Would like to inspect a 26 or 8m

[bombayducky]

Hello, everyone. I'm fairly new to trimarans, having owned and cruised a couple of catamarans, a Catalac8m and a Woods Romany 34 which I built from plans. I would like to see a Telstar 26 in person and possibly help sail one, my treat for lunch and beer. I can't afford Tony's 28 foot verson although I have seen them and been aboard one at his dock when I lived in the Annapolis area. If anyone knows of a Telstar 26 or 8M near the Myrtle Beach South Carolina area or not too far from there please drop me a line.

Thanks,

Brad

[JoeWalling]

This may sound completely daft but maybe not in the grand order of things, so here goes - there are obviously more 28s and 8ms in the UK than anywhere else. I'm sure Pat and Lou would show you their boats but I'm not sure how many ( if any?) are currently afloat in the U.S. right now. If you get frustrated in your search, for the price of an air ticket you can sail mine - we are about 60 miles from Heathrow and I would be happy to pick you up and bring you to the boat - you can even overnight on her if you want. Maybe keep an eye out for ones for sale over here at the same time. I suspect it might not be outrageously expensive to freight one over, especially it it had a trailer. Our boat is called HUSH and you can see most detail about her under the Stern Extension thread. If you are luckly enough to come across one for sale - don't hesitate. In the very unlikely event you don't like it you'll always get your money back. They are all fantastic boats but for me one of the greatest joys is that they lend themselves so easily to personalisation. I did'nt do much to mine for the first couple of years but made a list of what I wanted to change - having now done everything on that original list, I now have new one almost as long. Check through some of the threads for text and pictures of what people have done.

Cheers, Joe

[bombayducky]

Thank you Joe for the quick reply and the generous offer. I might take you up on that someday if I can't find one here locally. I'm not in any rush to find one as I know the right boat is out there somewhere, just a matter of time. That said, I wonder how much it would cost to freight one over to the East Coast of the US, say Charleston or Savannah?

[johnco]

I think its a great idea to try a Telstar before you buy...If there's one sure way to make up your mind to buy one this is it.

Also Joe's offer has floated an idea, if you'll forgive the pun, that it would also be good to try other Telstars for Telstar owners. Apart from a trip to different part of the country or world even, it would give people a chance to see how the class has evolved not just by the design work of Tony Smith but also work done by owners themselves. So in the spirit of this idea I would welcome others with an interest to come to the East coast of UK and spend some time on board my MK1.

[luigisante]

What a nice offer. Hopefully it extends to current owners as well. If I only had the time.

@Ducky if you want to see the bones of a Mark 1, you're welcome to drop by my yard anytime. I'm located about halfway between Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore. Lots of fist pumping action here.

I'm starting to close up the forepeak now. Should be plenty to see for a couple of months now.

Lou G.

[Pat Ross]

I am out of town now and do not expect to be back for a couple of weeks. PM me if you would like to visit and see the boat, she is unfinished. I think I am 10 hours from Charleston, SC.

Pat

[petrel]

Brad,

My boat an 8m is on land with the mast unstepped, and without cushions etc on the inside. It is located not far from Galesville, MD about 8 hours from Myrtle Beach. Your welcome to view it and I would be glad to discuss its virtues and vices. It sails quite well with a passage making average speed of a 45 foot monohull, and if conditions are right occasional bursts of speed over 12 knots. However, to get this performance the boat has to be kept very light and the hulls clean - slime on the hulls will cut the speed in half!

The downside of these boats is they require lots of work because of their poor construction, and they can take only minimal loading before performance and safety is compromised.

Geoffrey

[JoeWalling]

Wow Geoffrey - that's tough. I have to agree with you one the sludge factor. HUSH has only been in the water 4 months and already has a significant and disappointing 'beard' on her hulls. I think I'm going to go the full coppercoat treatment next time. Its not easy to scrub off mid season either as you can't prop her up on her centreboard and you can't get under the belly of the central hull when beached. And the unwelcome additions certainly slow the boat down.

With regards to build quality and safety - I can only speak for mine which is a mid productions run Mk2 hull nbr 128. Okay maybe some of the internal mouldings arent so great but I've always thought of the basic structure as being very well laid up. Maybe even too much so as these boats are no lightweights. I've never felt that anything important was scrimped on and I think they are really strong and stable boats. Joe Sid wrote about his that he thought iw was bomb proof or something like that and I tend to agree. i hope you don't just ahve a bad late example.

Joe

[petrel]

Hello Joe,

Maybe I should have written that in my experience the later production 8M's were not well constructed, which is certainly true of my boat. Conversely the earlier boats like yours seem to be very well constructed with a good layup and good attention to detail. On the upside I suspect that the later 8Ms are lighter than the earlier boats.

The adverse effect of slime on boat speed is amazing. I won a bet with a very good multihull sailor on that one. My method during the season and when the water is warm is to go over the side and scrub the hulls with a long handled stiff bristled brush. Fortunately most of the growth in the Chesapeake Bay environment is mainly near the waterline. I hang on using those suction cup handles. Good luck with different anti-fouling. Please, let us know the results.

As for the load carrying capability of the Telstar I was really referring to a multihull issue. They are very sensitive to loading. Whereas a monohull can be loaded an inch below its lines with only a slightly adverse effect on performance and safety. Unfortunately, most Telstars are quite heavy so in my opinion it is best to err on the side of leaving the stuff on the dock instead of in the boat.

Cheers
Geoffrey

[bombayducky]

Thanks Joe and Geoffrey for the offers to visit. I don't think I'll be going to either Maryland or the Florida panhandle in the forseeable future. It seems like the older Telstars are a rare bird in the USA. Maybe one will be heading south this fall down the ICW ?

Brad

[JoeWalling]

Hi geoffrey - yes, I agree with your thoughts. The suction pads seem like a great idea. The gulf stream just clips us here and the water is seldom very cold so I might try that. Cheers.
Joe