glad I didn’t find out about this when it was blowing stink!

I tried several methods of cleaning before successfully washing it out with a garden hose. I stuffed the fully running open ended hose down the boom from the aft end and after several dozen strokes of the hose from end to end, It w! as clean. Now my reefing lines run free again.

I have broken one of my original Quorning supplied plates with the above words and a rope pattern on in blue. Diameter is approx 19cm. Does anyone know where I can buy one from, or can someone sell one to me? The price of buying one plate from Dragonfly UK is far too high.

Thanks

Thanks John, I probably am looking at coastal cruising between Northern Spain-Baltic. I’m not too fussed about lots of space and have been used to sailing a fairly lightweight mono so don’t tend to fill the boat up with lots of heavy stuff.

I want to keep the initial purchase cost down hence looking at a DF800. I’m not really bothered what insurance companies say about RCD Categories. It’s more about whether the boats can take the occasional hard time if caught out. So far the most sensible advice I’ve had from multihull sailors is that I’ll give up before the boat does – it’s just tht I am trying to find out if there is any specific reasons why something like a DF800 is going to be a problem. I try to be sensible about weather conditions whatever I’m sailing.

Any further comments or advice appreciated.

Can you be a bit more specific on the passages you intend to make, because offshore sailing in Northern Europe covers a wide range of possibilities?

For example sailing across the Irish Sea single handed on a 920 is possible. I did just that last weekend, Pwllheli to Dublin and back, 90 miles beating into a F6 on the return leg. It was well within the boat’s and my capabilities, but not exactly comfortable. I was tired on my return, but no more than I would have been on any other light 9m boat, mono or multi.

Offshore sailing in Northern Europe could also mean UK to Iceland for example. I would not attempt a trip like that in any boat you listed. It may be possible, but it’s outside their intended design usage, and also uninsurable.

As for comfort, for example heating, I have heating on my 920, and it seems this is not uncommon. Electrical power is limited, so I have to take care. For single handed sailing any of the bigger boats you mention will be fine, not much different from a similar sized mono, but you will have to keep the weight down (which is easier when on your own, bodies are heavy).

The smallest boat you mention (the 800) is not really suitable for offshore passages in my opinion. It’s not designed for them (RCD category C), and will also be difficult to get offshore insurance. Comfort on the 800 will be more limited, as will weight carrying ability.

G’Day, Dragonfly captains ! Is anyone DF sailor from the continent, 🙂

– owning a race-ready DF 26, 28, 800

– without an “able-bodied” crew

planning to go for the Skary race ?

I don’t have a boat currently, let alone a multi, let alone a Dragonfly, especially a 26, a 28 or an 800.(A hot, racy 800 is a nice thingie)

What I can offer is: 85 kg of muscles, brain, experience. Skills as helm and crew on Star, FD, HC16. Sole cockpit man on “FritzzzFratzzz” (Nigel Irens designed “Offshore 40” race trimaran). The sheer will to survive, win, enjoy. The task to document all that. :-))

I will also attend and report from the IMM 2005 from July 21-24 at Riga-LAT, a month later, but I am not sure if I take the car-ferry from Kiel or go by boat, which is the same problem. From Sweden its much shorter than from Kiel.

Also, I am planning to attend and report on the DF owners meeting, but on Sat March 12 only. It’s not of international importance for my mags but always nice to meet and discuss multi stuff.

In any case: All offers and ideas are welcome, and I look forward to meet and sail soon this year. DF or not.

Cheers, Chris (Claus-C. Plaass, Freelance Journalist & Correspondent, Pickert- 10, 24143 Kiel, Germany, tel: +49-431-36 800, e-maill: plaass@foni.net

In the process of buying a DF 800 SW, I am interested to know if there are other DF on lake Geneva.

Hope to see some on the water.

Wanted to rent a Dragonfly for several weeks a year in the South of France (St Raphael) or as crew member, or as a partner.

I have been catamaran sailing competitions for 15 years. Who can offer me one of these ??????????

I do speak flemish, deutsch, francais, english.

