Perry Design Review: Conser 44

If the sheer numbers of multihulls at the Annapolis show were not enough to convince you that multihulls are moving into the cruising boat mainstream, maybe the fact that I am in the middle of my first trimaran design will do the trick.

The chore at hand now is to be able to line up the various shapes and proportions, and begin to identify which ones are the "speedballs" and which ones are the "pigs." It is inaccurate to assume all multihulls are rockets. Like French Burgundies, the lesser vineyards will increase their status by attaching the name of a famous neighbor to their own name on the label. I think we can learn to use the same criteria for judging multihulls that we did with monohulls, i.e. sail area to displacement and displacement to length ratios. The one ratio we could really use, but in most cases will not get, is the sail area-to-wetted surface ratio.

The Conser 44, drawn by John Conser, is a development of his Conel 40 cat, which has been quite successful and proven to be a sparkling performer. In its first outing, the Conel 40 corrected out first over Dennis Conner's catamaran Stars & Stripes in the Newport to Ensenada race. As effective as this design was, its cruising potential is still limited by the fact that all of the accommodations are confined to the hulls and are, in a word, "tubelike."

Conser seeks to overcome the 40s deficiency in the comfort area by adding a substantial structure bridging the two hulls. Of course, this increase in deck structure will increase the weight and result in less speed. As you immerse long narrow hulls, you pick up a lot of wetter surface due to the minimal waterplane. Another factor associated with the wetted surface of multihulls in general is the sheer square footage of the total finished product, i.e. two hulls, two decks and connecting structure for a cat, and three hulls and four cross arms for a tri. This requires a lot more tooling of plugs and molds than does a monohull. A price per pound method of comparing finished boat costs for multihulls must be significantly higher than that for monohulls.

The Conser 44 represents an interesting hybrid cat, combining the lithe hulls of the racing cat with some accommodations. The D/L is 60.25. Turn back to the June and November issues and compare this with the D/Ls of the five cats reviewed. We looked at cats with D/Ls starting at 62, and ranging all the way to 158. The cruising version of the Conel 40 has a D/L of 59, while the racing version has a D/L of 49.81. As time goes on, we can establish some criteria with these numbers on how to divide this growing fleet. For now, it appears that D/Ls over 100 are typical for most cruising cats, while a few manage to keep their D/Ls down under 100 by using more advanced construction techniques.

Let's take a look at the profile of this design. Note the height of the cabintrunk. Do you recall "Delta pods" and "Hydra cells" from the other cat reviews? They were ways of avoiding the top-heavy look. Unfortunately, they can begin to intrude into the space between the hulls to such an extent that in at least one of the models, the protrusion was in the water all of the time. Here's where we see wetted surface jumping dramatically. Conser has kept the center portion of the connecting platform clean, except for a very shallow "sled" shape, and let the profile grow to accommodate the headroom. In sectional view, the raised trunk is quite narrow, giving the Conser cat a svelte appearance despite the height.

The hulls feature high deadrise angles. I presume this is done to help prevent leeway. The tiny centerboards are minimal at best, and the bulk of the resistance to leeway will be provided by the hulls themselves. Note how the recker is once again flattened fore and aft around the middle of the hulls. For monohull sailors, these rudders will appear too small, but keep in mind that these boats don't have the worry of pulling the rudder out of the water at high angles of heel. Beam at the waterline appears to be 2.75 feet.

The rig of the Conser shows a rotating wing mast. The idea behind this is that the wing can line up with the foil of the mainsail and make a far more efficient shape than can a fixed spar. It does require a critical step arrangement and a unique layout of the stays, but this is old hat for cat people. This involves use of a Heim bearing that captures a ball end of the spar and allows for friction-free alignment.

Diamond stays hold the mast in column while the aft shrouds and headstay keep the mast up. The aft location of the shrouds precludes the need for backstays. The SA/D is 34.47, and that should be ample to take care of any wetted surface. Consider for a moment that we have a boat here that weighs 10,000 pounds, has a 42-foot waterline and carries 1,000 square feet of sail. You would have to drag several buckets to slow this cat down.

If you are after cockpit comfort, you cannot beat the Conser. I don't find this consistent with most of the cruising cats. Many of them seem to push the accommodations too far aft, so that you end up with a wide and short cockpit tucked behind far too much cabintrunk. There are two wheels located outboard behind molded-in consoles. The 44 can also be tiller steered. This would seem to me to be an exciting boat to tiller steer.

The accommodations plan of the Conser is far from standard, and the drawings take some study to decipher due to the unusual shapes.

There are three separate accommodation areas: the two hulls and the main cabin. The staterooms in the hulls are entered from the cockpit area and include their own heads, hanging lockers and a large queen-sized berth tucked up and inboard of the hull. The accommodations in the hulls are a mirror image of each other. The main cabin features a dinette, small galley and a chart table/reefer combination. True, this is an unusual layout and it would be awkward up here in the Pacific Northwest where it rains continually, continually. Still, in sunnier areas, it may be just fine. It certainly does give the two cruising couples the maximum amount of privacy.

The prototype is currently under construction and is intended for charter. You can tell that John Conser is having some fun here. If you would like to compare this design with a similar design, I suggest you look at Chris White's Atlantic 46. The numbers and performance targets are similar.

Boat Specifications

This story originally appeared in Sailing Magazine, and is republished here by permission. Subscribe to Sailing.