need help builind main hull trimaran

[aliaj00]

hi all i got the book "Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes" and it has some plans for some 3-4 person outrigger canoe. the question is how can i modify them in a usable trimaran to use around the beach.

i am a newbie so my questions are a little to stupid but a want to learn.

thanks all of you

[messabout]

Alliajoo; No question is stupid and you will not be regarded in that way here.

We will need a better description of what you wish to do and some information about the circumstances in which you will sail. Sailing off a beach in Hawaii is much different than sailing off a rocky shore in Nova Scotia. Expected sea state is another factor, along with usual sea bottom topography at the shoreline.

You could sail a Hobie cat off most beaches because they have no centerboards or dagger boards. They also have rudders that you can raise or lower from the helmsmans position. That is an important feature of boats that are to be sailed from the beach.

A three of four person boat will need to be 6 metres or more in length. Probably more. The amas or outriggers will need to be near that length. A boat that size will need 3 or 4 agile people to launch the thing into water that is deep enough to sail. Trimarans are kind of clumsy to launch and handle at sites that are difficult. If there is substantial wind then they are clumsy to launch in any case. Once sailing they are quite manageable unless there is congestion or much boat traffic in the area.

Outrigger canoes of the Polynesion type usually have but one outrigger. In that case they become proas. A three or four person proa will be 8 metres or more in length. You may be able to design such a boat so that the centerboard is not necessary, perhaps by using a lee board. True proas do not tack as a normal sail boat does. They 'Shunt", which means that the helmsman runs from one end of the boat to the other when making large changes in direction. That exercise can range anywhere from great fun to total disaster because you must also shunt the sail at the same time. It worked for the Polynesians and more than a few western experimeters.

In the past there was a fairly popular class of sailboats in California, USA that were proas. I think they were called Malibu outriggers. I do not think that they shunted these boats but tacked them in the normal way. I do not remember them well enough to be certain. They were ideally suited for sailing off the beaches in California. It may be worth a google search to find more details. Incidentally one of the advantages of that boat was that they were cheap to build as well as easy to build.

[messabout]

Use the search function on this forum. Type in; Malibu outrigger. there are several references there, as well as numerous comments about multi hulls.

[aliaj00]

OK thanks to all. i am in the Adriatic sea in the Mediterranean, (Albania) the shore is very flat in most of the coast line.Only 30% rocky coast, 10 meter deep at 10 meters from shore. i am trying to build a trimaran or cat for 3-4 persons the length preferably less than 10 meters 30'. also i am not going after luxurious or max space, just to sleep at night for 3-4 persons. i am thinking of trying out a canoe hull for the trimaran, 90 cm at the widest place 60cm or more height, and long enough to carry 3-4 person. and to be sailed as here they don't allow motorboats :mad :mad :mad. kind of long story. Mostly 1 to 3 miles from the coast. attached the cross section of the main hull the middle one.

PS i am kinda boring sometime, so my questions are a little long