trimaran sail trim

Yachting Monthly

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Wow, that was fast! Why trimarans are SO much fun to sail – and how to do it

• Theo Stocker
• February 13, 2024

For their size, trimarans can punch well above their weight in speed, cruising potential and fun. Monohull sailor Theo Stocker gets to grips with how to handle one

Humans tend to gravitate into tribes of like-minded enthusiasts, enjoying the encouragement, support and sense of identity, while often looking askance at others; sailors at motorboaters, cruising sailors at racers, monohull sailors at raft, I mean, multihull sailors, and everyone looks askance at jet-skiers.

Large cruising catamarans (40ft now counts as a small one) are a world apart from monohull sailing, but there’s a sub-tribe of sailors dedicated to life on three hulls and builders such as Dragonfly, Corsair, Farrier, and Astus give them plenty of choice.

I’ve been sailing a 22ft (7m) Astus 22.5 this season, with just enough space for a family of four and a minimum of creature comforts. Thanks to her VPLP-designed hulls and 650kg all-up weight, we can sail upwind at 7-plus knots and downwind at over 10 knots with ease, all on a roughly even keel, while the kids play Duplo down below. It can also be beached and is towable behind a car.

Having, it seems, caught the trimaran bug, I wanted to get better at sailing and handling the boat, but my monohull sailing experience and habits were proving something of a hindrance, so we sought advice from some existing trimaran owners, and well as the UK’s top multihull sailors.

Much of the advice will apply to all multihulls , whether two or three-hulled, while other parts are just for small trimarans. I also found that brushing-up some of my rusty dinghy sailing skills helped get my head around what we were trying to do.

To try out our expert tips we went out sailing to see what difference they made. On the day, we got a solid Force 4-5 southwesterly, averaging 16 knots, but fluctuating between 12 and 20 knots true.

Blasting about on a sporty trimaran is a whole world of fun, but is much calmer than it looks

Trimaran sail trim

One of the biggest differences between a cruising monohull and a multihull is how the mainsail is trimmed. Leech tension on a yacht is often largely controlled by the kicker and the backstay, while the mainsheet sheets the mainsail in and out, predominantly controlling the angle of the boom to the centreline, and there may be a short traveller.

On a mulithull, however, there’s more than enough space for a good, wide traveller. Those who sail on performance monohulls will also be used to this. The sail shape is mainly controlled by the mainsheet, and the traveller then moves the boom towards or away from the centreline.

This is exaggerated on a multihull which has wide shrouds, swept well aft with no backstay, making space for a powerful square-top mainsail with full-length battens. There’s no backstay to bend the mast and flatten what is anyway a pretty rigid mainsail.

The mainsheet purchase creates enough power to control the leech of the square-top mainsail

Depowering a trimaran

Sailing on a monohull, heel and weatherhelm and eventually a broach give loads of warning that you’re pushing too hard. With straight hulls and little heel, those warning signs don’t really apply to multihulls.

In reality, however, there are a host of warning signals that it’s time to back-off; they’re just a bit different. Even then, there’s still a large safety margin before you get close to danger.

By way of reassurance, with the boat powered up on a beat, Hein, from Boats on Wheels, the boat’s owner, stood on the leeward hull and lent on the shrouds. Even as his feet got wet and the wind gusted at the top of Force 4, the boat didn’t bat an eyelid, thanks to the huge buoyancy of the floats.

Even with a person on the leeward float the boat was extremely stable

On the water – sail trim

My first inclination was to point the boat as high upwind as possible, pin the sails in and go for height. Doing that resulted in a not-terrible boat speed of 5-6 knots and a good pointing angle.

Free off by a handful of degrees however, and ease the sails just a smidge, and the speed leapt up to 8-9 knots – over 50% more; a huge increase. So, don’t pinch. If you had a decent chartplotter on board, you could find your optimum speed to angle using velocity made good (VMG).

I was also tempted to pinch in the gusts, but it’s better to hold your course and let the speed increase until the main needs easing.

On the wind, it’s time to get the boat fully powered up

If that’s the case, drop the main down the traveller an inch or two or ease some twist into the mainsail and it makes all the difference in the world, but not so far that the top battens fall away and invert – that really isn’t fast. Push too hard and the boat will slow down, largely from the drag of submerging the leeward float and crossbeams. If you’re still overpowered and the main is luffing, it’s time to reef. Downwind is different, but we’ll get onto that later.

After we put a reef in the main, our boat speeds upwind remained largely the same, and the boat was much happier. I came away feeling reassured that even a little trimaran like this would be pretty difficult to capsize, and there were always plenty of warning signs telling me to take my foot off the pedal a little.

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Tacking and gybing a trimaran

Everyone knows that multihulls don’t tack as well as monohulls. Straight hulls and wide beam don’t lend themselves to turning, especially when coupled with the displacement and fixed keels of big cats. Trimarans are a little easier, with a single central daggerboard to act as a pivot, and one or other of the floats will generally be clear of the water. On the downside, light displacement means that there isn’t much momentum to keep you going through the turn and plenty of windage to stop you.

On a trimaran the central daggerboard helps the boat to turn by providing a central pivot point that catamarans lack

Speed is your friend. Build speed up before the tack to give you as much momentum as possible. The helm needs to steer positively into and through the turn, and if necessary, keep the jib backed on the new windward side to help the bow through the wind. Don’t worry about scrubbing speed off, but you don’t want to get stuck in irons.

When it comes to gybing, speed is again key. The turning bit isn’t going to be an issue as you’ll be scooting along, but the faster you’re going, the less load there will be on the sails. The more you slow down, the more the true wind will pile up.

Trimaran sailing skills

Tacks took a bit of practice. It felt plain wrong to jab the tiller across the boat, slamming a big break on in the water but I ended up putting us through the tacks far too slowly, losing a lot of speed. A more aggressive approach worked better. On the Astus, the traveller was between me and the tiller, so the tiller extension needed to be swung around the stern behind the mainsheet onto the new side.

Similarly, old habits of controlling a gybe needed to be modified. With the asymmetric set, we were planing at well over 10 knots, and the ideal is to stay on the plane. Heading dead downwind and centring the main lead to a more violent manoeuvre than flying into the gybe as fast as possible and, as the boom was never that far out thanks to the apparent wind angle, it didn’t need much extra controlling.

Coming up onto the wind after the gybe helped the asymmetric around the front of the jib and to fill on the new side. Stay too deep and it’ll get blanketed by the main. Once we had built up some apparent wind, we could bear away again.

You’ll be on a course deep downwind before you know it, hitting speeds in the double digits

Downwind in a trimaran

Upwind cruising may be fun in a multihull, but bearing away and going with the wind is what it’s all about. Easily-driven hulls, a generous sailplan and light weight mean you can be up and planing, leaving displacement boats wallowing in your wake.

The big difference comes from apparent wind. If you’re in a boat that can do 15 knots downwind in 20 knots of true wind, the resulting wind angles can really mess with your head.

To get going then, says Brian Thompson, ‘Use those leech tell-tales again when sailing downwind and reaching to set the correct twist through the mainsheet, and use the traveller to set the correct angle of the whole sail to the wind.’

As the wind and your speed builds, bear away and trim the main accordingly.

In theory, you shouldn’t need to ease the traveller at all, but you may need to if you want to sail deep downwind. As the gust fades, you’ll find the boat slows down, so you can come back up towards the wind a little to pick up some more breeze, and then bear away as you accelerate again.

Bear away as the boat accelerates. Your course will be something of a slalom as you look to keep a consistent wind angle

This results in something of a ‘slalom’ course, and will also be accentuated if you’re sailing down waves, but that’s all quite normal for apparent wind sailing. Ultimately, you’re looking for a consistent apparent wind angle, even if the resulting wake isn’t straight.

It’s worth remembering that apparent wind reduces the felt effect of the wind, so you need a sailplan to suit the true, not apparent wind speed.

I found that the boat was more sensitive to having a balanced sailplan and trim downwind than upwind, largely because you’ve got almost double the canvas up, with the bowsprit as an extra lever. When weather helm built, I needed to ease the mainsheet to increase twist to depower so that I could bear away. I must admit, getting the boat balanced, sailing fast and light on the helm at 15 knots was something I came away feeling I needed more practice at.

Reviewing the images, I suspect the asymmetric was sheeted in too hard, with too much twist in the main.

Getting a float fully submerged is when it’s time to back off

On the water

Unfurling the gennaker worked best on a beam reach, giving plenty of airflow over the sail to help it fully unfurl. This was also roughly the fastest point of sail, ideal for getting up some speed for apparent wind sailing. We mostly had the sails set for a close reach, even when we were beyond 120º off the true wind on a broad reach.

It was possible to soak deeper downwind, but lose the apparent wind benefit downwind and our speed dropped off dramatically, prompting us to point a bit higher to find some more speed.

As the boat powered up, it paid to hold a slightly higher angle than I would have done in a monohull for the boat to properly take off and get up into double digit speeds – topping out at 15 knots. Lymington to Cowes would have taken us just half an hour at that speed. It’s easy to give yourself a heck of a beat back!

We were sailing on a pretty flat day, so didn’t have to contend with any waves to speak of. On the recent RTI this is what caused the capsizes of at least two multis, a sobering reminder that you need to sail much more conservatively in lumpier conditions.

The bows want to point downwind, so a stern-first approach works with rather than against the boat

Coming alongside

A 650kg boat with no draught and plenty of windage feels dreadfully skittish when manoeuvring in confined spaces. Straight hulls with no forgiving curves and fragile-looking sharp bows make berthing tricky. You’ve got a couple of advantages on your side, however. In the Astus, the floats are at pontoon height making stepping off easy.

Whether you have an engine in each hull of a cat, or one in the central hull of a tri, there’s also a lot more leverage to play with to turn the boat and drive her on or off the pontoon. A steerable outboard gives you even more options.

If the boat has a lifting keel or daggerboards, put them down if there’s enough depth to give you a pivot and to resist drifting. Think about getting corners onto the pontoon, rather than putting the boat alongside. On tris, you won’t be able to get to the bow to fend off as it’s too narrow. You can rig a fender up forwards on a line, and two fenders are enough on the flat sides.

Steering with the outboard towards the pontoon will drive the stern in more; steer away to drive the bow in more

Offshore wind

Coming onto the pontoon with wind blowing off, it worked well coming in stern first. If there’s a tide running, you’ll want to be heading into the tide, so find a spot down wind and down tide to start your approach so you come in at an angle.

On our first attempt we had a bit of tide under us to start with so we came in at a much steeper angle, almost 90º, although this worked out OK in the end.

The crew could then step ashore, taking a line from the stern quarter round a cleat.

Drive forwards against the line and the bow will obediently drive up towards the pontoon, bringing you flat alongside. Getting off was simple, releasing the bowline, and allowing the bow to swing out the before slipping the stern line.

Coming in astern and stopping upwind of the berth meant the bows blew towards the pontoon far to quickly

Onshore wind

Getting onto and off a pontoon with onshore wind proved rather trickier. On our first attempt we came in stern first. The issue was that once we were just upwind of our desired berth and stopped, we lost steerage and the bow immediately blew off with alarming speed towards the pontoon.

Going ahead would only increase the force of the impact, while going astern only increased the bow’s sideways drift. I managed to back out without smashing the bow, but only just, and ended up awkwardly stern to the wind with the bows pointing at the pontoon.

On our second attempt we came in bows first but having aimed at the berth, I had to motor the stern to leeward to stop the bow hitting, making for a rather forceful coming alongside.

On take three, I came in forwards and began ferry gliding towards the berth early, keeping the bows to windward of the stern. Being able to steer with the outboard meant I could go ahead to keep the bow up, and go astern with the engine pulling the stern down toward the pontoon. In this way, it was possible to come in pretty well controlled and parallel to the berth.

To get out, motoring astern against a bow line pulled the entire boat clear before slipping the line

Leaving was a different proposition all together, as I didn’t want to drag the bow along the pontoon, or to drive hard onto it to spring off. Instead, we rigged a slip-line from the forward cross beam. Going astern against this, and then turning the engine towards the wind, I could pull the stern, and the rest of the boat, out and away from the pontoon.

Keeping power on astern, once we’d reached a decent angle, we slipped the line and went astern, finding steerage way almost at once, with the bow following obediently in our wake with more control than I had anticipated.

Whether the wind is blowing onto, or off the pontoon, you want the engine to be driving or pulling the boat off the pontoon with a line on the corner you are going away from. That way you avoid point-loading fine ends where it’s hard to fender.

You’ll want a bridle to reduce swinging, but keep the pick up lines on the bow as backup

Anchoring and mooring a trimaran

While mooring a catamaran is complicated by the lack of a central bow, things should be simpler on a trimaran, and they are, mostly. Picking up a mooring buoy from the main hull bow with a low freeboard and dropping the pick-up line onto a cleat is easier even than a monohull.

The bow may be narrow, but for any lines that pass through a ring on the buoy, you still need to take it back to the same cleat to avoid chafe. That should be it, but windage from the two extra bows and the lack of keel mean the boat can dance merrily around the mooring buoy in a breeze.

Rig the bridle so the buoy sits to one side to stabilise the boat

In practice, we found that a trimaran benefits from a mooring bridle in the same way that a catamaran does. It can’t be rigged from the floats’ bows, as there are no mooring cleats, so a line passed around the outboard ends of the forward beams gave a pretty good angle, again with long lines passed through the mooring and back to the same side. The main pick-up lines stay as a safety backup.

The other trick is to rig the bridle asymmetrically so that the buoy sits to one side or the other, just enough to not be dead head to wind, making it much more stable in the wind.

On the plus side, the lack of draught or keel means that you’ll nearly always be lying head to wind, so the cockpit remains nice and sheltered whatever the tide’s doing.

We ran out of time on the day to try anchoring, but rigging a bridle, effectively a long snubber to a point on the anchor chain in a similar way wouldn’t be tricky.

If you needed not to swing, or to behave more like deeper boats nearby, hanging a bucket over the stern can help, or there’s always anchoring with a kedge, either out ahead in a V, or in line astern.

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Mainsail handling: Advanced sailing techniques for catamarans and multihulls

Knowing how to set up a multihull’s mainsail is crucial. Brian Thompson, one of the world’s most experienced multihull sailors, and one of the directors at Doyle Sails Solent, shares his expert tips.

A mainsail cannot know whether it is hoisted on a monohull, a catamaran or a trimaran. The principles of sail trim are universal.

On all types of yacht the traveller, mainsheet, outhaul, halyard and the Cunningham can be used to control the sail, and the information from the tell-tales can be used to help judge how much power the sail is providing and whether it is well trimmed.

But there are some important and some subtle differences between monohulls and multihulls.

Because the multihull is so much more stable at low heeling angles, the heel angle is harder to use as a reference for when the boat is overpowered. Rather like a car versus a motorbike; the car heels only a little when pressed, while on the motorbike it’s much more obvious when the limits are being approached.

So on the multihull the decision of when to depower and to reef has to be influenced more by other inputs rather than just heel angle.

Generally speaking, a multihull’s wide beam allows for a much longer traveller than on an equivalent monohull, so there is much better control of the boom position when reaching and downwind sailing. This can make a boom vang/kicking strap unnecessary.

A multihull does not roll downwind like traditional monohulls, so the risk of an accidental gybe is much reduced, though not eliminated. Additionally the boom is less of a danger to the crew as it is often high and above a long cabin top – though that can then mean that visibility to the mainsail is more restricted, and you may have to move to find the best spot to look at the mainsail trim.

With the shrouds further outboard and often further aft than on a monohull, a multihull’s mast is well supported and permanent backstays and runners are not required. This allows for a bigger roach on the mainsail and a more powerful sail for the same mast height. The big roach on the main then necessitates full-length battens with cars on the mast, rather than short battens.

Inflexible mast

The high righting moment of the multihull combined with a lack of backstay or runners, means that the mast has to be strong and stiff and is not adjustable in bend under way, whether it is a fixed or wing mast. So it won’t be possible to flatten the mainsail with mast bend, as you might do in a monohull with a backstay.

And because of that wide shroud base, and consequent reduced mast compression, some performance multihulls can have rotating wing masts, to reduce the aero drag of the mast and clean up the airflow to the mainsail. This does not really change the mainsail trim but it is a slight performance gain.

But with the shrouds further aft and with full battens in the mainsail, it can be more of a challenge to reef downwind, as the battens and sail will chafe against the shrouds more.

Knowing when to reef

The fundamental control on the power of the mainsail is what size sail you have decided to set. As the wind increases it is very important to reef at the appropriate wind speed and not wait too long, otherwise the boat becomes overloaded.

For instance, when racing on a MOD 70 trimaran, we’d usually go to first reef at 20 knots true wind speed, upwind and downwind. Of course, you could temporarily carry full main to 25 knots, if you are careful on the helm and with sail trim, but the boat will be slower as the sails will be eased and creating more drag. It is also far more dangerous to overload a 7-tonne trimaran that can capsize.

However, on delivery with the same boat, the reefing wind speed would be 17 knots True, as we reef as early as we can without losing significant speed.

As a guide to boat speed on delivery, upwind we are happy to be doing 16 knots and downwind 25 knots, and we want to achieve those speeds with the minimum of sail. When racing of course we try to go faster with a 20 knots target speed upwind and 30 knots downwind!

As the boat is very powerful, we would go to second reef at 26 knots and third reef at about 33 knots on the MOD70, less on delivery of course.

