Jan Andersen holds the record in the world's largest single-handed race (450 entries) with his "Black Marlin": it took the designer and boat builder just 14 hours and eight minutes to complete the 133 nautical mile course around the Danish island of Funen. That was in 2019 and remains unbeaten across all classes to this day. The carbon trimaran is now going into series production as the Marlin 33.
I simply built the sailing ship that I wanted to have myself"
There is a market for them. They are perhaps the most consistent performance cruisers and have become increasingly important in recent years: On the one hand, trimarans can still be comfortably equipped, on the other hand they deliver high performance, top speeds beyond the 20-knot mark are possible, high average speeds are guaranteed, and they even perform very well when cruising.
Reason enough for a flourishing market segment, which is currently mainly occupied by Corsair, Astus and Dragonfly. Designer and project manager Jan Andersen from Denmark does not see these boats as direct competitors. This is because the Dragonfly, which is comparable in size to the Marlin 33, is more than twice as heavy, even if this is partly compensated for by a mainsail that has twelve square metres more surface area than that of the Marlin 33 in the "Evolution" version. Other trimarans, such as the SeaCart 30, are not cosy, but pure racing boats
From the Danube to the world
The series boat developed from "Black Marlin" is intended to be positioned between the Dragonfly and Corsair cruising tris and the pure regatta boats. The "Black Marlin" is being built in small series as the Marlin 33 at the Elica shipyard. Kaloyan Radulov's company is located in Silistra/Bulgaria on the banks of the Danube and is part of the Elica Group, which manufactures harvesting machinery, among other things. The 20,000 square metre facility is equipped with a state-of-the-art seven-axis milling machine, CNC machines, compression tables and ovens, and has set up a furniture department specialising in lightweight parts. Elica builds parts such as cores and moulds, complete boats from sandwich with glass or carbon layers as well as all common resin systems and also using the vacuum infusion process in moulds or as individual constructions. The shipyard produces its own series of motorboat catamarans, the Omaya 50+.
The Marlin 33 is made from carbon sandwich using the vacuum infusion process. This gives the boat a weight of just 1.5 tonnes - ready to sail. It derives its stability from the floats, which are folded out to an impressive width of 7.55 metres. The floats can be folded in for the box or for winter storage, reducing the width to 3.55 metres. The draught can also be varied from 2.10 to 0.40 metres with the kick-up rudders and centreboard.
The price is reasonable
The carbon trimaran is expected to cost 450,000 euros, including VAT. This includes a rotating carbon mast with soft rigging, a carbon bowsprit, built-in electric motor (Torqeedo), lithium batteries, carbon table in the saloon and even high-quality laminate sails (main, self-tacking jib, code zero) and a gennaker. There is a racing and a cruising version with a slightly shorter rig and extension options.
Technical data Marlin 33
- Total length: 10.00 m
- Centre hull length: 9.60 m
- Length folded: 11.60 m
- Width: 7.80 m
- Folded width: 3.55 m
- Centre hull width: 2.54 m
- Draught: 2.10 m
- Draft centreboard top: 0.40 m
- Weight: 1.5 tonnes
- Mainsail: 46 square metres (race version)
- Jib: 20 square metres (race version)
More about the trimaran:
Fridtjof Gunkel
Deputy Chief Editor YACHT
