Building & Sailing Jim Michalak’s Trilars Trimaran
Tom Raidna is an amateur boatbuilder, sailor and most importantly … a small trimaran enthusiast :-) He contact me the other day to show me an economical project he’d recently completed — a small tri model designed by Jim Michalak called “Trilars.”
This kind of project represents exactly the kind of home-grown fun I love reading about — a sailing guy making something with wood and then going out on the water to test it all out!
Even though Tom provided lots of great information about this project on his webpage, I asked him if he’d share some feedback on a few questions I sent him. He responded by writing an original article just for this post. (Thank you Tom!) He also was kind enough to share a few pictures.
So without any further ado, here is Tom’s piece …
The Jim Michalak – Trilars
By Tom Raidna
I first became interested in boatbuilding after picking up my first copy of WoodenBoat magazine, (issue 119 July/Aug 1994) and reading the article : “A Canoe Called YAKABOO” by Joe Youcha. I have built 4 boats, Ken Brown’s Lark 8′ Kayak, Jim Michalak’s Toto 13′ double paddle canoe, a Stevenson’s project 12′ Skipjack and my latest project – the Trilars – also by Michalak.
It was during the build of the skipjack that I started one of the first home boat building websites in 1996 and it’s been through a few changes over the years. I continue to maintain www.buildboats.com today. I kept a building log and posted pictures of the process. What made this exciting were the emails I would get from all over the world.
I am a real fan of stitch and glue building method. It tends to be forgiving in many respects, also helps to keep the weight of the boat at a minimum. The Trilars (Toto and Lark 8) are built with this technique. While I am new to Tri’s, I have to imagine this is a good way to build them as well (at least for lower cost home boatbuilding)
I first ran across Jim Michalak designs in a Clark Craft catalog (order from that first issue of WoodenBoat). It was the Toto double paddle canoe that caught my eye and in my opinion is one of the best first boats one can build in stitch and glue. I only needed two sheets of plywood for a 13’ by 30” boat. She was Easy to car top, had good paddling performance and a stable platform for fishing and photography. Jim’s plans are now all for sale on a great site for boat builders, www.duckworksmagazine.com
In addition to selling plans Chuck at Duckworks sells marine items that are hard to find or over priced elsewhere. For this project I purchased the rudder fittings, fiberglass cloth and tape, screw out ports and graphite powder I mixed with epoxy to coat the boat of the hulls.
Let me first say that I did not set out to build a trimaran, but rather I had some specific criteria that I wanted and needed to meet. It turns out that the answer to these was a tri. The Trimaran I built, the Trilars, is an extension of that original Toto canoe. The main hull is a 16′ version of the Toto hull with bolt on sail rig consisting of 12′ amas (floats) and 8′ akas (braces).
At the time, I selected this design because: 1) it could be car topped, 2) I could use it to paddle two (my daughter then six, now 10 and myself), and 3) to fill the sailing void without needing a trailer or slip. One additional benefit is that, when disassembled, it fits in the 2′ x 3′ access to the crawl space under my house. This and Gizmo a 20’ proa are Jim’s only Multihull designs.
How long would it take to build this boat? This is a loaded question, as the elapsed time is very different than the amount of effort time required to build. I would say the main hull could be built in 60 to 100 hours based on the skill level of the builder and the level of finish. 40-50 hours for the sail rig. For me this period of time took 4 years, but we also moved twice along with a lot of other “excuses”. That does not include sail making time, I purchased a sail on eBay, as I’ve not yet convinced myself to make one, and the cost of a new sail is painful.
Building a Trilars could probably be done for as little as $300 if using standard lumberyard/home improvement store grade materials (luan or BX plywood) and Fiberglass Resin. I imagine using marine grade okume or similar and epoxy could double, triple or more the cost – the decision of what materials to use is an age old debate, and you can find opinions all over the net. I used Luan ply and epoxy. I had some problems with the Luan on this boat, and I didn’t with the Toto canoe. It seems the quality can be hit and miss.
Before I comment on sailing performance I should note that the only major change from the design I made was the sail. The plans call for a 59 sq ft triangular sprit sail. As I mentioned earlier I purchased a sail from an International Penguin, 71 sq ft, sloop rigged (loose-footed for $30) on eBay.
I completed construction in May and have sailed three times. The first time I had my 13 year old son with me, and the other two times I was solo. She sails well with even light wind, managing 2-3 knots easy. I’ve have had a top speed of 6 knots in 15 mph winds (my best guess on wind speed). She is stable as a dock. On the maiden voyage I had a failure of the cable ties used to attach the block to the mast (note to self no more cable ties), I was able to stand and un-step the mast with my son on board, repair and re-step the mast.
The biggest challenge is tacking; it seems I need at least 2.5 mph so speed to get her to come thorough the wind. I’ve read that this may not be uncommon for tri’s – I would love any feedback on this topic. Fore and Aft trim also needs be watched when sailing solo, as you can see in the attached picture I am seated to far aft and she is a bit bow up.
Two of my concerns while building the boat was the shape of the amas (floats) and the side mounted leeboard. The amas are basically a box in cross section that are brought together at the bow and stern, slightly upturned at the bow. I was afraid they would cause significant drag, but that does not seem to be the case.
Additionally, they definitely provide the stability. There is really no heeling while sailing, but I guess that’s no surprise. The leeboard is attached to the main hull with a pivot bolt about 1/3 the distance from the top of the board. The bolt comes from inside the hull through some extra blocking. With this arrangement no interior space in the hull is needed for a dagger board box.
For the most part, it has worked well, with the exception of in shallower water with trees — it tends to get bumped up and needs to be manually rotated back down. I suppose some weight in the (lead) in the lower third of perhaps some bungee cord arrangement would help this situation.
I have come across three other builders of this design. Most of us are using our boats on protected waters, inland lakes. Although one builder/sailor beefed up his build by glassing inside and out, added his own designed sail rig with stays and roller furling jib and uses it in the ocean off the North Carolina shore. With room under the fore and rear decks, I think she would make a fine camp cruiser for 1-2.
Auxiliary power can be canoe or kayak paddle, even an electric trolling motor can be mounted to the rear float brace with some minor modification. For additional exploring, the sail rig can be removed and the main hull used as a double paddle canoe.
Another topic to be considered for (the sailor) who’d like this kind of sailboat would be the method by which this boat gets to and from the water. For me the decision was that I needed something that could be transported on and in the car or minivan. The main hull is light enough that one person can heave it up to the roof rack … but at 16’ it’s a balancing act. The floats are a piece of cake. I’ve also seen the boat disassemble and loaded on a trailer, I also imagine with the right kind of trailer it could be left assembled for transport.
Assembly time for me has been about 45 minutes to an hour. This is longer that I really wished it would take. I think with some thought for changes in hardware (change wing nuts for larger knobs, etc.) this time could be reduced.
In closing, I would say I am very happy with my new boat. A boat like this garners attention everywhere I take her. (Hmmm, that said, I think the time answering questions definitely adds to set up time). I built her with the simplest set up in all aspects with the idea that I would make adjustments once I had her out on the water a few times. For anyone who is interested I will be keeping a log of those changes on my website, www.buildboats.com, to compliment the building log already posted. After all is any boat really done?
To read the full log for Tom’s building of his Trilars small trimaran click here
