crowther twiggy trimaran

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Port Macquarie - twiggy? trimaran

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by basil , Nov 8, 2010 .

basil Senior Member

Hi Guys' A question for the Australians? I'm not sure this question hasn't been addressed here before or not, so here goes again. I've just been to Port Macquarie on holiday, and saw a very tired looking tri that looks like a Crowther "Twiggy" on the swing moorings there. Does anyone have any information on the boat? It's a real pity when you see a boat looking so neglected. It really looks as if it needs to go to good home and be resurrected. the boats name is "Johnathon Livingston Seagull"? Not sure if it's a mark 1 or mark 2. I'm sure I've seen questions about this boat before somewhere on the net . It may even have been here? Thanks guys Tony  

catsketcher Senior Member

It is a Mk1 Twiggy Gday Tony I used to know JLS a bit in the late 80s. She was the Twiggy I raced against in my own Twiggy - Seabird renamed Twiggy 2. I liked the deck idea as it stopped you doing the unsafe slide down to the fore and aft deck. As to whether the boat is any good now - I can't say. She was a good boat but my much loved Twiggy is now a basket case due to neglect. If the same has happened to JLS then there is not much hope. If you can have a look over her do so. Get out a screwdriver and prod away in some corners looking for rot. The sails will probably need replacing as will some rigging and the nets. You won't want to spend much on her to buy as she will cost a few thou to get back sailing. Sad that she is looking down. My Twiggy took me safely up and down the coast twice and was a great boat for a young single guy. cheers Phil  

philby60 New Member

JLS Trimaran I was just searching round for some info on JLS as I had seen the boat yesterday. It was looking very sad and sorry for itself sitting up on some sort of rough frame on the high bank of the Maria River near The Hatch, just west of Port Macquarie. I couldn't get close enough for a real good look but it wasn't a good sight. Phil  

brenno Junior Member

Twiggy There is a Mk 2 Twiggy on the yacht sale sites. I have talked to the owners and they have been very easy to talk to. It may need a lot less work than the one you are looking at. Brendon  

birdboat New Member

I did not know that there was so much interest in my old twiggy well for those interesterd it is now out of the water as reported by philby60 and I am about to undertake a complete restoration somehing I had planed 10 years ago (never to late I say) but sooner would have cirtainly have been better. The old Bird has suprised even the best of sceptics and ney sayers. The cross beams are in good shape as is the rest of the old girl although full inspection has not yet been completed although and I would be kidding myself if I think restoration will be easy I am sure there is quite a few suprises instore for me. At this stage there is no time frame on the work to be undertaken. I will keep you all posted and upload some picies when I can work out how. Thanks for your interest PS. JLS is a one of a kind twiggy modified by Crowther for the oridginal builder launched 82 I think.  

CT 249 Senior Member

The Mk2 design originated, if I recall correctly, from a design done by Lock's old draughtsman John Basden. John is living at Nabiac, not far from the boat, and doing well designing energy-efficient houses. You could try getting in contact with him through Sunergy Design, as he could have a lot of knowledge about the boat.  

Gary Baigent Senior Member

Always liked the Twiggy design .... except for the masthead rig. What is the difference between Mark 1 and 2, CT?  

If I recall correctly the Mk1 was the ply hard-chine design, the Mk 2 was a round-bilge design with more freeboard in the float bows and intended for foam construction. So JLS is easy to tell apart from a Mk 2. They had mast-aft rigs; no masthead rigs as far as I know.  

CT249, yes, I know the rig was stepped well aft but the headsail was large and the main had a small foot ... so thought it was masthead, maybe it was 7/8ths?  

Between 7/8 and 3/4; I'd say - standard fractional setup.  

