The breeze on Narragansett Bay was a pleasant 10 knots as we hoisted working sails and skimmed nimbly out of Newport Harbor. As we rounded Fort Adams, Bob Gleason from The Multihull Source rolled out the big screecher and I felt something I had never felt before aboard a sailboat—we accelerated from 6 knots to 12 knots in the span of two boat lengths or less. Wow. Rocket powered and sailing faster than the wind.
The Dash 750 is a 24-foot pocket cruiser that evolved from the earlier Corsair 24 MkII. The new design has larger, more buoyant amas, a rotating wing mast, a retractable alloy bowsprit for the downwind sails, and new aluminum foils for the centerboard and rudder. The Dash offers greater initial stability and a more aerodynamic sail plan, so its performance is a big improvement over the earlier model. On that initial reach we had the boat scooting along at 12 to 14 knots, but it has been clocked at more than 20 knots in the right conditions.
We rolled up the screecher and sailed up the bay tacking easily and quickly through 85 degrees or so. While Bob has flown both the windward and the main hull in a good breeze, we did not get the main hull out of the water. Still, upwind in 10 knots true and 17 apparent, we were making a very happy 8 knots through the water. We all agreed that this was one amazing little sailing machine.
But this Dash is really a trailerable pocket cruiser with a double berth in the forepeak, seats and a table aft of that, and room for a cooker, cooler and port-o-potty—all of which make it a perfect “camping” cruiser that is a blast to sail. Like all of the Corsairs, the Dash is easily trailerable. The amas fold up neatly and quickly against the hulls, so you can haul it behind a family SUV to cruising grounds far and wide. When you get there, it is simple to raise the mast, attach the roller furling boom and headstay, and launch the folded hulls. Once in the water, fold out the amas, secure them in place, and away you sail. With an outboard on the back, you can always get home when the wind dies.
The Dash 750’s hulls and decks are built of foam cored fiberglass, so the whole boat weighs in at only 2,015 pounds. The workmanship of the boat we sailed was excellent and the whole feel of the Dash was of a much bigger boat, particularly sitting on the windward ama steering her along at 12 knots. For sailors who are looking for a boat that is amazingly fun and fast to sail, trailerable, beachable and equipped with modest but comfortable accommodations, the Dash 750 may well be the perfect match.
DASH 750
LOA 24’ 3”
LWL 23’ 7”
Beam 18’ 2’’
Beam (folded) 8’ 2”
Draft (hull only) 1’ 0”
Draft (board down) 5’ 6”
Mast length 35’ 6”
Weight 2,015 lbs
Corsair Marine
www.corsairmarine.com