DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

My jib came down off Rangitoto island near auckland and was awkward to handle since it had two vertical battens in it! I put it back up temporarily- for a year!- just by tying it on to the block - no halyard at all- but have just had an accidental loss of the jib when the furling line came off the d...

I have fitted a prod with bobstay fitting to the towing eye, but this gives a poor angle of tension and has led to the dyneema rope breaking twice.
I guess I should put a new fitting down on the waterline at the bow but I am wary of making holes there! How have others done this?

Thanks for your information. I tried repairing it but it is beyond that. I have bought a cheap alternative- hope it is ok- and will fill the space then mount new one where best fits Regards, Allan McDougall

Thanks very much for the amazingly quick reply! I took the plunge and prised it off, successfully. The compass has no name on it and it has a small screw at the midline which seems to give access to the inside, though I am not sure whether this is where it leaked. The bowl sits on a black plastic tu...

My compass has suddenly gone dry. How do I get access to it for repair or replacement? I am not sure if I can prise off the plastic cover from the cockpit, or whether I have to take all the wood panels off inside the boat to get access. If I do get access, any tips on replacing the fluid etc? Thanks

Thanks Paul. I think some extra support for the topmast might be good, so - yes, please, when you are next on the boat if you could take the measurements then I could copy that, although the mast heights might be different of course. Lovely big spinnaker! I am pleaed with my new code zero. My wife m...

Hello again Paul I have a prod now on my 800 - looks nice in carbon but cost too much and I am a bit worried re its strength. But I just watched your video for the first time, and confirmed what I had suspected for some time- namely that the shroud arrangement on my df800sw racing has been altered, ...

I am about to put my boat on a swing mooring in a tidal river area. I would appreciate advice about how to secure the boat to the mooring without chafing, and without pressuring too much the base mounting for my prod, which is right on the front of the bow/foredeck join. I think the mooring loop wil...

Thankyou a lot Jurgen for your detailed reply. I have already blocked up the tank opening and put a hinge on the glass lid, so that it is now just a storage space. I have re directed the hose for the sink tap to the sliding box under the cockpit and I have two 10l containeers of water there. This wa...

Some time ago I had the tiller bolts give way and got the area reinforced with carbon fibre splints. This has not worked as the tiller just broke at the end of the carbon splints. the metal of the tiller seems to be rather weak, perhaps due to age (1993) But I mention it just in case others might ha...

I agree that I never liked to drink that water - because of chemical sealant used at the top of the tank and the taint from plastic hose etc. But main issue was the ingress of salt water. Anyway- I have sealed up the intake, will use a water bottle under the cockpit connected to the tube from the si...

Yes I have tasted it. Also - I emptied the tank before a journey and it was full afterwards! I dont know of any o ring on the intake. Is there one?

I have decided to do away with the fresh water tank due to the seal at the top repeatedly leaking and now having salt water fill up the tank as the boat slams into big seas I am not sure if this is constant slight leakage around the deck mounted filling point, or a backflow from the overflow. I susp...

Thanks Ted, I will have a look at that next time I am with the boat. It's about 200km away from home! . Perhaps I can scrub down the board using a combination of this access and a low level jacking of the boat from the trailer
Many thanks for contributing Allan

thanks a lot for your interest. I can show these photos to the lift manager and see what he thinks. I'll post when the job is done! Cheers, Allan

Thanks. I appreciate that. I guess by a tidegrid you mean a platform onto which the boat settles as the tide falls on a beach/mudflat?
I have wondered about doing something like this but I wonder how stable it will be if tall enough to allow the centreboard down. Cheers, Allan

Hey, thanks for the reply. I haved dived over to look at the centre board and it has a fair amont of growth - tubeworm /barnacle/small weed on it, with the surface being quite rough overall. Since I bought the boat I have kept the board up but perhaps it has not always been kept so. When you antifou...

Thankyou for that. I have just spoken with the marina people who decline to have anything to do with lifting the boat! I wonder if it is possible to get at the centrebozrd by tilting the boat over, as I have done with my monohull trailer yacht, but I fear that I would damage the joints by doing this...

Hello- I am keeping my dragonfly 800 sw Kihitara on a marina berth and wondered about antifouling ( including the centreboard) I would be willing to do this myself if I could figure out how to do the centreboard. I did ask for a marina lift out so as to get the boat professionally done, but the guys...

THANKYOU FOR THE PHOTOS. Very interesting. I assume there is a downhaul for the prod, though I cant see it , and I also wondered what the yellow rope is for . Do you use the prod rotated (like I do on the Bull 7000) or always in the long axis of the boat?

CHeers, Allan

That would be great, thanks for posting a reply. Did you put a new halyard on because of problems with the spinnaker halyard ? Mine is VERY stiff, certainly, but one person told me it would suffice. I have read that a really tight double purchase is best, certainly on bigger boats. The swivelling pr...

PLease - any updated advice on installing a prod and code zero for my 800sw racing? North sails will make the sail happily, but I am interested in the rigging requirements. Is the standard symmetyrical spinnaker halyard/sheave etc OK for such a sail. How long should the prod be and how anchored? Wha...