The weather is getting warmer in British Columbia for boatbuilding. And multihull designer Richard Woods is taking advantage of it by picking up on the build of his new Strike 15 trimaran model.

As you see in the short video clip below, there is still plenty of work to do on this boat. But even so, Richard is hoping it’ll be ready for sea trials sometime in June. (more…)

Ian McGehee has found yet another version of a standing board trimaran. This boat is an ingenious alteration of a standard kayak design from Chesapeake Light Craft.

There are a number of interesting things about this boat. But as Ian notes below, the sail rig (way over-sized for this kayak) is attached in a very creative manner. Simple. And brilliant. I’ve never seen it before … although I’m sure a few readers here have. (more…)

Russel Brown has just announced the sale of REV, a small sailing trimaran that Dick Newick designed and has personally enjoyed for over 10 years. (more…)

The PuddleCat Trimaran 12-footer looks like fun. It’s a small sailer designed and built by Roger Mann.

Roger’s description of this craft on his website is very concise, although I particularly love the first sentence: (more…)

Here is a little update on the Uffa 10 trimaran, which can also be seen here and here. You will see that it has a new rig (as shown in these new photos below). (more…)

The following info about Paddleboard trimarans comes to us (once again) from our friend Ian McGehee. In this case, the flat boards, which replace traditional hulls, allow for a very creative use of the trimaran concept.

But this again leads us to think about how such forms might lend themselves to sailing beach trimarans … or others. (more…)

I’d love to sail a trimaran along the shores of Greece. From what I’ve read, it’s one of the loveliest venues in the Mediterranean.

Andreas Kaltsas, a sailor who has really schooled himself about small tris, has designed one of his own. He is now building it with the intention of sailing along Greek shores … including many of its coastal islands. (more…)

The following info about a trimaran kiteboat concept comes from Ian McGehee. Ian has shared many interesting insights with us in the comments area on many posts in recent months. I always enjoy hearing from him.

At the moment, Ian has been focused on the possibility of using surfboards (or surfboard shapes) in place of traditional hull shapes on small trimarans. Ian writes here about someone else with the same idea. (Imagine, for example, the kite used with this prototype boat being replaced by a kite type of sail.) (more…)

Here are some great photos of the small trimarans used as fishing boats in Indonesia. They come from the Province of Bali to be more exact.

All of these photos and renderings come from sailor (and soon-to-be small tri boatbuilder) Joe Iosif Gross. Joe not only shares a little about these unique-looking fishing boats, but also his plans to build a brand new 12-foot trimaran for himself. (more…)

This is the 3rd post featuring Steve Curtiss’ unique small trimaran under development. If you haven’t read part 1 or part 2 yet then you should definitely do that in order to get the full benefit from this post.

As you’ll read in the below, this new boat is presently in the development stage. We’ll look for a follow up report after it’s built and then goes through its sea trials. The final verdict isn’t in on this design but it sure is inspiring to see the creative energy at work to create a new trimaran design such as this. (more…)

Sailor Brandon Walters is presently restoring a Cross 26 trimaran in California. He sent the following pics, along with some more photos of the boat from 1985 (he got these pics from the fellow who owned the boat at that time).

The boat’s name is POCO LOCO. Brandon said he is currently trying to figure out how to properly rig the new aluminum mast that he bought for it. So if anyone can offer him a helpful tip or two when it comes to stay lengths (or that sort of thing) then please post comments below. (more…)

Here is part 2 of the story about Steve Curtiss’ very unique small trimaran design. Steve began with a kayak fitted with double sails.

This is a summary of his experiments. I think you’re going to enjoy what he shares in the following. Thanks again for the article and photos Steve! (more…)

Here is a story about 2 adventurers in a dugout trimaran canoe. Small tri friend Lenny shares this blogspot link with us (which is where all of the information below comes from). And while pics of the boat in full tri configuration are lacking, I’m hopeful their site will feature some more photos soon.

