Piver 35 Ketch (Lodestar 35)

Description

The Piver 35 Ketch refers to the Lodestar 35 (or Piver Lodestar 35), Arthur Piver's iconic 35-foot ketch-rigged cruising trimaran from the early 1960s. This was one of his most celebrated designs, personally built and sailed by Piver himself as a demonstration of lightweight multihull capabilities for extended ocean passages. It marked a step up from smaller models like the Nimble 30 and Mariner 25, focusing on bluewater cruising with enhanced accommodations and stability. Piver constructed his own Lodestar during the winter of 1960/61 in Mill Valley, California, then embarked on a remarkable voyage starting in summer 1961: from San Francisco through Southern California, Hawaii, Tahiti, and across the Pacific to New Zealand (arriving 1962). He surfed down big seas in the Roaring Forties, proving trimarans could handle heavy weather comfortably and quickly—experiences that shaped his later advocacy for multihulls over traditional monohulls. Many were amateur built from plans (~$300 in the 1960s era), with thousands of Pivers constructed globally. Surviving Lodestars are still sailed or restored.