Cross 24
Description
The Cross 24 is a pioneering American folding trimaran sailboat designed by multihull innovator Norman Cross in the early 1960s (plans finalized around 1965). It's a plans-only, home-build design using plywood-epoxy construction, with the first example (hull #7, "Nomeke") completed in 1965 as one of the earliest glass-over-plywood epoxy builds. Approximately 20–30 units were constructed by amateur builders, emphasizing trailerability, simplicity, and performance for coastal daysailing and racing. A standout feature is its fixed keel (uncommon in trimarans), providing ballast and stability while maintaining a shallow draft. The amas (outriggers) fold alongside the main hull for transport, reducing beam from 18 ft to ~8 ft.
Construction Details
| Designer | Norman Cross |
|---|---|
| Length | 24.000 ft |
| Beam | 14.000 ft |
| Displacement | 2100 lb |
| Max Draft | 2.900 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 24 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 8 ft |
| p | 27 ft |
| e | 12.50 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 ft | 8 ft | 27 ft | 12.50 ft | - | - | - | - |
Blueprints
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 27 ft - (8230 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.5 ft - (3810 mm) |
| Leech | * 29.2 ft - (8900 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 29.35 ft - (8946 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 4.5 in - (114 mm) |
| Area | * 173.628 ft² |
| Sail Type | GENOA |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 24.04 ft - (7327 mm) |
| Foot | * 12.98 ft - (3956 mm) |
| Leech | * 22.55 ft - (6873 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 12 ft - (3658 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | * 144.24 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.