As you’ll see, there is a serious dose of pioneering spirit depicted here. So much so, somebody decided to build their own dugout and attach double outriggers. (more…)

Get ready to see a very unique small trimaran design. It’s really neat.

This comes to us from sailor (and mechanical engineer) Steve Curtiss. Steve certainly isn’t a newbie. In the past couple years he has written articles about a couple of prototypes that utilize twinsail rigs for kayak sailing. These were published in Messing About in Boats … and also a publication called the “TSCA Lost Coast Newsletter.” (more…)

This post contains a great sailing report about Gypsy Wind, the Drifter 17 trimaran model we read about in an earlier post. The designer, builder and sailor, Mark Gumprecht, took some time to share a little about how he enjoyed her this past summer.

Mark provides us with a fun, breezy read about this 17-foot cabin cruiser. There are some pics and a YouTube Video at the very end. Thank you for sharing this with us Mark. (more…)

In this post, we once again hear from sailor and Wavelength 780 trimaran designer Bob Forster. The following photos and information come from Bob’s latest newsletter, which is available on his website at www.wavelengthmultihulls.com. (more…)

Today we hear from sailor Ron Falkey and the story of his self-designed and self-built micro cruiser trimaran named Dalliance. Ron really gives us a great read here because he spares few details. (more…)

The folks at Solway Dory have been producing beautiful trimaran sailing canoes in recent years. I just found out about this model from small tri enthusiast Tom Williams (thanks Tom!). (more…)

Here is a great report from Frank Smoot about his new 24-foot trimaran LocoMotion. What he is able to do with so little money in so little time is, IMO, sort of amazing.

This is especially the case for us guys who seem to always take longer to do projects we thought would just take 1/4 of the time — and sometimes easily go over-budget too. (I certainly don’t have myself in mind here, nosireeeee, no way, it’s other guys I’m thinking of ;-) (more…)

If you’d ever like to go sailing & fishing in Florida — on a Seaclipper Trimaran no less — then you’re going to enjoy this post. It comes to us from Captain Michael Channell, who operates a very unique fishing charter down in the Sunshine State.

I tried not to envy Mike’s job when I first read this piece … but failed :-) (more…)

Here is a truly unique, custom-built aluminum trimaran. I received these photos from the owner, Alaric W., last week. He acquired this boat several years ago because he thought it would be a great way to get this out on the water with his family.

The boat came with a bill of sale but no title. This is one of the things that has kept Alaric from sailing it. (He is actually considering whether or not he should sell it to someone that really wants to get a lot of use from it). (more…)

Here is a great update from sailor and self-builder Jim Gallant, featuring the trimaran named BEST GUESS. Jim has added some more pics to his webpage, along with some fun, short videos.

Jim writes that BEST GUESS is now in his garage being retro-fitted with some improvements for Spring. He is adding “lifing planes to the amas” as one of the improvements and is looking forward to seeing how they’ll work. (more…)

A unique trimaran named SID is now sailing waters along the New Zealand coast. Sailor and self-boat builder Gary Baigent has done it again.

As you may recall, Gary designed and built another trimaran featured here called FLASH HARRY. SID is, in his words, meant to be a “big brother” to Flash Harry. (more…)

Sailor and self-boatbuilder Lenny H launched his new Seaclipper 24 trimaran this past September. He shares some glimpses of both its building and launching in the following YouTube video. (It’s a great one too … 7 minutes long).

For anyone that wants to know more about this sailboat (one of the newer small tri designs by John Marples), I’ve included links to previous posts about it here at smalltrimarans. (more…)

I received the following small trimaran renderings from a fellow named Ronaldo Fazanelli a couple of weeks ago. I’ve tried to find out some more info about this prospective design, including some more info about Ronaldo.

As of yet, however, I haven’t been able to find out anything more than what is posed here. I am suspecting the language barrier may be at work here. (more…)

We first featured the Tricote trimaran on this post. This trailerable tri is another successful example of a “monohull to trimaran” conversion.

