New member questions

[abkeywest]

Hi everyone, just found this site. Looks like a wealth of information is available. Will post pictures as soon as I get some. My wife and I just became the owners of a 1985 Trojan 10 Meter International Convertible. I am the 4th owner. The boat has been taken care of pretty well, except for some light TLC everything is in good working order. I am not new to boating just one of this size. I do have a few questions. 1) On the control panel there are 3 switches, one for each bilge pump. Turning on any one of the switches activates one of the pumps. Am I correct that these switches are for manual operation of the pumps only and the pumps will still operate by the float switch? 2) Referring back to the bilge pumps. I can find the forward pump through an access panel in the floor but I can not find the float switch that makes it operate. The mid pump and switch are in the engine compartment. The stern pump is in a very tight area behind the fuel tank. There is a float switch next to the pump and one mounted on top of the pump. Any thoughts on what the 2 switches are for? 3)Any recommendations for cleaning the light surface rust off of the stainless steel railing? Have tried Whink, seems to work, but lots of elbow grease. 4) Lastly there are plastic vent covers on either side of the sliding door that feed air to the engine compartment. The starboard side one is in poor condition, cracked and sun baked. Any idea on getting one of these? Sorry for the long post. Thanks for all the help, I'm sure these won't be the last questions I ask.

[Mike Kulp]

Nice to have you on the site. I have a 1986 10 meter and in refrence to the bildge pumps the three switches in your panel are for manual operation and the pumps should work off the float switches, there also should be two switches in the lower right of your panel that are the main circuit breakers that turn off your pumps. As for no float switch my pumps all have a float switch mounted beside them, it could be that they have multiple pumps tied into one float switch I have seen that on some boats, I would change it and install a float switch on each pump. The float switch mounted on top of the pump should be a high water alarm switch and if you hold it up your horn should start blowing. As for cleaning the stainless rail elbow grease is the only thing that I find works. I am not sure what kind of plastic vents you have my boat doesnt have them there, I would check with Beacon Marine or John leed for those. Have fun Mike.

[davescarrs]

I have an express model, but still the same set up besides the fly bridge. The float on top is the high water alarm. The front bilge may be connected to the middle float switch. If the boat is in the water, the water will run up to the nose first, just b/c the way the bopat sits in the water. So when the float switch goes on in the middle of the boat, the front will for sure have water up there already.

I redid it and put a float on all bilges.

There are also lights on the dash that will light up to tell you if a float has been activated. I had to redo all those so that they function.

You have an awesome boat!!!!

[k9th]

Welcome aboard!

[prowlersfish]

Welcome

[koviak]

Welcome to another international owner.

[RWS]

Welcome Aboard!

You will find a wealth of information on this site and lots of help from the guys.

Since your questions have been answered succinctly, here are a couple of items to take a look at regarding the International Series of Trojans.

Best of luck with your new boat!

RWS

Sounds like you probably have a convertible based on the express cruiser based hull which means a single fuel tank and a forward cabin arrangement like this. . .

[RWS]

Here's your hull . . .

[todd brinkerhoff]

Might be a good idea to buy three new pumps and float switches. Pretty cheap insurance. The regular float switches will also work the alarms. They try to sell alarm float swithces for a higher cost. Oh, yeah, and don't turn off those two bottom breakers when you leave. Your pumps will not work. Lesson learned.

[RWS]

This article first appeared in the February 1987 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.

Trojan International 10 Meter
A gutsy, avant-garde original

Peter Bohr

If you’re 47 years old, drive a Mercedes or a Corvette, operate your own business, have a net worth greater than $1 million, and enjoy power boats, then it’s not a bad bet that you also own a Trojan International series boat, probably a 10 Meter.

That’s the profile of the typical Trojan owner these days, according to a marketing survey just completed by the company.

Any boat builder – or automobile manufacturer or pasta machine maker, for that matter – would love to have customer demographics like that. And Trojan can thank its 33-foot International 10 Meter model for attracting such an upscale group.

It seems like only yesterday that Trojan surprised the American power boat industry with its avant-garde 10 Meter. But the boat is now in its seventh year and Trojan has sold nearly 600 of them.

The 10 Meter was a gutsy move for a staid builder like Trojan. For some 35 years the folks at Trojan’s plant in Lancaster, PA had been quietly turning out nice, conservative family cruisers. “Boats built to a price,” is how several marine surveyors described older Trojans to me.

The early Trojans were of course constructed of wood. When the company switched to fiberglass in the late 1960s, the status of Trojan boats moved upward a notch. But despite the change of materials, the designs remained much the same, hardly distinguishable from Chris-Crafts, Owens or boats from a dozen other American builders.

