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Newell Sailing Club has many members regularly sailing Seaspray catamarans. They sail them recreationally and competitively. Generally when an NSC member’s club boat comes up for sale it is in very good to excellent sailing condition with many improvements and enhancements. NSC members use launching dollies, covers for the trampoline deck, covers for the rudder blades, and storage boxes/lockers or tubes to store daggerboards, sails and other sailboat equipment. Many Seasprays come with trailers that have storage boxes. If you are looking at acquiring a Seaspray, an NSC based Seaspray would be a good choice.
Some Newell Sailing Club Seaspray members out for a practice sail.
New Leitch and McBride sock sails. They work well and are cut a little bit flatter than the North Sail sock sets.
This is a good picture of an ungraded deck layout and controls. Not quite visible is the Okanagan steering system that connects the tillers to a small line that runs like a clothesline under the deck to the underside of the main beam. This allows steering from a well forward position. The Sea Spray is a very weight placement sensitive boat. Better to sit well forward unless the winds are very high. The idea is to sail bow down and transoms up whenever you can. With boom end sheeting there is no need to pass the tiller stick around the mainsheet block. This deck layout of sail controls is not typical but very desirable in a catamaran. The mainsheet is cleated off the boom. Lots of space under the boom when the mast is raked forward a bit. This boat also has a barber hauler system to outhaul the jib sheet for better downwind sailing control of the jib shape. The modifications are all within the scope of the Seaspray Association class rules governing fair competition of this boat.
The above video on you tube is part of a series of videos on improvements made to the Seaspray catamaran over the years. If you are contemplating acquiring a Seaspray watch theses videos and maybe you will be inspired to improve your own boat. It can make a good boat great! There are nine videos on YouTube.
Seaspray catamarans are not a new design, however they are easy to sail, forgiving, fairly fast, usually light weight easy to handle sailboats. Production ran from the late 1960's to the mid 1980's. They were built in the US and Canada and there may be over 3000 of them built but likely not that many are still around today.
They have been raced since 1969 or longer and are still an active racing class today. The class rules allow a lot of changes to a standard recreational/factory model which is a beefed up version of the original race boat design. This has helped the performance over the years as improvements in sail production, various performance enhancing running rigging systems, weight reduction, and general improvements to the boat have been allowed within the scope of the class rules governing competition. A competition boat may have improvements including weight reduction to the class minimum all up weight of 180 lbs., laminate racing sails, tube mast with sock sails, split trampoline, center tube cleating for jib sheet with a barber haul system to outhaul the jib for better downwind performance, smaller high aspect dagger boards, smaller rudder blades with thru the hull rudder blade downhaul lines, boom end sheeting with transom mounted traveller line (eliminates the need to pass the tiller stick around the mainsheet block), mainsheet cleating off the boom, mainsail clew outhaul system mounted inside the boom, lowered front bridle assembly moving the jib sail forward and lower and modified rudder heads. Other improvements will likely show up in the future, possibly even foils.
Some considerations when looking at purchasing a used Seaspray include, checking the boat weight by lifting each hull at the midpoint. Some boats had a two part foam placed in the bottom of the hulls for flotation. Over the years this foam gradually becomes waterlogged. Excessively heavy boats should be avoided unless you know how to remove this foam and replace it with another buoyancy item, possibly 5 gallon clear plastic flexible camping water bags. A good trailer with a well built storage box long enough to hold the boom and the sails rolled not folded and a launching dolly would be an almost necessary addition.
Working with Wire
Most wire on your Seaspray is stainless steel 3/32" 1 x 19 (meaning 1 wire strand of 19 wires to make the cable) (1 x 19 is stiffer than 7 x 19) (7 x 19 is flexible and each of the 7 strands is made up of 19 much finer wires).
7 x 19 wire is used for running rigging most likely for halyards. 1 x 19 wire is used for stays.
Swagging tools allow you to make your own stays and running rigging if you like.
Do not use aluminum ferrules. Copper is the standard and correctly installed are rated to hold to the breaking point of the wire.
Educate yourself on how to do it properly or get it done at your chandler shop.
This welded dolly for the Seaspray is made from 1" steel square tubing 2nd thinnest wall and where the 1" tubing is inserted in the next size tube it is 1.25" square tubing. It is made to come apart (held together with quick release clips) for storage in the boat trailer box. The wheels come off with a clip/axle/washer removal, the draw bar separates from the double cross bar assembly and the upright bow tube support separates from the draw bar. The side supports hold the hulls just behind the daggerboard trunks and the balance is slightly forward so that there is only ten or fifteen pounds weight at the bow tube when the boat is fully assembled and ready to be put in the water. The bow tube rests on a short piece of 1.5 to 2" angle iron welded on the upright. The tires are wheel barrow tires. The dolly is fairly light weight and makes a big difference in manhandling the boat.
