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2024 Boat of the Year Best Trimaran: Dragonfly 40 Ultimate

• By Dave Reed
• December 20, 2023

“Classy.” That was the first word that came to mind for Boat of the Year judge Mike Ingham when he stepped aboard the formidable 40-foot trimaran from Dragonfly, an unexpected and welcome late entry to the competition in Annapolis. “It almost feels as if the boat is intentionally understated but overdelivered because once you start looking closer at the details and craftsmanship, it just keeps getting more impressive.”

Builder and company owner Jens Quorning, whose family has been building trimarans in southern Denmark since 1967, says the Dragonfly 40 is the biggest boat they now build and a worthy holder of the flagship title. “Building a boat of this scale is complicated,” he says of the folding trimaran. “It takes three years to develop a new design, and this is for owners looking for a bigger boat, with better performance, capable of more long-distance sailing.”

The result is a powerful trimaran aimed at experienced owners who appreciate the sheer pleasure of racing and cruising on three hulls. This is not your average production multihull. It is a powerful and luxurious sailing machine capable of knocking off fast miles in comfort. Slip down below and you’re immediately immersed in a master class of woodwork and joinery. There are berths for four, including a giant master under the cockpit, plenty of standing headroom, and a comfortable salon and galley arrangement that’s monohull-cozy. “We do not offer a big house on the water,” Quorning tells the judges. “But if you really want a fine and elegant yacht with double-digit sailing, this is what we do.”

For our tests, Dragonfly presented its Ultimate edition, the midrange version. An upscaled Performance model is an all-carbon version with a taller mast. And in the lightest wind of the week, sub-10 knots, the trimaran teased the judges with its potential. Still, in the light stuff, the boat delivered a winning experience.

“It was a dream to sail upwind and downwind, almost effortlessly,” Ingham says. “With the gennaker up, at about 100 degrees true, we were going faster than the wind, and with winch pods on each side of the steering wheel, everything was as ergonomic as you could possibly imagine. The electric winches made it a cinch to furl and unfurl the headsails through the tacks and jibes, and the sails trimmed in perfectly every time.”

The feather-light feel of the helm, Ingham adds, was as smooth as a balanced dinghy. “With tiny movements on the wheel, the boat would immediately respond, but I could also walk away from the helm for a few minutes and the boat would stay right on track. Crazy—I think it steered itself better than I did.”

That’s the trait of a good trimaran, Greg Stewart says. The Dragonfly 40 has a lot of buoyancy in the bows, and while the center hull is substantial, the tall trussed rig and square top mainsail provide plenty of power. “The biggest thing that struck me is how easily accessible everything is,” Stewart says. “Clearly, every detail is painstakingly thought out, and I can’t believe how beautifully built the interior is. It’s top-notch, from the glasswork to the paintwork inside and out. Down below, we were all blown away by the finish.”

There’s no denying the boat is expensive at upward of $1 million, but the test boat had quality race sails, a full electric-winch package, and a long list of high-spec extras. At nearly 15,000 pounds light, it’s a substantial boat—not trailerable, but foldable with Dragonfly’s trademark technique that Corning describes as mimicking parallel rules. The floats are 2 feet longer than the center hull, with buoyancy pushed well forward into the reversed bows, and the center hull is narrow at the waterline before sweeping upward to a high and hard chine. This pronounced hull shape allows for the generous amount of headroom, and high bench seats that flank a long centerline table, which can, of course, drop down to create a double-size berth.

Allen noted that the center hull’s wide side decks provide a secure pathway to the bow, rather than across the trampolines. He was also impressed with the ease of sailing the boat and the comfort belowdecks. “When we were doing 9 knots, I went below and there was silence. It’s comfortable and beautiful. It would be a blast to do some long point-to-point racing on it, doublehanded or with like a crew of four, max.”

Stewart agreed, adding that beyond its noteworthy gunkholing attributes, the engine is well aft on the center hull, allowing it to be motored safely into shallow anchorages. The daggerboard is mechanically raised into the trunk, and the rudder kicks up. “I also think it would be great for a distance race or rally type of event,” Stewart says. “Its performance and versatility are what appeal to me, but the build quality is what really sets it apart.”

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Dragonfly Trimarans

Dragonfly trimarans for sale.

The Dragonfly 25 is a easily trailerable trimaran for sailors looking for both performance and comfort.

Dragonfly 25.

The Dragonfly 28 is an excellent trailerable trimaran built for performance and cruising comfort.

Dragonfly 28.

The Dragonfly 32 is the perfect combination between family cruising, racing, and offshore adventures.

Dragonfly 32.

The all-new Dragonfly 40 Performance Cruiser is a cutting edge design with a spacious cockpit and stylish interior.

