Small trailable sailing trimaran used in various bodies of water

Greetings everybody,
Im new to this forum and I'm in search of some wisdom

I will start with my dreams then I will finish with my questions.

My intention is to aquire a small trailable trimaran class C rated for multiple use cases together with my wife and kid.
Cases like :
- costal cruising including beaching the boat where I see fit ( important to be able to get to land and enjoy a camping night near a small bonfire or explore some island wilderness duringthe day ) I don't want to use a dingy .
- river trips using just engine without the mast installed ( bridges, power lines and other thing make sailing impractical or impossible)
- lakes and deltas
- use the boat as my scuba dive platform
- nomadic overnight accommodation on board
- sunbathing
In other words, a jak of all trades.

Question are following:
- how will a trimaran behave without the mast ? ( I know that sailing monohull without a mast are no go and I have already documented myself, reading trough other posts)
- how can I reinforce the hull and floats so I will be able to beach the boat without worrying about damaging the boat structure .
...........should I add an additional layer of fiberglass or it's possible to make some "clothes" of some kind of pvc or whatever that could be fitted just prior to land the boat on the beach ? Or using some retrofit kayak trailer on eatch hull?

I was considering following boats so far
- inflatable catamaran Ducky 19 ( no hull reinforcement needed) 6m long with large trampoline, 5 × 2 meters
- Astus 22.5 trimaran. (no upcoming rumor fees on Greek water, just under 7m )
- Tricat 6.90 trimaran (no upcoming rumor fees on Greek water, just under 7m )
- Dragonfly 800. ( quite heavy for beaching )
- Corsair 24. ( same as Dragonfly 800 )

Astus and Tricat seem expansive for what they are , and are fairly new, so not easily find second hand.


So , please let me know your thoughts and if there are other boats that fit the program, please let know. My budget is around 35k eur, but I can stretch a bit.
Ps , I want catamaran or trimaran because I just like them

With best regards,
Marius

 

A monohull's rig often contributes half or more of the rotational inertia, which is what reduces the roll rate. For a multihull, the rig makes a minor contribution. Roll rate should change a lot less.

If you add just glass, you will leave behind microplastic pollution whenever you drag the hull over abrasive ground, such as sand or pebbles. Then you build it up again with epoxy putty, and leave that behind during the next season.

Ideally, yes, and if the boat is too heavy to lift onto the trailer, attach it, or them, while the boat still floats. A multihull also allows you to attach the wheels to the crossbeams. The trick is to come up with something that is both transportable, and has a large enough surface area to be useful on the often soft ground on which you may use it. If you use wheels with greater width than diameter, they might do double duty as fenders.

If you watch the start of the Everglades challenge, you can see that blue cat schooner being pushed over beach rollers, which you can get, for example, from Beach Rollers https://duckworks.com/beach-rollers/


Those won't work well if you have a sharp keel, like on some beach cats, but should be fine with a round or flat bottom.

If the ground you expect to encounter is too soft for wheels, I think your choice is between beach rollers and metal rubbing strakes on the bottom and pulling the boat over untreated planks, possibly using an anchor and a pulley.

Igor Stropnik has cruised boats in that size range (and smaller). Have a look at these to get an idea of what it takes and what level of comfort you can expect:





If you go for one of the smaller options, the Dinghy Cruising Association https://www.dinghycruising.life/ has a lot of useful information.

 

Many thanks for answering, I did watch Igor Stropnik videos , regarding the fiber glass reinforcement, I forgot to mention the gel part . But I have no idea how this gel coat is holding against multiple sand abrasion.

 

Ideally, yes, and if the boat is too heavy to lift onto the trailer, attach it, or them, while the boat still floats.


This is what I have in mind, should hold 160 kg / 350lbs. , but it doesn't seem enough. Perhaps I could find something that hold or DIY ones.

 

If you are happy with the prospect of building the boat yourself, Richard Woods has plans available for various small trimarans under 20' long -
Sailing Catamarans - Click here for Trimarans Under 20ft (6 designs) https://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs-2/27-trimarans-under-25

You can buy Richard Woods' plans on Duckworks -
Plans & Kits - Plans by type - Sailboats - Multihulls - Page 1 - Duckworks Boat Builders Supply https://duckworks.com/boat-plans-kits/plans-by-type/sailboats/multihulls/

And they also have some other designs that might be suitable for you, including this little trimaran -
Trillo Plans https://duckworks.com/trillo-plans/

 

Many thanks for answering, although I would love to hand craft my very own boat, my time is very limited given the work program, I have to settle just with pleasure of customization of the one that I will aquire.

 

Very few materials really stand up to sand. Diamond, sapphire. Even steel doesn't really stand up to sand, it just abrades slowly and what comes off isn't harmful as far as I know. If sandpaper can affect a material, then loose sand will also abrade it. Gel coat will definitely be sanded off. Go to some place where people sail catamarans onto beaches and look at their bottoms. I have, and I talked to someone who yearly built up the lost material with epoxy putty. When I had a beach cat, I stopped while it still floated, lifted it up while pulling it in until it grounded anyway, then fetched the beach trolley.

The Windrider 17 may also be suitable for your purpose, though on the small side for three people and their camping gear. But if your child is still young, then sitting in rather than on the boat is a definite advantage. Here is a playlist of someone setting up the boat for the Everglades Challenge


There is also the Holopuni OC3 Sailing Outrigger Canoe — Holopuni Canoes https://www.holopunicanoes.com/sailing-canoe, but unless there is already a European importer, getting one to you would probably be rather expensive.

 

You're totally right about sand abrasion, can't imagine I didn't thought that clearly about the subject )
Regarding still, this might work , 3-4mm fiberglass detachable overmold plated with metal sheets, secured by straps . An hard envelope that could be mounted and dismounted with ease that cover only the specific area plus a little bit more just to aid securing it in place. A hard glove

Would this work? Something like in the picture, final shape to be determined.

Many thanks Robert for your help!!

 

That is the perfect location for initial contact with the beach, but that can usually be dealt with if you are willing to slow down, step into the water, and stop the boat. Armour at this point is for when you want to sail onto the beach and step onto firm ground, which, of course, may be one of your requirements. But I think you want to pull the boat up the beach as well. Then a full length keel band would be more appropriate. something like this:

rather than only this:


If the boat is not designed with such a keel band in mind, you might have to build up the hull to the thickness required that the screws get enough of a bite, at least across a narrow band, though still tapered into the rest of the structure so that you don't get stress risers (regions where the stiffness of the structure changes suddenly, which means that a lot of bending is concentrated there and the structure fatigues).

Note that building up a hull is possible if it is built in composite. I have not heard of hulls made of ABS or similar plastics being modifiable once they are built.

If you were to choose the Windrider 17, which is built in roto molded plastic, I suppose you could make a keel band by bending a tube into the shape of the keel profile, then cutting a slot into the concave side, fitting the result over the keel, compressing the sides until they lie flat on the keel, then drilling holes through this keel band and through the keel. So long as the keel is solid, not hollow, that should not produce leaks.

 

I don't have a problem getting off in the watter, I was thinking more like securing the ancor line on the land, and use the shore line as a second point to stabilise the boat , beside that , it's more like you mentioned, I do intend to pull the boat up at the beach on some occasions.
I presume that full length keel band will not be fezabile with this kind of keel, do to construction method. At least, I would be afraid to install it Although, that's the best kind of protection .

I wonder, what could be the problem, legally and practically if I will install two 6 hp engines instead of one 9 hp like it's mentioned in the boat specifications. Right where the swimming ladder is . Weight differences won't be that much and it will dispersate on more area.