Today Richard of Dragonfly USA drove more than an hour each way to help me lower my mast for maintenance. He spent about six hours working with me (until after dark) and asked for nothing in return. We installed a new wind speed rotor, inspected and lubricated the sheaves and other rigging, and changed some wiring. He also found the quick-links at the upper ends of the top shrouds needed to be tightened. The boat has been used 4 summers so it’s a good idea to check things like this. None of this was warranty work.

I asked him to send me a bill for his professional services and also offered to take him for dinner, but he had other plans and his reply was “I like to help…I like these boats”.

He is very willing to provide excellent service and support after the sale, and he does more without charge than I expect from any boat dealer. That’s why I’m posting this.

In response to Robert Schultz, my experience has been different in that I find Dragonfly USA very responsive and helpful over the last four years, even after the sale. I think he is doing an injustice by claiming a “lack of interest after the sale” has been made. The free support and service I have received from Dragonfly USA has gone far beyond the normal level required to meet obligations. (I suspect he’s gotten similar support from Dragonfly USA, because I find Richard is always willing to help out if I express a concern.)

Beyond the many hours of hands-on support and helpful knowledge/advice I have received mainly for non-warranty issues (with payment refused even after I offered) I know of other specific instances where Dragonfly USA has corrected owner-caused mistakes and boatyard-caused damages without billing the owners. Dragonfly USA and Quorning also replaced failed rope clutches for me that were beyond warranty from EasyLock.

My “critical” parts requests have gotten good attention from them when I made them aware of my needs, and parts prices have been reasonable or even competitive. I agree however, that Quorning should make all non-critical parts orders a higher priority, too.

Robert mentioned “Harken vs. Frederiksen” — I don’t know what he’s referring to but one should be able to get Frederiksen parts locally in the US. The company has been acquired by Ronstan. A quick web search came up the following contact info, and the website has what looks to be a fairly complete product listing. If you know the part numbers, I’m sure any local rigger or chandler would be able to order parts.

Ronstan International Inc., 7600 Bryan Dairy Road N., Suite F, Largo, FL33777

Telephone +1 727 545 1911, Facsimile +1 727 541 6611

Email: office@ronstan.us, Website: www.ronstan.com

While I would stay with Frederiksen for cars and slides that are permanently mounted, I don’t see any reason one can’t substitute blocks with proper-sized hardware from another maker.

There are custom fittings and rigging on the Quorning boats that I would always prefer to get from Quorning, but off-the-shelf parts are best acquired from the distribution channels geared-up to serve an aftermarket parts industry, in a more competitive channel. I find John Blaiklock’s Spare Parts list helpful and hope we can continue to see it grow.

We will all need spare parts for our boats as they get older. I am making a list of suppliers of parts that were fitted as original equipment by Quorning on my 920, number 54. Sometimes these suppliers are hard to find, so I will share those I know and would appreciate knowing of any more other owners of Dragonflies may have. Although Quorning can supply many parts, that is not their main business obviously, and they charge a very large amount of money for some small components. Often it is better to buy these elsewhere if possible.

See Spare Parts for DFs for some suppliers I know.

Some of these suppliers I mention (like Sea-Sure and Nauquip) do not deal directly with the public. A buyer will need to go through a chandler. However, this is not a problem. The hard part is finding the supplier in the first place when the chandler cannot help.

I hope we do not upset Quorning. I expect we won’t because I have the feeling that supplying small parts is more of a bother to them that it is worth, they do it because they have to rather than want to.

I have not been able to identify the electrical connectors Quorning use for the mast/deck connections and also the solar panel connections. If anyone knows of a supplier of these or even a manufacturer I would like to know.

I own a folding trimaran (not a Dragonfly) and am having trouble getting insurance.

Can anyone tell me who they use, please, and whether the premiums are loaded at all?

Ever since I saw a Dragonfly sailing in the harbour of Nieuwpoort (Belgium) about ten years ago, I have “fallen in love” with this boat. I would really love to sail on one, once in my life. Are there any Dragonfly owners in Belgium with whom I could sail ? I have some sailing experience but only on monohulls. I usually rent a sailing yacht (with skipper) from a charter company.