Oldie2312 New Member

JLS Trimaran IF I am thinking of the correct boat (and that could be a big IF) JLS is the first of two Twiggys with hulls that became known in the Crowther Multihulls office as Mk 1.5s. Again IF I am thinking of the right boat, it has the first pair of composite crossbeams used on the Twiggy, as they were custom designed for that boat's builder. A bit of history about Twiggy MkI, MkII and in between - whether it's the right boat or not - I'm sure I've written this down before somewhere: The original Twiggy design was done for the Jester class rules of the (1980?) OSTAR race, which had a funny waterline length limit of 28' or something although the boat could be 32' long - hence the pointy bow. Also, the OSTAR was typically a light upwind course, so a beamy platform with easily driven hulls was drawn, in keeping with the owner's wish for plywood construction. A bit later (82 maybe?) Lock was asked to do a similar style of trimaran for a 30' overall class for a Spanish yard. This little thing was like a Twiggy on steroids! The vertical bows were taller and the flared sheerline swept up to them from fairly low mid sections, not unlike a surfboat in a way. Everything was small and light and fancy composite (for the time). The obvious thing for a staff member owner of a set of Twiggy plans was to draw some Twiggy hulls that looked like the new boat, so we got out the round bilge Twiggy lines (that Lock had drawn earlier at the request of a Brisbane or Gold Coast owner) and modified them to have a vertical bow and more freeboard forward. They did not have the bow flare of the later Mk 2 hulls. As far as I know 2 sets of these were built, in some sort of cedar veneers and epoxy - one boat had the conventional plywood box beams and the other had the composite beams, a custom forward cabin top, and a couple of other minor things. I don't remember what rudders they had. The most remarkable thing about the boat, other than the shape, was the finish inside. The builder used to restore furniture for a job, so the inside was like a 32' piece of furniture. After the launching of the first of these hulls and the decision that they looked good but were a bit conservative, the more flared MK II shape was done. (Interesting looking at current thinking, from Vipers and A Class to AC72s, all the lift is at the bottom of the hull, whereas in 'the old days' hulls were as fine as they could be then had the lift higher up.... progress!) Regarding the rig - the original Twiggy rig was roughly 3/4 but it did have a wire luffed masthead reacher that was to be hoisted on the upper kite halyard. I'm sure some owners would have fitted fixed masthead forestays to simplify getting the big headsail up with such limited foredeck space. I recall they usually had 3/4 height and masthead kite halyards, though one day in Sydney on Catsketcher's boat with CT249 (before the '88 Shorthanded RAR left) we needed a halyard block about 2m above the masthead!!! Hard to see where you're going with all that kite down to the waterline. All this design stuff took place about 30 yrs ago - apologies if I have the wrong boat, but the general class design history is correct. JB  

rogerf Junior Member

G'day JB Is this the European connection? A one owner driver. http://www.multisailing.com/EN/descriptif.php?req=listing3&rang=14  

This looks like a good example of a Mk I that has been updated over time. It isn't the Spanish 30 footer. Pic 1: I guess is the current look of the boat. Pics 2, 3 & 4: A standard Mk I Twiggy at launching and sailing. Pic 5: The boat on the hard and dismantled, probably awaiting the new floats, and looking like the 'bulb bow' on the main hull is already done - this bow mod has been 'coloured in' on the drawing in the next shot, and the main hull stern addition mentioned in the advert is outlined. (I don't remember if a bulb modification on the Twiggy was 'official' or not, but there was lots of these done in the early '80s as Lock was looking for ways to dampen upwind pitching - increase waterplane inertia - of fine ended hulls without unduly increasing drag. Bagatelle (41'+ Melbourne cat) had a subtle bulb bow from the drawing board, and after seeing her sail before the '80 Sydney to Mooloolaba several Sydney cats got bulbs of varying subtlety) Pic 6: The original sail plan sheet from the Twiggy 'Study Plan' with various modifications sketched onto it. Bulb bow as per the previous pic. Longer main hull stern as mentioned. Bigger roach on the mainsail. Possibly some sort of dagger/foil setup drawn onto the standard floats just behind the forward crossbeam. Note also that the 'CLR' has been marked on the drawing, pulled forward a little by the main hull bow modification, which may explain why there is a slight forward mast rake in Pic 1. (this also helps those asking about the sail plan) Pic 7: The new longer floats under construction - similar hard chine ply construction as the originals - with the same double bulkhead beam mounting format for through bolting. Pics 8 & 9: The original double chine plywood main hull under construction - the cabin and structural beam carrying bulkheads are all part of the hull setup, hence the long frame legs at the bow.... and the main hull almost finished. Good to see variations on the original are still kicking around. JB  

Work to main hull bow also appears to have changed rocker and increased underwater buoyancy. Could also affect manoueverability, tacking etc. The empty weight of 2.2 tonnes seems a bit high, the original lines and weight worked well  

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Freewilly14 New Member

My Twiggy I also own a Twiggy and am looking for any info on her ,,,, Apparantly it raced on Lake MacQuarie and in the Whitsundays ,,,,,,, At the moment she is on dry dock in Exmouth , West Australia and I am just about to get her ready to sail again. Any help on info would be great. Her name is " Larrikin Spirit "  

Attached Files:

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