When cruising or on delivery, I always like to learn the minimum wind speed that I can reef while maintaining a similar boat speed. That way there is less stress to the boat, rigging and crew. The centre of effort of the sails also goes down, so heel and pitching reduce. Downwind, the bow down trim will reduce and the boat will be safer and lighter on the helm.

If the wind is expected to increase, I’d confidently change down at these minimum wind speeds, but if the wind is oscillating up and down in strength I would make sure the wind was really holding above that minimum wind speed before reefing.

And if unsure of what is going to happen with the wind – when sailing into squalls, into night time, or into gusty offshore winds near high land and headlands – then I would always aim to err on the side of caution. When cruising, being set up for the higher wind speeds than expected, is an old axiom.

The MOD is a super high performance trimaran of course, but to find out what the limits should be on a popular cruising cat I spoke to Graham Laver at Ancasta, who sent me the sailing guide for the Lagoon 52.

Interestingly, it’s not that different. With the standard pinhead mainsail, the first reef is recommended to go in at 21 knots both upwind and downwind, and in less wind with the optional square-top main, or in a bad sea-state. The second reef is recommended at 33 knots and the third is at 40 knots. These are higher winds than the MOD70, but then it’s a less powerful, heavier boat with a shorter rig.

Here we are talking all the time about wind speed in True, which requires a reasonably accurate instrument system. This is now common on most boats, but it’s very worthwhile to put in a little time to calibrate this as well as possible.

Not all about numbers

And this opens up the whole subject of instrument calibration. In essence the wind cups will, out of the factory, read the correct upwind and reaching apparent wind speed, but to get accurate true wind speed, the calibration of wind vane angle to the centreline, the boat speed and the compass are all very important so that the wind speed reads the same, tack to tack.

Downwind, the windspeed will often overread due to the upwash of wind from the square-top mainsail at full hoist, or a spinnaker, so be aware this may add about 2 knots to the windspeed. This can be calibrated out with advanced instrument systems

Even if the instruments are really well calibrated I like to always imagine how I would sail if they suddenly stopped working. So what are the other clues to use to estimate the wind speed?

Very important is the look of the wind on the water, the amount of white caps, as in the classic Beaufort scale, and also the feel of the boat: the speed through the water, the subtle heel angle changes, the amount of helm that is needed, and the balance of the boat.

For instance, how much you have to depower the boat to achieve a certain boat speed is a good guide. If I have eased quite a lot of mainsheet and traveller and the boat speed is as desired, and the front 20% of the main is luffing, then its probably past time to reef, even without looking at the true wind speed numbers.

In 2001, I sailed in the Mini Transat Race. At that time those boats had no wind instruments and it soon became second nature to know wind speed and direction, day or night. It’s a good exercise to always check your estimate of the wind speed against the instruments.

Of course you want your instrument and power system to be super reliable and well calibrated, so you don’t lose wind data on a dark night, but also you want to blend that information with your own judgement of the situation and have confidence in that judgement/intuition. The wind number is not an absolute guide to the forces on the boat anyway.

For instance, the same 20 knots wind speed is less powerful in the warm tropics than in the cold Southern Ocean. And on a foggy day with cold water and warm damp air, the wind is less powerful as there will be a lot of wind shear and the wind at the deck level is much less than the wind at the masthead.

So on a day when the wind is better mixed, the same 20 knots at the masthead is more powerful than that foggy day with laminar flow wind.

To summarise the discussion on reefing limits: it’s not just about the digital TWS number, but also what is right for the conditions you feel, the feedback from the behaviour of the boat, your predictions about what is going to happen in the future, the goal of the sailing and the abilities of the crew.

Reefing tips

Reefing is easy to do upwind or reaching, and I often slow right down to reef, and then get going again when the reef is finished. This keeps the apparent wind speed down, and makes for a safer platform for the crew. Downwind it can be trickier, with the friction of the sail and full length battens on the shrouds. If it’s not possible to head up, then winching the luff down at the same time as the leech should get the sail down slowly.

On very fast boats such as MOD70s you can keep going fast enough downwind to keep the apparent wind angle at 50° just with the gennaker, and then the mainsail can flap without hitting the shrouds when the traveller and mainsheet are eased. Then, once you are reefed, you can get back to your 37° to 40° of apparent wind angle and 30 knots of boat speed!

Mainsail trim

So now we have the right size mainsail for the situation, how are we best going to trim that sail?

The big controls are the mainsheet and the traveller, and the minor controls are the outhaul, halyard and Cunningham (and on some boats some of these last three are not adjustable).

So let’s talk first about upwind and reaching in moderate, flat water conditions, when the mainsail is trimmed the tightest – let’s say in 12 knots of wind.

For the mainsheet, you can keep trimming until the top telltale is folded to leeward of the leech about 20% of the time, and the other 80% of the time it, and all the other leech telltales, are flying. That is max main trim, giving the straightest leech and minimum twist. I like to think of this as 1 out of 10, or ‘minimum twist’. I like to look up the back of the leech sometimes to assess the amount of twist.

In fact, if you can then mark the mainsheet at this position along a scale on the boom, you could have marks from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most trimmed in you can go, and with 10 being the most eased. This is ‘maximum twist’, perhaps used when you are reefing.

I really like to have marks on the mainsheet (and everywhere else it might apply), as it’s easy to then repeat your settings, and also to pass on information to the rest of the crew in a concise form. In these upwind conditions, position the traveller so the clew of the mainsail is on the centreline.

As it gets windier, the first thing I would do is ease just a little mainsheet, to mark 2 or 3 on your scale so that the top of the main opens a little to reduce the power up top, and to reduce all of the loads. All the leech telltales will be flying now.

After that start easing the traveller down a little to depower further. Then, when you have 20% of the front of the sail luffing, its certainly time to reef, which will provide the same power, with less drag, so will be faster and safer.

In lighter winds you’d again have slightly less leech tension, perhaps also at twist mark 2 or 3, and the traveller slightly higher up the track so the clew still stays on the centreline. In light conditions you might use a little lazyjack or topping lift to stop the weight of the boom closing the leech. But by then most people will be motorsailing!

Use those leech telltales again when sailing downwind and reaching to set the correct twist through the mainsheet, and use the traveller to set the correct angle of the whole sail to the wind.

In waves you need to have more twist than in flat water as the apparent wind angle changes much more with all the heeling, pitching, and course changes, so you need a more tolerant setting.

Tweaking minor controls

The use of the minor sail controls can depend on the boat set up. Most boats will have an outhaul, to control the foot of the mainsail, and this will be tighter for strong winds and eased a little in the moderate, downwind and light conditions.

You can use either the halyard or Cunningham to control the luff of the sail. The goal is to barely eliminate the wrinkles in the luff and the sag between the batten and intermediate cars, but no more than that. Downwind you can ease the luff tension but still get rid of the wrinkles. On a bigger multihull with full battens, you can’t significantly move the draft forward of the sail with more luff tension or bend the mast like you can in a smaller cat.

The lazyjacks or topping lift should be left loose enough not to interfere with the mainsail but tight enough to hold the boom up if you forget to tighten them up before reefing or dropping the main.

Setting up your mainsail

When you first put on a fully battened mainsail on a multihull, the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s heavier than on an equivalent length monohull: the area is higher with the big roach, the full-length battens heavier, plus the weight of the mast track cars that go with the battens. The sail is typically made in a tougher cloth because the righting moment of the boat is greater than a monohull. So once you have that heavier sail into the lazyjacks, here are some tips for setting it up properly.

• Head:  Set the correct distance between the head ring and the mast. If it’s adjustable you’ll find that bringing the head ring closer to the mast will put more fullness in the top of the main and make the leech tighter.
• Battens:  Check the batten tension: ideally you want to be just getting rid of any vertical creases around the batten pockets. Too tight and the sail will be overly stressed and you can see the batten making the sail locally deeper.
• Depth:  The mast is not tuneable in bend without a backstay, but one trick with full batten mains is to tune the thread that attaches the batten car to its mainsail track car. If you have more thread showing then the mainsail will get locally deeper as it is the equivalent of straightening the mast.
• Foot:  Make sure the tack is lashed with the appropriate distance to the mast track so that it follows the luff of the sail. Ensure the clew is lashed down close to the boom and the outboard reef lines are run in the correct position.
• Reef lines:  Due to the righting moment of the boat, the loads on the reef lines are higher than a monohull. Bigger multihulls will benefit from a hook arrangement for the reef so that it engages with a loop or a shackle on the leech of the main. This can help with chafe problems on lines and lessen compression on the boom.
• Telltales and stripes:  Cut strips of red spinnaker cloth to use as telltales on the leech end of each batten. Big is better. The top one is particularly critical to make sure the mainsail is not over-trimmed. One trick for night sailing is to sew a little retroreflective tape to the back end of the telltales so they show up well when a flashlight is shone on them.

Draft stripes are useful on the mainsail to look at the shape at three different heights, and these can also have retroreflective alongside them for nighttime sailing

Brian Thompson – Director, Doyle Sails Solent

Brian Thompson is one of the world’s foremost multihull sailors and has sailed more miles in multihulls than any other British sailor.

Thompson, 58, has been sailing since he was three years old. He has competed in virtually every major offshore race, including the Mini Transat Race, the Vendée Globe, round the world records for the Jules Verne Trophy, the Route du Rhum and the Volvo Ocean Race.

Thompson has held most offshore records over the last three decades, including spending 11 years sailing with the American adventurer Steve Fossett. He has become the go-to helmsman for multihull sailing records and during his more recent time aboard the MOD70 Phaedo3, helped set ten world records. Thompson is currently campaigning the MOD70 Argo and is one of the directors of Doyle Sails UK.

For more information on Doyle Sails UK click  HERE

Tips on Sailing a Small Trimaran

Part 1  adjusting & setting sails + boat trim            .

Builders of the W17 will one day appreciate to know how to sail their boat to advantage, so after spending a few seasons putting over 1200 nautical miles on my own W17R, here is what I can share.   Even if one might claim I’m biased, I can honestly report that ‘Magic’ is one of the most satisfying boats I’ve ever sailed, providing a blend of performance excitement with dryness & comfort that is rare to find.    It’s no secret that I personally enjoy ‘a sense of high efficiency’ in any boat, so here is what I have learned to date about how to achieve that on this boat.  I share this broadly as I’m confident much of it can also help owners of other small sailboats to get more out of their chosen craft.   Having said that, I’m confident that some passionate duo of 30 year-olds with 20 years of racing behind them will find even faster ways to propel this boat, but when this happens, I just hope they will share their secrets ;-)     In the meantime, here’s what I have so far.

To some, much of this exposes nothing surprising but I still think it’s worth spelling out -  for those either ‘a little rusty’ or more particularly for those into trimarans for the first time.    Keep in mind that what is described here is about ‘ efficient sailing’ - ie: how to get the most out of your boat.   Of course, one could ignore such performance gains and just laze around on this very stable boat, simply playing the control lines for safety reasons – but that is not what drives this article.      This is about sailing efficiency & performance , requiring a little more attention and effort than just a social sail might inspire.

Before getting into boat trim etc, let’s chat about SAILS ... sail shape to be precise.   Novice sailors are too often seen with poorly set sails.   ‘Sails’ are your engine and poorly set ones are like running with only half of your cylinders firing.   Should you notice that in your car, you’d head straight to a garage, yet when sailing, many seem to just accept the status quo .    Let’s try to change that and expand your sailing pleasure.

We must first note that our power comes not only from the wind.  Its interactive force is also significantly affected by boat speed and direction so let’s think of it as ‘air movement relative to the boat’ (or for many, the apparent wind ).  Take a simple example.  Upwind, our boat speed will add to the ­air speed, whereas downwind it will deduct from it.    This will also significantly affect the direction the air actually impinges on the sails.      This in turn affects its drive, required sail shape and its ideal trim relative to this moving air.   But more on this later.

Although most modern sails have their leading edge attached to either a wire (foresails), furler track (reefable foresails) or to a mast slot (via rope or slides) for the mainsail, sail loads are still principally transferred to the spars and boat by their 3 corners, so the tension adjustment of each is critical for optimum performance.    Here are  these 3 key attachments (see sketch).

            (In the mainsheet photo to the right, note the small net of poly-mesh that catches the W17 traveler control line P&S to prevent it dragging in the water!   Simple to make & install, hooked to track brackets & quickly removable).

                                                                                                                                                                                                       Sail tension & shape

As a general principle, the stronger the wind, the tighter you need to set most adjusting lines.   Primarily, wind travels horizontally over the water so the flow of the moving air requires that we look at the section of our sails in a horizontal plane, but as wind speed is greater at more height above the water surface, we also need to allow for that when trimming our sails.   Sails are designed, cut, sewn and set, to give some camber to their horizontal shape …. much like the upper surface of a plane wing.   Slower planes need more camber than fast ones … and so it is with sails.   So a higher wind (or a faster boat - like many multihulls), needs a sail with less horizontal camber than in a lower wind or for a slower monohull.**  This also means that the slower air down by the boat or boom, can accept more sail camber than higher up.   This often appears to be ignored by many casual sailors and even some sailmakers, as I too often see sails that are made and set too flat low down for my personal preference.    So particularly with full-length battens, a very tight outhaul along the boom is seldom required even for a fast boat, unless the wind is really howling (see next paragraph).   However, higher up the sail, wind speed is faster so we need to reduce the camber and with a non-flexible wingmast, this can typically only be done by the sailmaker (using good panel design and stretch-resistant materials), though it can certainly be helped with stiffer, tighter, full length battens.   I often add tows of UNI carbon fiber to the after half of full-length battens that are frequently too flexible there and it’s proven to be well worth the effort.

**   (This is one important reason that multihulls needs sails made by makers who are experienced with multihulls.   Also, as a wing-mast is very stiff fore & aft, the correctly matched mainsail will have an almost straight luff, with only the tack (fwd. low corner) cut back a little, so when the foot is pulled forward, this helps give more fullness, forward and low down).

IF you find your topping lift is always catching in your battens, once the mainsail is up, you can either unclip it at the boom end and temporarily clip it near the mast (ok for small boats), or you can use a light tension cord from the forward boom or gooseneck area and clip it to the topping lift just above the boom to prevent it from flying aft .. but this retainer is best set up without tension that could adversely affect sail shape.

Leech lines (down inside the rear seam) are another thing.  Personally, I never tighten mine … but leave them in their sleeve just to add a little ‘body’ to the rear edge  Tightening a leech line typically curls the leech to windward, forming a brake or partially stalled sail.   Even if the leech is loose and flapping, that’s better than a fixed curl in my opinion.    Better to think of the flapping like a sculling oar moving the air aft.  Yes, a tensioned leech line will cut the noise, but it will also slow the boat.

To further keep the leech as flat as possible, I favor having multihull sails reinforced with a wide doubler in that area and always buy mine that way.  As this also retards leech stretching, adding years of useful life, I find this particularly valuable for a multihull, when almost ALL the sail tension is applied down the leech from the mainsheet.   No other part of a multihull main is stressed more.

So shapewise , do all you can to have the leech almost flat and when going upwind, parallel to the centerline of the boat.  It may be a little freer to leeward, but never to windward, unless for some  bizarre reason, you really DO want to stall the sail and seriously cut your speed.

In order to achieve adequate fullness down low with short-footed foresails , one can benefit significantly in light to medium winds by rigging a mikelin , a line that takes the horizontal sheet tension off the sailcloth at the foot.  This will be fully explained in Sailing Tips Part 2 .

Setting Sails

Now hook the Cunningham tackle into the eyelet that needs to be about 200mm above the boom and tension the luff .   (If your sail does not have this eyelet, get one added, along with the necessary sailcloth reinforcement).

Except for very light wind sailing, the luff will require to be fairly tight … enough to remove any horizontal wrinkles near the luff rope plus a little more, as the wind will blow-out most small vertical wrinkles.  Because of inevitable friction at the masthead sheave, it’s worth initially tightening the Cunningham really hard to get most of the stretch out of the halyard that’s ideally inside the mast.   Then, the tension can be eased off a little to suit the weather – still tight in high winds but eased off a little in light weather to allow some horizontal ‘speed wrinkles'.  Normally, with ‘a bendy mast’, one might adjust this Cunningham more often to suit conditions, but with a sail set behind a non-flexing wingmast, it has far less effect on the overall result, as the first 200mm of the aerofoil camber near the luff is now created ‘solid’ by the mast itself, so is automatically wrinkle free.

The final mainsail adjustment is with the outhaul .   With the fully-battened W17 rig, this primarily adjusts the camber in the lower part of the sail … so needs to be set accordingly.   I have found it seldom needs to be tight as the lower part of most sails are already cut rather flat … typically too flat for me.   Later in this article, there is a table giving my suggested sail camber for different winds.   This gives 8% camber for 25 kts which for most small boats is a STRONG wind.  If the foot is 2.4m, this means a camber of 192mm, meaning that the outhaul is correct for that wind when you can push out the lowest batten nearly 200mm from the boom.   But at only 5kts of wind or less … a mere zephyr, we are looking for 16% camber, or 390mm (!) of flex in the very lowest batten at the boom.   As your apparent (interactive) wind may be higher than this, the camber can be reduced accordingly, but could still be more than we typically see, and I’ll stand by my recommendation until it’s proven to be too much.    (Camber will need to be progressively less higher up though, as the chord will be shorter and the wind speed higher).

