Neat Compact trawler - 30' Tristan 301

[O C Diver]

So I'm doing my daily cruise (surf) of Yacht World, and I came across this:

30' Tristan 301

This is a very neat compact trawler with an incredible amount of equipment for a boat of this size (IMO).

Ted

-- Edited by O C Diver on Monday 7th of March 2011 10:15:55 PM

-- Edited by O C Diver on Monday 7th of March 2011 10:17:01 PM

 

[Woodsong]

beautiful lines!

 

[Conrad]

Very very nice Ted. Too slow though - my 7.5 knots would leave it in the dust!

Seriously though, if I didn't have a boat I was committed to, I'd give that one a close look.

 

[JohnP]

Ted,* That boat is great.* Every pic shows a well founded and cared for vessel

The perfect loopboat.** And you could do it on fumes.

Nice.** JohnP

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

She is nice. I bet she would roll your eye teeth out though.

 

[O C Diver]

Sailor of Fortune wrote:

She is nice. I bet she would roll your eye teeth out though.

Hmmm, don't know. She has 1,650 pounds of ballast in the keel.

Ted

*

 

[ARoss]

My thought was "rolly" too. I guess the steadying sail might actually get used ...

This one shouldn't last long on YW.

-- Edited by ARoss on Tuesday 8th of March 2011 06:26:46 AM

 

[Nomad Willy]

These are very good boats and very typical of northern European yachts. Probably had a Volvo originally and it's now overpowered but the Yanmar 4JH is an excellent engine. There's a W30 Willard on WBO w that engine. Yes the steadying sail will get used and 1600lbs is not much ballast. My Willard has 2 tons. And the price! 10 to 15K too high but I could change my mind if I was to study the boat more. Look at the way they installed the hyd steering.
If they did everything else that well it could almost be worth that much money. Way too slow? You guys are too accustomed to go fast power boats that of course have evolved from cheap fuel. The rest of the world puts lots of tax on fuel and with the money they take care of their infrastructure**** ....while ours rots.

 

[Conrad]

Hey Eric - my "too slow" comment was tongue in cheek, as mine only goes 0.5 knots faster!

Along with its many other fine attributes, the boat's outside steering station really makes it, I think.

 

[healhustler]

My Admiral and I have just returned from a three year Diplomatic Posting in Berlin, where we delighted in cruising with many boats similar to this one. *Yes, they were a bit rolly, but so cozy and efficient. *Lots of forethought going into making smaller packages more accommodating, and top quality too. *What was equally impressive was some of the sumptuous canvas work on these round sterns. *I'll try to find some of those examples and publish them here. *I think you really found a good one there Ted. *If I were solo, that's the way I'd go.

 

[O C Diver]

healhustler wrote:

My Admiral and I have just returned from a three year Diplomatic Posting in Berlin, where we delighted in cruising with many boats similar to this one. Yes, they were a bit rolly, but so cozy and efficient. Lots of forethought going into making smaller packages more accommodating, and top quality too. What was equally impressive was some of the sumptuous canvas work on these round sterns. I'll try to find some of those examples and publish them here. I think you really found a good one there Ted. If I were solo, that's the way I'd go.

I have a feeling if I buy it, I will be solo - at least on the water.

Ted

*

 

[Nomad Willy]

hustler,Why didn't you mention your own boat for a looper? Looks like it'd be a good one to me.


Oh I see Conrad. I've said many times that I'd like to go faster. Maybe I out to cruise YW again to see what's out there * * * Nordics and stuff.

 

[healhustler]

nomadwilly wrote:

hustler,
Why didn't you mention your own boat for a looper? Looks like it'd be a good one to me.

*

True, Eric....it is a good looper boat, but then....it's just like as already been pointed out. "The best looper boat is the one ya got", and we picked this one specifically for tha purpose, and I'm so thankful that it also happens to be the one we got. BTW, at least one other Manatee out of FL has 22 loops to its credit, with owners that spend summers in MI Nd winter in Gulf Coast, FL each year. I've got a photo of it here somewhere.

 

[drf6]

Interesting to see the boat is for sale, having just sold it last April.

Does the boat roll? *In a word yes, but if you are used to a sailboat it won't bother you. *We added the steadying sail after a few years as our cruising ground is Lake Erie with it's short, steep waves.