Oh, and I live in Deurne, close to Antwerp (Belgium). Greetings, Carina

Please click on the photo to see it enlarged!
Here’s where I store my mooring pick up tool. The port side is where I keep my boathook. Stored in this way, they are easy to grab, and totally out of the way when not in use.

Although this is a DF1000, it can probably be done on other models. Two clips inside the amas hold the hook securely in place.

Dear Elke, (see below, Elke Renkes, 14 Sep 2003)

From now 1,5 seasons experience I can tell you:

1. A tri does not really like the waves – as no other yacht do.

2. Forget all about comfort and space e.g. under deck incl. 1000 ltr. watertank and 2m head in the cabin – in particular if you come from a 38ft monohull

3. However speed is the stuff you are always looking for, living for when sailing such a tri – this (over-)compensates you for all and everything (incl. less comfort).

4. Tris keeps you active and young.

5. The best yacht for “Wattenmeer”, falling dry and cross shallow water with high speed where other yacht never can make it – if you like go directly to the beach, when other a struggling for the last place in the harbour.

6. I operate this tri mostly single handed even up to 6-7 Bf – I believe this says all and nothing to add regarding handling and saefty.

7. Moreover: You find a fanastic open minded multihull community – only a handful of active sailors (compared with the monohull world) – they nearly know each other. Money, yacht-class, size of ship, social level etc. etc. all is of absolut no, no interest: who participate in multihuill sailing is accepted and intergrated (My experience in the Netherlands).

Last not least: Contact me whenever you like to know more. Mobile: +49 177 77 88 930 or office +49 201 127710 or mail.

Unfortunately season is nearly over – however next year will come and from time to time there is an opportunity to join me to go for a race on Ijsselmeer, NL or “Wattenmeer”. Next big event will be round Ijsselmeer in May 2004 (details see website in NL from CTC (Catamaran Trimaran Club, this year the best did it under 5 hours!)

P.S.: My tri is lying North-north Netherland (Den Oever)in the triangle Ijsselmeer-Wattenmeer-North Sea, I live in Essen.

Donald, You are racing in the Caribbean (Cayman) which is governed by the CSA (Caribbean Sailing Assoc). Download their 2002 Ratings pdf and you will see ratings for the monohulls you are racing against.

Ask your club to assign you a provisional handicap number close to one of your close competitors on corrected time.

In my club (Grenada) the CSA (adjusted) ratings are:

MULTIS

1. Corsair 28 0.970

2. Dragonfly 25 0.930

3. Corsair 24 0.925

MONOS

1. Melges 24 0.873

2. Henderson 30 0.946

3. Hobie 33 0.879

4. Soverel 42 0.925

etc

When we race general handicap everyone accepts the results. (see my message – More to (Racing/Regatta) Handicap for Dragonflys [from: Darryl Brathwaite, Caribbean, 14 Aug 2003]

Wir sind an dem Dragonfly 920 oder 1000 interessiert. Wer kann uns weiterhelfen mit informationen über das Verhalten in Wellen. Unser Revier ist die Nordsee und Ostsee. Wie anfällig ist die Klapptechnik? Wann müssen die Stagen der Rümpfe ausgetauscht werden? Wo kann man diese zwei Typen Probesegeln oder gerne auch chartern?

Na dann gebt euch mal Mühe, uns mit dem Dreibeinvierus zu infizieren. Zur Zeit segeln wir einen einrumpf in 38 fuß

Gruß vom Niederrhein

HANDICAP NEGOTIATION (LOSS LEADER)

We are not entitled to race in the monohull class so we have to get them to trust and accept us. Start at the bottom of the fleet with a punitive PHRF and work our way up to about the middle. They may accept us placing occasionally if we have come last many times initially and eventually average around the middle of the corrected results. Winning can result in impassioned protest and our being disqualified from further racing. Perfect conditions for us (strong wind, flat water, planing to windward, one reaching leg) should result in no higher than second place.