(Slower boats, be they multihulls or monos, will sail more often with their wind aft of the beam and in such cases, will generally benefit from the addition of a kicking-strap (also called ‘kicker’ or ‘boom-vang’)  that pulls the boom down with a tackle between a point on the boom and the base of the mast to keep the mainsail leech straighter, significantly reducing rolling and improving mainsail-drive efficiency when sailing 'off the wind'.   Multihulls, especially those with a wide mainsheet track like the W17 have no need of this equipment as they seldom sail with apparent wind aft of the beam, and even if they do, their mainsheet effectively does the job when combined with a wide traveler that’s used correctly).

A word about Booms

It’s been my experience that sails without booms can only be perfectly set and controlled when the clew is close to the deck and led to a point that provides adjustment both fore and aft as well as athwartship.   This applies to both main and foresails.  As the mainsail typically carries the most sail, a boom is essential for high efficiency in all directions, whereas one commonly accepts to compromise for foresails that are smaller.    However, jibs with booms can still give that extra control and even rotating camber-booms (inside large sleeves), have shown better overall performance if you can suffer their inconvenience due to no longer being ‘roller furlable’.   Mainsails without booms only work well in a close-hauled tight position and cannot be recommended for overall efficiency.  Boomless mainsails put high loads on their battens when eased off, so sails can soon go out-of-shape.  Even for small pleasure boats, they allow far too much twist and camber, causing the boat to oscillate dangerously downwind, and to be frank, I am not convinced that a large, multi-sheave-block hanging from a clew that is now free to swing fore-and-aft as well as sideways, is any less dangerous than a boom that can more readily be grabbed to check its passage across the boat.     Sorry, but for me, it’s just too much of a compromise on efficiency.   Anyway, I also use my boom for other important things, such as a core for rolling up my mainsail and …. well, even for drying clothes or supporting a sun or rain cover while at anchor ;-)

And performance-wise, race classes that allow both boom or boomless rigs, often end up giving the boats different handicaps, as in moderate winds and above, boats with booms have typically proven to be both faster and safer.

Now to the Jib .   

If the jib luff is long (say from the mast head), there will always be a certain ‘sag’ from the straight line.  Although this is best kept to a minimum (by a stiff mast or backstays), the amount of remaining sag must be recorded and the sailmaker informed, so that this same amount is removed from the jib luff … otherwise the foresail will always be too full.  This is generally more apparent with larger foresails such as a genoa. 

Typically, the jib tack is lashed to the lower thimble of the forestay on the W17. With time, the sail can change a little – stretching with use, but sometimes even shrinking with age.  So this lower attachment may need adjusting after a few seasons use … with the tack lashing effectively becoming a Jib Cunningham.     Tensioning the luff of any sail will pull the fullness forward, but when sailing, this fullness will be moved aft by air pressure and friction over the sail surface, so keep a constant eye on your actual sail camber.   While the point of maximum camber can be allowed to move to 45% back on a mainsail sailing in moderate to strong wind, it should be more forward on the jib, more like 35%.     If it’s too far back, try tensioning the Cunningham.    With old tired sails, it will generally mean a visit to the sail loft.

Unless there is a jib boom, the jib ‘ outhaul’ is the actual jib sheet and it’s important that the sheet lead blocks are set at the right location so that tension is initially roughly equal on the leech and the foot.   If not, then one can move the jib-sheet blocks or, often easier for a W17, raise or lower the jib by changing the length of the upper wire strop to the mast hound beak and adjusting the lower tack-strop to suit.  

The jib sheeting must be adjustable for different conditions, so let’s consider what can be done beyond the basic sheeting adjustment.   Some boats have their jib sheet leads on a track that can be moved fore & aft, or even a little inboard or outboard.  Moving the lead more forward, will move the tension from the foot to the leech ... allowing more camber for lighter winds.   Moving it rearward, will tension the foot but ease the leech, helping to avoid mainsail back-winding or spilling excess wind in heavy conditions.    

But the W17 system is simpler and lighter with no tracks required.  First, after the leeward sheet is set, the normally idle weather sheet can be slightly tensioned to pull the jib clew closer to the mast for a finer sheeting angle … even down to 10 deg can be useful on some close-winded boats. 

(A supplementary line that adds side tension to change the load direction of the primary one is generally called ‘a Barber Hauler ’, so in this case, the weather sheet is being used as a Barber Hauler) .   

Also, as the W17 sheet has 2-parts, the standing part can be pulled down under a small hook mounted about 200-250 mm forward of the normally attached position ( see above photo of jib sheet ).   This will add tension to the leech without adding as much to the foot … so permitting a little more camber in the sail for lighter winds.    Using the ‘telltales’ will help to guide the ideal sheeting … something that will be discussed in Part 3 .

But now, what if the wind is very light … say under 5kts and we are looking for that 16% camber?

We can achieve more camber if we just slacken off the jib sheets completely, but then the leech is also slack and the sheeting angle is so large that there’s no upwind drive or ‘slot-effect’ with the main.   So what to do?   

This is where a mikelin can really help.  There will be more on this in Part 2 , but basically, it is a horizontal line that is added to take the foot tension of the foresail.   (See Part 2 for photos & more explanation).  

Take note that small boats of all types, particularly those under 6m (20ft), will need to use the movable weight of crew members to constantly modify the heel and trim in order to sail at the highest efficiency.

First and foremost for a trimaran, it’s important to never sail the boat on three hulls!   When sailed very light, a few trimarans with high amas (high dihedral for the aka beams) can actually be balanced just on the central hull with the amas clear of the water.   This is faster in light wind and my old Buccaneer was like this. However, the high dihedral meant the boat heeled a lot more to find its float stability so losing valuable sail drive, even if offering a boat-rig that spilled wind gusts more automatically.  (High dihedral also makes a boat very skittish and ‘flip-flop’ at anchor).   Later designed boats generally avoid this, but require that the movable weight (crew) is always conscious of the heel and ready to move from windward to leeward should the wind not be enough to get the windward ama (float) out of the water.    At the same time, the crew should be ready to move back to windward if they see a darkening of the water to windward, indicating an imminent wind gust.   Ideally, the windward ama should be just above the water surface and if the ama bottom shape is correctly engineered, clipping a few wave tops will be silent and smooth, so of little concern.   But if your windward ama annoyingly slaps, you may need to heel your boat more to gain clearance. Although the helmsman might help with this adjustment of heel, the main weight movement should be one of the principal duties of the crew when there is one.

NOTE: The asterisk against the words ‘deep as practical*’ needs clarifying.   When sailing in steep waves that are very close (as often found on a large and windy lake) ... the practical limit can be exceeded when wave tops start to come over the foredeck …. so a balance will be required between good bow depth and required forward freeboard.    Allow me to also diverse here and get a certain message across.  This is a point I like to emphasize, both when sailing and designing.   

A boat is required to be supported by upward forces that match its weight.  IF going fast enough, some of that can come from dynamic lift , as offered by planing surfaces or foils. However, most of the time, its weight is supported purely by hull buoyancy, so now it’s for the designer AND later, the sailor, to decide just where is the best location for that buoyancy to give the least resistance to forward motion ?   If there is little chance for dynamic lift, I have observed that getting more buoyancy up forward will lower forward resistance, especially if added deep below the waterline and not at the surface.    So either the designer can work this into his design, or the sailor can move forward to achieve something similar, keeping in mind that every cubic centimeter added forward (where the waterline is narrow) will be a cubic centimeter less to support aft where the boat is generally much wider.   If the designer and sailor work together on this, the improved results are significant.  But with any design that’s light enough to be heeled and trimmed with manpower, the sailor needs to decide where best to get his buoyancy from, and then adjust crew positions to suit.  The gains are measurable.

When sailing upwind, thrust is created by gently deflecting the air over a slightly curved surface of the sail and accelerating the retained air flow off the leech.   But it needs to be gently corralled into the sail and held close to it without separation that would cause eddies and drag, so at the entry (luff), the wingmast and sail is pointing almost directly into the apparent wind.  From this point, sail curvature will start to perform its magic.  Test have shown that, IF the air flow can follow the foil surface, a camber of 1/6 th the chord creates a very effective thrust, but this is too much for higher air speeds as the air breaks away from the surface.   1/10 th or even less camber is then required (see table below),

One way to think about this is to consider that the forward driving force is a product of camber x air speed – but only UP TO the point that the air flow can stay on the sail surface.  High air speed will require LESS camber to achieve this.  From my own observations, here are some suggested sail camber values as needed to match the apparent wind.

Pressure on sails (lbs/sqft = 0.0012 x C x v 2 )    [v = ft/sec  C=1.2  or if in knots, P ~= 0.004 x V 2  

                                Apparent Wind (kts)         5     10     15     20     25     30     35     40   

                        Suggested Sail Camber %:    16    14     12     10     08     06     04     02

                   or:  Chord/Camber Ratio ( C/C )     6.2    7.1    8.3   10   12.5   16.7    25     50 

                Pressure  (@C = 1.2)   lbs/sqft        0.1    0.4    0.9   1.6     2.5    3.6    4.9    6.4

How wind force is applied to the boat will depend in good part on the angle the leech area makes relative to the boat.   This in turn will depend on the mainsheet tension and how effectively it is sheeted.  As the sail is let out for reaching, a wide mainsheet track can keep the leech area flatter for more effective drive.   Without a wide track one can lose some of that, as one will see the boom lift up, allowing the leech to spill air off to leeward instead of driving the boat forward.    (Typically, boats with narrower mainsheet sheeting, must add a boom vang to apply the necessary down-force on the boom to keep the leech flat).

Once again, the leech ‘tell-tale’ can add a visual factor to the air flow … see Part 3 .

Sailing Downwind

Typically, multihulls are almost never sailed directly downwind, but on the W17 I’ve observed that with sails winged out to each side, the speed in medium winds is ‘pretty good’, so only by racing identical boats against each other can one really see if it’s still slower than the more generally acknowledged tacking-down-wind with multiple gybes .   Meanwhile though, here’s a rough guide.   

To tack downwind at an assumed 35 degrees off the straight downwind line on each gybe, you will need to travel approximately 22% faster to cover the extra distance.   (Or approx. 42% faster average if at 45 degrees off-wind, and that means making 8.5kts instead of 6).     Significant differences ... but sometimes feasible.

Although personally, on my W17 in moderate wind (say 5 to 8 kts), I’ve found it quite efficient to go ‘wing-on-wing’ straight downwind as noted above, in both lighter and heavier winds I found tacking downwind does work best.  In the case of very light winds, it helps to create a higher apparent wind to keep you moving (say at 140/220 deg), while in heavier winds, it gives you the ability to steer up and over waves to lower the risk of sticking the bow under, (something that can happen if you go straight downwind at high speed), as well as enable sailing in the fastest water of a wave , something I will discuss more in Part 4 of this series.

============================================================

Continued in Parts 2, 3 & 4 that address :

Part 2:  Tacking, Sail Camber, Wing Masts & more

Part 3:  Tell-Tales, Airflow and related efficiencies

Part 4:  Sailing Downwind and In Waves

"New articles, comments and references will be added periodically as new questions are answered and other info comes in relative to this subject, so you're invited to revisit and participate." —webmaster

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From the Archives: Trimming a Cat’s Mighty Main

• By Herb McCormick
• Updated: September 23, 2015

There are certain inalienable truths about trimming the mainsail aboard any cruising boat. The main halyard must be taut enough at all times to eliminate excessive wrinkling in the luff of the sail (though it may be lowered or raised an inch or two depending on the wind strength). You always want the leech of the sail firm and unflappable (some, but not all, mainsails have a dedicated leech line for this purpose). And the sail’s leech telltales should be streaming aft in unison.

Those basic rules apply to all mainsails, whether on a monohull or a multihull. But when it comes to fine-tuning the trim depending on the point of sail, there’s a subtle but important difference between a modern single-hulled sailboat, where boom vangs and backstay tension play a crucial role, and a contemporary catamaran or trimaran, with its generous roach supported by a series of full battens (which must be properly tensioned to ensure optimum shape and draft).

To put it in the simplest of terms, on a monohull, it’s all about the mainsheet. On a catamaran, it’s all about the traveler.

There’s a good reason that cats employ wide, easily adjusted travelers. They’re the primary tool for trimming the main. On a catamaran sailing upwind, the mainsheet should be cinched home and the boom positioned just slightly leeward of centerline—just like on a monohull. But as you crack off, instead of first dropping the traveler and then easing the mainsheet, as you would on a mono, resist the urge to trip the mainsheet and only ease the traveler, always keeping an eye on those flowing telltales. Continue doing so even when bearing off to a beam reach and beyond. Only then should you begin to ease the mainsheet, and always in small increments. Remember: Watch those telltales.

There are several reasons why you trim the main differently. On a monohull, in concert with the mainsheet and traveler, you have the vang to help control the position of the boom; on a multihull, the mainsheet serves the same purpose. The last thing you want on a multihull is a boom bouncing skyward on any sort of reach, from close to broad, which destroys the shape and efficiency of the sail.

Also, in puffs, aboard a multihull the apparent wind will move forward and affect the sail trim as it does so. Rather than spin the wheel and bear away, just crank in the traveler.

On monohulls, excessive heeling is a sure sign that something’s amiss. On level-sailing cats, an unbalanced boat isn’t always so easily detected; you’ll know you’re overpowered when the helm loads up. Again, lower the traveler or, if it’s already all the way down, ease the mainsheet. The next step, naturally—as it would be on a monohull—is to shorten sail and take a reef in the main.

Over time, of course, as you sail any new boat and log a few miles, matters like sail trim and balance become instinctual and almost second nature. But if you’re a rookie on a catamaran, remember two things: Telltales never lie, and the traveler is your best friend.

Herb McCormick is CW’s senior editor.

• More: catamaran , How To , multihull , sailtrim , seamanship
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• Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

Try a Barber Hauler for Better Sail Trim

If you can’t position the jib clew exactly where you want it on all courses and in all weather, a barber hauler should be in your future, for even the most laid-back sailor. Here are some options.

If the jib has no or limited overlap, hauling the sheet inboard a few inches can be as simple as lightly tensioning the lazy sheet. A permanent in-hauler is typically rigged to a mast base turning block. If there is a lot of overlap, you can rig a line right across the cockpit to a spare winch, just for testing.

Midships blocks offer multiple opportunities for testing. For reaching, a light block or even a carabiner on a fixed length strop attached to a mid-ships cleat can provide a solution. If some adjustability is required, the block can be attached to a length of line led under the cleat and back to a secondary winch; there will be more friction, but its only for reaching. If the line is a little longer, it will reach across the deck to the opposite sheet, where it can serve as an in-hauler. This creates tripping and chafe problems, of course, and is only temporary, for testing.

Snatch blocks make a removable barber haulers practical. This can make a lot of sense for spinnakers and reachers. We use the headsail barber haulers every day, so we always make these permanent. Loads are generally light, so use lightweight turning blocks to minimize friction.

We like low-friction rings for the sheet end. They’re light and there is less banging around. Carabiners make handy low-friction ring substitutes, but we only recommended them for testing, because they have a nasty habit of spontaneously clipping onto lifelines and other control lines.

A barber hauler that is intended to be adjusted under load will generally be led to a winch, but reaching outhaulers and twings for smaller boats can often be hand tensioned and led to a cam cleat, if you are willing to slack the sheet for a few moments while you make the adjustments. But since barber haulers are of greatest value when its blowing, make it sturdy.

I prefer positioning the basic sheeting system as far in as I will need it, so that I only have to haul outwards. However, new boats are coming out with systems that require hauling in and out, for all adjustments.

The simplest solution is to place a single low friction ring on the sheet, splice two tails to it, and lead one to a turning block at the mast base and the other to a turning block at the rail. A huge range of adjustment is possible.

Drew Frye is technical editor for Practical Sailor and author of Rigging Modern Anchors . He also blogs at his website www.blogspot.sail-delmarva.com .

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How To Trim Sails: The Ultimate Guide (with Cheat Sheet)

Experienced sailors pull and ease lines, move blocks, and tighten or loosen various controls as the boat turns and the wind shifts. They're constantly fiddling with sail controls, especially racers. But even a brand new sailor can get out there and make the boat move somewhere. So what's with all the fiddling?

Expert sailors know how to get more out of their boat with good sail trim. When you trim your sails, you get them to the optimal shape to provide the most driving force for the wind conditions and point of sail. It's a skill you can learn by understanding the basics of how the sails work and how the sail controls affect them.

On this page:

What is sail trim, how does a sail work, trim principles explained in detail, sail controls and what they do, upwind sail trim, downwind sail trim, trimming for conditions, controlling the boat.

At its simplest, "sail trim" is adjusting the sails optimally for conditions. To the novice, it looks like some intuitive dark art, and there is an element of experienced skill in knowing when and what to change. But the underlying ideas of sail trim are based on physics. You're creating a curved surface to generate maximum lift, or keeping a bag of wind filled with as much pressure as you can.

To do this, every sail has controls and adjustments, more than you may realize. The adjustments and options available vary by boat, and it's not just an issue of size. A small racing dinghy may have a lot more "tweaks" to sail control than an older cruising keelboat that was never intended to race.

Don't confuse "sail trim" with the verb "trim," as in "trim that sail." Sails are eased out and trimmed in, but sail trim refers to the overall actions of getting the sails to the optimal shape.

To learn sail trim, you need to understand how sails work, how the sail controls work, and how you need to set your sails for the conditions based on that knowledge.

