History lanong, a double-outrigger warship from the Philippines used in the navies of the
Sultanates of Maguindanao and
Sulu from the 18th to late 19th centuries. They were also commonly used for raids and piracy. boat (Mahdi, 1999) '', a functioning replica of a traditional
Austronesian sailing trimaran from the
Visayas Islands of the Philippines The first double-
outrigger boats were developed by the
Austronesian people and are still widely used today by traditional fishermen in
maritime Southeast Asia. It developed from the more ancient single-outrigger boats as a way to deal with the problem of the instability of the latter when
tacking leeward. Double-outrigger boats, however, did not develop among Austronesians in Micronesia and
Polynesia (although it exists in western
Melanesia), where single-outrigger boats and
catamarans are used instead. Warships with double-outriggers were used widely in Maritime Southeast Asia since ancient times up until the
early modern period, with examples like the
karakoa,
lanong knabat bogolu, and the
Borobudur ships. These were often referred to by Europeans during the colonial era as "
proas", a general term which can also refer to single-outriggers and even to native ships without outriggers.
20th century Recreational
sailing catamarans and trimarans gained popularity during the 1960s and 1970s. Amateur development of the modern sailing trimaran started in 1945 with the efforts of
Victor Tchetchet, a Ukrainian émigré to the US, who built two trimarans made of
marine plywood, which were about long. He is credited with coining the term, "trimaran." Other designers followed, including Jim Brown,
Ed Horstman,
John Marples,
Jay Kantola,
Chris White,
Norman Cross,
Derek Kelsall and
Richard Newick, thus bringing the trimaran cruiser to new levels of performance and safety. Following the homebuilt movement, production models became available. Some trimarans in the are designed as "day-sailers" which can be transported on a road trailer. These include the original Farrier – Corsair folding trimarans, such as the
F-27 Sport Cruiser – and original John Westell swing-wing folding trimaran (using the same folding system later adopted also on Quorning Dragonfly) and like trimarans. '' double-outrigger sailboats with traditional
Austronesian crab claw sails in
Majene,
West Sulawesi, Indonesia 20th century western-built trimarans typically did not use Austronesian
rigging like
tanja or
crab claw sails. Instead they used a standard
Bermuda rig. Trimarans were also typically wider. In addition, trimaran floats were much more buoyant than those of outrigger canoes, to support a large sailplan. This contributed to drag when heavily immersed, and their level of immersion indicates when to
reef. Doran (1972) claimed that both the traditional double-outrigger
vinta of the Philippines and the single-outrigger
wa of the
Caroline Islands were still faster than the western-style trimaran used at the time. ''.
Folding trimarans Several manufacturers build trimarans in which the
floats can be removed, repositioned, or folded near to the main hull. This allows them to be
trailerable and/or to fit in a normal
monohull space in a
marina. Several mechanisms allow the amas or outriggers to be stored compactly: • Demountable fixed tubes that are assembled before launching. • Telescoping tubes • Hinge and latch system that allows the amas to fold over the main hull to reduce width for trailing. • Vertical folding that lifts the amas upwards and over the main hull. • Horizontal articulation that moves the amas forward or backwards at the same level as the hull. • Horizontal folding of the amas towards the main hull.
Safety Trimaran safety features include
amas with multiple sealed partitions, controls that all run to the
cockpit, a collision
bulkhead, partial or full cockpit coverings or windshields, and drain holes in the cockpit that can adequately drain the cockpit quickly, among other things. Trimaran capsizes are more likely to be of the pitchpole type than a roll to one side due to their higher sideways stability and speeds.
Capsized trimarans are harder to turn upright after they have
turtled than monohull boats. While some capsized trimarans righted by sideways rotation may suffer heavy damage to mast and rigging, many modern and ancient trimarans are explicitly designed for this method of righting. Harnesses pulling on the stern toward the bow, or from the bow toward the stern of capsized trimarans have been shown to be able to successfully turn them end-over-end. Several design features reduce the chance of pitch-pole capsize; these include having wing nets with an open weave designed to reduce windage and decks and nets that shed water easily. The best way to avoid capsize is to reduce sail in heavy weather. == Competition and records ==