The name of this new small trimaran is Karamea. And what a beauty it’s turned out to be!

See for yourself.

The photos are owned by Fritz and were sent to me by this boat’s talented multihull designer Graeme Delaveau.

You can see all of the posts about the building process of this boat, which I’ve documented to some extent, here and here and here and here and here. ( And congrats to Fritz!)

All of Graeme’s Nicky Cruz trimaran models can be found on his website here.

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He writes about the boat (below) in addition to a very short YouTube clip, which shows this trailerable tri in action. Anyone interested is invited to contact Mike via his website at http://www.channellguides.com.

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I’m writing to let you know my SeaClipper 20 trimaran is for sale. I have to say, this is a painful decision because I absolutely LOVE this boat.

When we fish out of it (in the no motor zone fishing here in central Fl) it’s an incredible experience. Our location, all by itself, is remote and rewarding.

She sails beautifully with great comfort and speed. This hull is now right at one year old. It still carries 4 years of warranty from the builder

The engine mount is pure genius. It comes with a 4-horse Evinrude, which is tip-top. And the trailer is perfect as well.

It’s a true one of a kind and comes with a spare mast and set of sails. I’m only asking for what I got in it. — Mike

Here is a video of Mike’s boat flat-out “gettin’ it” across the Banana River where he has been running his fishing business …

Mike can be contacted here at his website.

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What is great is that Walter shares both what he likes about the boat and what he thinks can be improved upon. This little tri already has him thinking about building another (a little bit longer — around 11-feet).

We very much appreciate Walter taking time to share this info in spite of the fact that English isn’t his native language. He used Google translate to assist his efforts.

Walter even offers to send building specs for this boat to anyone who asks. His personal contact email is at the end of the post, and his personal WordPress page featuring Trix (in Italian) can be found here: http://barcheautocostruite.wordpress.com/2013/05/31/trix-10-trimarano-autocostruito-da-walter-monici/

Many thanks Walter!

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The TRIX 10-Foot Trimaran
by Walter Monici

Central hull, fore crossbeam, center board and rudder were made during a single weekend together, with a group of 5 students, for a course in boat self construction with the naval architect Paolo Lodigiani of Milan — in the spring of 2005.

While then to complete everything else sail and mast I took another three months. It’s called TRIX and is 10′ in length (305cm long, 295 cm wide).

The features I wanted to achieve were …

– Ability to carry three people
– Can be put on the roof of a car by only one person
– Little wet from the spray
– Stable
– Suitable for engines up to 15 kg.

I then experienced the Polynesian concept of different crosspieces for the floats:
The fore crossbeam is the carrying one and almost coincides with the center of buoyancy of the side hulls.
The aft crossbeams are, in practice, very flexible spacers that allow the amas to float freely and independently from the main hull to avoid going under the waves (ingavonarsi in Italian).

I made a very high freeboard (maybe too high), with deep bow and stern with a height suitable for motors with normal foot. Bayonet centerboard, fixed rudder blade that was immediately changed with folding blade that lacks an image. The sail I wanted to make her was a crab claw, but after many variations has become a lateen sail with bamboo tree.

The capacity was verified with three normal adults for a total of about 210 kg. Then enough for my family who weighs 170.

I saw an excellent smoothness of the hull during a regatta, while at sea, with two on board. We maintained the same speed as other trimarans with one person and equipped with high-tech sails. At the first tack we stopped for centering errors of the sail, but the speed was truly remarkable — I think because of the deep bow that doesn’t slam into the surface, and the sliding stern that receives boost from wave dynamics.

Advantages: Speed, high load capacity, absolutely dry splashes, lightness, hauling from a beach yourself with a roller, upwind equal to monohulls. I’ve also confirmed the goodness of the Polynesian concept with floaters that come out very well by the waves.

Flaws: complexity in mounting and slurs that tend to come loose with very strong wind, floater too small, freeboard needs to be reduced by 5 cm, 2 inch, stern crosspieces are too elastic, spartan sail. Also, the peak of the lateen sail is done with three bamboo canes makes for stratospheric complexity with a need to replace with something better. Ideal would be a laser type mast, in spite of the Polynesians, tucked in the deck.

