Corsair F 27 - A variable-geometry rocket!

30 years after its launch, this folding trimaran is still just as appealing, comfortable and fast...a rare boat on the secondhand market, to be snatched up without hesitation!

So, the Corsair is American? Yes, but the story of these folding trimarans started on the other side of the planet, in Australia. It was here that in 1975, the architect Ian Farrier started to think about one of his obsessions – folding trimarans. The principle is quite simple: to take advantage of a maximum beam when sailing, to favor power and thus speed...but also to have an hourglass figure, to be able to slip into a marina berth ordinarily reserved for a little monohull. Another feature: the ability to be loaded rapidly onto a road trailer, to head for a new stretch of water. The operation consists of removing two bolts and slackening the lateral rigging; in five minutes, it’s done. Sometimes, folding just one hull is sufficient... That year, the Trailertri 18 was launched: several hundred examples of this multihull were sold. Five years later, the Trany appeared, and finally the model we are interested in, the Corsair F 27. And this was something of a revolution, compared to the other multihulls on the water at that time – it was nothing like the already outdated designs of the English catamarans of that period. A glance at the hulls to begin with: the floats are particula...