Rocket Pocket - the Dash 24

Boat Test

Trailerable boats offer tremendous freedom, but do they sail well? Australian Yachting editor, Barry Henson, takes the Corsair Dash 24 trailerable trimaran for a test sail and reports on this pocket rocket.

One of the things I love about boats is that each one is different and you can learn from each one. This month I’m going to review something that is a big departure from our traditional keel boat or catamaran. I’m going to review a trailerable trimaran, the Corsair Dash 24.

design brief

The Corsair Dash 24 (which is an updated version of the old Corsair 24) is designed as a ‘camp-out inshore cruiser’.  According to David Renouf, of Seawind Catamarans, this is a boat for ‘couples who want an over-nighter or week-
end cruiser’.

Having said that, the Dash 24 is also a popular race boat that you’ll find at the twilights and at most multihull regattas. 

When we talk about trimarans, the centre hull is called the ‘vaka’ and the outrigger floats are called ‘armas’. Got it? Ok, good.

initial impressions

When you think of trailer sailors, you think small.  While the Dash is pocket sized when on the trailer, the footprint of the boat in the water with armas outstretched is that of a much larger vessel. The Dash’s folding armas give this boat a wide beam (5.53 m) for stability at sea and a narrow beam (2.5 m) when you want to put in on the trailer or in a pen. Sitting along side the dock, the Dash looks more pocket rocket than pocket sized.

This incarnation of the 24 has several improvements over the original Corsair 24.  It has plumb bows for greater waterline length and 20% more buoyancy in the armas, which are beamier. The improved buoyancy has allowed Corsair to increase the height of the rig and to give the Dash 30 square feet more sail area, which of course gives it more, well, dash!

from stern to stem

Working aft forward I’ll lead you through the Dash.  The stern is a sugar scoop stern with a 8 hp Mercury mounted on a plate.

The Dash comes with two tiller options: a single tiller wooden tiller for cruisers or a tiller with dual extension tubes for people who want to race.  Forward of the tiller is a Harken traveller. The cockpit has four Harken 16 winches, two on the cabin top and two on the coaming.   

The cockpit is a fairly simple two bench seat affair with storage shelves underneath. You can easily brace your feet and moving from the cockpit out on to the trampolines is relatively easy, but it does require a bit of mobility.

One nice feature that I’d like to comment on is the rig. The Dash 24 has a rotating wing section mast and a roller furling boom. The rotating wing section gives the Dash a clean, aerodynamic entry for improved sailing performance and the simple roller furling boom allows you to quickly reef for prevailing conditions.  Reefing does require a trip to the mast to ease the main halyard.  It  would have been nice to have the halyards led aft. Still, it’s a nice, simple set-up that a lot of big boats would envy.

The Dash has a centreline aluminium dagger board forward of the mast to give it improved performance to windward.  With the board down the draft is 1.8 m, with the board up the draft is a mere 300 mm, allowing you to sneak into any anchorage to easy walking depth.  Or you can just beach it and walk ashore; now there’s a nice thought, eh?

There are cruising and racing sail packages available and you can upgrade either to include a spinnaker or screacher. The standard boat comes with a main and jib. You can hank on the jib or if you prefer Corsair can provide a Schaeffer roller furler. The retractable bowsprit is standard.

For racers Corsair also offer a performance pack which includes barber hauls, a telescoping tiller and a windex.

The standing rigging is Dynex Dux and the running rigging is Dyneema.

The cabin top is a pop-top that provides ventilation (along with a forward hatch) and gives the Dash about a metre and a half of standing headroom.

The interior is basic and functional. Keep in mind this is a ‘camp out’ boat so the amenities are similar to what you would find in a basic campervan.   There is a small dining table and open space to sleep four.  With the optional galley and toilet modules you have everything you need to overnight or weekend.

The Dash 24 offers a surprising amount of storage.  There are shelves inside the vaka and under seat storage, but they both pale in comparison to the storage areas available in the armas, which are accessible through hatches.

The Dash’s cockpit, trampolines and armas offer a vast amount of room to spread out. I can well imagine a lazy afternoon laying on the port side trampoline, reading the latest Dan Murphy novel, sipping margaritas and trying to stay in the shade of the boom. 

how does she sail?

Like a pocket rocket!! I took the Dash for a test sail in 15-17 knots of breeze on Pittwater, perfect conditions for a boat like this.  The interesting thing about the Dash is it’s acceleration.  You point the boat where you want it to go and you trim the sheets.  She starts moving, slowly at first, then it’s like someone stomped their foot on the accelerator.  Suddenly the windward arma lifts and the leeward arma sinks.  As the boat continues to accelerate spray comes back from the leeward arma and you realise this boat is flying!

The Dash doesn’t come with an instrument package, so I can’t give you an accurate speed reading, but based on visual observations I’d estimate that we were doing about 10 knots in a 17 knot breeze.  Not bad.

The Dash tacks well. To the inexperienced, yes, you could go into irons if you didn’t tack correctly, but the speed of the Dash makes that unlikely. When I flipped the helm, she went right over.

The other nice surprise was how high she points. The Dash will point as high as most monohulls and better than some. 

Under her asymmetric this boat handled beautifully. She went from one tack to the other smoothly with the asymmetric on the end of the bowsprit in clear air tacking as easily as a jib.

Lest I wax too lyrical, there are some downsides to the Dash. When the wind gets up this can be a wet boat.  Her speed through the water can generate a bit of spray and certainly I would have been better off wearing a pair of swimmers.

Also, you do need a bit of mobility to sail the Dash. You need to be able to climb from one arma to the other as you tack. 

If you’re used to five star luxury then this may not be the boat for you, but if you’re looking for an honest little boat that you can trailer around, set up quickly and sail with a grin a mile wide, well, you may have found your boat.

The base boat with a trailer and 8 hp outboard is $94,900.

Specifications
LOA: 24’ 3” (7.4m)
LWL: 23’ 7” (7.2m)
Beam: (overall) 18’ 2’’ (5.53m)
Beam: (folded) 8’ 2” (2.5m)
Draft: (hull only) 1’ 0” (0.3m)
Draft: (board down) approx 5’ 6” (1.6 m)
Mast length: 35’ 6” (10.8m)
Weight: 2,015 lbs (916 kg)  (base boat excludes loading kit, sails and motor)
Timber tiller Hulls:  Fiberglass with PVC foam core
Berths: 4
Auxiliary propulsion: 5hp o/b
Mainsail: 262.3 sq ft (24.4 sqm)
Jib: 166 sq ft (15.4 sqm)
Asymmetrical spinnaker: 627 sq ft (58.3 sq m)
Timber tiller (mahogany)

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