The pics below are linked to directly from the Tricote website. And there are many more great photos there too, so you are encouraged you to go there and peruse those pages. (more…)

Here are some photos of the mast raising for the first Nicky Cruz trimaran. As you can see, this boat is just about completed.

We last posted about this boat here. (more…)

There is a new Strike 18 trimaran sailing in Texas. Even though this is the first sailboat the owner has built himself, it turned out great!

Just see for yourself :-) (more…)

Here is a neat story, published by the Monterey Herald, about a restored Piver trimaran in Santa Cruz, CA. It was built in 1964 and then, shortly afterwards, put away in storage for 40 years.

Wow.

This trimaran was built by a (then) college kid in the space of a year. And it’s typical of the spirit of the times. Backyard builders built lots of multihulls during the 60s on into the early 70s. (more…)

There is a DIY tandem trimaran sailing in the gin clear waters of Florida. It’s another design / build creation from Frank Smoot, who you can always check out at www.diy-tris.com

I asked Frank if he could answer a few questions from me and he shares (quite generously) below. I decided to include the questions I asked Frank this time. It may help to broaden out the conversation a bit. (more…)

The following is a group of small trimarans sailing in waters along the shores of Russia. I’ve never heard about, much less seen, these wonderful little homebuilt plywood boats. But sailor Nail Sadykov was kind enough to share about them with us, including links to the following photos.

Just so you know, Nail refers to the designer of these boats, but is fairly certain there are no “building plans” available for them. It’s a shame because there is little doubt that at least a few guys would love to reproduce these smaller tris. (more…)

Sailor and self-boatbuilder Lenny H. is almost finished with his Seaclipper 24 trimaran building project. As you see in the photos below, his new sailboat turned out beautifully.

Kudos to him on the completion of his new craft! (more…)

The following photos of both the Threefold 6 trimaran design and the Multi 23 trimaran were sent to me by Eugene Burusov, who is a part of the Chernomor Company (boatbuilders and dealers) in Russia. They built the Threefold 6 a couple of years ago. And they recently became distributors for the Multi 23 — a production trimaran that we’ve also seen before.

We saw their work displayed in this previous article about the Threefold 6 trimaran, which is designed by Dudley Dix. (more…)

This 12-foot folding trimaran is a self-designed, home-built sailing package created by sailor Mark Gumprecht. (It’s the very first one he designed).

If you recall, I interviewed Mark about his newest trimaran last year. And he is taking that boat with him from Massachusetts to California, where he is moving. (more…)

A new small trimaran may be in the works from the guys at Chesapeake Light Craft. It’s an idea that John Harris, President of CLC, has had for awhile. (I know this because I first spoke to him last year about it).

Actual development, however, sounded far off. So I was really appreciative when one of our readers here at smalltrimarans emailed me a link to the following webpage that he’d recently discovered on CLC’s website. (more…)

Wavelength 780 trimaran designer Bob Forster recently published another newsletter. I always enjoy reading it and he let me excerpt a part of it for this post.

As you’ll see, a bunch of multihull sailors from New Zealand and Australia have made these trailerable tris their boat of choice. The following short story was written by Bob’s friend, Tony Murray, who helped crew Bob’s sailboat for a recent outing. (Please also note the photos I’ve posted are all taken from the newsletter and a couple of them feature a boat named “New Horizons.” … thanks for letting me post these guys!) (more…)

Here is a short but genuine treat … Jim Brown talking to Richard Woods about small trimarans. As we noted a couple of weeks ago, Richard has spent the better part of the past couple of years drawing up several new small trimaran designs (he refers to these as the “Strike trimaran” models).

It’s always interesting to listen to guys with so much multihull sailing, designing, and building experience talk about this sort of stuff. But it’s not hard to imagine Jim’s conversation with Richard about the benefits of sailing small tris, along with building them in wood/epoxy, inspiring a whole lot of listeners to take the plunge into this area in the world of small boats. (more…)

The guys from Silent Bay Charter services in Italy are still sailing their Muffolo Trimaran … and still having fun. Check out these 2 YouTube videos (below) to see how these guys are enjoying their small tri, which they built using plans from multihull designer Kurt Hughes. (more…)

Sailor and self-boatbuilder Bob Trygg notified me last week that he is selling his beautiful (and still practically new) Seaclipper 16 trimaran named TRINKET. He wants to sell this beauty to someone who’ll enjoy her so that he can move on to another boat project.