DESIGN DIFFERENCES
Handicapping against monohulls is very condition related (seastate/wind). Most small fleets do not assign different handicaps for heavy air vs. light air so our corrected results positions will improve with wind speed, and we can even be competitive, despite the punitive handicap, in strong winds or gusty conditions. Ask to be placed in the sprit boat class or A-fleet category as their performance is more similar to a multi than to an ‘old’ mono. Sport boats too were initially not well received by the displacement boats, and this has eased the way for us.

STRATEGY
Stay out of their way during the race as they are really racing each other and we are effectively non-participants. In addition there are safety considerations as at close quarters (start-line, mark rounding, bow crossings) the boat handling is quite different and we do not want contact with a boat which has 5 times our displacement. Do not pass them to windward as taking their wind aggravates them and they can luff us down to their speed or ‘irons’. Better to blast through their wind shadow to leeward.

PSYCHOLOGY
So in the interest of getting along with the monos we find it more satisfying to compromise and be included, instead of constantly bickering about handicaps. For us it’s a matter of sailing competitively, which makes us sail better. We don’t care about the trophies. It’s challenging to work our way through the fleet, we usually take line honors, we try not to piss off anyone, try not to act smug at the after race celebration and so far have received mainly positive comments.

I´m looking for interior pictures and layout plan of the Dragonfly 25!

Could someone help me with this?
How much should you pay for a Dragonfly 25?

Has anyone been assigned a handicap for the Dragonfly, particularly 1000. Lots of guys want to race but none of the suggested handicaps seem to be fair, and would like to try an even the field for more racing with others. Lots of 24 and 30 foot reace monohuls here in Grand Cayman.

Thanks, DONALD

August and Dana, I love to look at your boat on your live webcam from time to time, but would you please do us all a favor and trim that one palm branch so we can actually SEE the boat?

Thanks, Steve. [August and Dana Richter’s webcam: http://video.augustrichter.com/]

Please could you advise me of the name and email address of any owners of DragonFly trimarans that are located in the area of Cannes/ Antibes/Nice that are interested in racing their great boats. We currently have a small team of enthusiastic trimaran racers operating out of Antibes (mainly Farriers). We would dearly like to increase the number of trimarans racing on a regular bases. Those interested can contact me for further details.

Dave Thomas, F25C # 29

I’m living in southern Sweden, and I’m interseted to rent a 920 or bigger for one week. I’m planning to get a trimaran later, if the experience with the Dragonfly is good. I am an experienced sailor and have a skipper licence.

Erik Danielson MD

There has to be a story for all of us regarding the installation of that boat lift for August and Dana Richter’s beautiful DF 1200. I am sure I am not alone in wishing to hear the details of the equipment brands, permitting, expenses , etc. August and Dana, please share it with us.

Thanks in advance.

Das jährliche Treffen der Eigner und Freunde der DRAGONFLIES aus Mitteleuropa und Skandinavien erfreut sich zunehmender Beliebtheit. Organisiert von Multihull Deutschland e. V. trafen sich über 60 Teilnehmer vom 14.-16 März in Flensburg an der deutsch-dänischen Grenze zum Austausch von Erfahrungen und Informationen.

Die neuen, großzügigen Produktionsanlagen von ELVSTRÖM/SOBSTAD in Roderkroe wurden besichtigt und die Entstehung eines Segels vom Design am Computer über das Zuschneiden, Kleben und Nähen bis zum fertigen Groß für den 920- er demonstriert. Obwohl sich ELVSTRÖM/SOBSTAD in einer heftigen Expansionsphase befindet, nahmen sich die Mitarbeiter die Zeit, alle Fragen und Probleme im Detail zu erklären.

Anschließend herzliche Begrüßung und Lunch bei Familie Quorning in Skaerbaek.

Die neue 920 Extreme konnte in drei verschieden Fertigungsstufen untersucht werden und Jens erklärte geduldig jedes Detail dieses faszinierenden Trimarans.

Während die 12 Meter Version nach wie vor Staunen und Begeisterung hervorruft ist das Interesse an der 800-er und die Nachfrage nach einer leicht trailierbaren Weiterentwicklung ungebrochen.

Der Abend gehörte dann den Bildern und Geschichten wobei insbesondere Vater und Sohn Kämpfe mit F 28 aus Carbon und Titan ( ex Mr. Orbiter) begeisterten.

