What is a Trimaran?
A trimaran is a type of sailboat. The trimaran is a multihulled boat that consists of three individual hulls. The three hulls are known as the main hull, or vaka, and two other, smaller hulls are called the outrigger hulls, or amas. The frame work that connects the vaka to the amas on a trimaran is called the aka. The name trimaran comes from the root word tri meaning three and maram meaning wood or tree. Trimarans have been recorded as being built as early as 4,000 years ago by Polynesian societies. These Pacific Islanders created the original design they called the proa which is said to have inspired the trimaran design. Trimarans have gained modern day prevalence in the late 1900s and early 2000s. They are currently used as personal boats for sailing hobbyists and have even influenced the design of passenger ferries carrying over one thousand passengers. Trimarans are built in factories, but many are still made by hand in the traditional style in which they were originally conceived
It’s the first type of vessel known to man capable of deep sea voyages. Pacific islanders used big canoes stabilized by two outrigger floats; today we call these craft trimarans. In those and other multihull craft the “Vikings of the Pacific” made planned voyages of thousands of miles, navigating out to distant islands and back, at about the same time the Phoenicians were just beginning to attempt coastwise voyages staying within sight of the land. The most advanced of the ancient Pacific seacraft, like the camacau of Fiji, had “wave-piercing” hull forms. That is, they had long, sharp, low bows that would punch through a wave rather than climb over it. That made them fast, efficient, and smooth-riding. Captain Cook spoke of huge craft capable of carrying many men at high speeds in heavy seas. Modern multihulls, including WindRider, are increasingly utilizing that ancient wave-piercing wisdom. Today multihull vessels are the champions of ocean racing and are fast becoming the boats of c
