Small High performance Trimaran?

Hello
I was wondering, is it feasible for say a 15' trimaran, to design and build 1 male mold say with a 14" beam and use that for all three hulls and maybe just lower the shear clamp on the amas? I would like to build something fast fun simple and inexpensive and this just kind of occured to me.
Thanks Briggs

 

Hey Briggs

There is no such thing as a small high performance trimaran. Big trimarans perform but not small ones

Unless you plan to put an outboard on it.

 

While I suppose you could do it, Briggs, I think that you'd probably be better off with a cat if that build system is your focal point.

I like to see different hull shapes for the vaka and ama forms, so I would do it differently.

Fanie, shame on you; you old curmudgeon. ;-)

 

My little tri is 5m500 and it is difficult to maintain weight distribution on it for optimal speed, unless you remain in one position most of the time.

If your three 'hulls' are going to be the same size it's as Chris suggested going to be one and a half cat. I think the advantage of a trimaran is just that, the leeward ama's is slender and makes for less drag, which is why tri's in general is faster than cat's, or supposed to be.

The three similar size hulls vs the single hull and two ama's is also going to add more weight and will also slow you down.

Not sure why you are looking at that size tri, I built mine to play with and to do some tests with, but if I have to do it over again I'll defenately make it bigger, at least 8m long, probably 9m. It sounds big, but it is much nicer on the water than when it is sitting on the hard. Unless you want to participate in racing in a certain class I would consider it. Short boats are a bit pitchy in a chop. The bigger ones are much smoother and safer and faster.

Building a tri is a real pain in the butt, especially that last ama where it begins to feel like routine...

 

Thanks for the replies, I understand what you are saying I just figured that a tri would be a little more forgiving than a cat. I've sailed scows a lot and like the speed but don't have the time money space(to store) or crew for that. I want a boat that I can sail portsmouth with my kids and have some fun. just out of curiosity can amas be symmetrical effectively? I'm probably going to give up on this idea but I'm curious to investigate more. do you guys know anything about the Weta tri?
-Briggs

 

You should be able to single handedly sail a mutihull. Even a big(er) one.
Stick around a bit, much to learn here. There may be something that catches your attention.

 

I only just saw these posts, in part because I was out sailing my own 18ft trimaran. But also because most multihull threads are in the multihull section lower down the index page.

You might like to take a look here:

http://sailingcatamarans.com/Strike.htm

as the Strike sounds the sort of thing you are after. A 16ft version, using 14ft outriggers will be coming soon.

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com