Dragonfly 40, dragonfly trimarans for sale in the us.

Dragonfly Trimarans are built in Denmark to extremely high standards by Quorning Boats. The current Dragonfly range extends from the trailerable 25 and 28 footers, up to the larger 32 and 40 foot models. All Dragonfly Trimarans employ their hallmark “swing wing” system for retracting the floats for docking or in the case of the 25 and 28 for easy trailering. One feature of this system is that the floats remain in the vertical orientation, which is an advantage when keeping the boat in a slip because it eliminates the issue of fouling of the outside surfaces of the floats. Another hallmark of Dragonfly trimarans is their attention to detail in the interior design and finish, creating a beautiful comfortable place to spend time inside the boat. If you are looking for a Dragonfly Trimaran for sale, Windcraft Multihulls is a US dealer located in the Southeastern United States. Contact us for more information.

Click here to read more about why you should buy a Dragonfly Trimaran.

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Dragonfly 40 yacht tour: This cruising trimaran can do 24 knots

• Toby Hodges
• July 16, 2020

Dragonfly boss and designer Jens Quorning shows Toby over his new flagship, the Dragonfly 40

The Dragonfly 40 is bristling with neat touches and feels much larger than a 40ft trimaran might, both on deck and below.

The latter is the result of a combination of clever design features that encourage the brain to assume there’s more volume, combined with attention to detail and taking the trouble to build in accessible stowage wherever feasible.

I was initially sceptical about the Dragonfly 40’s twin wheels, as my preference is for tillers whenever possible, which shouldn’t be an issue on a multihull of this size.

However, the execution is extremely good – there’s enough cockpit width to have good separation between the pedestals, while there’s easy access to the electric winches and to the low-profile built-in pods for MFDs and instrument displays on each side of the boat.

Another nice touch is transom hatches for the floats that enable an inflated kayak to be easily stowed inside each one. Below decks there’s a two double cabin layout, with the aft one being the more spacious, with neat solutions to make use of corners that would otherwise be inaccessible.

While the Dragonfly 40 is far from the lightest trimaran of this size, it’s impressively civilised, with an air of quality throughout, and offers the very enticing prospect of passage making at speeds of 24 knots.

Specification

LOA: 12.40m (40ft 7in) Length (amas folded): 13.99m (45ft 10in) Beam (sailing): 8.40m (27ft 6in) Draught (board up): 0.70m (2ft 3in) Displacement (light): 5,500kg (12,100lb) Starting price: €509,000 (ex. VAT)

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Dragonfly 40 - An outstanding trimaran

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• Builder : DRAGONFLY /QUORNING BOATS
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• Available in issue # 173

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Danish builder Quorning Boats was already producing the Dragonfly 12 M, a large confidential 40-foot model. After 16 units had been completed, production of this luxurious trimaran was interrupted for a complete redesign of the range. The DF40 is now becoming the flagship of the Skaerbek shipyard: its definition is very different to that of the 12 M, as is its ambition to sell in the same numbers (4 to 5 units per year). The silhouette and interior design are more modern, the performance has been increased and the sail handling ergonomics totally revised. We were able to try one out a few months after its only presentation so far, at the 2020 boot Düsseldorf.

Test location: Skaerbek, Denmark Conditions: 10 to 14 knots of wind, slight sea

The DF40 is a very versatile trimaran: thanks to its folding arms, it can slip into a monohull dockspace, being just 13’1” (4m) in beam. For coastal cruising, it benefits from its centerboard configuration. For racing, the Ultimate version comes into its own. But despite all this, the 40 differs from the other models in the range by having a much greater focus on being a “blue water cruiser”. The same goes for its almost luxurious character. This high-performance trimaran adopts modern floats with inverted and voluminous bows. The crossbeams are well clear of the water, giving the DF40 remarkable elegance and a nimble passage through rough water. Particular attention has been paid to the styling of the coachroof and the side windows. The sleek rig -Touring or Ultimate with its additional 6’7” (2 m) mast - highlights the sporty character of this trimaran and reflects its performance ambitions.

Architecture and construction

While testing the Ultimate prototype, we were lucky enough to discover the second example b...

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Dragonfly 32

This elegant trimaran from Denmark combines innovative systems with a comfortable cruising interior  (published November MQ 2014)

It is not every day I get to go sailing with Cam Lewis, who happens to be one of America’s if not the world’s most accomplished multihull sailors. He has sailed everywhere, raced everything and won all sorts of multihull events. So, it was indeed a pleasure to meet up with him aboard the new Dragonfy 32 at Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard in Back Creek, Annapolis, right after the fall sailboat show.

