DICK NEWICK ECHO II 38FT. TRIMARAN  

NEWICK ECHO II TRIMARAN FOR SAIL-It is ONE of a kind!
Launched September 2019-Currently in Tasmania, Australia

WHO IS RICHARD COOPER NEWICK (1926-2013) AND WHAT IS HIS DESIGN PHYLOSOPHY?
From the Designer: Newick plans are the result of over forty nine years of designing, building, and sailing all types of multihulls, starting with a catamaran and several trimarans in my Caribbean day charter business, one of which is still sailing. Fiberglass sheathed plywood with strip planking below the waterline was the usual construction then. Present designs can be built of fiberglass and epoxy with cedar or foam core, using Kevlar or carbon fiber as the budget allows.
Most of these designs are made one at a time by small shops or by their owners. Conventional wisdom says that mass production boats are the best value. Not necessarily! They are usually found in the middle of the quality scale. The best boats are still built one at a time by proud craftsmen with modest overhead budgets, (as it is ashore; large subdivision houses suit some people, but most of us prefer individually built homes).
Safe, seagoing performance and good looks are Newick design priorities. No waterfront cottages! High performance is an overused and often purposely vague advertising term. As used by me, it means the ability to sail safely and comfortably, faster than winds up to about 14 knots and to achieve over 20 knots in ideal conditions with a minimum of effort. The primary reason to buy a Newick design is to SAIL!
We all want high performance with comfort and low cost. Since the three cannot be combined in one vessel, priorities must be established and compromises made. Seagoing comfort can be very different from what is comfortable in a marina. Too often comfort is defined merely as interior volume. I prefer to consider three factors: (1) easy motion in a seaway, (2) peace of mind, and (3) interior volume. Who can be comfortable with the environment and stomach jumping around while concerned about stability, slamming, or worse? Waterline beam is closely related to both speed and easy motion at sea. A beam to length ratio of about 1 to 11 has worked well on my designs. For wider cabin soles, we give up seagoing performance. Before making that decision, it is desirable to go to sea in a good boat to experience the trade-off. The same can be said for dagger boards vs. Shallow keels. Windward ability is proportional to draft. Knowing the joy of going to windward at 10 knots comfortably can change your design priorities. Stock designs can often be economically modified for your exact requirements.
Cheers, Dick Newick
"People sail for fun and no one has yet convinced me that it's more fun to go slow than it is to go fast. "


History of the Vessel: The building of this particular Newick Echo II was commissioned by a QANTAS pilot over 20 years ago. He set out to build a fast, state of the art trimaran to sail around the world. Virtually, no expense was spared. Every detail was painstakingly researched and took advantage of the latest technology of the time. However, over a 20+ year timeframe technology changed and there were several re-do's. The re-do's together with life getting in the way, accounted for the long build time. Sadly, the individual died prior to completion of the boat in 2017. The boat was sold in a unfinished state in 2018 by the estate - rigging and interior systems yet to be completed. Enter me as the current owner.

Sailing Experience Logged on "Wingin'It": The trimaran registered as "Wingin'It", has been sailed extensively in Lake Macquarie where she was built and sail controls outfitted, then tweaked and tweaked. Sailing the Lake is fun, but not where this vessel shines. She likes the open water where she is free to stretch her long legs. Conditions have ranged from lovely to 30-40kts into wind. To date, she has been up and down the east coast of Australia from Lizard Is. To Tasmania, with many trips up and down the NSW coast while COVID restrictions were been in place. Offshore sailing includes a shakedown run from Newcastle, NSW to Norfolk Island and back. A circuit of approximately 2100nm sailed with an average speed of 9.2kts. Once the COVID restrictions were lifted, Wingin'It and I went to the South Pacific (Vanuatu, Kiribati {Gilbert Group}, Fiji and New Caledonia). It took a little time to become comfortable sailing a trimaran after sailing only monohulls... But I am a believer and can never go back. If you want plush interior comfort, then this is not the vessel for you. She is a wonderful sailing machine that captures everything Dick Newick set out to achieve with his creations... And then some!

General Build Techniques: The vessel has been sculpted using PVC foam (density was varied as required by application) which has been encapsulated in glass, Kevlar and carbon fibres (fibres were varied to best suit the structural load requirements) and epoxy resin. Wherever possible the fibre/resin mix was vacuum bagged to produce a well consolidated matrix that sought to achieve an optimum resin to fibre ratio - important for greatest strength to weight ratio. Once the hull structure was fully built and assembled, the entire vessel was post-cured inside the build shed. The outer surface of the vessel was faired and sanded over a period of 4 months, by a team of 3 people, before it was deemed acceptable to receive primer and linear polyurethane paint. The rotating wing mast was formed using clear cedar strips in two halves, glass/epoxy applied to the inside and then the two halves were assembled before applying glass/carbon/epoxy to the outside. Like the vessel hulls the mast was faired, well sanded and painted using linear polyurethane.

General Rigging and Systems: In keeping with the top-notch hulls/mast, I, as new owner, have sought to create a performance, cruising trimaran that is ready to be sailed, solo around the world. All lines either come back to the cockpit or the base of the mast to minimize crew exposure during unsettled conditions. Winches are numerous and sized accordingly to complete the intended task with minimal crew fatigue. The vessel electronics are virtually all Raymarine to ensure good communication between systems. Radar and AIS systems are in place to ensure passage making at night or in poor conditions can be done safely and will allow the crew to catch naps without fear of collision - the systems can be set to sound an alarm if another vessel or landmass gets too close. The autopilot system is robust and can guide the vessel to its destination using a heading, waypoint or angle to the wind. Solar panels keep the lithium house battery sufficiently charged to run all boat systems requiring power. The Spectra Cape Horn Extreme water maker is able to produce approximately 50 litres of water while consuming about 16A (at 12VDC). It is easy to use and does not rely on troublesome electronics to control the water making cycle. Finally, the fuel based vessel propulsion, which is rarely required during passage making, is produced using a reliable, efficient Suzuki four-stroke outboard at the stern of boat on a custom mount. The engine has electric start and power trim (with its own small start battery) for convenience and is steerable to aid in close quarters maneuvering. With the rudder/centreboard up the vessel draws approximately 700mm of water, so lovely shallow bays are accessible. The bottom of the centre hull was reinforces with high density foam to allow the vessel to dry out on a suitable, soft sea bottom. Another huge comfort/functional addition to the vessel was the hard dodger/cockpit cover arrangement. This boat goes to wind well and is capable of 9-10kts on about the same amount of wind. At this speed with narrow hulls, the cockpit receives a lot of water spray. The enclosure has made hard passages much less wet/cold to the point of being fun! The whole cockpit enclosure was built to be easily removable in sections should you wish to lighten the vessel for serious racing... But prepare to get wet if you leave flat water and want to go into wind!