An improvement to the above dimensions is to replace the long drawbar with a 1.25" sized steel square tube instead of the 1". This larger drawbar is less likely to bend.
Another improvement is to add an additional support bar for each side. Pictures to follow of how this is done. It will make the dolly safer to use.
Opening up the decks allows repair or modifications to be done. Re-deck with strips of fibreglass cloth, regular epoxy (for wetting the contact surfaces and glass cloth), thickened epoxy (dabbed on after wetting the cloth in place for the purpose of getting a good seal) and clothespins for clamps.
The nearly finished boat below, Jan 1 2021.
Past project at left. This boat is a later built boat with foam core hulls so a little bit heavier but no wavy sides.
Fall 2016
A Seaspray catamaran on a trailer for the purpose of reworking it to a more suitable useable boat. One hull had three small to large holes and needed a lot of work. Later, after pulling the decks, there was a lot of waterlogged foam and a large amount of sand (40 lbs. est.) in one of the hulls. This of course is not desirable and could be dangerous. Overweight boats are sluggish sailors and are difficult to right from a capsize.
You can see the sand in the hull over top of the water logged flotation foam. Once this was removed the boat was much lighter. It will also be an easier boat to right from a capsize.
The boat in finished condition, the after shot. I am not a fan of horizontal strips. They were difficult to remove. My preference is three vertical strips between the transom and rear beam on the hull sides.
The decks were painted and they look new. I finished up the trailer with a new wooden storage box 10 feet long, new tires, new boat bunks, etc. A modified two piece trampoline was installed. Before and after pictures above. The trailer now has a 10 foot long storage box that will hold the dolly (breaks down into three pieces and the wheels come off), the sails rolled not folded and the 9 foot long boom as well as the rest of the items.
If you are interested in getting a used Seaspray they come up for sale on occasion. Generally they may need a lot of work and if they have flotation foam in the hulls that has become waterlogged a foam removal process as well. A boat with a trailer is useful but a dolly is an even more useful package. Try to drive a hard bargain as I have noticed higher prices on used Seasprays especially if they have the dreaded waterlogged foam in the hulls. You can sometimes detect this in the hulls by looking through the drain plug hole. Older SeaSprays with the narrow dagger board slots generally do not have flotation foam inside. They utilized a couple of full sized bulkheads to help with flotation.
The sails in Silent Running are laminate, halyard stye sails made by North Sails. Presently this boat sails at St. Mary's Sailing Club
The Seaspray pictured below was sold spring 2016. This Seaspray originally had a lot of waterlogged foam in the hulls when acquired and lost about 75 lbs after the foam was removed. It now weighs right around 180 lbs. and could be raced as I set up this boat with up to date race modifications. Modifications include boom end sheeting, split trampoline, light wt. rudder system, okanagan steering, lowered front bridle, barber haulers for jib for enhanced downwind sailing, waterlogged foam removed from hulls, jib sheet center tube cleating, boom mounted main sheet cleating, and small high aspect daggerboards with shaped daggerboard slot on the bottom of daggerboard trunk. There is a launching dolly included. It has a halyard sail system. This boat was bought back again in 2020 by one of the NSC members. Glad to have it back at the club.
During the summer of 2015 I acquired another Seaspray (picture below). It was not a complete boat (missing the mast, sails, trampoline, etc.) and had I not had all the items necessary to complete it, I probably wouldn't have acquired it. Since it was a competition boat I have set it up with the sock sail and all the race necessary modifications. It weighs around 180 lbs. Although the sails are older I think the boat will be a top contender in the right hands. You can see it sailing in the video above.
New (Mar 2016) dedicated Seaspray trailer with storage box, 12" tires plus spare, and pivoting dolly wheel. This trailer storage box has room for all the sail boat equipment, launching dolly and spare tire. Plus extra items can be brought along.
"Shiva" Seaspray looking in great condition and sitting on a launching dolly. See through sails make for safe sailing when in a crowded waterway.
Here is another vantage of the dolly. Wheel barrow tires have a larger circumference than similar turf tires and are easier to roll than the wider turf tire. When the boat is stored on the dolly the tires are shaded from direct sunlight and stay in good condtion.
