Why Sail a Trimaran?
A trimaran is a boat with three hulls. A sailing trimaran is a sailing boat with three hulls. Different sailors have different reasons why they sail a trimaran instead of a keelboat (a keelboat is a boat with only one hull).
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Trimarans have an enormous deck space compared to a normal keelboat. Deck space is the space on top of the boat where you spend your time sailing, sunbathing and most other activities. Most trimarans have large trampolines between the hulls. Those trampolines are soft and a perfect area to relax.
The reason I sail a trimaran is maybe more common, because of the boat speed. A trimaran normally has a boatspeed of 2-4 times of a keelboat of equal length. (Check my other article about the reason why a trimaran is much faster). Speeds of about 20 knots are not uncommon for a trimaran, however very few keelboats ever reach 20 knots.
I love to race, and even if I’m just leisure sailing I love to pass other boats in at a tremendously speed. I’ve never felt any adrenaline onboard any normal keelboats, even if we were racing. On my trimaran I feel the adrenaline pumping even when leisure sailing when passing 15 knots. My wife doesn’t like adrenaline when were doing leisure sailing with the kids aboard. So I have a speed limit of 15 knots when sailing with the family. Still were passing the keelboats fast when they are sailing at their top speed of 7-8 knots.
I would say that hose are the two main reasons people chose a trimaran, however there are quite a few other advantages of a trimaran. They have a great stability at anchor and at sea. They don’t lean and move very differently under sail. A lot of people say that the tendency to get seasick is much lower on a trimaran. I cannot confirm the last statement, however I have been seasick on a lot of keelboats and never on any trimaran (yet). However I still believe that it is just as easy to get seasick in a trimaran.
So are there any major drawbacks. If you ask a keelboat enthusiast you will get lots of reasons to not buy a trimaran. However most of those statements are false. And there are just as many reasons to not choose a keelboat over a trimaran.
However there are a few drawbacks of a trimaran. You get higher mooring costs. You normally get less interior space compared to a keelboat of equal length. And there are a few others, however I would only consider those two. (And there are a few brands of trimarans where you can fold the outer hulls, and you will then get the mooring cost of a keelboat)