Every year I organize a race for multihulls and keelboats in the surroundings of Juelsminde in Denmark. The race is called “Njord-sejladsen”.

Call if you are interested: If there are Dragonfly owners who are interested in a 2 or 3 days race in Juelsminde/Denmark I would be glad to arrange a race event on the 13-14-15 of June 2003 (or just 14-15/6) which includes the Njord-sejlads.

The Dragonfly race should include olympic triangles or similar and one longer race of 37 nm (Njord).

If anyone is interested, please inform me as soon as possible so that I will be able to setup the event.

I found white 3M non-skid tape at Defender Industries (www.defender.com). It comes in 1 inch and 4 inch widths, and it looks much nicer than the black sandpaper stair tread tape from hardware stores…less likely to scrape skin too. The 60 foot roll of 1-inch is Defender part #753030 and it’s $35 (USD).

I just got mine – I’m going to replace the sandpaper tape on my aluminum net tracks, and add the white tape to the top aft-edge of my beams (and cover those slippery rounded bolt heads too).

I regularly check the pages of this website with Netscape and MS IE browsers. In the past Netscape browser were always the least compatible with standard HTML code and produced often disapointing results.

This has changes a bit with version 7. You now get (nearly) as good results as with the Internet Explorer 5.0 or later from Microsoft.

So, if you want to see this Forum in the way it was intended to be seen, stop using these old 4.xx versions of the Netscape browser und download the new version 7 from www.netscape.com and you will get a better view of the internet world!

P.S. I’ve found, that there are still plenty of bugs in Netscape 7 but it is getting better and it is certainly much better than 4.xx and 6!

An excellent source for trimaran information can be found at http://www.gantron.com/f-bits/f-bits.htm

Although it is Farrier/Corsair related, the author has made much of the information general in nature.

I discovered the site while looking for tide software (see links) and while musing about replacing the backstays with Vectran (see synthetic rigging)

All in all a site worht visiting and exploring

Ich möchte mich bei unseren Kunden und ihren Familien für das mir entgegengebrachte Vertrauen und die netten Kontakte, welche daraus entstanden sind, bedanken und wünsche Euch allen ein besinnliches Weihnachtsfest und für das neue Jahr viel Gesundheit, Glück und natürlich immer eine Handbreit Wasser unter dem Kiel (Rumpf).

Vielen Dank auch dem Vater und Initiator dieses Forums, Bo Wetzel, der mit seiner Fähigkeit und seinem selbstlosen Engagement dafür gesorgt hat ( und dies tut er ja noch immer), daß die “Dragonfly-Familie” zusehens größer wird. Dankeschön!

Liebe Grüße. Arne mit Familie

The aluminum track along the cabin (that holds the nets) on the DF-920 can be very slippery when wet. At the suggestion of Dragonfly USA, I placed an adhesive-backed sandpaper tape strip on this track, and it has improved safety. It is also a good idea to place this on the top of the raised-dome bolt heads on top of the forward beams (inboard end) as those can also be slippery.

These tape strips are sold for outdoor step treads and are available from home-improvement centers and hardware stores. I use the 1-inch width (2.54cm). Mine have been in use for two years and the adhesive is holding well.

Regards, Larry Furst, DF-920 1st Tri

Several readers have mentioned cleaners for removing rust stains from hulls etc.

Nature has provided us with a very good cleaner but not in the concentrations one normally buys it in. Try OXALIC ACID. It brings the hulls back to a gleaming white

Several obvious precautions need to be taken. Here is an extract from one site.

“Oxalic acid occurs naturally in quite a large number of plants. The human body also synthesizes oxalic acid from ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Oxalic acid may combine with calcium, iron, sodium, magnesium, or potassium to form less soluble salts known as oxalates. Oxalates also occur naturally in plants.

Oxalic acid is a strong acid, and is irritating to tissue all by itself. Extremely high doses are fatal. Oxalates, on the other hand, form tiny little insoluble crystals with sharp edges, which are also irritating to tissue.

