WETA trimaran - pretty cool boat

The boat is hard to flip, but it is possible. If you just go main and jib, it would be almost impossible to flip without really high winds and waves The process for righting is to flood one ama and that flips the boat on its side and you then right it using the centerboard. Upon righting, all but about a gallon of water will drain out of the ama. Or you can just take off sailing and it will drain. Getting back on from the water is pretty easy. There is a You Tube video of the boat going turtle and getting righted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6S7o5nHiKU

Have not pitchpoled with a Weta...but have seen the videos of the righting procedure. Might want to add a keeper system to the ama hatch covers (we use a big sponge tied by a thin line to a small

vent

hole in the cover on the T...the sponger can't just fall out of the opening when the hatch is off...keeps the covers from departing). Anyone thought of self-bailers liek some dinghys use for the Ama's?

The new boats have a ama hatch safety cord to the inside. It works well. Good idea on the self bailers. One Weta owner who flipped in SF Bay, righted it, lost his ama hatch cover and sailed the rest of the day without it. He had to hustle at the lift, but he had a great day sailing!!

Erice,
One sure way to pitchpole or capsize any multihull is to cleat a big off wind sail. Even using a continuous sheet on a sail like that is risky.

Noticed that there were several Wetas signed up for the Everglades Challenge. If this little boat makes it in this race I will give it some respect.

By the way OBX dudes any chance of a Weta being races in your own backyard in the North Carolina Challenge. Can oars be attached.

See ya on the Water

J.P Ayers
Isotope 186

I think the Weta would be a great boat for the challenges! I plan on doing it in the future. You could figure out a way to do oars, but I think the boat could be paddled easily. Where did you see the registration list? I would like to contact the sailors doing it and offer some support. I spoke with someone last month who was considering doing it.

I've spent the last two weeks doing sail training for disabled people and having a blast on my own on the Weta when the wind comes up. Paddling would be no problem each of you would sit on the opposite front ama support with feet on the ama.

Had a good look at '08 WETA. Boat was lightly used, stored indoors. Some build observations have me concerned. There is no mast shoe or base to protect what is a bare carbon tube. Abrasion was quite noticeable. Mast step was top deck mounted, had no direct support structure below though laminate was thicker in this area, perhaps concealing a plate, no compression cracks were evident. Mainhull was stiff in the tankwall areas and bow, otherwise soft from **** forward at sidewalls. Layup appearance was quite fair. Floats had appearance of poorer lay-up, appeared wavy when sighted down the sides. This may be build quality not necessarily compression, however there was minor delamination or topside surface compression cracking forward of forward vertical support post on starboard. Floats appeared sound at the mating surfaces. The mainhull's internal amas mount sockets appear to be bare carbon tube, a difficult fix, should wear or leaks develop. Mast sections with external trac appeared high quality, sleeved

carbon on carbon

, again a potential repair area. Foils and hardware appeared well done, not all thru-hull hardware had backups. Sails, battens, and stitching looked well made, boltrope showed excessive wear, typical of Mylar sails. Overall, I'd like to see a newer build for comparison. There were enough potential problem areas to give me pause. I realize low volume and cost effectiveness go

hand n' hand

, but believe there is room here for mfg. improvements, guaranteeing a robust product for initial and potential second hand owners.

G'day acat this was my reply to someone who asked my opinion on another forum. I'm also concerned about the mast foot, it doesn't wear once its on but each time it's put up a little bit more wears away.

Baz I've taken the Weta out 5 days now in our learn to sail program, probably sailed it for 15 hours. In about 8kt, had to work hard to get some fun and wasn't that impressed. Took two disabled people out for a sail and they loved it. One had never sailed before and took the tiller after 10 minutes. You can do a 360 turn staying on the wrong side without tipping with the genoa up in 12 kt. I took it out in 15-18kt on my own and enjoyed it for what it is, I got the ama and more than half the tramp under water with the nose starting to dig in and it still pushed along fine but you need all 3 sails up and to be solo to get it going. It's perfect for disabled sailing, would be great for a nervy newby family boat or somewhere really windy. The boat is well made but the block set up is fiddly little blocks, the downhaul requires 2 hands, the gennaker and jib halyard cant be tightened on the water when the gennaker comes a bit loose even under load it wont unfurl the gennaker. The tramp has stupid blocks to tighten it. If you want one get it with no blocks on it and put on cat type fittings like swivelling camcleats for the downhaul and halyards not 505 dinghy stuff.

regards Jeff

the mast base WAS just a bare carbon tube on the earlier boats but there now seems to be a black nylon plug in the mast base there, also nylon plugs on the prodder tube where before there were none

also new are large hatches on the bulkhead just behind the mast. inside you can see that the deck area directly under the mast base is supported by thick honeycomb bulkhead

the amas are a solid glass layup,the hull has a thick honeycomb core and the deck a thinner foam core

the tramp lacing material has recently been upgraded from a slightly stretchy line to a amsteel type line, so less mucking about with the tramp tightening blocks is needed after setup

downhaul, at least on mine, is operable with 1 hand from either side of the mast

performance/thrills wise my weta is no match for my nacra 5.2, but then very few boats are...

