Cathy and I have been researching the Telstar 28 and will soon own one. I haven't seen much about cruising the Great Lakes or Coastal Waters. Has anyone done much of this, such as sailing to the Bahamas. How well does she handle open water? Is foul weather to be avoided at all cost? We are near southwestern Lake Michigan and are very experienced sailors on small (<20ft) boats especially and have sailed and crewed larger boats up to 42ft. including Cats in the BVI.
Thank you for any input/insight you can provide.
Cathy & Alan
Where can we cruise?
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Cathyalan
- Posts: 100
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- Location: Stoughton, Wisconsin
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Where can we cruise?
Cathy & Alan #313
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Dan
Where can we cruise?
The boat handles open water just fine. One of the Telstar 28s is currently in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, having done a 3500 nm voyage, starting in St. Petersburg, FL, down through the Caribbean eastward, south and then back west, then to Honduras and finally Guatemala.
As for foul weather, I’ve had my boat out in 9-12' seas with 35 knots, gusting up to 40-45 knots... and been fine. Be aware that I do have my boat rigged for single-handing, with all the lines led aft, and have a third-reefing point in the mainsail.
If you'd like to see how the Telstar 28 performs in winds of 25 knots gusting to over 35 knots, under genoa alone, and doing about 12 knots during the downwind leg, with seas were about 5-7'—watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6u9upeIB7g
As for foul weather, I’ve had my boat out in 9-12' seas with 35 knots, gusting up to 40-45 knots... and been fine. Be aware that I do have my boat rigged for single-handing, with all the lines led aft, and have a third-reefing point in the mainsail.
If you'd like to see how the Telstar 28 performs in winds of 25 knots gusting to over 35 knots, under genoa alone, and doing about 12 knots during the downwind leg, with seas were about 5-7'—watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6u9upeIB7g
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trashpad
Where can we cruise?
Hello Cathy & Alan,
Welcome to the Telstar world. Are you looking at a new or used boat? I agree with Dan about the Telstar 28 taking to open water very well. You will also find her to be a very dry boat to sail. I rarely take spray in the cockpit which is opposite from most other trimarans. Look and some of the youtube videos and you will start to see sailors on the other trimarans are wearing wet-suits and rain gear. The main limitation to long rang cruising is storage, water, and fuel. I have gone out for a week on the Chesapeake Bay with my wife, 19 yo daughter, and 16 yo daughter but I planned nice stops every night.
Welcome to the Telstar world. Are you looking at a new or used boat? I agree with Dan about the Telstar 28 taking to open water very well. You will also find her to be a very dry boat to sail. I rarely take spray in the cockpit which is opposite from most other trimarans. Look and some of the youtube videos and you will start to see sailors on the other trimarans are wearing wet-suits and rain gear. The main limitation to long rang cruising is storage, water, and fuel. I have gone out for a week on the Chesapeake Bay with my wife, 19 yo daughter, and 16 yo daughter but I planned nice stops every night.
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Cathyalan
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:47 am
- Location: Stoughton, Wisconsin
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Where can we cruise?
Kurt and Kathy,
We are looking at a 2005 that appears to be pretty well tricked out. 150 roller Genny and A-spin, bimini, sprit. Custom wine rack in cockpit...cool! She's at Performance Cruising and we hope to get her in the first week in December if all the pieces fall into place. We may need to store her there until March if the insurances etc don't come together in time. We plan to sail the Great Lakes a lot and Florida a few times during the winter. We may store her in Florida Nov - Feb and just fly down to sail on occasion. Not much soft water sailing in Wisconsin in winter LOL. We are also ice boaters so we sort of sail year 'round. You sound a little younger than us, we hover around 60. I've been sailing for 38 years...Laser, Hobie 18, Buccaneer 18 (raced her), scows, cruisers, wind surfers, Lagoon 42...lots of boats and ice boats too. I have and race an MC Scow. Cathy not quite as much but still experienced and a good sailor.
Thanks for the input.
Do Telstar owners ever congregate? I've been to Buccaneer 18 regattas with boats from all over the mid west. They are a close group. I belong to the MC Scow club but haven't been to a regatta yet.
Alan
Cathyalan
We are looking at a 2005 that appears to be pretty well tricked out. 150 roller Genny and A-spin, bimini, sprit. Custom wine rack in cockpit...cool! She's at Performance Cruising and we hope to get her in the first week in December if all the pieces fall into place. We may need to store her there until March if the insurances etc don't come together in time. We plan to sail the Great Lakes a lot and Florida a few times during the winter. We may store her in Florida Nov - Feb and just fly down to sail on occasion. Not much soft water sailing in Wisconsin in winter LOL. We are also ice boaters so we sort of sail year 'round. You sound a little younger than us, we hover around 60. I've been sailing for 38 years...Laser, Hobie 18, Buccaneer 18 (raced her), scows, cruisers, wind surfers, Lagoon 42...lots of boats and ice boats too. I have and race an MC Scow. Cathy not quite as much but still experienced and a good sailor.
