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Richard Woods on “Kayak style” Sailing trimarans

by | Dec 13, 2018 | Production/Commercial Small Trimarans, Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All, Small Trimaran Videos

I recently found the following webpage, written by multihull designer Richard Woods. His commentary focuses on “kayak style” sailing trimarans.

Just for the record, I love many of the kayak style tris for several reasons, including the ability (theoretically, at least) to use a paddle, instead of a motor, if necessary. The lighter the boat is the more likely it is to paddle, of course.

This being said, Richard’s comments are certainly worth taking into account. It’s important to really think through the ideal boat (for the particular sailor) based upon its intended purpose.

I link to Richard’s webpage on his site below. (And the YouTube video shown below is also linked to from Richard’s article.) (more…)

Zeta Trimaran Hits the Water

by | Aug 12, 2016 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All, Small Trimaran Videos

zeta-trimaran-first-sail-3 The first Zeta trimaran, a new design from Richard Woods, is now under sail. We first featured the Zeta here.

Here are some pics and a video of the first sail of the first boat. Looks pretty good, especially with light wind.

One obvious goal of the pictures is to emphasize the boat’s lightness in weight. That is surely a great feature, especially for guys that want to easily trailer (or cartop) a boat to a nearby body of water, go sailing for a couple of hours, and then pack the boat up for the trip back home. (more…)

Small Trimaran News Bits from Richard Woods

by | Aug 4, 2016 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

tryst-trimaran-in-canadaDesigner Richard Woods shared the following pieces of news-info with us regarding a few of his designs. I thought we’d collectively them them here in this post.

……………

Duo dinghy / Tryst trimaran News…

Richards wrote:
I received a photo of Peet’s 10ft 2 sheet ply Duo dinghy a couple of weeks ago. It was the first boat he had ever built. Now, like so many people (including me) he has converted it to the Tryst trimaran, although slightly modified from the original drawings. (more…)

First Strike 20 Trimaran Now Sailing

by | Jun 9, 2016 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All, Small Trimaran Videos, Trimaran Design, Rigging, Construction Info/Links

strike-20-trimaran-sailingI just received the following Strike 20 Trimaran info from Richard Woods. He has been selling plans for this sailboat for awhile but this is the first one sailing (video below).

By the way, Richard says he is offering the following special deal for smalltrimarans.com readers. He writes, “Plans normally cost GBP250, but if people say they saw them on your site I’ll sell them for GBP200 (USD300)”

Isn’t that cool? (Thanks Richard … we appreciate that very much :-) (more…)

Introducing the Zeta – a 14-foot Singlehanded Trimaran

by | Nov 6, 2015 | Small Tri Info - All

zeta-14-trimaran-illustrationMultihull designer Richard Woods is on a “small trimaran roll” these days. He is about to release plans for another model … a 14-footer this time. It’s called The ZETA.

This sailboat is meant to be built quickly and affordably and especially with singlehanded sailing in mind. The webpage for the Zeta Trimaran can be found on Richard’s website here:
http://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs/27-trimarans-under-25/458-zeta-14ft-singlehanded-trimaran

And pdf study drawings can be found here – http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/images/zeta.pdf (more…)

Strike 16 Trimaran in Lima Peru

by | Oct 8, 2015 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

First sail

First sail

Here sailor/self-boatbuilder Dave Shatwell discusses the building of his Strike 16 trimaran. Dave built this boat in Lima Peru.

The Strike is just one of the small trimaran designs offered by Richard Woods. From what I hear, it features both good looks and performance in the water.

This trimaran began life, however, as a small catamaran. The amas came from a Pixie catamaran model (also from Richard Woods) and to those were added the main hull of the Strike 16.

Dave shares the details, including great pictures, with us below. (Many thanks Dave!) (more…)

Strike 16 Trimaran for Sale in Miami

by | Aug 6, 2015 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

strike-16-trimaran-for-sale-in-miami-8Sailor (and home boatbuilder) Carlos Solanilla is selling his Richard Woods’ designed Strike 16 trimaran. (And for a great price too!) We’ve previously featured his boat here and here and here.

Carlos is reluctantly parting ways with this boat (as he explains below). He shares some great pics and some insights that come from enjoying this boat in the past few years. (more…)

Strike 15 Trimaran – Short Sailing Videos

by | May 4, 2015 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All, Small Trimaran Videos

strike-15-trimaran-test-sail-in-franceHere is another report from Patrick, a sailor who is still very much enjoying his Richard Wood’s designed Strike 15 trimaran in France. A couple short videos below.

Patrick writes the following:

My best day was sailing solo along the pyla sand dune and the bird’s island at the mouth of Arcachon bay during the testsails in June 2014. I am currently sailing on the Cazaux – Sanguinet lake 20 km south of Arcachon (0n the newest videos) and 5 km from the Atlantic shore.

The boat’s performance to day (solo, no crew) is around 10 kt to windward and 13 kt downwind. However it is quickly overpowered owing to his mast length and I suspect it will be faster reefed or with a crew. (more…)

An Hour of Personal Sailing Instruction from Richard Woods

by | Aug 7, 2014 | Small Tri Info - All, Trimaran Design, Rigging, Construction Info/Links

Just received the following news from Duckworks’ proprietor Chuck Leinweber. Multihull designer Richard Woods is going to be conducting sailing classes at the upcoming Sail Oklahoma and the Port Arkansas plyWooden Boat Festival.

We are very glad to help spread the word about these events (and this opportunity in particular). Pure fun!

The below is excerpted from the full info page found here at Duckworks… (more…)

Tryst – A New 10-Foot Dinghy Trimaran Design

by | Jun 27, 2014 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

Multihull designer Richard Woods sent me the following info a couple weeks ago about Tryst – a new 10-foot trimaran design. This new 10-foot dinghy tri is based on his original plans for a 10ft two sheet plywood dinghy called Duo. In other words, Tryst is a further development of Duo, and both versions of this small boat look pretty neat.

Richard tells all about it in the below, most of which has been copied from the Tryst information page at his website. With his permission, I’ve included a few of his photos at his website. There are also links to his webpage for the Duo dinghy. (more…)

First Strike 15 Trimaran in the Water

by | Aug 16, 2013 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

Up to this point, we’ve only had a peek at the new Strike 15 trimaran design by Richard Woods. You can check out follow up posts about this boat here and here.

Now it’s finished. Well, almost, anyway. Finished enough to put her in the water and do some test sailing. (See for yourself in the photo and video below; be sure to click on the photo images to enlarge them). (more…)

Strike 15 Trimaran Build Continues

by | May 24, 2013 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All, Small Trimaran Videos

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…)

Jim Brown Talks to Richard Woods About His Small Trimaran Designs

by | Jul 27, 2012 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

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…)

Woods’ Strike 15 Racing Dinghy Trimaran Coming

by | Apr 22, 2012 | Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

Richard Woods sent me some info about the latest model he is working on — the Strike 15 trimaran.

“This summer, I plan to build my next small trimaran — my Strike 15. The long awaited “geriatric dinghy”. I attach a provisional study plan, please feel free to post it on your site. I have the rig already, I just need 6 sheets of plywood and I’m all set. (more…)

2nd Small Trimarans Book Coming Soon

by | Dec 14, 2009 | Production/Commercial Small Trimarans, Self-built Small Trimarans, Small Tri Info - All

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on a brand new Small Trimarans book (book #2). I tried hard to come up with a creative title for this one too — and I think I got the creative juices flowing and maxed out to a boiling fever pitch. As a result, I finally settled on a name for this new book on small trimarans. It’ll be entitled, (drum roll please) (more…)