I’ve meditated on the boat’s defects and I have made some sketches to simplify junctions from crossbeams to main hull and amas. Otherwise, it takes an hour to assemble.

I can provide the schematic drawings of the cut plywood panels but all the details would need rethinking and redesign on the basis of the new sketches.

This will go so far as to carry 250-280 kg. and I could carry 3 people and a 2HP auxiliary motor with ease and comfort and occasionally 4 pople with small wind.

This small trimaran is intended for family use and to have more space without sacrificing portability. I think I would do the same project again, except measuring 11.1/2 feet (330-350 cm).

If someone would want to try this new design I will send them free.

Walter Monici
walter.monici AT fastwebnet DOT it
Design Studio, Milano, Italy

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Roger refers to it as a “racing trimaran” because of it’s speed potential. He sailed this boat during the NCC 2012 and wrote the following about what, for him, turned out to be the best part of the race, “I averaged 17.71 knots over 5 1/2 miles and my top speed was over 20. What a ride. That 1/2 hour made the whole trip worth it and showed great potential for when there is wind.”

This particular tri utilizes an Isotope catamaran and then adding a very slender center hull with roomy seats for hiking out. It’s a wonderfully simple concept that isn’t easily achieved when actually attempted. But Roger says this one is a success.

Here is how he describes this boat on his webpage …

“ ‘Seven of Nine’ is a racing Trimaran built for speed for a crew of just one person. It can handle a crew of 4 but it is being built for a single person to safely control. It’s design started with an Isotope racing catamaran. These are very fast but also easy to flip. A 20 foot center hull was added with hiking wings. This was done for two reasons. One is to make the amas fold for easier setup, the other is to give room for putting the solo captains weight right where it is needed for speed. He will be able to slide forward and aft with ease. There will also be trapeze cables on the mast for more extreme hiking out and fun. This design is planned as a ‘one off’ boat but plans could be made available for the conversion if there is interest.”

The following images, which belong to Roger, are linked to here from their original locations on Photobucket. And the YouTube video at the end appears to be the only only posted so far (of this boat)…

Kudos to Roger for another self-designed, self-built boat!

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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.

Can’t wait to see this one on the water. It’s been designed with sailing performance in mind.

This clip displays the folding system for this boat with one outrigger attached (so far). Check it out …

Richard told me the Strike 15 here will be at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in September. And he is currently looking for small trimaran sailing events in the central or western USA this coming fall/winter.

Ideas anyone?

If so, then feel free to share any sailing events (and their dates). Or, perhaps you might even want to pitch an invitation for such a gathering to other sailors. Feel free to do so … below in the “Leave a Reply” section.

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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.

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Ian writes:

Just happened on this oddity that is worth a look if you haven’t already seen it – a CLC kayak design modified to be a sit on top or standup main hull, that also uses fixed struts to make a standard windsurfer rig into a standing one …

IMHO it looks awesome but the hull setup seems pretty impractical as is except for ultra low wind days (which he does say it’s designed for)…the shapes are just too geared towards efficiency with a very low powered means of propulsion like paddling to make the best use of that powerful airfoil that could have a windsurfer doing 20-30+ kts pretty easily.

The owner of this boat writes that, “the ride can be extremely wet and quite scary at times…”

I’ll bet (even with the increased freeboard I imagine) that sailed hard you could keep this thing perfectly level and trimmed and just drive both the ama *and* the main hull completely underwater at times due to the wave making characteristics of the displacement hulls and the power that sail can generate.

Anyway, the rig is a very slick and simple solution to putting a sail on some conglomeration of hulls that may never have been intended to support chainplates, and by comparison to a more traditional stayed rig and associated framing requirements could be far lighter, with less to go wrong.

