First Look to Corsair 880
By Mark Rothfield
As Published in Club Marine Magazine August 2025
August 8, 2025 | mhcadmin

Fourteen knots of boat speed closehauled, 17 on a power reach and 20+ under kite – numbers normally associated with a supermaxi like Comanche, but here we’re referring to a pocket multihull that’s 24.2m shorter and a metre narrower, even with its amas outstretched like albatross wings.
The Corsair 880 is way easier to sail and considerably cheaper, and you can forget expensive ocean deliveries, marina fees,
slipping costs and the like. Drop the rig, raise the centreboard, fold the floats to reduce beam to 2.5m, then haul the little tri onto a
dual-axle alloy trailer.
Sydney to Airlie Beach would take around 21 hours at 90km/h ‘upwind’, plus stoppages and the few hours it takes to re-step the 12m rotating wingmast and get in sailing trim.
Once there, or post regatta, three to five people can sleep aboard, anchored just off the beach, to save on accommodation. And with far fewer than 24 mouths to feed, like on Comanche, they can cook in the compact galley, use the head/shower compartmentand stand fully in the saloon to dress or move about.
Yes, the Corsair 880 has a huge amount going for it in a package measuring less than 29ft. It’s attractive, too, with all three hulls having the reverse-swept bow that’s de rigueur these days. It’s also beautifully built, with closed-cell foam core, vacuumformed e-glass laminate and carbonfibre strengthening.

Yet, like other light and agile trimarans, the 880 remains something of an outlier on Australia’s sailing scene. So too the owners,
who march to the beat of a different drum.
Our ‘first look’ at the Corsair came during a Seawind catamaran regatta and the 880 turned more than a few heads as it screamed through the fleet assembled by Multihull Central on Sydney Harbour.
With a nor-easter gusting to 30 knots, we’d reefed the fully battened main but carried a full headsail. The helmsman sat comfortably on what’s akin to a tubular beach chair, complete with backrest. The rest of us perched on the windward sponson, feet secured by trampoline straps, and
enjoyed the thrilling ride while monitoring harbour traffic.

Toward the finish on a two-sail reach, the Corsair showed exceptional acceleration to peel off 17-knot bursts, the leeward float displaying good buoyancy as gusts arrived and the central hull striding across chop with consummate ease.
None of this is surprising as proofof-concept came back in 1986 with the commercially built Farrier F-27, and even earlier with the 1974-vintage Trailertri series. The 880 incorporates the latest multihull design refinements to take it a leap further.
A base boat with working sails, outboard and trailer costs approximately $289,500 inc GST. The demo boat is also available for $289,000 with a modified trailer, lithium batteries, nav package, a suite of 3DI North
Sails, painted hull and more.
– Mark Rothfield
As Published in Club Marine Magazine August 2025
More information: Michael Meehan at +61 419 872 235 or email michael@multihullcentral.com