Then around 1980, Trojan president Don Seith took a flier. Armed with the progressive ideas of naval architect Harry Schoell, he convinced Trojan’s parent company, Whittaker Corporation, that Trojan should build a trend setting, new kind of cruiser. Inspired by the ultra costly, ultra chic boats from Italian builder Riva, Schoell developed his own rendition of Riva’s “Med-style” boat.

The 10 Meter’s lines, inside and out, are excitingly different from most cruisers, as different as a Chevrolet Corvette from a Ford Country Squire. With its long, sleek, downward sloping foredeck, the boat resembles some wild beast ready to pounce on its prey. Below deck, the 10 Meter is filled with modernistic curved bulkheads that not only make the interior seem more like the cabin of a Lear Jet than a yacht, but are also very space efficient.

“The boat’s visual appeal initially catches the interest of buyers,” says George Rinderspacher of Pacific West Yachts in Newport Beach. “However, it’s the boat’s performance that finally grabs them.” George ought to know; he sold 24 new Trojans in 1986.

Indeed the 10 Meter’s success is based on more than sexy styling. Harry Schoell came up with an innovative hull to go with the 10 Meter’s innovative lines topside. The hull, called the “DeltaConic” design by Trojan, has unusual 18-inch wide, horizontal chines that run from bow to stern on either side. In between the chines is a more usual modified V-hull, one that’s quite deep at the bow but flattens out toward the stern.

What makes the 10 Meter truly different from other boats is its almost uncanny stability. The 10 Meter’s wide beam combined with the wide chines quickly stills any rolling motion. I’ve never been aboard a similar sized boat that felt as stable at dockside as this Trojan. Under way, the chines make the boats feel – to use an old car salesman’s cliché – like it corners on rails. Mind you, steering response isn’t especially quick. But the boat’s attitude is solid and secure as those chines lock in for the turn.

The 10 Meter’s standard twin 350 Crusader engines use a combined total of 18 gallons of gasoline per hour at a cruise speed of 28 to 30 miles per hour, according to George Rinderspacher. An AquaSonic muffler system that vents exhaust out the sides of the hull beneath the waterline is integrated into the hull during its layup. The system make the 10 Meter an unusually quiet power boat whether idling in the slip or running full bore.

The 10 Meter’s hull is solid fiberglass, but the decks and cabin side are cored with end grain balsa. My marine surveyor/advisors all commented that Trojan’s gelcoat work on the 10 Meter appeared to be of high quality.

Trojan also uses some innovative construction methods on the boat. For instance, the company vacuum bonds certain parts of the boat together. Liners are literally sucked against the hull by a vacuum pump until a resin and glass paste hardens. The technique gives a very uniform tight fit.

The 10 Meter comes in three versions. The Express, which made its debut at the Miami Boat Show in February 1981, came first. Like all the versions of the 10 Meter, the Express has a forward stateroom down below as well as a large galley, a dinette and a head. The helm and cockpit on the Express are essentially a single area, providing a huge arena for playing, partying or sun worshipping. And that’s exactly how most owners use their 10 Meters, according to the company’s survey.

The slightly more conventional-looking Sedan has a streamlined flying bridge, a saloon with a convertible sofa, and a severely abbreviated cockpit. A good configuration for cooler climes, the Sedan was introduced in early 1982.

The Mid-Cabin went into production in 1985. The exterior profile of this version is virtually identical to the Express. But the Mid-Cabin has a small sleeping area for two (with sitting headroom only) tucked under the helm.

Last year Trojan introduced a stretched version of the 10 Meter, called the 10.8 Meter (35 feet). It’s a 10 Meter Sedan with an extended cockpit and is aimed at the sportfishermen.

There have been no major changes in the basic 10 Meter design since its introduction in 1981. However, in one fell swoop in 1983, Trojan made some 200 detail changes. These included such things as upgraded interior fabrics, new instrumentation for the helm, and heavier stainless steel port lights. At the same time, Trojan abandoned what surely must have been one of the all-time worst gimmicks aboard a small yacht: electrically operated doors to the forward stateroom and head compartment. They were indeed attention getters at boat shows, but a marine environment is not exactly ideal for electric motors.

Don Seith’s gamble has obviously paid off handsomely for Trojan. The company still builds conventional cruisers (the “Classic” series), but their percentage of total sales has dwindled to 20 percent. Meanwhile, Harry Schoell’s 10 Meter has spawned a whole series of International boats, ranging from the 8.6 Meter (29 feet) to the 13 Meter (43 feet). Moreover, other American power boat manufacturers have fallen all over themselves to come up with Med-style boats of their own.

To be sure, a Trojan International 10 meter is not for everyone. But then neither is a Corvette.

This article first appeared in the February 1987 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.

