Beautiful Stockholm Archipelago by trimaran

Living in the Stockholm Archipelago we sometimes take it for granted, however every now and then we get a reminder that it is something extra ordinary like this beautiful report by Hervé Hillard when he and his friends explored the Archipelago in a Seaon.

Please enjoy (the marvellous pictures for those of us who do not read French and yes, we are looking for assistance to translate it into English…) the article (link) published in Voile & Voiliers:

Text by Hervé Hillard
Pictures by Jean-Louis Gury
Map by Francois Chevalier
Voiles & Voiliers n445, March 2008




We can only agree to this beautiful report and add - "It should be experienced it IRL - in a trimaran.....!"

/Jan et all waiting for the spring in Stockholm (now having had snow for three days)

Trimaran tests

In the last issue of “MULTIHULLS WORLD/MULTICOQUES MAGAZINE” there is a test of both the Seaon (this time the article also in English! (English PDF version ) , article in French (French PDF version )) and the Seacart.

Obviously such tests are valuable both for customers and ourselves. Amongst others it also gives us an opportunity to highlight a few issues listed in the article which may not be obvious for everyone.

Philippe Echelle, the author of the article, highlighted amongst other the “lip at the deck/hull joint” (we call it “flange”. There are few ways to handle the joint of deck hull. Weighing the alternatives we finally choose the solution for two reasons:

When docked the flange protects the float from chafing against the dock. Also it is quite a strong point should one attempt a “hard” docking manoeuvre. To repair the paint (if not choosing a rubber protection like one customer has) on the edge of the flange is a simple operation, rather than having to repaint a larger area on the float. On the main hull the flange is used as a strong point for attaching the nets.

Furthermore, at high speeds the flange protects the water flow from each side of the float to join on the top of the float which under certain conditions will create a downward acting force.

Philippe also highlighted “The absence of waterstays(martingales on the arms)…”. This is probably not as unusual as it may seem, comparing the aviation industry moving away from wing stays quite some time ago. It is probably worth a separate comment (and potentially other issues) well which I will address in a future blog entry.

Finally, our company history is probably not the usual “start a company” story (if there ever is a “usual”!). The team behind Seaon has sailed together for over 20 years (and known each other for more than that!) and Stefan having optimized all the keels and rudders of the team’s racing yachts. Even though input, wishes and requirements for the design (Jan being very fond of the curves and lines of ………(anybody figured out?)) came from the whole team, Stefan is the designer in the team.

/Jan