When we repowered her, we removed a Yanmar 4jh2-dte (88 hp, turbo) and put in the Yanmar 4jh4, a little over 50 hp. *That was the smallest 4 cylinder we could get and since we were adding a second alternator knew that it would eat a few horse power. *Lake Erie is not a place to be with an underpowered boat. *Originally the boat was equipped with a Perkins 4-108 which only really developed 35 hp.


If you would like to see some of the gory re-building photos, refer to:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/r/drf6/FINLANDIA_1.html


Dave

 

[Nomad Willy]

Boy did I ever like! Had a great time surfing through your stuff. You went much further we did on your "rebuild" than we did on Willy. We still haven't R&Rd the windows and much other stuff is still needing attention. Beautiful boat and the beauty is not skin deep either. We had an Albin 25 w Yanmar 3GH35F (34hp) and I installed the Aqua Drive. We love the Willard but many things about that Swedish built boat were better. I see you have the Manson Supreme anchor. Does it set well? I think ours is fine but it sets slowly. The anchor rode doesn't snap tight. But it seems to get the job done. Thanks for all the pictures.

 

[O C Diver]

drf6 wrote:

Interesting to see the boat is for sale, having just sold it last April.

If you would like to see some of the gory re-building photos, refer to:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/d/r/drf6/FINLANDIA_1.html


Dave

*

Dave, great job rebuilding the boat! Photo documentation really helps one appreciate all you did!

Was moving to a larger boat because of limited space, change in cruising area / duration, or something else? Was wondering what the pluses and minuses relative to that size boat were without making the investment.

Ted

*

 

[drf6]

Ted,

We thought the Tristan would be the "last" boat. * As we get older, things change. *My wife always wanted to live aboard a boat. *Since retirement is only a few short years away we started thinking about it a little more seriously. *The Tristan was just too small to function as a live aboard if you are doing it full time, at least for us. *The last cruise we took on her (now with an eye towards possibly living aboard), the standing joke was that "we need a bigger boat". *Size wise she might be ok if you were single. *Easy to handle, inexpensive to maintain (relatively speaking), but compact.


After we found (and purchased) the Pilgrim 40, my wife's idea was that we keep both. *Mothball the Tristan for the day when the Pilgrim became too much boat for us. *Of course you can't really put a boat away for 10 years and not have her systems go bad over time, so that wasn't an option in my book. *We had to put her up for sale.


There is no way I would have put the time, money and effort into her if I knew that we would be replacing her, but as they say.... live and learn.


I have always liked small sailboats for the pure joy of sailing, which is pretty much why we have a J22. *Large sailboats don't excite me. *When it comes to living aboard, I seem to favor trawlers in the 38 to 42 foot size, but if somebody wanted to give me (free and clear) a Nordhavn 62, I wouldn't say no thank you. *I am sure I could suffer through maintaining her for about 10 years.


Dave

 

[O C Diver]

drf6 wrote:

Ted,


We thought the Tristan would be the "last" boat. As we get older, things change. My wife always wanted to live aboard a boat. Since retirement is only a few short years away we started thinking about it a little more seriously. The Tristan was just too small to function as a live aboard if you are doing it full time, at least for us. The last cruise we took on her (now with an eye towards possibly living aboard), the standing joke was that "we need a bigger boat". Size wise she might be ok if you were single. Easy to handle, inexpensive to maintain (relatively speaking), but compact.


Dave
*

Dave, thanks for the reply. Really liked the boat but just kept thinking,"this is going to be too small to live on for a year". Have hopes of doing "The Great Loop".

Btw my wife grew up in Erie PA.

Ted

*

 

[drf6]

Eric,

In answer to your question on the Manson, our experience is that it a lot better anchor than the 35 lb genuine CQR that we had on the Tristan. *The Tristan originally had an all chain 3/8 inch rode. *When we replaced the CQR with the Manson, I also reduced the chain size to 1/4 inch G4. *We could drag that CQR for a fair distance before it would set, the Manson seems to set quicker and deeper. *The added advantage was that I didn't have to keep kicking the chain pile over in the not-too-big chain locker every 20' of chain.


I was impressed enough to buy a 60 lb Manson (which actually weighs 68 lbs) for our Pilgrim and haven't been disappointed. *I better end this, as this is starting to sound like one of the anchor threads on the Trawler lists.


Dave