Plant foods with high concentrations of oxalic acid (over 200 ppm) include (but are not limited to): lamb’s-quarter, buckwheat, star fruit, black pepper, purslane, poppy seeds, rhubarb, tea, spinach, plantains, cocoa and chocolate, ginger, almonds, cashews, garden sorrel, mustard greens, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, soybeans, tomatillos, beets and beet greens, oats, pumpkin, cabbage, green beans, mango, eggplant, tomatoes, lentils, and parsnips.

Seriously though, the commercial grade you buy from the chemist/pharmacist does work.

bitte INFO auf welchem DRAGONFLY ich meinen Freunden bei 1/2 Tagestoern die Faszination des Tri-Fahrens (gegen Entgeld & m i t dem Eigner zusammen) zeigen kann…
Ev kann auch als Gegenleistung Fahrt auf TRIMARE46 (30 Jahre altem DK TRI von Toni Hansen) geboten werden.

Bitte INFO an Dr.Wolfgang Marin e-mail: WMARIN@t-online.de

Danke mfg von Norbert Bruemmer, HAMBURG/WEDEL/ROSTOCK

Ich suche einen Kalender mit Photos der großen Renn-Trimarane und Katarane für das Jahr 2003.

Meine Recherchen bei den deutschen Verlagen war leider ergebnislos. Vielleicht haben die französischen oder belgischen Leser dieses Forums hier einen Titel/Verlag/Adresse um einen neuen Multihull-Kalender zu erwerben.

Merci, Thank’s, Danke!

On my DF920 I have installed a ST4000+ Tiller-Pilot.

My settings are: Rudder Gain 5, Response 2, Rudder Damping is 1, (I think it is not used with a tiller pilot, only if you have a rudder reference unit, see handbook).
Turn Rate is 40 degr. (I dont know if the ST2000 has this feature). With these settings the Autopilot works very well, especially with the wind instrument and the Vane/WindTrim Mode with the Raytheon wind instrument via Sea Talk Bus.

On my Dragonfly I have installed Raytheon instrument systems including ST2000 tiller pilot. I have tried to find suitable settings for “rudder gain” and “rudder damping”, but I am not sutiesfied with the results. May be it is necessarily to change the settings according to different wind conditions.

My settings is for rudder gain “4” and for rudder damping “2”.

Has anybody tried to test these settings and has other better values?

Bo e-mailed to let me know that this forum was discussing the removal of rust stains. Practical Boat Owner September 2002 page 152 revues Magica which is perfect for keeping grp and even sails clear of rust stains. It sells for £7.95 (13 Euros) plus post and packing for an 8 ounce bottle of either gel or liquid.

If you would like some please e-mail me and I can take your order with a credit card number.

I’ve just read in the PBO (UK) that there is a gel to remove these easily it’s called:

MAGICA Rust Stain Remover and comes from the USA. Info under www.magica-uk.co.uk

http://marinesurvey.com/yacht/corrosion_1.htm

This site has excellent coverage of various types of corrosion and their causes.

I purchased my 920 (#52) new in May, 2000. Most of the stainless steel fittings and hardware are leaving rust stains wherever they come in contact with the hull and deck. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how do you fight it? I don’t feel like passivating every snap shackle and everything else on the boat. I want to sail.

This site is excellent. Thank you,

Bo Wetzel: I avoid most of it by washing the boat down with fresh water after sailing and placing shackels etc where they don’t touch the gelcoat.

For avoiding rust stains around and under fittings I found Lanolin – (wool fat), the water and acid free type, best. You can buy it in pharmacies and you’ll need only very small quantities. Remove the fitting, clean rust staines away and coat the surface of the fitting, which is in contact with the gelcoat, thinly with the Lanolin. I’ve done a test more than two years ago by doing this on one side of the boat but not the other. Around the treated fittngs it’s still stain free!

Staines around bolts will not happen on new boats, as Quorning now uses special surface treated bolts.

le réchaud Wallas marche enfin.