We first saw Bob’s Seaclipper 16 Trimaran in this post here at smalltrimarans. The official ad for TRINKET is appearing in the classifieds at Duckworks Magazine. Here is how the listing there reads: (more…)

When it comes to Piver trimarans, the “Nugget” model is arguably the best designed and most successful one. In this post I link to a webpage at OutRigMedia.com, which features Jim Brown talking with long-ago-friend Mike Eaton about some of their work with Piver trimarans (plus lots of other stuff too). (more…)

A prototype for the new Strike 15 Trimaran is now underway. A few days ago, designer Richard Woods sent me a webpage showing the first Strike 15 Trimaran under construction.

(By the way, the photos below are taken from this page, and are used with Mr. Woods’ permission). (more…)

It’s been awhile since I last posted about Lance McIntosh and his Dragonfly 14 trimaran. It was my fault, not Lance’s … he sent me these updated photos of his self-built beach tri months ago and they somehow got put in “the memory hole.” (Sorry about that Lance). (more…)

Here is a totally unique, self-built trimaran sailing canoe in Brazil. The short story of this boat comes to us from Alexandre — its builder and sailor.

As you’ll see, Alexandre appears to have some natural talent when it comes to wooden boatbuilding and working with epoxy. Some of the ways he beefed up the canoe configuration in order to make this 14-foot craft into a trimaran are worth noting. (more…)

Here is another sample audio clip from the “Multihull conversations with Jim Brown” audio series. In this recording, Jim speaks to sailor, self-boatbuilder and marine entrepreneur Mike Leneman.

Mike is the owner of MultiMarine in Venice, CA, which can be found on the web at www.multimarine.com. In this segment, he shares some out-of-the-box thinking on how to build wood/epoxy boats (including small trimarans) quicker by doing certain techniques differently. (more…)

Chuck Leinweber, the proprietor at Duckworks, sent me the links to 2 new small trimarans this week. Duckworks is offering the building plans for both of these sailboats, which were designed by Paolo Lodigiani and Matteo Costa, who hail from Italy.

Chuck said these fellows mostly design other kinds of boats but they’ve also created these two small trimarans for self-builders. He also noted that he was impressed with the thought that went into these two boats. (more…)

Small trimaran enthusiasts Tom Raidna & David Kagan both sent me the following information about a new self-designed & built trimaran featured at Duckwords.

It was launched this year by Jason Nabors “just in time for the 2012 Texas 200.” (more…)

Graeme Delaveau, designer of the Nicky Cruz Explorer Trimaran, sent me these new construction photos. As you can see from our last Nicky Cruz Explorer post, it takes awhile to finish off a boat.

Thanks for the new pics guys! (more…)

Here is the link to a very unique story featuring a trimaran rowboat. This little homemade craft was created with wave-piercing bows and is also said to be “self-righting.” The following link, which is from the online newspaper article in New Zealand, also shows a couple photos of the boat. (more…)

I had the pleasure of reading about another Wavelength 780 trimaran launch recently. Multihull designer Robert Forster shared the story, which came as part of his “WAVELENGTH 780 Newsletter – Issue No. 11.”

With Robert’s permission, I am re-printing the account (and photos) of this boat’s launch, which was written by, Neil Holzapfel, who is the owner/sailor. (Thanks for letting us share this with our readers Robert & Neil!) (more…)

Here are a couple of DIY self-built sailboats referred to as — Tricote Trimarans — from France no less. The story behind these boats is a classic response to the question, “What happens when an ingeneous (and frugal) French monohuller gets bit by the small trimaran bug?”

He uses his ingenuity to build a low-cost one, of course! (more…)