Little Wing Tandem Sail Designer's Statement

The Little Wing Tandem Sail brings the speed and responsiveness of its smaller sister, the Little Wing 15.5 Sail, to sailing for a crew of two. It has a longer waterline and a higher fineness ratio (waterline length to waterline width ratio), which brings the performance up to a new level. The amas, or outer hulls, are much larger at 17 feet vs. 12 feet and provide much more flotation. Whereas the Little Wing 15.5 Sail is designed as a personal sailboat with the skipper in the cockpit, the Little Wing Tandem Sail is designed for variable configurations. It can be sailed with all crew in the center hull, the skipper in the aft cockpit with the crew on the windward ama, or both out on the windward ama. It can also be sailed single handed, with the skipper in the cockpit or out on the windward ama. Removing the weight of the second person creates a sailboat with a very high sail area to displacement ratio allowing for very fast speeds. The amas have an impressive 26 to 1 fineness ratio, which enables the Little Wing Tandem Sail to be extremely fast in all conditions and tacks.

The Little Wing Tandem Sail is as easy to assemble on the beach as the Little Wing 15.5 Sail. The attachment system is the same, with fastpins used to assemble the structure and fixed mast rigging with the jib doubling as the forestay. It sits comfortably on the beach as a tripod, the fixed keels and the rudder forming the three legs. The boat's draft is a tiny 14". With two people this twenty-foot trimaran sailboat is easily car-topped as the heaviest component, the tandem kayak, is only 44 pounds.

The sailplan is very similar to the Little Wing 15.5 Sail. An aggressive square-topped fully battened main is augmented with a jib that slightly overlaps the mainsail and is on a furler. The jib is high-clewed and this provides head room for the forward crew and allows it to be sheeted off of the aft beam. All of the sailing lines are brought to the command console directly in front of the skipper. Alternately they can be led out to the amas. An optional 84 sq. ft. screecher on a roller-furler provides for exciting downwind rides.

Ted Warren - Little Wing Tandem Sail Designer