J’ai d’abord vérifier l’arrivée du fuel, j’ai vérifié toutes les connections électriques, j’ai enfin compris la procédure pour l’utilisation de ce réchaud, où du moins j’arrive à le faire marcher selon la procédure qui suit:

1° je pousse le bouton sur ON, une petite lumière jaune sur le bouton s’allume

2° je mets le bouton d’intensité au 3/4, pendant le préchauffage,

3° dès que le réchaud s’enclenche je mets le bouton à fond,

4° au bout d’un moment le bouton rouge se mets à glignoter, si on ne fait rien tout se passe bien

Mais si on pense que le réchaud ne marche plus et que l’on touche au bouton ON tout est fini, l’appareil stop.
Il faut attendre que le réchaud soit froid (c’est à dire lorsque la lumière rouge ne clignote plus) pour le remettre en route.
Quand l’appareil marche il chauffe très vite.

En fait j’ai mis un an pour le faire marcher. Je vais encore essayer ce week-end, car après on part un mois, et j’aime bien manger.

Further to Bill Frazers’s question about the dingy.

We load the inflated “Rubber-Boat” without Engine always on the Trampolin. This is quite easy. In harbour with folded beams the dingy has to swim behind (please excuse my english). Because our DF920 has an inboard engine the 4HP outboard engine for the dingy is, when sailing, screwed to the normal outboard-fitting at the stern. I think two Outboard-engines are hard to handle at the DF920, and I think pulling the dingy is better than transporting two engines or to hang the small engine to the “Heck-Korb” [pushpit, ed] (I don’t know the english word for that.)

Some troubles with petroleum Wallas stove D95.

French retailer has changed some parts (pump, starting spark protection, …)but hasn’t succeed to repair it since 9 months ! The factory in Finland doesn’t answer my email.

The facts: the stove turns on normally, and after 5 minuts, begins to heat with the red light on. But 3 mns later, it turns off alone with the red light blinking.
I’ve tried 10 times, even with a another little tank very near. Same problem. It seems to be programmed at 3 mns !

I’m very hurry now, as I intend to sail to Galicia next month. Can anyone help me ? Thanks.

I like the layout of this forum. The way the topics are archived are very useful. However, it is a bit frustrating that there are lots of questions and no answers. I think it would help if the responses were stored in a thread type format. I am always checking the files for ideas or for help.

I wished that there would be more interaction in this forum. I have been in this forum almost two years and noticed that most of the questions go unanswered, this looses interest.

Making it more interactive is problematic too and I agree with Bo. I participate in some beach catamaran forums and sometimes in the discussions there are strong arguments and I have seen broken friendships; a moderator can prevent this. This website is open to everybody and therefore it needs a moderator. I would agree to an interactive forum, but for members by invitaion only, but this would make the website/forum very small (no Corsair of Monohull owners allowed). This forum should be open to everybody.

Now there are more responses to the topic of how the forum should be conducted. My question, should this thread be kept in the archive? I came accross a Corsair Manual where each member wrote their tips, know-how, experiences, etc. on all type of topics such as how to stop leaks in the amas, lenghts of halyards, etc. The manual is about 150 pages thick. If you want a copy let me know. Anyway, the format is similar to ours.

By the way, my boat is in Houston Texas (DF800SW No.194) but I am working in Bulgaria for a few weeks, is there a DF sailor arround here that can take me sailing before winter sets in?

Bo, thank for a great website. Go Dragonflys!

Well, I can’t do it because I don’t know how! If I could I’d be happy to help you out.

If you are intimidated by my remarks I am sorry. That was not my intention. I just wanted to share my thoughts on how to improve the forum and increase its traffic. I don’t think anyone would benefit if there where different “competing” forums. If that’s the alternative then I think it’s better to keep the forum the way it is.

I have to agree with this two year old message.

I think it is about time that this forum was updated to work in a way that most people who are active in interest group forums are accustomed to.

If you look through the forum you will notice that a large number of even the simplest questions and queries remain unanswered and the general activity is far below any comparable forum on the web.

I know several dragonfly owners who refrain from submitting to this forum just because they disagree with the slow and unresponsive nature of the forum.

Today there are more dragonfly boats being manufactured than ever which means more and more owners will be looking for help and subsequently more and more potential buyers of used boats will be looking for information on the characteristics of these yachts.

