About the Designer

My name is Wayne Barrett,

Being fascinated by sail as a kid,  I started building  model yachts in balsa over frames or carved out of laminated timber  hollowing them out to lighten the hulls, balancing the  yachts on the handle bars of my bike I would race down to the local dam for a “test sail” then back home again and ask mum to recut the sails.

Having a very understanding woodwork teacher in High school gave me an insight into lightweight plywood structures as he was involved in the building of timber framed military aircraft components in post war years, the privilege  of  the school woodwork shop on a weekend helped to develop my skills with hand tools and machinery.

To enhance my woodworking skills further I completed a five year apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery continuing with an extra year in special joinery, it was during this period I recalled the lightweight structure  lesson from my high school days, using this technique I built a Moth class sailing dinghy, being significantly lighter than my opposition I was unbeatable for a complete season, see photos of two versions of the class, one has a very slight concaved bottom with a single chine, the other has a cold molded cedar hull.

After the Moths came several Quickcats,  very popular local plywood catamaran it has deep dory type hulls 4.9mtr (16ft.) LOA . plus several A class catamarans and  smaller catamarans known as the Arrow and Arafura, each with building features very similar to what I am proposing now.

After being bitten by the trimaran bug in the late sixties my passion for a small trimaran still  remains strong today.

My first real full sized trimaran was a “Kraken 18” designed by Lock Crowther,  I built the tri in 1975 (which was displayed at the Melbourne Boat Show)  over a male mold with vertical strips of  Airex foam 6mm. x 150mm wide, the tri was designed for lakes and sheltered waterways never intended to be a coastal cruiser however this did not stop a friend and I  sailing the tiny trimaran 40NM. along the notorious Victorian coast of  Bass Straight.

This trip encouraged me to build a slightly larger trimaran,  at that time the Crowther Buccaneer 24 was a good choice, the simplicity of construction enabled me to complete the two floats and mainhull to the glassing stage over three weekends…part time, very low tech, silicone bronze ring fast nails every 50mm by hand, no SS staples or CNC back then.

From the Buccaneer 24  it  was a Buccaneer 33  then various multihulls ranging in size from 7.5mtr to 12mtr. all in plywood with the exception of a Crowther Spindrift 37 catamaran from Airex composite hulls and plywood decks.

Moving to the Gold Coast  meeting with Tony Grainger to rebuild an “075” one of his very first trimaran designs,  not long after the building of Trilogy was commissioned.

After the  successful  trimarans Trilogyand Traveller by Dick Newick,  followed by the Farrari Red “Max”, now Indian Chief   (see photos below),  one element of building was evident, although beautiful to look at and with high end  performance they are very  time consuming and  costly to build,  in my opinion far beyond the time frame most home builders would care not to comprehend.

Why build your own trimaran?

Some of us like the thought of pottering around in the garage,  some have budget constraints, some just enjoy building rather than sailing, then there is the  joy of  building and sailing your own creation.

The “M80”  trimaran,  is designed for the home builder in mind who has  limited time and  basic experience with small hand tools, it can be built from  CNC cut panels in a fraction of the time compared to some other options, alternatively you can build it from our easy to follow plan set.

The  “M80″  trimaran is available in  CNC Gaboon or similar plywood  or built from a comprehensive set of plans.

Plans are now available for Duracore, Duflex  or foam core kits.

PHOTOS BELOW SHOW SOME OF MY HANDYWORK FROM PAST YEARS