Sails work differently depending on the point of sail. Upwind, sails generate lift. Downwind, the sails fill to pull the boat along. There's some crossover as you move across the points of sail , where your sails are providing a bit of lift with some pull. But it’s mostly lift until you’re broad reaching.

Upwind Sails

If you've ever sat near the wing on a plane and looked out the window during takeoff and landing, you've seen the pilot trimming the wing. The shape of the wing changes to generate more lift during low-speed takeoffs and landings, and it flattens out at higher speeds to reduce drag while still keeping the plane in the air. Sail trim is very similar in concept.

Bernoulli's Principle

Bernoulli's principle states that a moving fluid, in this case air, has lower pressure than a still fluid. So wind moving across a surface will cause lower pressure across that surface. Wind blowing across the top of a chimney pulls smoke (and drafts) up a chimney because it creates low pressure at the top of the chimney. The higher the wind, the bigger the draft.

Air split and flowing across a curved surface will travel faster on the outside of the curve than on the inside. This creates a lower pressure on the outside and more on the inside, with a net force pushing towards the outside of the curve. This is the lift that puts an airplane in the air, and it is the lifting force that helps drive your boat upwind.

Lift off a Curve

The more pronounced a curved surface, the bigger the speed and the pressure differential between the inside and outside of the curve. You can see this curve in the chord of the curve (pictured). The bigger the differential, the greater the lifting force. When taking off and landing, the pilot shortens the airplane wings to thicken the chord for maximum lift.

Sails work in the same way - more curve for power, and flatter sails for speed.

Pushing Against the Keel

Without a keel, the wind pushing on the sails would just make a boat sideslip across the water. But a keel, centerboard, daggerboard, or other underwater foil pushes in the water against the heeling motion of the sails and keeps the boat upright. The counteracting force of the keel combines with the lifting force of the sails to generate forward motion in the hull.

Downwind Sails

Instead of acting as foils to generate lift, for downwind sailing, you want to catch and hold as much of the wind in the sails as you can. The operating principle is closer to a parachute than an airplane wing.

Upwind headsails are not very efficient going downwind. They're heavy and stiff, and they don't catch the wind or stay full as well. Picture a paper shopping bag (upwind) versus a plastic bag (downwind). Light spinnaker cloths and rounder sail shapes are much more efficient at catching the wind.

The mainsail is used downwind but trimmed for catching wind instead of acting as a foil. Coupled with a spinnaker, trim the two sails to catch as much wind as they can to drive the boat.

Windward and Leeward (pronounced "lou-ward") describes something by the relative position of the wind. The windward side is close to the wind, or upwind, and the leeward side is away from the wind. On starboard tack, when the wind is coming over the starboard side of the boat, windward is to starboard and leeward is to port. On port tack, this is reversed. It may describe operations on a boat ("move the boom leeward") or anything relative to the wind, like the positions of two boats as they sail near each other.

Whether it's upwind sailing or down, there are a few important ideas to remember. You're trying to adjust the sail's angle of attack to the wind, optimize the sail curve for conditions, and prevent turbulent airflow on the sails.

Angle of Attack

The angle of attack of a sail is the angle that the leading edge of a sail presents to the wind. We adjust this with sail controls, and the wrong angle of attack can stall out or de-power a sail.

We've discussed the curve of a sail already, and how you're adjusting it for power or speed. But you can also position the deepest draft (the chord) of the sail to affect sail performance. Unlike a rigid airplane wing, we can trim flexible sails to induce twist as well as curving. The twist in sails is used in light air to catch bi-directional winds higher in the rig, and in heavy air to spill excess wind from the sails and de-power the rig.

Turbulent Flow

The smooth flow of air across a sail is crucial for the forces described by the Bernoulli principle. If a flow becomes turbulent, it will detach from the sail and you'll lose that critical lifting force. Fluttering sails or trim with ripples and bumps will cause turbulence and badly affect sail performance.

Trimming Tools

How can you see the shape of a sail with an untrained eye? And how can you see if an invisible wind is flowing smoothly over the sail? There are tools for both, and it's important you understand their use.

Using telltales to read airflow

Telltales are your best tool to check your upwind trim and the airflow over your sails. Jibs and Genoas have one or more pairs installed about a foot back from the luff of the sail; red for the port side, green for starboard. Mainsails have several single telltales running up the leech of the sail, and may have a few on the body of the sail. Fluttering telltales show turbulent air, and you can tell how you need to fix the sail to smooth it out.

With a well-trimmed headsail, all telltales will stream smoothly. When your trim is close to right, if the inside (or windward) telltale is fluttering up, the sail is under-trimmed, so trim the sail. If the outside (leeward) telltale flutters, ease the sail until it stops.

Main telltales should stream to show smooth airflow. Otherwise, you'll need to adjust the twist (with the main sheet) or angle of attack (with the traveler) for optimal airflow.

Sail Shape and Draft Position

Draft Stripes are lines of tape on a sail parallel to the water. They're there to help you visualize the curve in the sail at various heights. If you don't have them, don't worry - you can still learn to see the shape. But the draft stripes highlight the curve of the sail for your eye so you can see the draft position and twist in the sail.

If your sail doesn't have draft stripes, they aren't difficult to put on. You may prefer them installed professionally by a sailmaker to make sure they installed straight and in the best place for reading the sail.

Every design of boat is a little different, and some boats may not have all the sail controls listed. And sometimes, even the same boats with different sails on them may have different controls. So it's important that you learn all the controls on your boat and what they do.

As you're learning trim, start with slight adjustments. Give them a little time to settle in before you make more changes, especially if you're in a heavier keelboat. Make note of your boat speed, how it feels after the change, and if your telltales are doing what they're supposed to.

The Backstay

Most boats have an adjustable backstay, whether it is a set of lines and purchase or a complex hydraulic pump. The backstay affects the curve of the mast itself, so this control affects all sails on the boat.

When loosened for light air, the main fills out for more power and the headstay slackens. As the breeze picks up, the backstay pulls the middle of the mast forward, de-powering the main and giving better control of the boat and reduced heeling. Adjust the backstay while sailing as conditions and point of sail demand - usually on tighter for upwind and loose off the wind.

Headsails (Genoas and Jibs)

Since headsails are usually only attached to boat at headstay, they have a few fewer controls than mainsails. Jib telltales are installed in pairs running up the luff of the sail. The lowest pair often has a window or panel to help see them. Keeping these telltales steaming is a big part of proper trim.

Sheets control angle of attack and sail tension

The jib sheets control the angle of attack of the sail, as well as the tension on the sail. Easing and trimming the sheet is the primary trim adjustment you'll make under sail.

Cars control sail curvature

Headsail car position changes the curve in the sail. Moving a car forward adds curve, pulling it aft flattens the sail out. For most upwind sailing, the car will be back, and gradually moved forward as the boat comes off the wind onto a reach.

If the car is in the correct position for the point of sail, all the telltales will flick up (luff) at the same time if you turn upwind a bit. It the top luffs first, move the car forward. If the bottom luffs first, move them back. You will adjust cars under sail as you change points of sail.

Halyard tension changes headsail draft

Halyard tension can move the draft of the sail forward or backward. Looser halyard tension for light air gives the sail more power, but for heavier breeze more halyard tension helps depower the sail and trim for speed. It's more common to set the tension when you hoist the sail, though big shifts in wind conditions during the day may require halyard tension changes.

Leech and foot cords

Most headsails have small lines running along the foot and the leech of the sail. These affect the tension of those edges, but this isn't a control you adjust often. A too-loose cord will leave a fluttering edge, over-tightening will add unwanted curve. Trim them until the edge doesn’t flutter, and so it doesn’t change shape or curl.

Mainsail controls

Depending on your rig and on how you use your boat, you may have only some of these controls, or they may be of limited usefulness on your boat. Experiment with them to see what works best for you.

The main sheet controls the mainsail trim

The main sheet can add or remove twist in the sail and changes the angle of attack. It's useful to spill wind out of the sail to depower the rig. On boats where the traveler is nominal or less effective, the main sheet may be the primary adjustment for the mainsail and may change the angle of attack as well.

Traveler controls angle of attack

The traveler changes the angle of attack of the main without changing the twist. Some boats have large travelers attached near the end of the boom that give excellent control. But other boats may have very short traveler tracks that don't allow for much change.

How To Use Your Mainsheet Traveler (The Right Way)

Vang controls the boom.

The vang keeps the boom leveled and prevents it from skying when sailing downwind. It also removes twist from the sail, or can add it to depower the sail when needed. In most cases, the vang tension is only changed a little unless you need sudden de-powering, though it may be eased for deep downwind sailing to let the main out more. Your target trim in most situations is to keep the top batten of the sail parallel with the boom.

How To Raise the Boom on a Sailboat in 5 Easy Steps

Outhaul controls curvature sail foot.

The outhaul controls flatness in the lower third of the sail, and can add curve or flatten the sail. When sailing upwind, the outhaul is usually taught, and it's eased as the point of sail moves downwind and more power and less lift is needed. The outhaul can also help depower the sail in heavier air or power up the sail to punch through waves or get traction in light air. Outhaul adjustments are usually tiny; an inch of outhaul ease can add a lot of curve.

Off the wind, ease the outhaul to put more body in the main.

Adjusting a mainsail halyard under load is tricky, but the Cunningham allows for on-the-fly changes to the luff tension of the main. It can move the draft of the sail forward and back the same way a halyard does. Use more Cunningham trim for upwind or windy sailing and ease it off for light air and downwind conditions.

Halyard tension changes mainsail draft

Like the jib halyard, the main halyard can change the draft of the sail. With a Cunningham, you'll set the main halyard when you hoist and adjust tension with the Cunningham rather than adjusting the halyard. A good halyard tension trick is to figure out your optimal halyard tension, then mark the halyard and a point on the mast to line it with to get the right tension.

Spinnakers - Symmetrical

Symmetrical spinnakers are more complicated to fly and require more controls for the pole. The sail attaches at the top to the halyard, and to the sheet and guy.

Sheets control sail shape

The spinnaker sheet controls the shape of the sail. Spinnaker trim with the sheet is a continuous process, since the sail is very sensitive to wind direction and force changes. On racing boats, they rarely cleat the spinnaker sheet off as the trimmer is constantly adjusting the sail, and a big puff can overload the boat.

How To Rig, Set Up & Hoist a Spinnaker: Full Guide

Some boats have separate sheets and guys, but many smaller boats have one set of lines for both functions. With the pole on starboard, the port line is the sheet and the starboard line serves as the guy. When the boat is jibed, the lines switch function.

Guy controls angle of attack

The guy attaches through the end of the spinnaker pole, and positions the pole relative to the wind to change the angle of attack of the sail. Most of the time, the pole is positioned perpendicular to the wind, and the guy works opposite the sheet to hold it in place.

What makes a line the guy (as opposed to the sheet) is that it trims the pole, not the sail.

Pole down hauls / Toppers / Cars

A combination of a pole topping lift, downhaul, and track adjusts the spinnaker pole height off the deck. While combinations vary, trim the pole parallel to the water and perpendicular to the wind. The pole is raised in light air for more power, and lowered for higher winds.

Spinnakers - Asymmetrical

An asymmetrical spinnaker attaches to the boat at two fixed points - the halyard, and the tack line on the bow, usually on a sprit or pole. Because there is no spinnaker pole, there are fewer adjustments and controls.

Sheets control angle of attack and tension

The sheets on the asymmetrical control the sail, there is no guy or pole. It controls angle of attack and tension.

Bowsprit / Tack line

Adjust the tack line to set the sail height for the wind strength. It's trimmed in tight to the sprit for heavier breeze and eased to set the sail higher for light air.

The primary aim for upwind sail trim is to keep a smooth sail with the right amount of twist for power. A well-trimmed upwind sail will be smooth with no flutter in the middle or edges, and the tell-tales will all stream smoothly. Trim for hard upwind angles will be the tightest, and you will ease the jib sheet and eventually move the jib car as you sail off the wind onto a reach.

When you start to trim for upwind, make sure you have your boat pointed about forty-five or fifty degrees off the wind. If you are too close to the wind, you won't be able to fill the sails to trim them. Once you have rough trim with the telltales streaming, you can try pointing up more and adjusting.

Remember when following these steps that every boat is different . Some boats will trim a little more loosely upwind, or want the sail controls set differently from others. It's important to experiment with your boat to get the best trim. You should feel it when she's "in the groove" and trimmed and sailing well, and your instruments will show it.

As you learn to trim your boat, make notes about your sailing angles, the sail control positions, and how the boat sails and feels. When you get the trim right, you want to do it again next time! Racers make marks on the deck and rig for optimal halyard tension, car positions, and other trim points once they know them. While you don't need to mark your boat up with markers or tape for casual sailing, take a few pictures of the proper trim positions or describe them in a log once you find them.

Close-hauled / beating

Close hauled sailing has your sails trimmed in as tight and close to centerline as they will ever be. Be careful not to over-trim. Proper trim is not "everything in all the way tight," it’s closer to “everything in not quite as tight as it can go.” It's possible to over-trim and stall your speed, so don't "bake" the sails by sheeting too much.

Center the boom with the traveler, and trim in the sheet to take most of the curve out of the sails except in very light air. For the other controls, start in these positions. They aren't absolute. You will need to adjust them to get your telltales streaming.

• Backstay should be on, with more tension for higher breeze and very little for light wind.
• Outhaul is trimmed all the way. Many booms have a band marking maximum clew position, and this is your starting point for upwind trim in moderate air. For lighter breeze, ease the outhaul a bit.
• Cunningham is pulled down tight except in very light air.
• Traveler - center the boom, though some boats may prefer it slightly to leeward.
• Mainsheet - trim the mainsheet most of the way in, though don't pull the boom past parallel to the deck. In very light air, you will want to ease this a bit.
• Vang - Since the mainsheet is trimmed in, the vang has little to do to keep the boom down. Trim to keep the boom parallel to the deck if the sheet is eased, but it will be under little tension itself going upwind.

If you've set it well, all the telltales should be streaming. If the top telltales are fluttering inside the sail, tri m the mainsheet or the vang a little until they stream. But if they are pulled forward out of sight, ease the main a bit or move the traveler more to windward.

In very light air, the top telltale may never trim well and all of your main trim will have to be looser.

Setting the jib up for different points of sail is mostly about the car position and sheet trim, since there aren't as many controls to worry about. It sounds easy, but it's usually the sail we end up fiddling with and adjusting the most. For upwind sailing, it's important to trim the sails right then sail the boat to the wind .

Once your sail is trimmed, your telltales may still flutter and stall, but that's because the wind changed or you came off the upwind course while driving. If the inside telltale flutters, you're too close to the wind. If the outside telltale flutters, you're too far downwind. As the wind shifts and oscillates, you will need to constantly adjust your heading to keep the telltales streaming, and you can't do that unless the sail is trimmed properly.

For headsail sail trim upwind, begin with the controls in these positions and adjust accordingly.

Halyard tension in average conditions should be tight enough so there are slight scallops in the luff of the sail. Halyard tension moves the draft of the sail forward (tighter) and back (looser), and your goal is to put the draft about 1/3 of way from the front of the sail. For lighter air, you want less tension and more for heavier air.

Headstay sag is important for controlling the draft depth and power in the sail. In light air, more sag will give you better power and point, and less sag in heavy air gives better speed. For most boats, backstay tension controls headstay sag, though some boats have headstay adjustments. The backstay adjustments you make for wind conditions affect both jib and main for better sailing.

Jib Cars should be aft. There's no absolute position to start because every sail is different. Most boats have a track long enough to handle large, overlapping headsails, so the car may go much further aft than you need for a smaller sail. Start with the car about 2/3 of the way aft, and adjust the position until all the jib telltales luff at the same time.

Jib Sheets will be trimmed so the sail is tight. This may be a lot tighter than you expect, you may crank the sail in almost to the shrouds. But don't over trim, the usual upwind position is "just a little under all the way in." And don’t pull the sail onto the shrouds!

To trim the sail, start sailing upwind with the boat set for upwind and the headsail fairly trimmed in. Sail as close to the wind as you can, while trimming in the headsail until you see both the lower telltales stream. If all sets are streaming, you're done. But most likely, you'll need more adjustments.

If the bottom telltales are streaming but not the top, you'll need to move the jib car forward. If the top streams, but not the bottom, move the car back. You may need to adjust your sheet tension as well.

Once you've got the car position close, make one more check. Head the boat into the wind slightly until a telltale breaks. If you are well trimmed, all the telltales will break at the same time. Move the car forward if the top breaks first. If the bottom breaks first, move the car back.

Once you are trimmed, look at your settings. Most jib cars have screw holes you can count, some may have numbers on them. You can even draw a line at the car position on the track with a Sharpie (it will wear off over time) or on the deck with a pencil. But the point is to record and memorize that ideal car position so you reset it again without more trial and error.

Sail trim when cracking off a beat onto a close reach is pretty easy - gently ease both sails to keep the telltales streaming. But once the wind moves back, you need to make more adjustments to the sail trim.

As the wind moves back, you'll want to change the angle of attack to the wind while adding more curve to the sails to keep them full and powerful. That translates to easing the jib and main sheets out, while edging the jib car forward and easing the outhaul a little.

The classic instruction to trim on a beam reach is to "ease the sails until they flutter, then trim them in." This is a good starting point for the sheet positions on the sails, but you will want to check the other controls for more fine trim.

Specifically, check that ALL your telltales are streaming. If you're cracking off from close hauled, your top telltales are probably fluttering a little, and the jib car will need to go forward.

