The F-31 Sport Cruiser is a family of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

trailerable

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s that was designed by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Ian Farrier Farrier Marine is a catamaran and trimaran manufacturer based in Christchurch, New Zealand. The sailing boats produced by this shipyard are designed by Ian Farrier (1947-2017), and have a unique patented folding system without hinges in the beams ...

and first built in 1991. The F-31 is the production development of the Farrier F-9, which were built by custom shops in small numbers and by amateur builders from plans. The first F-9 prototype was launched on 29 September 1991.

Production

The boats were built by

Corsair Marine Corsair Marine International is a sailboat builder that builds trailerable trimarans. Since 1984, Corsair Marine has sold more than 2,500 trimarans. Dealers represent and service Corsair Marine's trimarans in 6 regions of the US and 19 other locati ...

in the

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, starting in 1991, but are now out of production.

Design

Corsair F-31 trimaran sailboat Osprey 2821

Corsair F-31 trimaran sailboat Osprey 2822

Corsair F31 trimaran sailboat Osprey folded 1158

The F-31 is a small recreational trimaran, built predominantly of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

. The hull is constructed with a rigid PVC foam core, vacuum bagged moulded to the skins, while the structural beams are reinforced with

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

rig, a

plumb stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

, an internally-mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

and a retractable

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, cou ...

, mounted at 18°, with the daggerboard trunk stepping the mast. The outrigger floats are folding for storage or ground transportation on a trailer, with a maximum width of under eight feet for highway transport. The outrigger floats fold into cutouts in the lower hull to reduce trailering width. When deployed the outriggers are set at a fixed 8° to the hull, so that they are upright and thus symmetrical, when each is in the water. Due to the employment of a daggerboard, the design can easily be beached. The boat is normally fitted with a small

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

of typically for docking and maneuvering.

Operational history

In 1992 the F-31 was named the ''Australian Sailboat of the Year''. In April 1992 Fred Gan's F-31 ''Ostac Triumph'' won the bi-annual Australian Offshore Multihull Championships. In the associated Brisbane to Gladstone Ocean Race, ''Bobsled'', a 67-foot, million dollar, racing monohull boat, sponsored by

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, made headlines in breaking the monohull record by an impressive hour and a half. The trailerable F-31 caught and passed ''Bobsled'', finishing an hour and fifteen minutes ahead. In a 2000 review, writer Bob Perry of ''Sailing Magazine'' wrote of the F-31, "In looking at the accommodations, it would be better not to compare this design to a monohull with a similar LOA but, instead, to compare displacements. There is no question that the 31-foot Farrier tri has less interior volume than a standard 31-foot monohull, but you cannot trail rmost 31-foot monohulls. The F-31 has comfortable accommodations for two couples, and boat speed that will blow the doors off a 31-foot monohull...Ian designs handsome boats. The F-31 is no exception... Just be aware that this 31-footer is capable of sailing with some big monohulls."

Variants

;F-9A :The initial F-9, designed for amateur construction from plans. More than 300 completed. ;F-9AX :A version of the F-9A with expanded interior space, with a 15% wider center hull for more room and a 16% higher load capacity. Trailering beam was also increased to . ;F-9R :A high performance racing version of the F-9A with a rotating mast. ;F-31 Sport Cruiser :This model was designed by Ian Farrier and built by Corsair Marine. It improved over the F-9 in having a smaller folded width for trailering of under . It has a length overall of , a waterline length of and displaces . The boat has a draft of with the daggerboards down and with the daggerboards up. The fresh water tank has a capacity of . The boat has a

hull speed Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-tro ...

of . ;Corsair 31 :This model was designed by Ian Farrier and built by Corsair Marine. After Corsair and Ian Farrier ended their business relationship in 2000, Corsair continued to develop the F-31's design and renamed the modified design the Corsair 31. It has a length overall of , a waterline length of and displaces . The boat has a draft of with the daggerboards down and with the daggerboards up. Options included a racing package, with a

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The word ''bowsprit'' is thought to originate from the Middle L ...

and carbon fiber spars. It was built in an aft-cockpit and center-cockpit version. It has a hull speed of .

References

External links