The forum is in itself a great initiative so since the ambition is there, and the collective knowledge, why not add the technology and update this forum to turn it into all it could be.

dear bo,

why don’t you install a forum software on this site. i believe there would be much more life on this site if one were able to answer directly to a forum-thread.

this “static” approach on this site leaves itself far behind it’s potential.

you can easily achive much better results with a forum-subsystem like www.phpbb.com or use a combination of content management system including a forum like www.xoops.org. Michael

I have been running the Dragonfly User Forum now for 2 1/2 years and visitor numbers are now over 2000 per month.

Maybe you can imagine the work which goes into this forum when you look through the forum. The Sales/Wanted pages are also a lot of work and I never found a good way to administer the length of time adverts are displayed. If I deleted ads after 6 month, the advertiser asked me to run them again. More work for me; first deleting them and then putting them back in. Ergo I let them run longer with the result that people complained to me that the ads are out-of-date. You see, it was a ‘No Win’ situation!

After long thoughts and discussions I’ve come up with the following solution:

1) All ads run for 3 months (after that they will be deleted)

      Of course advertisers can cancel their ads before that.

2) All ads cost 50 Euros (US$75, £40) for these three months.

5) Payment can be made by credit card (PayPal), bank transfer or cheque.

I live in Paris. My 920 is based on an island in the west of France called l’Ile d’Yeu, not far from Nantes. I sailed two summers with this boat which I appreciate very much. It is fun, fast, beautiful.

I will be delighted to share my experience and to learn a lot from others.

If you come to Paris, I’d be very happy to have lunch with you. All the best, Armand.

PS/ It would be nice to have on the site the list of the boats, owners, email addresses, sailing location etc … so that people can easily get to
meet each other.

Last August our 920 (74) was dilivered to Rosas (Costa Brava) by Arne Reher (what would we have done without him?)
We have done a lot over sailing.
As this is a boat for demonstration we have sailed it in Nobvember to the Barcelona boat show. Horrible wind up to force 10, rain, thunderstorm. Our two kids (2 and 5 years) liked it more than we did…

Good interest on the show. The spanish dealer is Mare Nostrum (info@marenostrum-catamarans.com).
If the wind is ok. we want to Sail to the Baleares over New Year. If you come to the Costa Brava see us at our vacation home. We have at our house enough dock for another boat.
Yours Harald Pohlmann and Family

Hallo, es wäre schön, etwas über den Urheber dieser Seite zu erfahren. Ich selbst habe einen DF 800 sw Racing am Bodensee/Friedrichshafen.

Gruß, Heinz Unglert

I have a 920 (14) on the Cote d’Azur and like to spend a lot of my spare time sailing -and not pondering about boating problems!

Sometime ago, after discussing this matter with other Dragonfly owners I talked to Jens Quorning about creating a web site for him, because we felt everybody would benefit from a Dragonfly web site with lots of usefull information etc. However, Jens Qourning didn’t seem to want to go ahead with my suggestion of a commercial site for Quorning Boats (I ceated the beginning of a site for him but maybe he didn’t like it too much – I don’t know). That is the reason why I’ve now started this User Forum to give all Dragonfly sailers worldwide a chance to communicate with each other.

I’ve been a professional software developer for years in the UK and have now started to do a bit of Internet work. Other commercial (no-nonsens) sites which I’ve done are Sunshine-Properties-France.com and as well Assurance-Yachtlink.com.

I hope this User Forum can be financed via contributions by the commercial organisations mentionend on the Link/Contact Page. The fist company (Arne Reher Yachtservice) agreed to participate.

P.S. This site is hosted on a commercial hosting company in the USA and needs to be paid for annually plus the annual cost of the name registration etc.

P.P.S. There have been over 50 visitors to this site since yesterday! Shall I make the counter visible?

What a splendid User Forum [from:Joe Blocks, 15/10/2001, USA]
May I take this opportunity to congatulate all those, who have been involved in creating this splendid User Forum. It was long overdue and I hope it will deliver what it promises. I do realize of course that its success depends on all those message coming in. So, all you guys (and girls of course!) out there, send in your messages!