DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

I'm not the owner, I'm the other in 2 handed racing. We're taking delivery this week and I'm doing a lot of installation of electronics this coming weekend. It would be nice if D35 owners talked and I'm not seeing much at the moment. I'll publish my experiences but it would be good to hear from others, We've previously succesfully raced a 920 Hybrid ( Cold Fusion ) and an 800 ( Blue Minnell ) in a lot of RSYC Races including the Biscay Challenge in 2007.

I guess we are all too busy sailing our boats to post. I agree though, it would be good to hear of others experiences with this. I took delivery of DF35-25 at the end of October. Unfortunately didn't get onto the water until February due to unforeseen delays! Since then however, the whole family is wowed! I also have a long line of volunteers to crew. Not much racing for multihulls here but the boat is really suited to the relatively flat seas and light winds in the Gulf.
My biggest learning curve I would say is setting up the backstay tension - still experimenting with this, relative to roller forestay curvature. Any comments would be useful.

It’s not like the Gulf here in the north; Harbor was closed 3 months this winter because of ice . Still, during this first year we had approximately 60 days in the boat and I must say I’m very satisfied. I find the boat easy and challenging to sail at the same time. Easier than my earlier monohulls when it comes to strong winds and waves, challenging when you want top speed at a given wind force. I still have a lot to learn on the last one. Changing the sail trim just a little can be the difference between 10 and 15 knots.
When it comes to the backstay tension I haven’t given this much thought. I have a little less tension in light wind (20 cm on the backstay line) than in stronger winds. Normally the tension is set so hard that the leeward backstay has tension up to approximately 8 m/s. When sailing downwind, I can’t see any reason to lower the tension in the backstay as I used to do on my monohull, since the mast is so stiff. I’m also is interested in more information and comments about this subject.