It also creates a space frame/truss of sorts where the mast and stays all become stressed members in the hull/crossarm assembly and help distribute heeling loads away from just the akas, and those heeling forces also directly counter the compression loads on the leeward strut from the mast trying to go over – something you can’t do when you are pushing noodles via wire rope stays.

More builders could use some similar setup on tris, as far as a solid triangular truss/strut mast design that integrates the crossarms, mast step/mast and standing rigging with the main hull framing, to form a structural “spider” framework you can then hang anything you want off of, like drop tanks on a fighter plane.

That’s where this guy is teflon as far as any complaints about the hull design – it’s all modular by nature so he can swap out any element of the hull assembly combo that he wants to as long as the proper forward crossarm-to-mast-step dimension/geometry is accommodated.

Be sure to click here to visit the webpage at CLC Boats in order to see all of the pictures of this boat.

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Here is the short summary of this boat:

This has been Dick’s personal fun boat for over 10 years. The REV is 16ft long, 11.5ft beam. Sails best with one adult or two kids. OK with one more.
The boat comes with three rigs: 93 Sq. FT. to 137 Sq. FT., two lug rigs and one crab claw. (shown), All with low center of effort for remarkable safety. Easy 10 plus knots in a breeze.
She comes apart for trailering in about an hours time. Galvanized trailer.
Located in California.
$4,000 ($3000 without the largest sail)
Call (707) 217 0581 for more information.

There is no doubt one of our readers is going to want this boat. I mean, seriously, a 16-foot small trimaran personally designed and sailed by Dick Newick! Who wouldn’t want this boat? :-)

Anyhow, be sure to check out the REV trimaran page on Russel’s website for more information. It also includes a link to a great article (in pdf) about Newick and his innovative trimaran designs, written by the famous sailor Steve Callahan.

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

“The PC Trimaran 12 footer was built to be another very good go sailing anytime you have a spare hour boat. There is no setup except for installing the mast which takes around 30 seconds. Because it is 8.5 wide it is road legal as it is. The amas may be removed if you need to with only 4 bolts total. Also because of its width it has a wider beam and is more stable in rough conditions and because you have one ama out of the water and the ama in the water has less wetted area it is somewhat faster. Plans are currently not available and will not be offered until new prototype built and retested with improvements mods.”

Roger is a member of the WaterTribe community (he goes by the name of JollyRoger). Be sure to check out JollyRoger’s Watertribe page because he describes the boat build for this PuddleCat tri.

I hope to feature more about it in an upcoming post. In the meantime, here are a few photos of this mini tri (which I am linking to directly from their published location on Roger’s site), along with the one YouTube video that he has published featuring it sailing under very light conditions.

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Our friend Aurelio, who is the owner/sailor of this lovely little craft, sent me these photos a couple of weeks ago.

He shares the following …

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Uffa 10 Trimaran with New Rig

Both the mast+boom come from C-Tech composites (in Auckland, New Zealand). The sail, however, comes from Italy (Ducksail).

This new rig works very well. The best speed achieved so far, which is a record for our 10 ft trimaran class, was about 10.8 knots (running).

I like the simplicity of maneuvering and speed of tack. The boat is the same as sloop version (there is only the new mast in forward hole deck). Now I do not need to change anything … but in future, I want test a little gennaker with a snuffer on bowsprit.

We are sailing on the northern lakes of Italy and Venice lagoon (see http://www.velalonga.com/ for more on this area). We are a member in the Diecipiedi Class Regattas. – Aurelio

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But this again leads us to think about how such forms might lend themselves to sailing beach trimarans … or others. I have no doubt we’re going to see more of this kind of thing very soon. (Thanks again for the links Ian!)

This first image is taken from a post at the San Diego Reader:

Paddleboard Trimaran

And you can click here is a more complete story on how this type of trimaran is being used. The following short video comes from this page:

Here are some more pics of the boat in action from http://distressedmullet.com/events/everybody-rides-programevent:

Ian also came across a boat that is described as a “Tri-Hulled Stand-Up Paddle Board”. A patent for this craft was filed in 2011:

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