How do you trim a sail for broad reach?

For broad reach trim, you'll want a lot more curve in the headsail so move the cars forward. As you head on deeper reaches, the driving shifts from pure lift (like upwind sailing) to some of pushing on the sails at the deepest points. If the mainsail blankets the jib, you're at the edge or reaching and moving the cars forward can only do so much.

One advanced technique for deep-reaching is barber-hauling , or running a second jib sheet outside the jib cars and railing and putting the sail load onto that sheet. This gives a much better shape to a broad-reaching sail. If you never plan to use a spinnaker, it's an excellent skill to master.

To visualize downwind sail trim, imagine holding a plastic shopping bag open in front of an oscillating fan. As the fan moves across the mouth of the bag, the bag will fill partially until the fan is pointing straight at the bag. When the breeze from the fan is pointing directly into the mouth of the bag, the bag will be completely full and pull against your hands with the most force.

This is the core of what you're trimming for sailing downwind - keeping the wind pointed into the sails to fill them as much as possible.

Sailing downwind, you will ease most sail controls to get full, rounded sails. Also, the apparent wind sailing downwind is much lighter, so there is less wind to fill tight sails so you're aiming for a baggier shape to catch every bit of breeze.

Jib and Main

If you will not fly a spinnaker, you can still sail downwind with your jib and main more efficiently with a few extra steps. Your goal is to keep the headsail full to help the mainsail.

First, your rig should be loose, so ease the backstay. Also, ease the outhaul a fair amount, then ease out the mainsheet until the mainsail is almost to the spreaders. Many mainsails have chafe patches where shrouds may touch the sail to protect the sail from chafe. Don't put the main hard against the rig even if you have these. They're for incidental contact protection, not to allow you to run with the main pressed and chafing against the rig.

Jib trim is more problematic, as the mainsail will blanket the headsail and it will be hard to keep full. A collapsed jib does nothing to move the boat, and constantly filling, collapsing and flogging the jib may damage the sail and wear it prematurely. There are techniques to stop a collapsing down wind headsail - including using a whisker pole to leeward, or sailing wing-on-wing (or wing-and-wing), and wing-on-wing with a whisker pole.

To sail wing-on-wing, start sailing deep downwind, then pull the jib through the foretriangle to the windward side of the boat. Trim it until it fills. Keeping a winged-out headsail full without a pole can be very difficult, and sailing deep downwind risks an accidental jibe, so using a preventer with the main is a good idea.

For more effective wing-on-wing sailing, put the spinnaker pole (or dedicated whisker pole) up with one end on the mast, and the upwind jib sheet through the outboard end of the pole. Now the pole will hold the foot of the sail open so it can't collapse. Trimming the sail will move the pole back, and you want to keep the pole perpendicular to the wind to keep that sail full and as close to parallel to the water as you can.

The fastest wing-on-wing sail direction is sailing slightly by the lee , which is with the wind slightly past the centerline of the boat. With the wind a little by the lee, the main will be not quite on the edge of jibing, but you'll be able to keep the jib very full and effective. As you learn this technique, rig a preventer to the main to stop an accidental jibe. These are dangerous and can hurt people and damage the boat.

A whisker pole is any pole used to hold out a jib. It has jaws on the outboard end to attach to sail sheets. If your boat has a spinnaker pole, you can use it as a whisker pole. A spinnaker pole is a fixed length, so it may not fit well with smaller jibs. An adjustable whisker pole is a helpful tool if you don't plan to use a spinnaker, since you can set it to different lengths for different sails and wind conditions.

Many new sailors find wing-on-wing to be stressful and difficult because of the constant danger of an accidental jibe. Another approach is to put the whisker pole on the leeward side to keep the sail full on the same side as the main. You won't be able to sail as deep downwind or by the lee, but it is a less stressful way to force the sail full and keep it from flogging.

As we learned with the bag and fan example, your primary aim is to keep the wind flowing directly into the opening of the sail. The techniques are a little different for the two types of spinnakers because the sail controls are very different.

The rig should be loose, with the backstay eased. On the mainsail, ease Cunningham completely off, ease the outhaul, and ease the sheet until the sail is near the spreaders. Keep the vang on so the boom stays parallel to the water.

When you ease the sheet on a full spinnaker, eventually the luff of the sail will start to curl and flutter a little. This luff curl is the key indicator on all spinnakers that your sheet trim is in the right place. Trimming the sheet means easing it until you see just a little curl, then easing it to stay on the edge of that curl as the wind changes.

Asymmetrical Trim

You only have two sail controls - the tack line and the sheet. The tack line may be adjustable on your boat. If it is you will ease it for light air to add power, and trim it tight to the bowsprit in heavier conditions or for higher reaching angles.

An asymmetrical spinnaker is not designed for sailing deep downwind, and it will not be fast to sail too deep because it isn't efficient. Fast downwind progress with an asymmetrical comes from sailing hotter broad reaching angles at higher speeds. This lets you get downwind much more quickly than jib and main sailing. Even though you sail further because you aren't headed far downwind, you get there quickly anyway because of the increased speed.

To trim your asymmetrical spinnaker, set the sail and fill it while getting onto a broad reach. Ease the sail slowly, keeping your eye on the luff of the sail. Ease it until you see the luff curl - that lip curl is the proper trim for the sail.

Because you aren't sailing dead downwind, you may need to trim your main sail in to draw for higher-reaching angles. Don't leave it eased to the shrouds and forget about it, check shape and telltales to keep it full.

Cruising sailors may lock off the spin sheet and only make adjustments for big wind shifts, or turn the boat to keep the sail curled. Racing sailors constantly trim the spinnaker for the optimum position and work closely with the person at the helm to keep the boat at the hottest angle with the sail full.

Symmetrical Trim

Trimming a symmetrical kite involves trimming both the sail and the pole. The pole lets you keep a firm grip on the opening of the sail, and you can keep the opening of the sail perpendicular to the wind for the maximum draw.

Set the pole parallel to the water on the windward side. Adjust the pole car on the mast of needed, and set the topping lift and pole downhaul to keep the pole parallel. For lighter air, a higher pole gives more power, but a lower pole can give more speed in heavier conditions.

Trim the guy to keep the pole perpendicular to the wind. If you're sailing deep downwind, the guy should be all the way back with the pole nearly to the shrouds. But for tighter reaching in light air, ease the guy to let the pole travel forward to stay perpendicular to the wind.

With the pole perpendicular to the wind, slowly ease the sheet until the luff of the sail on the windward side curls. That bit of lip curl is your trim target, and the spinnaker trimmed should keep easing the sheet to keep that little curl in place.

When you are sailing deep downwind, ease the main as far as you can to catch as much wind as possible, though if you head up to a reach you may need to trim it in a little.

Sail trim isn't an absolute formula. You can't just put the car in absolute position X, ease the sheet out exactly Y inches, and have the boat trimmed perfectly every time in all conditions. Flakey winds, choppy seas, the direction you're sailing and even why you're sailing affect how you can best trim your sails for that moment. It sounds a little overwhelming, but it's also part of what makes sailing fun and challenging.

Trimming your sails for speed

Trimming for speed usually means flattening the sails and reducing the curve and twist. The boat is moving, and you want it to move faster, and flatter sails add less drag. In moderate conditions where you can sail for pure speed, flatten out those sails.

Trimming for heavy air

Heavy air can be fast and fun, but it can also feel out of control as the boat heels like mad and the foam flies. Your first option for heavy air is to harden the backstay, it will depower the main and jib a bit and get the boat more under control. Most controls will need to be tight to depower the sails and keep them fast.

If the wind is too high, consider reefing the sails or changing to a smaller headsail. And when sailing upwind, you can pinch the boat a little too high, which will slow you down, but keep the boat more under control.

Trimming for light air

Over-trimming your sails in light air will almost stop you near dead in the water. For light air sailing, everything needs to be looser than usual, and you need to add twist and curve to sails for power. Ease off sail controls all around and set your sails more for power than speed.

Trimming for waves and chop

Rough water slows down your boat. It does this in several ways, from slapping the hull backward when you hit a steep wave to backfilling and fluttering your sails as you get tossed about and pushed from your heading.

To keep your boat moving forward in rougher water, you need to trim for power since the boat will have to keep accelerating back up to speed. So a little easing of the sails and an increase in twist can help you keep the speed up as you bounce around.

The scariest sensation for new sailors can be a fully powered-up boat. With the breeze on and the sail trimmed in, the boat will dig in and sail fast. But that feels on the edge of control sometimes, and it's not always comfortable. And it really can be on the edge of control in some conditions. So you need to know how to keep the boat in hand and comfortable.

How do you slow down: de-powering sails

In most cases, easing a trimmed sail will depower it. But there are a few other ways you can slow the boat and rein things in, including:

• Sailing upwind or on a close reach, pinch the boat up into the wind, which has the same effect as easing the sails off. It relieves pressure on the sails, but you don't want to flog your sails or it will shorten their life.
• Sailing downwind or on a broad reach, point the boat downwind. It will decrease the apparent wind you feel and lighten the loads. Don't go too far and jibe.
• Use more backstay, which typically flattens the main and jib and takes away power.
• Reef the sails. Furling sails can be partially rolled, or the main can be folded and tied on the boom. You should know how to reef your sails for safety.
• Change headsails to something smaller if you have it.

How to reduce heel

"Flat is fast" are words to live by for racing sailors. A deeply-heeled boat drags more in the water and is slower. For cruisers and casual sailors, it's also uncomfortable to have the rail buried all the time, and it frightens new sailors and guests not comfortable with sailing.

De-power your sails

De-powering your sails is one easy way to reduce heel. You'll sail slower, but if you're not racing or trying to hit a deadline like a tide shift or sunset, speed isn't so important. The easiest way is to just pinch up a little and sail higher and slower without luffing the sails.

Sit on the other side of the boat

Besides de-powering the sails, you can flatten the boat by moving weight on the windward side of the boat. Racers do this by seating crew up on the windward rail. But even sitting everyone on the upwind side of the cockpit in a small boat can make a difference.

Bill Powell

where is the “cheat sheet?” thanks.

Robert Sherwood Winders

One of the better articles I have read. It tells me a little theory, what the part is , when to use it , and how to know when you did right . Sweet and to the point. To the new sailor I need to know how to make my boat sail and basic must knows. Over time and with practice I will learn more in-depth theory. thanks

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Advanced Navigation Tips for Trimaran Enthusiasts

Trimarans , with their unique blend of speed, stability, and spaciousness, have captured the hearts of sailors worldwide. However, mastering the art of trimaran navigation requires a deeper understanding of their distinct dynamics and specialized techniques. This comprehensive guide unveils advanced navigation tips that will elevate your trimaran sailing experience to new heights.

Understanding Trimaran Dynamics

Trimarans boast a distinct hull design comprising a central main hull flanked by two smaller outrigger hulls. This configuration grants them exceptional stability while maintaining impressive speed.

Trimaran Hull Design and Stability

The wider beam of a trimaran lowers the center of gravity, making it less prone to capsizing than monohulls. The outrigger hulls provide additional buoyancy and leverage, enabling trimarans to carry more sail area for increased power. However, the increased wetted surface area can result in slightly higher drag compared to monohulls.

Center of Gravity Management

Maintaining a well-balanced center of gravity is crucial for trimaran performance and safety. Proper weight distribution, including crew placement and gear storage, ensures optimal stability and prevents the leeward hull from burying excessively during turns.

Mastering Sail Trim for Optimal Performance

Harnessing the full potential of your trimaran requires a deft touch when it comes to sail trim.

Mainsail and Jib Trim Techniques

Achieving the perfect sail shape involves adjusting the halyard tension, sheet tension, and traveler position. The goal is to create a smooth airfoil that maximizes lift while minimizing drag. Experiment with different trim combinations to find the sweet spot for various wind angles and strengths.

Adjusting for Varying Wind Conditions

Adapting your sail trim to changing wind conditions is paramount. In light winds, ease the sheets to allow the sails to luff slightly, capturing the available breeze. As the wind picks up, gradually trim the sheets to maintain optimal sail shape and prevent excessive heeling.

Navigating in Challenging Weather

Trimarans excel in a wide range of weather conditions, but navigating in high winds and heavy seas requires specialized skills.

Sailing in High Winds and Heavy Seas

Reef early and often when encountering strong winds. Reducing sail area minimizes heeling and maintains control. Head into the waves at a slight angle to avoid excessive pitching. A well-trimmed jib can act as a “storm jib,” providing stability and directional control.

Reefing Strategies for Trimarans

Trimarans offer various reefing options, including slab reefing, roller furling, and in-mast furling. Familiarize yourself with your boat’s reefing system and practice deploying reefs in calm conditions to ensure a smooth transition when the weather turns foul.

Advanced Navigation Tools and Techniques

Modern technology has revolutionized navigation, providing sailors with powerful tools to enhance safety and efficiency.

Utilizing GPS and Chartplotters Effectively

GPS provides precise position information, while chartplotters display electronic charts, allowing you to visualize your course and surrounding hazards. Integrate these tools with your traditional navigation skills to create a comprehensive navigation strategy.

Integrating Weather Routing for Safer Passages

Weather routing software analyzes meteorological data and suggests optimal routes based on wind, wave, and current conditions. Integrating this information into your passage planning can significantly enhance safety and comfort at sea.

Maneuvering and Docking a Trimaran

Trimarans respond differently to helm input compared to monohulls, requiring specific maneuvering techniques.

Turning and Tacking with Precision

The wider beam of a trimaran necessitates a wider turning radius. Initiate turns early and smoothly to avoid excessive heeling. Tacking requires a well-coordinated crew to manage sails and prevent the windward ama from lifting.

Docking Procedures for Trimarans

Docking a trimaran can be intimidating, but with practice and the right approach, it becomes manageable. Utilize spring lines to control the boat’s movement and prevent it from drifting sideways. Consider using fenders on both the main hull and amas to protect against contact with the dock.

Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Maintaining your trimaran in top condition ensures optimal performance and longevity.

Essential Trimaran Maintenance Tips

Regularly inspect rigging, sails, and hulls for signs of wear and tear. Lubricate moving parts, keep the boat clean, and address any issues promptly to prevent them from escalating.

Troubleshooting Common Issues at Sea

Engine problems, sail damage, and rigging failures can occur unexpectedly. Carry spare parts, tools, and a comprehensive maintenance manual onboard to address common issues and ensure a safe return to port.

Mastering the art of trimaran navigation opens up a world of exhilarating sailing adventures. By understanding trimaran dynamics, refining your sail trim, utilizing advanced navigation tools, and honing your maneuvering skills, you’ll unlock the full potential of these remarkable vessels.

Related FAQs

How does a trimaran's stability compare to a monohull.

Trimarans generally offer greater stability due to their wider beam and lower center of gravity.

What are the key differences in sail trim for trimarans?

Trimarans often carry more sail area and require careful attention to weight distribution and sail trim to maintain balance.

What should I consider when choosing a reefing system for my trimaran?

Consider the size of your boat, sailing conditions, and personal preferences when selecting a reefing system.

How can I improve my trimaran docking skills?

Practice docking in calm conditions, utilize spring lines, and consider using fenders on both the main hull and amas.

What essential maintenance should I perform on my trimaran?

Regularly inspect rigging, sails, and hulls for wear and tear. Lubricate moving parts, keep the boat clean, and address any issues promptly.

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Downwind Trimming Strategies for Upper Leech Twist

Sailing downwind fast and controlled in all conditions is easier with a few simple techniques to manage the mainsail’s twist, especially in the upper leech. In this article, we’ll discuss downwind trimming strategies for different conditions using the mainsheet and vang.

Twist and the Upper Leech

Twist is the change in angle of attack from a sail’s foot to its head. The photos below show an un-twisted (left image) and relatively more twisted (right image) sail shape in two C scows downwind.

Managing twist is especially important in the upper leech, which exerts a lot of leverage on the boat and is easily affected by changes in the wind.

Why is Twist Important?

• In dynamic conditions, such as puffy winds and waves, a twisted sail ensures that at least some part of the sail is trimmed correctly.
• Twist also helps in light air, where the wind at the top of the sail may be at a different angle than near the surface.
• If twisted forward of the mast, the upper sail helps heel the boat to windward, reducing wetted surface. See this video from Mike Considine of UK Sailmakers discussing how he eases the vang to get more windward heel.
• Reduces weather helm, making it easier to steer up and down for waves and to intercept puffs.
• Lets you sail further by the lee to intercept a puff or fetch a mark without gybing.

When is Less Twist Important?

• In more steady conditions, a less twisted sail gives you more power, since each part of the sail is trimmed correctly. In a uniform breeze, a highly-twisted sail will be over-trimmed down low and under-trimmed at the top.
• Too much twist twist in the upper leech is unstable. A strong puff will twist the upper leech excessively and push the mast to windward, resulting in a death roll. See our post on Capsize Causes and Solutions – Part 2: Off-wind Balance for more.

Downwind Trimming Strategies

When sailing downwind, the vang and mainsheet give you different capabilities to manage twist and tame the upper leech.

• The vang pulls down on the boom, which directly controls twist by tensioning the leech.
• The mainsheet pulls the boom more sideways than down, changing the angle of attack of the sail. This doesn’t affect twist directly, but does allow you to position the upper leech.
• The mainsheet is easier to adjust rapidly than the vang.

These capabilities argue for different strategies to manage the upper leech, depending on wind and wave conditions.