however it packs a very big punch for a 14' that has the space and the power to sail 1, 2 or 3 up and i find it a more maneuverable, smaller, more relaxing sail than the nacra

bonus that it packs away and trailers so well too

A good lookover and there have been improvements (see above post). Feel free to contact me anytime through wetatrimarans.com and I can go over all the changes with you. Also, we have a great owners group on Yahoo where you will get more feedback on the Weta. We like to hear all feedback! Good, Bad or Indifferent!

G'day Erice our one is 2 months old now so I'll enquire about the mast foot, we have the big hatch in the front. Our downhaul arrangement might be different, we have two little V cleats on the decks about 2 feet apart that you have to pull the sheet level with the deck whereas a single swiveling cam cleat would allow us to adjust the downhaul as needed from anywhere on the boat. When you sail solo if you are in a decent breeze with the three sails up do you have to go forward and adjust your downhaul? Our tramps have open pulleys (which look like they’ve been put on the wrong way) and V cleats to hold it that don't line up with the direction the tramp is pulling it, I think it's designed so you don’t have to untie the knot to take the amas off but when they come a bit loose they come off the pulley. The jib and gennaker halyards tie off to big 5 inch cleats so I have to pull hard and tie off then roll up the halyards which are held about 3ft up the mast by velcro, the jib brushes past this lump every time it flaps, it's also time consuming and impossible to adjust on the water so I sail the boat for a while then take it to the beach and tighten, all it needs is 3 swiveling cam cleats at the mast base so you thread the 2 halyards and downhaul through them, easy to adjust easy to set and pack up. These are little problems which is why overall I think its a good boat for what it is. The block problems I'm sorting out but if we get the next one for our disability program we'll order it without blocks so we have clear decks and don't have holes every where.
regards

OBXCC.......IMHO, the Catsailor forum is the largest of it's kind. This would be a great venue to air out changes to the WETA. The '08 boat I looked over showed potential problem areas. Many will choose to fiddle with blocking and sheeting, as the class allows, but my concerns are hull and float construction. For a

cored

build, I felt the main hull to be soft esp between forward tank wall and bow. The floats, especially inboard, showed layup imperfections quite visibly, with some delamination/gel cracking topside forward of amas post. A honeycombed bulkhead was mentioned, but with limited access, I felt no framing directly below mast step ? I've had 2 piece masts in the past, and found reinforcement necessary when carrying a spinnaker. It's been noted that the mast is quite flexible, a good depowering attribute. Aside no mast shoe, I wonder what design strength and mechanical testing went into the designed loading for such a build, especially pertaining to the sleeved joint and multiple hound fittings ? Further, what precautions/remedies were made for the possible failure of the mainhull's amas frame tube sockets. I liked the boat's design parameters, but walked away from the sale.

Just went and looked at ours acat and there's a bulkhead that looks like it makes a forward flotation chamber that comes up just forward of the mast base to support it.

OBXCC, I was over to the Yahoo group and found many

gaga

over the new boat, and well perhaps they should be. However, I saw no critiques. Please consider the forum here so we all benefit.

thanks for the observation. Jeff....

seeing is believing

.

do you have a weta acat?

I'll have to take a look at one of these boats.

G’day Erice, I’ve taken a while to digest your reply, look at the boat how I sail it and we're going to ask Weta about the mast foot.
I feel the downhaul is important to not stretch the sail and with a mast that lays over I tension it on the beach but the lines stretch, knots tighten on the water creating some slack, the halyards are on the outside of the mast , when the mast lays over it creates slack in the line. I don’t need a trucker hitch to tighten the halyards, I have enough strength the same way I didn’t need to cleat the main on my 5.8
Our club paid AUD$15000.00 for the boat plus a further AUD$3000.00 in freight, insurance etc. If we were asked if we wanted the blocks package that takes longer to rig and makes no sense or the block package that works for a bit more we would have paid the bit more. The person at our club that organised this boat wants a couple more for the same program but we’ve decided to wait to see how the boat and program goes before we get any more, if we do we most definitely won’t be getting the Weta block package. Probably the most telling thing for me is that I’m the only able bodied person at our club that has taken the Weta out even though it’s available to any club member for free the others prefer their own boats.

Sounds like its a bit of a toy rather then a race boat. Do you think they will still be around in 10 years Jeff or will they dissappear like the other small trimarans have?

Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Just been watching the you tube videos, looks like a fun toy and they race them.
Does the Weta have class rules? How much can they be modified?
Surprising the other club members dont want to sail it.

cheers,
Darryn

G’day Darren it’s definitely not a toy and I think it’ll be around in the future. I really like the boat for what we use it for, there is nothing like it for the people I’ve taken out so far. I’ve had the ex cat sailor with no legs, the stroke victim, 80 year old ex cat sailor-ex rescue boat driver, scared small kids with equally worried parents and people that have had sailing experience, all happily sailing without getting wet unless they want to. It’s a real privilege to take these people out and have them take the tiller.
The boat is well designed for what it is and my complaints are only superficial blocks etc, when I sail it on my own I find it a bit lame unless I reach every where with the gennaker and I think that’s the problem with it not unfurling, if I was going dead downwind which is boring it may come out ok. After an hour of reaching with the gennaker in decent wind and the ama under water I came back exhausted but entertained. It has a definite use for introducing people to sailing, I get people that are unsteady on their feet to hold onto the side as I pull it in the shallows so they can walk without anyone on the beach realising they have a disability, then in about 1 foot of water I get them to stop while I pull the tramp under the back of their knees, they then sit on the tramp and swing their legs into the hull they look normal and retain their dignity. Then when they’re sailing quite often I lay on my back on the ama tramp holding the gennaker and leave them to sail, because it’s so forgiving if they make a mistake we just go in a circle and there’s no boom to hit heads. As for the others at the club not sailing it they own high performance cats that are more entertaining for them and quicker to set up, we had a visitor from WA use it for our Cape Jaffa regatta you can have a go if you want the next time you come our way.
regards

just a thought Jeff

you might be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone if you do fit a a pivoting downhaul cam-cleat to the mast base as the 2 current jam cleats could then be taken off the deck and put on to the mast and replace the factory horn cleats for jib and genny halyards, you'd still have all that line to tie up but adjustments could be made on the water much easier

this current front page pic on the velocitek site shows them quite well to the left and right of the red circle

http://www.velocitek.com/community/news/weta

very cruisey little toy at times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQgkAcoHWbE

I wanted to comment about the Weta... I think this boat is awesome but for inland waters I think its a bit under canvased. At our last years regatta a H14 and several H16's smoked the Weta. Still it has great stability for those that need that characteristic and is fairly easy to rig but not as easy as the Wave. Also not as durable as a Wave, not even close. The Weta is a great boat to get ex laser sailors, etc. into multihull sailing!

Jeff as for being good for the disabled, I would agree to a point. I find the boat good for persons with disAbilities not for the disabled. The fact that the persons you are taking out are willing to do so tells me they are not disabled regardless of their pre-existing conditions. So its great you are doing accessible sailing.

Have you tried a Hobie Adventure Island or Tandem yet. These boats are easy to sail and allow a person to pedal or paddle from and to shore. So not only can a persons with a disAbility sail this boat but they can leave and return to the dock also with no assistance and that is true independence in sail. Simply the most accessible boat out there. Also H16 Trapseat sailing is a blast.

Just some thoughts...

G'day 16nut, glad to here someone putting up some useful info about the Weta, I did 2 weeks of sail training then sailing on Saturdays which probably added up to 40 hours this year on the Weta. Personally I think the Weta is a 420 dinghy with training wheels, I've had the racing 420 with spin planeing which required less effort and went not a lot slower than the Weta. If you put all the extra sail area on a 420 the Weta has it would kill it and take half the time to set up. As for the disability side I suppose it's the degree of disability, I spent about 9 Saturdays coaching and helping, then put together a team to sail the Weta off the beach here. The skipper is an ex A class sailor that lost his legs, his crew had a stroke has limited mobility cant look down, has no balance and takes a long time to make a decision, I consider these guys disabled. They tow the boat to the water, set it up, sail it, pack it up, tow it back to the shed, wash it, put it away, with no assistance now. The problem with the Weta is the people selling them saying to novices they can go out in 25 knots when they cant hold the boat on the beach in that, when the boat capsizes in the shallows and cant turtle, the air pressure in the ama wont let you undo the hatch cover to right the boat. We had to sink the ama by standing on it and wrenching the boat after the boat capsized in 18 knots. I have strong arms and hands, I ultrasound up to 5000 sheep a day (not a misprint) by pushing a probe into their guts and then push them out the crate all with my right arm and still couldn't undo the cover. The fittings on the boat are really poorly thought out, the hatch covers only turn half a turn to lock and nip up, I'm putting handles on the hatches to provide purchase for removing them, the ama’s get water in them, when I phoned the supplier for support and told them where we’re located I got the Homer Simpson, Duuuu. I still think their not a bad boat for what they are, the people saying they have similar performance to a Hobie 16 or similar aren’t lying to you they're just bull shitting they’re not really a cat they’re a safe dinghy.
As for the Hobies, unfortunately we don’t get any Hobies that come to our club so I couldn’t guage their performance and last time I tried to sail with the Hobies in Adelaide they sailed away and did their own thing leaving us other boats to race.
Just my thoughts since you asked