[RWS]

Cutting Edge Cruiser - Trojan 10 Meter Express
________________________________________
by Peter Bohr

Trojan's 10 Meter Express has 'the look'
Print This Article | Email This Article

"Euro-style" or "Med-style" -- call it what you will. But peruse any harbor, and you'll see plenty of examples of "the look."



Low, sleek and powerful, the Euro-style boat is as different from the traditional boxy power cruiser as Hillary Clinton is from Rush Limbaugh.



It was Trojan Yachts, formerly of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that first brought the look to this country. When Trojan's 10 Meter International Series Express made its debut in 1981, it launched a new kind of family cruiser that's since been embraced by most American boat builders, from Bayliner to Tiara.



Besides giving the boat a sexy profile, the bold styling of Trojan's 10 Meter has several functional advantages over the usual flying bridge sedan cruiser of the day. The huge cockpit beneath the radar arch is the perfect place for sunning or partying.



And because the helm is in the cockpit -- not high above on the bridge -- the skipper isn't removed from any socializing in the cockpit. Nor does the skipper have to sprint up and down steps to handle lines, which makes dockside maneuvers much easier.



The Trojan 10 Meter's avant-garde look doesn't stop there. Belowdecks, the cabin is filled with modernistic curved surfaces and lush decor. On the earliest 10 Meters, the curved bulkhead door leading to the forward stateroom was even electrically operated, like something from the starship ,/Enterprise.



But once again, there is function in the form. Instead of unusable voids made by the sharp corners of square bulkheads, the 10 Meter's curved panels make for a more spacious and comfortable interior. "We didn't want people to get beat up by the corner of a table," said Harry Schoell, the 10 Meter's designer.



The boat's visual appeal alone might have made it a marketplace hit. But Schoell also came up with an innovative hull to go along with the 10 Meter's innovative lines topside.



Schoell's patented DeltaConic hull design has 18 inch wide horizontal chines that run from bow to stern on either side. In between the chines, the modified-V hull is deep at the bow and flatter toward the stern.

It all works remarkably well. The 10 Meter's wide body, combined with the wide chines, provides a remarkably stable and dry ride. Steering response isn't especially quick, but the boat feels solid and secure when those wide chines lock in for a turn.



With its standard twin 350 Crusader gasoline engines, the 10 Meter has a decent turn of speed -- though the boat isn't as fast as it looks to some people. The top speed is in the mid-30 mph range, and cruising speed is around 25 to 28 mph.



At cruising speed, the pair of Crusaders will burn about 20 gallons an hour combined. Diesels were an option, though never a popular one.



The original 10 Meter Express was eventually joined by a more conventional-looking 10 Meter flying bridge sedan (in 1982) and a 10 Meter midcabin design (in 1985). The latter model looks almost identical to the Express on the outside, but has a small sleeping area for two tucked under the helm.



The 10 Meter was not only a success in creating a whole new genre of cruiser in America, but it was a sales success for its builder. Between 1981 and 1989, Trojan sold more than 600 of these boats.



But alas, the company's fortunes were not all so sweet. After nearly 40 years of boat building, venerable Trojan entered bankruptcy. In 1992, the company's remains were purchased by Carver Boat Corp.



But happily for the owners -- and prospective owners -- of Trojan's 10 Meter Express, these boats are not orphans. Carver has retained a parts supply organization in Lancaster that can provide virtually anything for the 10 Meters (or almost any Trojan built since the late 1960s, for that matter) -- from radar arches to grabrails.



By all accounts, the 10 Meter hulls were stoutly constructed. Some boats built during 1985 and 1986 were afflicted with hull blisters, but most of these were permanently repaired under warranty by Trojan -- at a cost of about $10,000 a job.



In your search for a 10 Meter Express, keep in mind those acres of exposed cockpit. Though the earliest editions were rather sparsely outfitted, later boats had all manner of upholstered seats, wet bars and the like, which can deteriorate rapidly in the sun.



Moreover, according to surveyor Bunker Hill of Maritime Consultants in Newport Beach, these Trojans' interior cabinetry and fittings weren't especially durable. So you may have to perform some cabin refurbishing as well.



A new 10 Meter Express carried a base price of $74,500 in 1981,

and the price tag rose to just over $100,000 by the end of its production run. Today, expect to pay between $45,000 and $95,000.
________________________________________
This article first appeared in the July 1994 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated.

[RWS]

From the factory there should be two float switches in each of the bilges.

One of them (in each compartment) is for the alarm.

The center bilge is seperate from the fwd and rear.

The fwd and rear actually connect below the liner to each other via the keel.

If you look hard you should see the fwd bilge switch in that compartment, might be dirty or perhaps at one time a previous owner changed the pump out for one with an intregal float or electronic switch.

Here's what the alarm switch looks like . . .

RWS