In flat water and steadier wind, keep the boom out and manage the upper leech with vang

This strategy minimizes twist to maximize overall power, but requires playing the vang to control the upper leech. You’ll need a lot of vang as the wind comes up. Some top sailors keep the vang uncleated and play it as the wind changes. See this video from Roelof Bouwmeester on how to set the vang.

In this strategy, use your mainsheet to change angle of attack as you go “up in the lulls and down in the puffs.”

In waves and puffy conditions, set the vang and work the mainsheet to control the leech

This strategy gives you the benefits of twist, while letting you rapidly control the upper leech. This lets boat be free, heeled up to windward for speed, with little or no weather helm. To use this strategy, you must set up to play the mainsheet aggressively.

• Release the tail of the mainsheet and grab the forward part, making the sheet a 2:1 purchase. See the picture below.
• Set the vang to position the upper leech for the average wind speed.
• When a puff hits, trim in to keep the leech from going too far forward.
• Ease when the puff subsides.
• During lulls, head up and trim in.
• To bear off, ease the main, heel to windward, and let the boat turn down.
• To sail higher, trim the main and let the weather helm turn the boat up.
• At the crest of a wave, rapidly pump the main in to get over the top.

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Sail Trim for a Cruising Catamaran

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. PLEASE READ OUR DISCLOSURE FOR MORE INFO.

Last Updated on January 17, 2021 by Amy

Cruising catamaran sail trim can be a fairly technical issue with differing opinions about how to best trim the sails to optimize boat speed and balance.  I most certainly will not profess to be an expert in the subject, but I do feel I’ve come a long ways from when I first learned how to sail on our Maine Cat 30.  This topic appeals to my technical side, and I wanted to put together a guide that people joining us on  Starry Horizons might find helpful, and hopefully others will as well.  

Catamaran Sailing Basics

Parts of the sail.

Here are the main parts of the sail that you should know to understand the basics of sailing a catamaran:

The mainsail is the largest sail on the boat. It is attached to the mast on the luff (side) and the foot (bottom) attaches to the boom.

Our mainsail is a square-topped rig, which has a flat top with a diagonal batten in it to hold its shape. This style provides a bit more sail area. The standard offering is a pinhead mainsail, where the top comes to a point.

There are a huge variety of possible headsails. Starry Horizons carries three, but so the simplest purposes, the headsail is the genoa.

The foot is the base of the sail. On a mainsail, the foot attaches to the boom. Our mainsail is loose-footed , which means it isn’t attached directly to the boom, but instead is attached by two lines at either corner of the foot. The

The luff is the forward edge of the sail. On the mainsail, it is attached to the mast. On the genoa, it is attached to the furler.

The leech is the third side of the sail, and on both the mainsail and headsails, it is loose.

The clew is the aft corner of the foot of the sail.

On the mainsail, a line called an outhaul runs from the clew into the boom.

On out headsails, the clew is attached to two lines called sheets.

The tack is the forward corner of the sail. In our mainsail, we have a line called a cunningham which pulls the tack forward and attaches it.

On our genoa, the tack is attached to the base of our furler.

On our bigger headsails, the furlers attach to the boat via what we call an adjustable tackline .

The head is the very top of the sail. Our mainsail is attached via a line called the main halyard. The headsails are attached via a line called the head halyard.

The mainsheet is the line that runs from the boom to the deck. This is the line that controls the mainsail.

What is a Traveler?

The traveler is a track that runs along the top of the cabin across the beam of the boat. It has track cars, which is how the mainsheet is attached to the traveler.

The traveler can be moved from side to side using a continuous line that is led to the helm.

What are Tell-Tales?

A tell-tale is a small piece of yarn attached to the sail on the body of the sail. We have several on each sail, and we use these tell-tales as indicators to what the wind is doing on the sail.

Catamaran Sail Trim

Angle of attack and sail twist.

These are the two primary concerns when considering catamaran sail trim.  Here’s how I break them down:

Angle of Attack (AOA)

Definition:  The angle between the sail’s chord and the direction of the wind.

Key Question:  Is the sail trimmed to maximize power and attached airflow?

How to Answer:  Look at your telltales.  Along the leech of the mainsail, the telltales should be streaming straight aft.  Your genoa will likely have tell-tales on each side of the sail, and these should be streaming aft in parallel.

How to Control:  You can use both your traveller and sheets to adjust your angle of attack, or you can adjust your point of sail (change from close-hauled to a close reach).

Tips and Tricks:   “When in doubt, let it out” is a good phrase.  On a catamaran, I would suggest that you play with the traveller before adjusting the sheet.  I’ve found it’s far too easy to over trim the sail, in essence stalling the boat.  You may be sailing, but it won’t be as efficient as possible.   The exception to this rule is sailing close-hauled, where having the traveller slightly to windward seems to do the trick.

For the genoa, whatever side of the sail has the telltale that isn’t flowing straight, adjust the sail (modifying the angle of attack) towards that side.  For example, if you are on a starboard tack and the leeward (port side) telltales are not streaming aft, let out the sheet or try moving the genoa cars forward.

Definition:   The difference in AOA from the head to the foot of a sail.

Key Question:  How much twist should I have in the sails for the current conditions?

How to Answer:  This one you’re just going to have to know.  The general rule of thumb is you want more twist in light winds, less twist in moderate winds and back to more twist in heavy wind.

How to Control:   You can use both the sheet and traveler to adjust sail twist.  Moving the traveler to windward and letting out the main sheet to keep the boom in place will increase the twist of the mainsail.  For the Genoa, rigging a barber hauler can provide a significantly increased amount of control over twist, as well as opening up the AOA on deeper sail angles.

Tips and Tricks:  Increasing twist in a sail in heavy air can be a quick way to slightly depower if necessary, just let out the sheet.  If you get to this point though, you should probably be thinking about putting in a reef!

Traveller Out, Sheet On

If you remember nothing else, this is the thing to remember.  As a general rule, to trim the main on a cruising catamaran, you should let out the traveler first, while keeping the main sheet pretty tight.  This seems to work fairly well for the length of the traveler, and then you can start letting out the main sheet.  Don’t be afraid to experiment, especially with adding some twist to the main if the telltales aren’t flying just right.

Move Your Jib/Genoa Cars

This can be an easy thing to forget, but the closer to the wind your sailing, the further aft your genoa cars should be.  This helps to reduce twist and get the most power out of the sail.  As you sail deeper angles, you need to move those cars forward.  Eventually, a barber hauler will prove incredibly useful on everything from a close reach and deeper.

I’ve put this big diagram together to be a handy guide aboard our boat and a “cheat sheet” to basic sail trim.  I welcome any feedback and will constantly try to be improving it.  Also included are diagrams for our Doyle Screecher and Asymmetric Spinnaker.  These diagrams are a bit more general and are included because I wanted a handy place to keep track of the apparent wind angles (AWA) and apparent wind speed (AWS) that Doyle has suggested for these sails.  If you have these type of sails on board, I highly recommend that you listen to the manufacturer’s recommendations, rather than using these numbers.

You can also download this file in pdf format here:  Sail Trim for a Cruising Catamaran .

Hopefully, this is helpful and please don’t hesitate to provide feedback.  I’d love to hear your suggestions on ways to improve and make the boat go faster!

26 Comments

Nice article mate. Love the diagrams

Article and diagrams very helpful. Wondering if you could post more about the screecher. Curious to see the other points of sail for it. Thank you! Ed 34′ Gemini 105mc

Thanks this has been very helpful! Just bought a car this year, and this was still the most clear and easy guideline to sail trim I could find, even though you wrote this article years ago!

Aw thank you!

Amy and David, Thank you for sharing your experience. I will be printing this out and keeping it handy on our Helia. Steven Salty Britches

This is a very nice article — thanks for putting it together.

Thanks for reading!

I have designed a cat-rig which drives the yacht directly to the destination without tacking, without healing, and can sail astern. I’ll send you a sketch if you request one without charge but I’m not a draftsman or model maker

Just came across this article. Excellent stuff David. Thank you. As newbie sailors, we really struggle with Sail trim and I found this super helpful Cheers Jo SV Double Trouble

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Hi David, awesome stuff. Really appreciate it. Sailing from Cascais to Lagos today and looking for tips. We’re Auckland based usually but unfortunately missed you when you were there. Sounds like you had a nice day trip with our friends Tim and Adrienne Chrisp. Cheers Connan

Old post but… “but the closer to the wind your sailing, the further aft your genoa cars should be. This helps to reduce twist and get the most power out of the sail. As you sail deeper angles, you need to move those cars forward.”

Just getting into cats, but on a monohull moving cars aft increases twist. What’s up?

Thanks, I enjoy your site

Hmm… well, I don’t have really any experience on monohulls so I can’t really speak to that. All I know is that if I have the genoa cars forward due to reefing (and we’re sailing upwind), and then we unfurl the whole genoa without moving the cars aft, the sail shape clearly isn’t right and the telltales don’t stream properly. Move the cars aft and all is right with the world again.

Sail trim is sail trim dosent matter if on a cat, mono hull, trimaran, or city bus. Moving cars aft does increase twist as you sheet in that lead will need to come aft for proper twist. As you ease out it will need to go forward.

This is such a well written and explanatory article. Thank you. I find myself returning to reread this quite often.

I do have a question regarding mainsail trimming. When the mainsail leech telltales are curling, in general, which way should I move my traveller? Should I move the sail towards the curl or away from the curl? I have tried to approach this in a practical manner while sailing but often times swell and waves makes it difficult to tell if I am making a difference.

I am basically looking for a cheat like I use with our genoa. If a telltale is lifting I know to move the sail in the direction of the lift. Is it the same with the mainsail leech telltales?

I’m glad you’ve found it helpful! Unfortunately, I don’t really have much help to offer with mainsail trimming. I don’t really have a racing background, and while cruising I generally go for the set it and forget it mentality. Basically, I try to do 2 things: 1) Go by the “when it doubt, let it out” theory and 2) try to generally line up the leech of the mainsail with the leech of the genoa. I have a bit of a hard time sometimes telling exactly when the mainsail is luffing, so that’s when I try to use the 2nd part to help as a guide.

Also, based on some of the articles I’ve read, I think (and this is key, this is me thinking, so not very scientific or official) that if the telltale is curling to the leeward side of the sail, then the sail is overtrimmed and needs to be let out. Sorry I can’t offer more help, but I’d check out some of the racing sailing forums and I’m sure they’d have a lot more advice to offer!

Depends on which telltale you are looking at. Leech telltales are for accessing the twist in the sail, telltale in the body of the sail are for angle of attack. The idea is to have attached flow over the sail front to back, angle of attack is for the front of the sail, twist is for the back. If the lower leech telltales are flying up and are not streaming streaming straight aft tighten the sheet, if the upper tails are flying up ease the sheet. A telltale in the body of the main is used just like the ones on the the jib, so adjust the angle of attack with the traveler for those first and then adjust the sheet for the ones on the leech. If you have a vang you can use it to adjust the twist and the sheet to adjust the angle of attack.

On the jib you can actually use the luff telltales to access twist because of its different planform design and clean luff compared to the main. That is accomplished by moving the lead forward to reduce twist and aft to increase it, ideally windward and leeward telltales will be streaming aft top to bottom. Keep in mind however inducing extra twist can be used to quickly depower both the main and the jib prior to reefing as a tactic.

Hi@ I’m really glad to find your diagrams and test, but I waant to ask you about the length of your traveler, and the fact that its straight; do you think your (estimate 6 to 8′ traveler is long enuf for cruising purposes? and; would a curved track have been better? There are several contributors on this topic who seem to believe otherwise.. Now that you have another 18 months experience… thanks

I would estimate our traveller is closer to 12 feet long as it stretches almost the full length of our coachroof. I don’t know enough about a curved track to offer a comment, but for us, when we let the mainsheet out much past the ends of the traveller, we use a preventer which can also act as a boom vang. This set up is fairly easy and works for us, but I’m sure there are better ways to get more performance. We just care about getting there eventually!

Hope that helps,

Thanks for posting that; much appreciated. I really struggle to find anything online relating to sailing instruction for cruising cats.

Hey David! (Great name by the way!) These guidelines may not get you to the finish line first, but they’ll definitely get you from Point A to Point B, which is pretty much the whole purpose of cruising. 🙂

Ditto – many thanks for the diagram

You’re very welcome! Hope it helps!

This is by far the best explanation of traveller use I have come across. You have cleared up some nagging doubts I have had since buying our cat last year. Thanks for not getting wrapped up in technical jargon. Amazing how hard it is to find this info online.

Thanks Ben! I’m glad you found this helpful. Like I said, I’m certainly no expert, but this guide seemed to work fairly well for us as we came across the Atlantic.

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• Yachting World
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Mainsail handling: Advanced sailing techniques for catamarans and multihulls

• September 30, 2020

Knowing how to set up a multihull’s mainsail is crucial. Brian Thompson, one of the world’s most experienced multihull sailors, shares his expert tips

Dragonfly 40 on the wing. Credit: Al Wood

A mainsail cannot know whether it is hoisted on a monohull, a catamaran or a trimaran . The principles of sail trim are universal.

On all types of yacht the traveller, mainsheet, outhaul, halyard and the Cunningham can be used to control the sail, and the information from the telltales can be used to help judge how much power the sail is providing and whether it is well trimmed. But there are some important and some subtle differences between monohulls and multihulls.

Because the multihull is so much more stable at low heeling angles, the heel angle is harder to use as a reference for when the boat is overpowered. Rather like a car versus a motorbike; the car heels only a little when pressed, while on the motorbike it’s much more obvious when the limits are being approached.

Modern cruising cats like the Excess 15 typically have tall masts positioned well aft. The fully battened square-top main is a powerhouse that should be set up well from first hoist. Photo: Christophe Launay

So on the multihull the decision of when to depower and to reef has to be influenced more by other inputs rather than just heel angle.

Generally speaking, a multihull’s wide beam allows for a much longer traveller than on an equivalent monohull, so there is much better control of the boom position when reaching and downwind sailing . This can make a boom vang/kicking strap unnecessary.

A multihull does not roll downwind like traditional monohulls, so the risk of an accidental gybe is much reduced, though not eliminated. Additionally the boom is less of a danger to the crew as it is often high and above a long cabin top – though that can then mean that visibility to the mainsail is more restricted, and you may have to move to find the best spot to look at the mainsail trim.

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With the shrouds further outboard and often further aft than on a monohull, a multihull’s mast is well supported and permanent backstays and runners are not required. This allows for a bigger roach on the mainsail and a more powerful sail for the same mast height. The big roach on the main then necessitates full-length battens with cars on the mast, rather than short battens.

Inflexible mast

The high righting moment of the multihull combined with a lack of backstay or runners, means that the mast has to be strong and stiff and is not adjustable in bend under way, whether it is a fixed or wing mast. So it won’t be possible to flatten the mainsail with mast bend, as you might do in a monohull with a backstay.

And because of that wide shroud base, and consequent reduced mast compression, some performance multihulls can have rotating wing masts, to reduce the aero drag of the mast and clean up the airflow to the mainsail. This does not really change the mainsail trim but it is a slight performance gain.

Learning when to reef, using twist to your advantage and optimising your mainsheet trim settings are key skills. Photo: Christophe Launay

But with the shrouds further aft and with full battens in the mainsail, it can be more of a challenge to reef downwind, as the battens and sail will chafe against the shrouds more.

Knowing when to reef

The fundamental control on the power of the mainsail is what size sail you have decided to set. As the wind increases it is very important to reef at the appropriate wind speed and not wait too long, otherwise the boat becomes overloaded.

For instance, when racing on a MOD 70 trimaran, we’d usually go to first reef at 20 knots true wind speed, upwind and downwind. Of course, you could temporarily carry full main to 25 knots, if you are careful on the helm and with sail trim, but the boat will be slower as the sails will be eased and creating more drag. It is also far more dangerous to overload a 7-tonne trimaran that can capsize.

However, on delivery with the same boat, the reefing wind speed would be 17 knots True, as we reef as early as we can without losing significant speed.

As a guide to boat speed on delivery, upwind we are happy to be doing 16 knots and downwind 25 knots, and we want to achieve those speeds with the minimum of sail. When racing of course we try to go faster with a 20 knots target speed upwind and 30 knots downwind!

As the boat is very powerful, we would go to second reef at 26 knots and third reef at about 33 knots on the MOD70, less on delivery of course.

The tall mast and high aspect square-top main on the Lagoon 52. Photo: Nicolas Claris

When cruising or on delivery, I always like to learn the minimum wind speed that I can reef while maintaining a similar boat speed. That way there is less stress to the boat, rigging and crew. The centre of effort of the sails also goes down, so heel and pitching reduce. Downwind, the bow down trim will reduce and the boat will be safer and lighter on the helm.

If the wind is expected to increase, I’d confidently change down at these minimum wind speeds, but if the wind is oscillating up and down in strength I would make sure the wind was really holding above that minimum wind speed before reefing.

And if unsure of what is going to happen with the wind – when sailing into squalls , into nighttime, or into gusty offshore winds near high land and headlands – then I would always aim to err on the side of caution. When cruising, being set up for the higher wind speeds than expected, is an old axiom.

The MOD is a super high performance trimaran of course, but to find out what the limits should be on a popular cruising cat I spoke to Graham Laver at Ancasta , who sent me the sailing guide for the Lagoon 52.