Thanks for the input.
Do Telstar owners ever congregate? I've been to Buccaneer 18 regattas with boats from all over the mid west. They are a close group. I belong to the MC Scow club but haven't been to a regatta yet.
Alan
Cathyalan
Cathy & Alan #313
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drsm
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:12 pm
- Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Where can we cruise?
Cathy and Alan,
We just enjoyed our first year with a Telstar on Lake Michigan. We keep her in Muskegon. Our summer of sailing ended with a coastal cruise up the eastern shore, and it was great! Where on Lake Michigan are you?
Like you, we purchased the boat in the winter, and elected to keep it at PCI to avoid having to trail in winter conditions. We did not have quite your sailing experience, only about 4 years on a smaller trimaran, but found the Telstar to be very easy to learn. I am looking forward to doing more cruising. Stowage is a little bit of an issue, but we come from an extensive backpacking and sea kayaking background, so we don't require a lot.
Steve
We just enjoyed our first year with a Telstar on Lake Michigan. We keep her in Muskegon. Our summer of sailing ended with a coastal cruise up the eastern shore, and it was great! Where on Lake Michigan are you?
Like you, we purchased the boat in the winter, and elected to keep it at PCI to avoid having to trail in winter conditions. We did not have quite your sailing experience, only about 4 years on a smaller trimaran, but found the Telstar to be very easy to learn. I am looking forward to doing more cruising. Stowage is a little bit of an issue, but we come from an extensive backpacking and sea kayaking background, so we don't require a lot.
Steve
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Pat Ross
- Posts: 185
- Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:15 am
- Location: Panhandle Florida U. S. Gulf Coast
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Where can we cruise?
Frommer's Travel names the top ten destinations for the coming year. Norhtwest Florida was named as one of the top 10 in the World. If you have never sailed this area you could be lost for years just in the back waters much less all the bayous off of all the bays.
http://video.onset.freedom.com/nwfdn/ku ... ommers.pdf
Pat
http://video.onset.freedom.com/nwfdn/ku ... ommers.pdf
Pat
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luigisante
- Posts: 319
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Where can we cruise?
When I worked in New Orleans, my wife and I spent a lot of time along the mississippi gulf coast. At that time, there was a very active beachcat racing community along the coast. It is probably one of the most underrated stretches of raw beauty in this country. I particularly liked Florida's northwest coast. At that time (1988-91), however, the towns were not so quaint (rundown is the word I would use) and facilities, when you could find them, were substandard (actually, describing them as substandard is kind).
It sounds like the area has changed quite dramatically since I was there. My son will be in Gainsville next year so I have an excuse to trailer the boat down to the west coast while I visit. I'll have to get your thoughts on places to launch, etc., when I come down.
Lou
It sounds like the area has changed quite dramatically since I was there. My son will be in Gainsville next year so I have an excuse to trailer the boat down to the west coast while I visit. I'll have to get your thoughts on places to launch, etc., when I come down.
Lou
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Pat Ross
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Where can we cruise?
Sure thing Lou, I would be glad to help you figure out a launch site, there are several, one fairly close to my home that I intend to use, about 1/4 mile. I'd be glad to give you a hand if you, or anyone, are going to launch this way. I may know of a site or two to leave your rig after launch depending on how long you wish to leave it .
Pat
Pat
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Dan
Where can we cruise?
Georgian Bay, up in the Great Lakes is a great place to cruise. There's a good resource for it at Sweetwater Cruising.
New England offers great cruising waters from Long Island Sound up to Maine. A good resource for this is The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast. I'd point out that Buzzards Bay alone offers quite a bit to explore, and are my home waters. The Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod are all within a reasonable distance as are Newport and Block Island.
The Pacific Northwest offers good year round sailing, though the summer is really the prime time to be there IMHO. Seattle up through Vancouver are really amazing sailing grounds. However, some of the currents there can be pretty treacherous.
One thing in common with these three waters are the fact that all three are fairly unforgiving of poor navigation, as any groundings are usually onto rock, rather than the mud or sand found in other cruising grounds. Granite is pretty common in all three cruising grounds, so updated charts are a prerequisite to sailing in them.
New England offers great cruising waters from Long Island Sound up to Maine. A good resource for this is The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast. I'd point out that Buzzards Bay alone offers quite a bit to explore, and are my home waters. The Elizabeth Islands, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Cape Cod are all within a reasonable distance as are Newport and Block Island.
The Pacific Northwest offers good year round sailing, though the summer is really the prime time to be there IMHO. Seattle up through Vancouver are really amazing sailing grounds. However, some of the currents there can be pretty treacherous.
One thing in common with these three waters are the fact that all three are fairly unforgiving of poor navigation, as any groundings are usually onto rock, rather than the mud or sand found in other cruising grounds. Granite is pretty common in all three cruising grounds, so updated charts are a prerequisite to sailing in them.
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