Seaspray Catamaran Foam Removal
If your Seaspray hulls seem heavy compared to other Seaspray hulls, the flotation foam may have become water logged. Your boat hulls will leak a little over time for various reason. The two part foam laid in the bottom the hulls and under some areas of the deck may have taken on water. Extra weight and freeze/thaw will cause problems. Some boats weigh 60 to 80 lbs more than they should due to this problem. I do not believe they are as safe to sail when in this condition. If you want to remove the foam here is a progression of how to do it.
Using an old butter knife and small hammer look for a void along the hull/deck joint where you can tap the knife between the hull and deck. This joint can be separated very easily by taping the knife along the joint to separate it and allow access to the inside of the hull. Starting from the stern of each hull you can separate the deck from the hull to a point half way up the rear doghouse (holds the rear cross beam). With a stick to hold this section of deck up you can start to remove the foam and any extra fiberglass that is not structural. The tubes you see are structural and should not be removed. The foam inside the tubes can be removed if you like. Using a chisel a one inch section of the reinforcing tubing and foam should be removed at the bottom of the hull once all the yellow foam has been removed. This will allow water drainage and the foam inside the tube can dry out. When doing this work it is advisable to where a dusk mask and long sleeved shirt tucked into work gloves. Fiberglass can get everywhere and should not be breathed in as the small fibers can become lodged inside airways. Clean up after and place debris inside a plastic garbage bag for later weighing. Vacuum out the inside of the hulls when dry.
Opening up smaller sections of the deck make it easier to re-deck. The whole deck can come off but you need a lot of clamps or clothespins to re-deck the whole deck the boat when the inside work is done. Left picture show the rear deck lifted and the sitting area between the rear doghouse and the dagger board trunk removed. Cross the deck cut was done with a jig saw. The middle picture shows the foam gone from the rear area with the one inch cutouts at the bottom of the fiberglass tubes to facilitate drainage and drying of the foam in the tubes. The right picture shows foam to be removed.
The above photos show the cleaned up inside of the hull with the foam gone and a drain way slot cut out at the bottom of the ribs. I used a cordless drill with a 1" spade blade to cut through some of the harder ribs. This actually did a good, quick job and the hull shape helped to guide the bit through the rib. Vacuuming and clearing debris as well as repairing any inside damage is done before re-decking. I added a plumber's water line fitting through the transom to set up the through the hull rudder blade downhaul system. 3/8" plastic water line will be installed before re-decking the rear section. The underside of the deck where you sit was reinforced with three layers of fiberglass with the middle layer a 2-3" wide carbon fiber strip. I used a 1" wide strip of chopped strand mat to bond the deck to the foredeck hull area. This strip was cut 1" wide and both contact sides were pre-wetted with polyester resin before laying in the chopped strand strip. With leftover resin I added some micro balloons (baby powder can work too) to thicken the resin and with a 2" paint brush dabbed the thickened resin onto the wetted out chopped strand mat to help fill the voids when re-decking. I have a number of clothespins and other clamps to use when re-decking. These are cheap and work pretty good. I made a number of clamps with plywood scraps, a wedge and bolt and sometimes use a number of these when re-decking. You can use epoxy resin if you are familiar with this system although I don't think it is compatible with chopped strand mad but is ok with cloth fiberglass.
If you decide to add a replacement flotation system a couple of collapsible water buckets that can be bought from a camping supply dealer might be a good choice. These can be attached to each beam sleeve and there should be room to get a line or cable tie over the sleeve while the decks are off. These will add weight and will drive up the cost. Some type of closed cell foam may also work.
The above pictures show the plastic water line tube and fitting installed. This tube will provide a waterproof passageway to the deck for the rudder blade downhaul rope. The crosscut on the deck area behind the daggerboard trunk is glassed bondo puttied and sanded. The transom aluminum plate installed with bondo fiberglass putty with the gudgeon bolts installed is ready for glass reinforcement. Use the gudgeon plate as a guide when drilling holes through the the aluminum plate prior to install. These holes will have to be squared to accept the carriage bolts. Glass over the bolt heads as well as reinforce the corners with fiberglass around the inside corners and over part of this aluminum plate. Install the stainless steel strap (with stainless steel rivets or screws that go through the aluminum plate on the inside of the transom) on the outside of each transom for the boom end sheeting system. This will allow a shackle to be installed on the inside top of each transom for a rope traveller system. Once done you can glass and clamp the deck to the hull and let stand till the glass resin has hardened.
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