Why we love Trimarans ?

One early morning at the Kiel Week in the early 90s. We've slept on the beach and while having our first coffee a huge trimaran glides out of the Kieler Förde at nearly no wind. Have't seen anything as graceful and fast before and since.

 

Rcnesneg,

What boat design is that?
That one I like.

 

I was building canoes at the time and saw a cover on Wooden Boat of a Newick trimaran that Phil Weld had built. It was so beautiful and seemed to take canoes which are also beautiful to the next level.

At the time the tri was still the main game in multihulls, or at least that seemed the case in the press of the day.

Today, I love how they sail, whether power or in nothing at all.

And I also find them the most efficient solution in various size brackets, if not overall. I think at around 26 feet they have unique performance, trailering, and accommodation advantages. And at the very small size around 18 feet they may have the best overall before they fall into serious compromises.

Also possibly the best for various motoring options. A boat than can putt effortlessly; use human power; make best use of solar development, while also using kites, or sparless sail technologies, or even undersized rigs. I think there is a coming option for cruisers, once solar gets better, in combination with various non rig mostly downwind sailing techs. Cruiser are mostly dragging, and motoring anyway. I call this The Platform, a technology in support of other technologies. It doesn't have to be a trimaran. But right at the moment that seems the best case. I also like the idea of the harry proa, but have not been able to see it as a platform yet.

 

What is this one. Piver?. Shame it is being neglected.

 

I think whoever said "versatility" nailed it....there are so many different designs, for different purposes.

I'm more into cruising than racing, so the practicality of something like a Jim Brown boat is great.

But for my purpose, living where moorings are scarce, the trailer-tri concept pioneered by Ian Farrier is the ducks guts.

His large folders even enable reasonably comfortable off-shore cruising, from the Command 10 onwards.

From what I've seen and heard, 31-40' seems to be the sweet spot for comfortable cruising and reasonable maintenance costs.

But the trailer tris under 28' must be the bargain buys, as all maintenance can be done in your own driveway or under a polytunnel in the backyard.

And with proper rig geometry and a gin-pole, even rigging them isn't a trial, and can be done by one person in less than an hour (with practice).

And if you can leave the boat rig up and folded in a yacht club or hardstand with minimal cost, then that would seem to be the ideal.

Unless of course you can afford a marina slip, in which case, go large..!!

The only real downsides are they are more expensive to build and maintain than either a condomaran or a monosled.

 

That is a MOD 70!

Phaedo 3
https://vimeo.com/147517346
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6gBV4ZanOI

"Phaedo3 has just broken the Cowes-Dinard Record ... average speed on
this course was 28.7 knots. They also recorded a top speed of 40.9 knots."
https://vimeo.com/140378488
http://www.sailingworld.com/phaedo-3-shatterers-cowes-dinard-record