Interestingly, it’s not that different. With the standard pinhead mainsail, the first reef is recommended to go in at 21 knots both upwind and downwind, and in less wind with the optional square-top main, or in a bad sea-state. The second reef is recommended at 33 knots and the third is at 40 knots. These are higher winds than the MOD70, but then it’s a less powerful, heavier boat with a shorter rig.

Here we are talking all the time about wind speed in True, which requires a reasonably accurate instrument system. This is now common on most boats, but it’s very worthwhile to put in a little time to calibrate this as well as possible.

Coachroofs and hard biminis make it easy to check and adjust lazyjacks, control lines and battens. Photo: Christophe Launay

Not all about numbers

And this opens up the whole subject of instrument calibration . In essence the wind cups will, out of the factory, read the correct upwind and reaching apparent wind speed, but to get accurate true wind speed, the calibration of wind vane angle to the centreline, the boat speed and the compass are all very important so that the wind speed reads the same, tack to tack.

Downwind, the windspeed will often overread due to the upwash of wind from the square-top mainsail at full hoist, or a spinnaker, so be aware this may add about 2 knots to the windspeed. This can be calibrated out with advanced instrument systems

Even if the instruments are really well calibrated I like to always imagine how I would sail if they suddenly stopped working. So what are the other clues to use to estimate the wind speed?

Very important is the look of the wind on the water, the amount of white caps, as in the classic Beaufort scale, and also the feel of the boat: the speed through the water, the subtle heel angle changes, the amount of helm that is needed, and the balance of the boat.

For instance, how much you have to depower the boat to achieve a certain boat speed is a good guide. If I have eased quite a lot of mainsheet and traveller and the boat speed is as desired, and the front 20% of the main is luffing, then its probably past time to reef, even without looking at the true wind speed numbers.

In 2001, I sailed in the Mini Transat Race. At that time those boats had no wind instruments and it soon became second nature to know wind speed and direction, day or night. It’s a good exercise to always check your estimate of the wind speed against the instruments.

Photo: Christophe Launay

Of course you want your instrument and power system to be super reliable and well calibrated, so you don’t lose wind data on a dark night, but also you want to blend that information with your own judgement of the situation and have confidence in that judgement/intuition. The wind number is not an absolute guide to the forces on the boat anyway.

For instance, the same 20 knots wind speed is less powerful in the warm tropics than in the cold Southern Ocean. And on a foggy day with cold water and warm damp air, the wind is less powerful as there will be a lot of wind shear and the wind at the deck level is much less than the wind at the masthead.

So on a day when the wind is better mixed, the same 20 knots at the masthead is more powerful than that foggy day with laminar flow wind.

To summarise the discussion on reefing limits: it’s not just about the digital TWS number, but also what is right for the conditions you feel, the feedback from the behaviour of the boat, your predictions about what is going to happen in the future, the goal of the sailing and the abilities of the crew.

Reefing tips

Reefing is easy to do upwind or reaching, and I often slow right down to reef, and then get going again when the reef is finished. This keeps the apparent wind speed down, and makes for a safer platform for the crew. Downwind it can be trickier, with the friction of the sail and full length battens on the shrouds. If it’s not possible to head up, then winching the luff down at the same time as the leech should get the sail down slowly.

On very fast boats such as MOD70s you can keep going fast enough downwind to keep the apparent wind angle at 50° just with the gennaker, and then the mainsail can flap without hitting the shrouds when the traveller and mainsheet are eased. Then, once you are reefed, you can get back to your 37° to 40° of apparent wind angle and 30 knots of boat speed!

Some multihulls use a bridle set-up for the mainsheet instead of a traveller, as seen here on the new Dragonfly 40. Photo: Al Wood

Mainsail trim

So now we have the right size mainsail for the situation, how are we best going to trim that sail?

The big controls are the mainsheet and the traveller, and the minor controls are the outhaul, halyard and Cunningham (and on some boats some of these last three are not adjustable).

So let’s talk first about upwind and reaching in moderate, flat water conditions, when the mainsail is trimmed the tightest – let’s say in 12 knots of wind.

For the mainsheet, you can keep trimming until the top telltale is folded to leeward of the leech about 20% of the time, and the other 80% of the time it, and all the other leech telltales, are flying. That is max main trim, giving the straightest leech and minimum twist. I like to think of this as 1 out of 10, or ‘minimum twist’. I like to look up the back of the leech sometimes to assess the amount of twist.

In fact, if you can then mark the mainsheet at this position along a scale on the boom, you could have marks from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most trimmed in you can go, and with 10 being the most eased. This is ‘maximum twist’, perhaps used when you are reefing.

I really like to have marks on the mainsheet (and everywhere else it might apply), as it’s easy to then repeat your settings, and also to pass on information to the rest of the crew in a concise form. In these upwind conditions, position the traveller so the clew of the mainsail is on the centreline.

Note the red leech telltales on the batten ends, seen in almost full upwind mode here with the Code 0. Photo: Al Wood

As it gets windier, the first thing I would do is ease just a little mainsheet, to mark 2 or 3 on your scale so that the top of the main opens a little to reduce the power up top, and to reduce all of the loads. All the leech telltales will be flying now.

After that start easing the traveller down a little to depower further. Then, when you have 20% of the front of the sail luffing, its certainly time to reef, which will provide the same power, with less drag, so will be faster and safer.

In lighter winds you’d again have slightly less leech tension, perhaps also at twist mark 2 or 3, and the traveller slightly higher up the track so the clew still stays on the centreline. In light conditions you might use a little lazyjack or topping lift to stop the weight of the boom closing the leech. But by then most people will be motorsailing !

Use those leech telltales again when sailing downwind and reaching to set the correct twist through the mainsheet, and use the traveller to set the correct angle of the whole sail to the wind.

In waves you need to have more twist than in flat water as the apparent wind angle changes much more with all the heeling, pitching, and course changes, so you need a more tolerant setting.

Tweaking minor controls

The use of the minor sail controls can depend on the boat set up. Most boats will have an outhaul, to control the foot of the mainsail, and this will be tighter for strong winds and eased a little in the moderate, downwind and light conditions.

You can use either the halyard or Cunningham to control the luff of the sail. The goal is to barely eliminate the wrinkles in the luff and the sag between the batten and intermediate cars, but no more than that. Downwind you can ease the luff tension but still get rid of the wrinkles. On a bigger multihull with full battens, you can’t significantly move the draft forward of the sail with more luff tension or bend the mast like you can in a smaller cat.

The lazyjacks or topping lift should be left loose enough not to interfere with the mainsail but tight enough to hold the boom up if you forget to tighten them up before reefing or dropping the main.

Setting up your mainsail

When you first put on a fully battened mainsail on a multihull, the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s heavier than on an equivalent length monohull: the area is higher with the big roach, the full-length battens heavier, plus the weight of the mast track cars that go with the battens. The sail is typically made in a tougher cloth because the righting moment of the boat is greater than a monohull. So once you have that heavier sail into the lazyjacks, here are some tips for setting it up properly.

• Head: Set the correct distance between the head ring and the mast. If it’s adjustable you’ll find that bringing the head ring closer to the mast will put more fullness in the top of the main and make the leech tighter.
• Battens: Check the batten tension: ideally you want to be just getting rid of any vertical creases around the batten pockets. Too tight and the sail will be overly stressed and you can see the batten making the sail locally deeper.
• Depth: The mast is not tuneable in bend without a backstay, but one trick with full batten mains is to tune the thread that attaches the batten car to its mainsail track car. If you have more thread showing then the mainsail will get locally deeper as it is the equivalent of straightening the mast.
• Foot: Make sure the tack is lashed with the appropriate distance to the mast track so that it follows the luff of the sail. Ensure the clew is lashed down close to the boom and the outboard reef lines are run in the correct position.
• Reef lines: Due to the righting moment of the boat, the loads on the reef lines are higher than a monohull. Bigger multihulls will benefit from a hook arrangement for the reef so that it engages with a loop or a shackle on the leech of the main. This can help with chafe problems on lines and lessen compression on the boom.
• Telltales and stripes: Cut strips of red spinnaker cloth to use as telltales on the leech end of each batten. Big is better. The top one is particularly critical to make sure the mainsail is not over-trimmed. One trick for night sailing is to sew a little retroreflective tape to the back end of the telltales so they show up well when a flashlight is shone on them. Draft stripes are useful on the mainsail to look at the shape at three different heights, and these can also have retroreflective alongside them for nighttime sailing.

About the author

Brian Thompson is one of the world’s foremost multihull sailors and has sailed more miles in multihulls than any other British sailor. Thompson, 58, has been sailing since he was three years old. He has competed in virtually every major offshore race, including the Mini Transat Race, the Vendée Globe , round the world records for the Jules Verne Trophy, the Route du Rhum and the Volvo Ocean Race .

Thompson has held most offshore records over the last three decades, including spending 11 years sailing with the American adventurer Steve Fossett. He has become the go-to helmsman for multihull sailing records and during his more recent time aboard the MOD70 Phaedo3 , helped set ten world records. Thompson is currently campaigning the MOD70 Argo and is one of the directors of Doyle Sails UK.

First published in the September 2020 issue of Yachting World.

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Dragonfly Trimarans presents to you the first out of six chapters in the Dragonfly Sail Guide series. In this chapter we will show you how to trim and sail a Dragonfly when going upwind. Jens Quorning and his son Peter, will take you through the mainsail trim, headsail trim and how to tack with a Dragonfly Trimaran.

Dragonfly Trimarans presents to you the second out of six chapters in the Dragonfly Sail Guide Series. This time Jens and Peter wants to tell you how to trim and sail a Dragonfly while going downwind.

Dragonfly Trimarans presents to you the third out of six chapters in the Dragonfly Sail Guide series. This time Jens and Peter wants to demonstrate how to trim and sail a Dragonfly while reaching.

Dragonfly Trimarans presents to you the fourth out of six chapters in the Dragonfly Sail Guide series. This time Jens and Peter wants to demonstrate how to use the Code 0 on a Dragonfly.

We present to you the fifth out of six chapters in the Dragonfly Sail Guide series. This time Jens and Peter wants to take you through how to sail a Dragonfly in stronger wind conditions

We present to you the last chapter in the Dragonfly Sail Guide series. This time Jens and Peter wants to take you through the different functions you can expect and experience on a Dragonfly.

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6 Best Trailerable Trimarans For Bluewater and Coastal Sailing

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Having a boat costs a lot of money, even when you are not using it, marina fees, etc. And once it is in the water most sailors never go very far from their “home marina” and sailing will be somewhat restricted. However, what if you could fold your trimaran and put it on a trailer, store it at your house, and go to a new sailing spot the next time?

Here are 6 of the best trailerable trimaran:

• The Dragonfly series
• Corsair Series
• Windrider 17

Choosing the best trailerable trimaran (a multi-hull with three “hulls”) will depend on crucial factors like speed, durability, design, and ease of transportation. This article is here to help you get started with your research and hopefully help you on the way towards your dream boat!

Table of Contents

Cruising Trimarans That Can Be Transported

Cruising boats are made for multiday sailing either on the coast of your favorite sailing area or full-out blue-water ocean crossings. Extended living should be a priority in these designs.

1. The Dragonfly 25 and 28 (Dragon Fly Series)

Dragonfly is in the business of making the “best foldable trimarans on the planet” many would agree with this statement. Dragonfly is known for its commitment to easy trailering and ease of use, shown in designs for the Dragonfly 25 and Dragonfly 28.

The “Swing Wing” system on the linchpins is one of the key features of the dragonfly series. The system’s application makes it possible for the trimaran to narrow its beam as much as 50%.

Attesting to its Scandinavian manufacturing, most parts of the trimaran are made in-house. This guarantees quality and ensures that all used parts are above standard.

You don’t need to look further than the Dragonfly 25. Its centerboard slightly offset to port. Extra space is created in the main hull’s interior with a trunk buried under a settee. Performance-wise, the low drag and narrow hull shape allow the boat to reach blistering speeds.

Dragonfly 28 In Numbers

• Length: 8.75m
• Beam folded: 2.54m
• Max crew: 5-7 people
• Max Speed: 22+knots

Dragonfly 25 In Numbers

• Length: 7.65m
• Beam folded: 2.30m
• Max crew: 4-6 people
• Max Speed: 21+knots

2. Farrier F-22

New Zealand enters the trimaran manufacturing race with this premium sea goer. The vessel comes in two different versions: a performance variation with more horsepower and a full cabin cruising version. 

Compared to the dragon series the F-22 has the biggest allowance for space.

The F-22 is known for being one of the easiest trimarans to fold and load.

The sports version of the F-22 has some really good performance to offer. It has an aggressive spirit: you can mount a sail while leaving plenty of space for the boat’s fine entry and flared forward sections. The build quality is also topnotch—a lasting memorial to a principle that Ian Farrier always worked by: excellence.

Farrier F-22 In Numbers

• Length: 7.0m
• Beam folded: 2.5m
• Max crew: 3-5 people
• Max Speed: 20+knots

3. Corsair Series

This boat series has an exciting history. Farrier created it to promote his trailerable tri concept. However, the series is now independent with a top-class vehicle to its name.

The Corsair 760 is listed as providing some of the best performance and safety benefits to sailors.

Building off the spirit of excellence of the founder, the Corsair 760 has created a boat with comfort and racing potential. The boat can be tricky to handle at first, but it will be a breeze once you get the hang of it.

It is also worth noting that the corsair 37 is the largest trailerable trimaran on the market today.

Daysail Trimarans That Can Be Transported

Boats that are made for dayssailing are usually smaller, cheaper and more easily handled. They are perfect for those looking to enjoy a full day on the water in calm weather, but are usually less suitable for multiday events or rough sea sailing.

4. The Astus Models (20ft, 22.5ft, and 24ft)

If you’re looking for something small but still capable of doing day sailing, this 22.5-foot trimaran is for you. Built for speed and maneuverability, the Astus 22.5 has optional foils to optimize speed.

The modern design, coupled with the spacious interior, can fit up to four beds. Accordingly, this trimaran is suited for family outings. 

The Astus brand specializes in transportable trimarans, worth noting is that some models need a specific trailer whilst the smaller boats use a standard trailer.

5. Weta 14.5

The 2019 Weta trimaran is a 14.5-foot (4.4-meter) trimaran featuring a carbon frame, centerboard, rudder foil, and rudder shock. The hull is made from fiberglass and foam. The Weta is built for strength and speed based on these lightweight materials. 

The 2019 Weta trimaran is easy to sail and is worth considering whether you want to take a quiet sail, race with your friends, or take kids to a sailing lesson. It has a simple design and is easy to set up independently.

The small size makes it more suitable for daysailing in good weather rather than multiday cruising, although more experienced sailors will of course push the limits of this boat.

6. WindRider 17

The 17.4-foot (5.3-meter) WindRider 17 is one of the more versatile trimarans in the market. It packs high performance for a low cost. This trimaran has a light rotating mast to boost performance, and a full-battened mainsail optimizes visibility. 

This sailboat is made from rotomolded polyethylene, which is more durable than fiberglass and demands less maintenance.

The WindRider 17 has a comfortable interior and can fit six adults. This is an ideal choice for social sailing for a couple or a family and friends. It’s easy to ride, and a shallow draft allows easy maneuverability. 

What’s the Largest Trailerable Trimaran?

The largest trailerable trimaran is the Corsair 37 , this multihull is built for single-handed cruising while still maintaining the ability to comfortably seat 6 people.

The Corsair 37 provides comfort, speed, and safety. It also contains just enough space to accommodate amenities like a propane stove, a sink, and other equipment.

The vessel is designed to be a performance cruiser. It features an aluminum rotating wing mast, carbon fiber bowsprit, and premium deck hardware. The corsair can still cut through the water with ease despite its size, putting the wind in your sails.

What Is a Catamaran?

A catamaran is a boat with two hulls (a trimaran has three) connected by a bridge deck. Catamarans usually offer more space than both monohulls and trimarans of the same length. The catamaran is usually somewhat slower than a trimaran but faster than a monohull. They are usually made of fiberglass or carbon fiber.

Catamarans come in all shapes and sizes. You can find straightforward sailing catamarans, perfect for those who are only starting their sailing journey. Larger sailing catamarans have become extremely popular for long-distance sailing.

There are also power catamarans, they have huge diesel-powered engines (sometimes electric) and no sails. Also called “power cats”, these boats can reach 30+kts.

Can a Trimaran Be Trailerable?

As discussed above, some trimarans are possible to put on a trailer and move to another sailing area or to be stored at home. This is usually not possible with catamarans but is sometimes possible with the trimarans that are fitted with foldable amas (the two outer “floats” or “hulls”).

Some trimarans can be trailerable, this is mainly due to the ability to drastically decrease the vessels beam, sometimes as much as 50%. This allows the trailer plus trimaran to be below the legal requirements of the road.

Final Thoughts

It has proven difficult to beat the trimaran in terms of speed. Through the ages, this type of vessel has proven to be immensely enjoyable in all kinds of sailing activities. These can range from sea adventures to waterborne relaxation in your free time.

Trimarans come in various types, foldable, for cruising or racing, etc. However, there is a common factor: many of the small ones are trailerable. This makes them easier to move than most other types of boats.

Owner of CatamaranFreedom.com. A minimalist that has lived in a caravan in Sweden, 35ft Monohull in the Bahamas, and right now in his self-built Van. He just started the next adventure, to circumnavigate the world on a Catamaran!

