Customer Reviews

The Case for the Cruising Trimaran

5 star:		(4)
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When I first started reading books with an eye to acquiring a boat, I made the mistake of reading this one and cound never be satisfied with a mono-hull again. In addition to answereing the host of tradition-oriented, unfounded arguments against multi-hulls, this book leads you through a design of a cruising (fairly large) trimaran, pointing out many details that can only come from lots of experience. The cartoons help too. While the book is now quite old, it seems that the wisdom is still quite relevant to anyone thinking of live-aboard cruising.

This book is a must read for potential or current multihull enthusiasts. The author defines and gives context for safe passagemaking across large bodies of water in multihull sailing craft. He gives you the why's and how's of accomplishing safe travel to distant lands aboard these vessels. The book gives large doses of reality for when things do not go your way, and you find yourself needing to survive in your craft in an inverted state for a prolonged period of time. And more importantly, how to avoid this situation with proper seamanship, proper loading of stores, and most importantly - proper boat design. This is a book that will stay in your library at home (for reference) and also will most certainly adorn the book locker on many craft sailing the worlds oceans. A large thumbs up for folks looking at the truth of life aboard sailing multihulls.

I bought this book when it was first published many years ago and still occasionally refer to it. It will never leave my collection. The reason is because it is an excellent book on the proper way to prepare ANY boat for long distance cruising and because Jim Brown is an excellent writer and communicator and has a ton of common sense. He's a really good guy too! Get anything written by Jim Brown and you will be both entertained and thoroughly educated about the subject he is discussing.

I've bought a lot of books from Amazon but this is the first time I've ever left a review.

I read this book when it was first published in the 1970s and have kept it in my bookcase ever since. The author provides a very well thought-out design for his craft that goes beyond what is typically seen in marine texts. The description of the 34 foot model takes up quite a bit of the book and is quite interesting and detailed. I would hope that the author writes a future book on the follow-on Seaclipper designs and of his work in the developing world.