DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

I used to be an 'F' boat owner, and subscribed to the F boat website forum. Every so often, Ian Farrier would make a contribution to a topic concerning some fault or modification to one of his boat models. This contribution from the designer/builder did wonders for the enthusiasm of the owners of his boats.

How about someone from Quornings doing a similar thing for us DF owners? It is not a negative thing;- no one on earth is perfect, and therefore no one can make a perfect boat. To put it in perspective;-

I have been sailing for about 30 years, and have owned two monohulls, and five multihulls. The DF920 that I own is by far the best boat that I have ever owned. It is the only boat I have ever owned on which everything works, from big important things like reefing and main traveller, to little things like fold-out bed supports etc. She is a joy to sail, with finger-light helm and impeccable manners. The boat and its' design are brilliant, and if I wanted to buy another boat, it would be a Dragonfly.

Nevertheless, things wear out, and weaknesses become apparent over time. No doubt the builder learns from these things, and modifies his design in the light of experience. Also, by viewing a website like this, the builder can gain valuable information about where he can improve his product, and can help support his enthusiastic owners. Sharing information like this amongst not only owners, but builder/designer as well, is not an admission of weakness of product, but rather reflects the strength of the brand and the continuing support of the builder/designer. It will surely result in improved and continuing sales for the builder.

What do you lot think? More importantly, what do Quornings think?

I totally agree with you, Mal. I understand that Quorning does offer support to individual owners, would be very nice to have their answers published here, could save them some time in the long run as well.

I couldn't agree more with Mal.
I've tried several times (since the beginning of starting this forum 5 years ago) to convince Jens Quorning of the benefits of doing so.
I'll try it again.

I agree fully.

Quorning is a good company when it comes to the DF and the high level of quality build in the boats. Never the less marketing their product gives certainly room for improvements. Not only by advise but also with parts list, pricelist, on-line ordering of spare parts directly etc could help the current owners a lot. Maybe this forumsite can help them to achieve this.
Also the local distributors of Quorning could be much more active in supporting the owners. factory visits for owners & potential owners once a year, just to mention something that might help Quorning to increase there image & business

Bo Wetzel wrote:I couldn't agree more with Mal.
I've tried several times (since the beginning of starting this forum 5 years ago) to convince Jens Quorning of the benefits of doing so.
I'll try it again.

Nevertheless, Jens wants to use this Forum as disseminating tool for his press release regarding the last Dragonfly accident as human error.

http://dragonfly-trimarans.org/phpBB/vi ... light=#639

J Quorning wrote:I think that the Dragonfly User Forum is the right place to inform about
this.
www.dragonfly-trimarans.org/DF35_Capsiz ... _Error.pdf
.

is that fair?
Bo, may I suggest it is time for another round on Jens Q, convincing him to show presence in this forum.?
B/R

To me it is clear that Jens is only interested in the image of Dragonfly and has no interest in this forum at all.

Now regarding this accident. Even if the explenation of Jens is true, it still blows my mind that this can happen so easily with a 350.000 euro boat.
You would think that the design of this machine prevent the user from making such mistakes. Modern systems and machines are designed to be used safely by everybody even without detailed technical knowledge. Apparently not with a dragonfly.

I share the frustration and deep disappointment with all those who would like to see some contributions to this forum by Jens.
Believe me, I've tried many times, directly and indirectly, to get Jens and/or Quornings to contribute with advice to this forum.
I didn't even get as much as an answer or excuse to my last 2 emails regarding the concerns about the correct setup of the swing wing system.

Wen I got my DF920 Extreme (the 2nd one produced) and found it had a very cumbersome and primitive system of connecting the cable from main hull to the floats I did contact Jens immediately with suggestion of an easy to use system which consisted of a tension leaver which could be easily used even in cold weather. I'm not sure if this has been now implemented or if people are still trying to insert a pin which prefers to drop into the water instead of securing the safety cable.

I agree with solei, if this safety cable is of such importants to the overall safety of the boat then a simple electronic warning device should be installed. This device would check if the float is folded out (via a proximity detector at the hinge point) and then check that the cable is connected (the forward end of the cable could be connected to battery negative and would close a sensor circuit when connected to the float).
If floats are out and the cable is not connected within say 2 minutes a loud buzzer sounds every minute for 10 seconds.
The cost of such a device: I guess less than $70 (50 Euros). Surely there must be a DF owner out there who works in a electronic company who could produce such a thing.

Meanwhile get a large red sticker for your cockpit!