Copyright 2025 - Woods Designs, 16 King St, Torpoint, Cornwall, PL11 2AT UK
  • production Strider 24

  • plywood Romany 34

  • lightweight 14ft Zeta mainhull

  • Strike 15 trimaran at speed

  • 28ft Skoota in British Columbia

  • 10ft 2 sheet ply Duo dinghy

  • 24ft Strider sailing fast

  • 36ft Mirage open deck catamaran

The two Merlin hulls can easily be trailed next to each other and stay under 2.5m 8ft width. We use launching trollies, one for each hull, and then transport them on a flat bed trailer. That way the trailer itself doesn't go in the water and we could hire a trailer twice a year rather than buying one we rarely use.

 

We are beginning to untie the boat ready to reassemble and rig. You could use a telescopic trailer which helps line the hulls up, but it does then need to get wet

Even without the telescopic trailer it is easy to line up the hulls and drop the beams in place. Simple metal bars go across the beam and nuts tightened to hold them down on the beambolts. The rudders still have to fitted (one bolt and a rope downhaul). Also visible is the wood bracket to take the autopilot

As the deck area is flat it is easy for two men to "walk up" the mast. Or you can use the boom for a lever. You can then even do it in the water, see the "Safe mast lowering" article in the Useful Articles, unpublished technical section.

Wheel it down into the water and go sailing!

You don't need to have a slipway to launch and assemble the boat, here we are doing it on a rough beach, note the trailer ramp and launching trollies

A step ladder is always handy!

 

Here two boys are lowering the mast using the boom as a lever