The Dragonfly was brand new and just out of the show so we had to figure out how to get it rigged properly and set it up for the sail trials. And, right after the trials, Cam was heading off for a solo delivery on the boat northward to New Jersey. The 32 is a system rich environment with strings running every which way. But this was nothing for Cam, who had it sorted in minutes.

With the 20-horsepower diesel and sail drive ticking over slowly and the bow thruster—yes, bow thruster—working, Cam steered us out of a tight slip and headed down the creek. To deploy the amas, all we had to do was release one control line and pull on another and soon they were fully extended. The operation took two minutes per side. Once deployed, the amas are locked into place with diagonal wire stays that keep them from folding up suddenly when you are screaming along at 12 knots. That could be bad.

The Chesapeake Bay was being unusually cooperative by offering a pleasant 10 to 12 knots of wind. Often it blows only zephyrs. We hoisted the big mainsail and immediately the boat felt alive and ready to go. We switched off the engine and rolled out the jib. To our surprise, the jib was a small 100 percent sail instead of the 135 to 130 percent headsail that we had expected. So, we were somewhat under canvassed. (As it turned out, the sailmaker had used a template from a different owner who was having a heavy weather jib cut for his boat to complement the genoa.)

But, we went on undaunted. With Cam calling sail trim we hardened up and sailed out into the bay making a pleasant seven to eight knots in the 10 knots of breeze and held a 30 degree angle to the apparent wind. The boat had a little weather helm that we corrected with traveler trim. And, it tacked easily and carried its speed pretty well through the eye of the wind.

After an hour, we headed back into Annapolis Harbor at a fairly low angle to the wind and found that with some tweaking of the barber haulers, which are standard equipment, we could get a good shape to the headsail and maintain our eight knots through the water. The upshot was that the new Dragonfly 32 sails well on all angles even with a small jib. Had we flown the standard genoa, I am confident we would have seen two or even three more knots of speed.

In the fall of 2013, I made a visit to Denmark to visit with several major marine companies there. Dragonfly was one of them and my tour of their plant gave me a good idea of how the company operates and how they build so much quality into their boats.

Like many boat building companies, Dragonfly is the creation of one man who loved to sail and loved trimarans. In 1967, Borge Quorning launched his company with the intention of building only state of the art cruising and racing trimarans. In the nearly five decades since, Quorning Boats has built over 850 new boats for discerning customers around the world. The boats are built on a semi custom basis, so each one can be tailored to an owner’s specific needs.

The boat’s all have infused and cored vinylester hulls and decks that are light, stiff and strong. The rig has a rotating mast that is fitted with diamond stays and adjustable running back stays. The jib is on a fixed roller reefing system while the reacher and asymmetrical spinnaker fly free on the carbon bowsprit.

The 32 was designed to fill the gap between the popular 28 and the 35 and borrows a lot of the details and design aspects from the 35. The interior is remarkably large for a high performance tri. The forward cabin has a comfortable V-berth that is large enough for two adults. Just aft is the head compartment that can be closed off with doors. Aft and under the cockpit, there is a full double berth that is both spacious and somewhat private.

To our surprise, we found that there are comfortable bunks for six adults aboard the 32 and an enclosed head, facts that made us wonder how they managed to fit it all in without creating clutter or confined spaces.

Borge and Jens Quorning have built a successful business by creating high performance cruising trimarans that are a pleasure to sail and race. The boats handle well, sail fast and are good at sea. They may not be the lightest on the racecourse and that’s because they are also comfortable cruising boats. The craftsmanship, engineering and finished joinery that goes into each boat is of the very highest standard.

LOA        32’2” LWL        31’2” LOA-folded    39’4” Beam/open    26’3” Beam/folded    12’2” Draft        1’8” Draft/CB    6’3” Sail area    753 sq. ft. Displ.        7,230 lbs Water        32 gals. Fuel        16 gals.

Dragonfly Sailboats Garwood, NJ E-mail: [email protected] www.trimarans.com

Author: George Day

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These trimarans give you almost everything you can ask for. You cannot find any other type of boat in this range, that offers so many possibilities and features. The Dragonflies have live-aboard room for minimum 4 to 5 people with a heeling of not more than max. 10°. The Dragonfly is unsinkable, beach able. It goes in everywhere due to the kick-up rudder and centreboard system. Sailing ability is like a 60' yacht - even upwind with speed potential into the twenties, and can easily be single-handled due to all lines being led back to cockpit. Both the Dragonfly 25 and the Dragonfly 28 are trailer able.

The Dragonfly is equipped with high-tech rigging and sail design. It manoeuvres like a lightweight monohull under power or sail and offers huge deck space. All this on top of nice, streamlined design and high quality products used throughout the boat, you only end up with a Dragonfly.

No monohull can offer this, but you have to think differently and ask yourself – wouldn't this be something!

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