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Trimaran Sailboats: Pros and Cons

Sep 22, 2021

less than a min

Trimarans are boats in the multihull category. So let us give you a simple overview. A monohull has just one hull, a catamaran is a boat with two hulls, while a trimaran as the name itself suggests, has three hulls ( one central hull and two side ones that are smaller ).

There are many reasons why people prefer trimarans to other boats. These vessels are very easy to maneuver and quite light compared to catamarans or monohulls. They are often considered as an advanced form of the catamaran. The reason being, trimarans are faster than the average catamaran and obviously faster than monohulls. 

In addition, trimarans are much more stable than the alternative. The three hulls provide extra balance and lower resistance because even if there are three hulls in a trimaran, they are smaller and narrower. Lower resistance also leads to lower fuel consumption. 

Trimarans are very comfortable to sail in as the main hull is stabilized by the two outer hulls . 

Also, if you enjoy spending more time outdoors rather than indoors (which is usually the case for people who like sailing), trimarans offer more deck area that you can utilize. Whether for meditation, or social gatherings, this space offers plenty of breathtaking views and fresh air. 

Let’s not forget that trimarans have smaller gaps in between the hulls which makes them easier to build and therefore less expensive for the public to buy. 

This article however is titled trimarans pros and cons, so it is time to move into some less appealing characteristics of these vessels. 

While they offer plenty of deck space, the area below the main deck is limited, therefore you cannot have as many people on board as you would in a monohull or even a catamaran. 

In addition, trimarans are not appropriate for every type of activity. If you want to use it for recreational sailing then these boats will provide plenty of enjoyment. If your scope is to find something for the military or fishing, trimarans are not often the best choice. 

If you have your mind set on a specific trimaran, search it on TheBoatDB . Our extensive database includes features, pictures, specifications, and more useful information on a variety of boats. What is most interesting however is that you can also compare a couple of models side by side and decide which one is your favorite by getting all your facts straight. 

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The complete list of trimarans.

There is no single trimaran that is best for everyone. Where some prefer luxury cruisers for long trips with family and friends, others might opt for a high performance racing tri for thrilling rides at breakneck speeds. With the recent spike in trimaran popularity, these days there is a perfect tri for every sailor. So to help prospective trimaran owners decide which boat is just right for them, we here at WindRider have put together a comprehensive list of the best trimarans on the market today! Read through for simple at-a-glance trimaran comparisons of boats both big and small, exhilarating and relaxing, and for all price points.

Jump to a specific sailing trimaran: Neel Weta Corsair WindRider Dragonfly Catri Astus Hobie Sea Pearl Farrier Sea Cart Multi 23 Triak SeaRail Warren Lightcraft Diam Radikal Challenger

Known for their award-winning luxury trimarans,   NEEL   is based in La Rochelle, the capital city of sailing in France. NEEL trimarans are built for fast cruising with an average cruising speed of about 10 knots, and are even configured to facilitate that sustained speed under motor propulsion. The NEEL 45 was notably named Cruising World’s Most Innovative Vessel in 2013, and by all accounts is an easy-to-sail, high performance boat that is just plain fun.

At a glance:

Models: NEEL 45, 65

Length: 45’ – 65’

Cost:   $$$$$

Use: Luxury cruiser

A fan favorite,   Weta trimarans   are fast, stable, and remarkably easy to rig. This single-sailor tri has a capacity of up to three, and the ease with which it can be transported and stored makes this a great, versatile boat for beginners. The Weta was named Sailing World’s 2010 Boat of the Year, and one ride is enough to know why: simply put, the Weta is an absolute ton of fun to sail regardless of skill level.

Models: Weta

Length: 14’5”

Cost:   $$ $$$

The high-end   Corsair trimaran   definitely holds its own in the categories of versatility, performance, and convenience. Boasting a rigging time of 30 minutes from trailer to sailor ,   the Corsair 42 – whose convenient folding amas makes trailering possible – is a simple option even for single sailors, though cabin space is suitable for two adults. These boats are wicked fast, capable of reaching speeds of 20+ knots, and were made for skilled sailors seeking solid construction and high performance vessels, not for beginners.

Models: Pulse 600, Sprint 750 MKII, Dash 750 MKII, Corsair 28, Cruze 970, Corsair 37, Corsair 42

Length: 19’8” – 37’

Cost:   $$$$ $

Use: Sports cruisers

Built for the sailor who wants to maximize the joys of sailing while minimizing any hassle, WindRider trimarans are notoriously fast, very safe, and a blast to sail from start to finish. With several models that can hold between 1 and 6 riders, including adaptive designs to allow participation from sailors of all levels of mobility, there’s something to suit every sailor’s needs. The WindRider 17, an exhilarating ride perfect for families or camper sailors, has been known to reach speeds of up to 20mph. This easy day sailor goes from trailer to sailing in under 30 minutes and is sure to fit in perfectly with whatever adventures you have planned.

Models: WR 16, 17, Tango, Rave V

Length: 10’11” – 18’3”

Cost:   $ $$$$

Use: Day sailor

The Danish-built   Dragonfly   trimarans come in a variety of models ranging from 25’ – 35’, all known for their spry performance, comfortable ride, and ease of use. Every model comes equipped with the unique “SwingWing” feature, a motorized system that can unfold the amas even while the boat is already underway – making it accessible to marinas and slips, and even makes trailering possible. Perfect for those who don’t want to sacrifice their comfort for high performance, the Dragonfly can breeze along at 13 knots while remaining one of the quietest compact cruisers out there.

Models: Dragonfly 25, 28, 32, 35, 1200

Length: 25’ – 39’

Designed for both safe cruising as well as for high speed racing,   Catri trimarans   will make your day. Especially noteworthy is the Catri 25, a stable yet wildly fast foiling trimaran with accommodations for up to 6 people. With profiles optimized for speeds of 25+ knots when foiling, this is no beginner’s sailboat. The special attention paid to stability in the foil design allows the Catri to be a single sailor vessel, even at foiling speed, with no special physical abilities. Whether you’re taking a small crew for longer rides at shuddering speeds or bringing the whole family along for a shorter, but still thrilling sail, the Catri is truly one of a kind.

Models: Catri 25

Length: 25’

Use: Cruiser/racer

A popular brand of trimaran in Europe,   Astus   has recently made its way to the US market to the delight of sailors on this side of the pond. Designed to offer maximum pleasure with minimum hassle, all models of Astus trimarans are fast to set up, quick on the water, inherently stable, and always a joy to sail. Their outriggers are mounted on telescopic tubes for easy stowage and towing, and can even be extended and retracted on the water for access to narrow passageways and monohull slips in marinas. With models in all sizes and price points, Astus trimarans are a great option for any sailor.

Models: Astus 16.5, 18.2, 20.2, 22, 24

Cabin: Some models

Length: 16’ – 24’

Use: Sport cruisers

HOBIE ADVENTURE ISLAND

Great for beginners and adventurers alike, the   Hobie Mirage Adventure Island   series is nothing if not just plain fun. With the option to use as a kayak or as a very basic trimaran, the Hobie is transportable, versatile, unintimidating, lightweight, and wonderfully affordable. The pedal system known as “Mirage Drive” allows a person to pedal the kayak using their legs for an extra kick of movement in slow winds. Amas tuck close to the main hull for docking or car-topping, adding serious ease and convenience to the exhilarating experience of the Hobie.

Models: Hobie Mirage Adventure Island, Mirage Tandem Island

Length: 16’7” – 18’6”

Use: Convertible kayak/trimarans

Best known for its use in camp cruising excursions, the   Sea Pearl   offers a roomy main hull and particular ability to sail in very shallow waters, making beaching and launching a breeze. The lightweight Sea Pearl trimaran is easy to tow, and the larger-than-expected cabin opens this vessel up for overnight adventures with plenty of storage space. The simple design makes the Sea Pearl notoriously low maintenance, and the ease it takes to rig and sail it add to the overall delight of owning this boat.

Models: Sea Pearl

Length: 21’

Use: Camper cruiser

Quick, lightweight, roomy, and trailerable,   Farrier trimarans   are made for versatility to fit every sailor’s needs. Different Farrier models are available in plan or kit boat form for those who appreciate building their boat themselves, but of course, also as the full production sail-away boat for the rest of us. Single-handed rigging and launching takes under 10 minutes from start to finish, minimizing hassle and getting you on the water fast. All non-racing Farrier designs use a minimum wind capsize speed of 30 knots or more to ensure safety for all those aboard. Add the roomy cabin and high speed capabilities to the equation and you’ve got a boat that is great fun for everyone.

Models:   F-22, 24, 25, 82, 27, 28, 31, 9A, 9AX, 9R, 32, 33, 33R, 33ST, 36, 39, 41, 44R

Length: 23’ – 39’4”

Cost:   $$$ $$

Use: Sport cruisers/racers

One of the biggest names in the game,   SeaCart   is internationally noted for its high performance trimarans that far exceed expectations for a production boat of its size. The SeaCart trimaran performs as brilliantly off the water as it does on with its super-light and efficient harbor folding system, making light work of trailering. Notoriously easy to manage and maintain, the SeaCart 26 One Design is the ultimate day racing trimaran, designed for both course and inshore/coastal distance racing. Absolutely worth the international buzz it has garnered, the SeaCart is a thrill from beginning to end.

Models:   SeaCart 26

Length: 26’

A high performance racer class, the   Multi 23   is a lightweight, powerful trimaran known for its wicked speed of up to 25 knots. Multi trimarans of both available configurations were designed to give beach cat thrills and speed without any of the stability or seaworthy concerns. Open ocean sailing is no issue for the Multi’s big bows, which do their job to keep her stable. Built for sailors with a need for speed, the Multi makes a perfect weekend boat for racers, especially those with a taste for boat camping.

Models:   Multi 23

Length: 23’

Another dual outrigger sailing kayak/canoe design,   the Triak trimaran   was designed to be effortless and fun, especially for beginners. Paddle the kayak with sails furled, use the foot pedals for an extra kick of momentum, or sail with just the mainsail – the only boat in its class to feature an asymmetrical spinnaker – for exhilarating speeds and a blast on the water. Car-top the Triak anywhere for a quick sail or plan for a week long expedition, but always count on having a great time on this easy little boat.

Models:   Triak

Length: 18’

Use: Convertible kayak/trimaran

SeaRail trimarans   are known for being affordable, light weight, trailerable trimarans that offer the perfect combination of exciting and relaxing experiences to a wide range of sailors. Whether it’s day sailing with your family, resort or camper sailing, SeaRail trimarans are ideal leisure vessels. Leave the hassle to the other boats – the SeaRail takes you from trailer to sailor in 15 minutes. But don’t let its reputation as a leisure tri fool you: if speed is what you want, rest assured that the SeaRail can deliver that as well.

Models:   SeaRail 19

WARREN LIGHTCRAFT

Warren Lightcraft trimarans , another example of a convertible kayak-to-sailboat option, are known for their aesthetically pleasing designs that are also, as the name implies, very light for simple transportation and ease of use. Convert the kayak into a fast, high performance sailboat in just minutes, fly around on the waves all day long, then simply car-top the 68lb Warren for a maximum enjoyment, low-hassle day on the water. Perfect for sailors and paddlers of all skill levels, the Warren Lightcraft is the best of both worlds and an absolute joy to sail.

Models:   Warren Lightcraft

Length: 15’6”

Built strictly with racing in mind,   the Diam 24   is a light, powerful one-design class trimaran and a notoriously exceptional performer. Boasting blistering speeds of up to 30 knots, Diam trimarans are not intended for beginners. For racers who crave the very best in terms of intense speeds, smooth handling and impeccable performance, the Diam is the red-hot one-design racing tri for you.

Models:   Diam 24

Length: 24’

For the sailor who prefers the finer things in life, the   Radikal 26   delivers. Perfect for bringing the whole family out for a day on the water, this high performance, trailerable sailing trimaran strikes the most luxurious balance between quicksilver speeds and a smooth, comfortable ride. The Radikal 26 trimaran is as convenient to transport and set up as it is pleasant to sail, with a folding system that minimizes rigging hassle and also makes this a trailerable tri. Built for a fast and comfortable sail rather than a hold-onto-your-seats thrill, one-the-water safety and overall pleasure makes the Radikal 26 what it is.

Models:   Radikal 26

Use: Sport cruiser

A solidly-built, single-handed trimaran, the Challenger also doubles as an adaptive design – meaning it is made to accommodate sailors of all levels of physical mobility. Best suited to lakes, the Challenger is a very safe, seaworthy boat for sailors of all ages and experience levels. Add to this the ease of owning, transporting and maintaining the Challenger trimaran and what you get is a simple, fun sailboat perfect both for beginners and those seeking a cheap thrill alike.

Models:   Challenger

At a glance comparison:

Did we miss one? Let us know. Tell us what you sail and what you like about each boat in the comments below.

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Specifications

General Details

• Length: 18.1m (59.3 ft)
• Beam: 11.7m (38.4 ft)
• Draft: 1.0m (2.5 ft)
• Average light displacement (subject to final options): : 9,700 kgs (21,385 lbs)
• Displacement (max load): 12,000kg (26,456 lb)
• Headroom (average): 2.1m (6 ft 11 inches)
• Mast height above water: 25.3m (83 ft)
• Storage volume of floats (at greatest dimension): (l) 4.5m x (w) 1.3m x (h) 1.5m
• Storage volume under cockpit (at greatest dim.): (L) 2.2m x (W) 3.3m x (H) 1.4m

Further information:

• For detailed specifications, click onto  Rapido 60 Specifications (30 Nov. 2021)
• Click to download Rapido 60 General Arrangement .

Sailing La Vagabonde post a video of the launch of La Vagabonde III (Rapido 60 #04) on 2 November 2023. See video below.

• Mainsail: 125m² (1,345 ft²)
• Solent: 71m² (764 ft²)
• Reacher: 130m² (1,399 ft²)
• Asymmetric Spin: 225m² (2,422 ft²)
• Stay sail: 25m² (269 ft²)

General Information

“I  sailed Rapido Hull #01 on the Mediterranean Sea the other day and we were doing 14 knots upwind while cooking in the spacious kitchen!" Ferdinand van West (former F18 World Champion working with designers, Morrelli & Melvin ). ( Click here for original article in Catamaran Racing.)

Billed as the World’s Ultimate Ocean Cruising Trimaran , the Rapido 60 really is the Queen of the Oceans . It offers speed, safety, performance – and luxury.

The inspiration behind the Rapido 60 comes from Paul Koch (co founder of Rapido Trimarans), arguably, the man who has built more production trimarans than anyone else on the planet.

The design is by world renowned naval architects, Morelli & Melvin Design and Engineering who use some of the most sophisticated technology in the world. Triac Composites  is our exclusive builder.

While the foam sandwich and carbon construction is lightweight which gives the boat its speed, it also provides an extremely strong and rigid structure that has been designed to withstand the might of the oceans.

An additional benefit of the foam sandwich construction is the high degree of insulation, protecting the Rapido when the sun beats down.

Morelli & Melvin enjoy a very strong international reputation. Their designs even include entries for the America’s Cup .

https://www.facebook.com/raceweek/videos/1868118026600225/UzpfSTM1ODI2NDQ5MTAwMzkyMjoxMDU2MjY4MzMxMjAzNTMx/

[Video caption: Take a tour onboard Rapido 60, Romanza with owners, Dougall and Jaz Love, during Hamilton Island Race Week.]

Morrelli & Melvin’s computer modelling said that the Rapido 60 was very strong. And so we tested it.

We bolted the centre hull of the Rapido to the factory floor in HCMC. We then brought in two mobile cranes – each took a diagonal corner of the two outer hulls. With one diagonal corner each, the two cranes began to lift while the trimaran’s centre hull remained bolted to the floor, causing it to twist. One tonne of lifting pressure… Two tonnes… Three tonnes…

As the trimaran twisted it began to creak and groan. But the sensitive electronic equipment we had measuring every move and twist remained unphased. Everything was within design parameters.

Seven tonnes… Eight tonnes… Nine tonnes…

The pressure was eased and the Rapido spring back into its original condition – totally unaffected by the enormous twisting pressure that had been placed upon it.

The computer modelling had accurately predicted the incredible structural strength of the composites used in the Rapido. The Rapido is built to take on the oceans.

Rapido is, simply, the Queen of the Oceans.

Incredible storage capacity

The Rapido 60 has amazing, dedicated storage capacity. Floats (4.8m x 1.3m). Beneath the cockpit seats (2.1m x 0.5m). Beneath the cockpit floor (2.1m x 2.9m x 1.3m). Forward of forward cabin (1.4m x 1.2m x 1.2m).

Other videos

[Video above: Rapido 60, Romanza, races effortlessly at 24 knots during the opening day of Airlie Beach Race Week (Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia) in August 2018.]

[Video above: Owners of Rapido 60, Romanza, take the organisers of Hamilton Island Race Week on a walk thru tour.]

[Video above: Owner of Rapido 60, Ineffable, Steve Bourne is interviewed about his boat for the 39th St Maarten Heineken Regatta.]

[Video above; Rapido 60, Romanza wins the PIC Coastal Classic in New Zealand in November 2020. And it wasn’t all hard sailing out there over the 21 hours.]

• For more videos, visit the Rapido Trimarans’ You Tube Channel .

FAST AND POWERFUL

Trimarans are safe, powerful and fast as demonstrated by the fact that they consistently win races and hold the solo speed record for circumnavigating the world.

Safety at sea is the No. 1 priority and this thinking is reflected throughout the design and construction of the Rapido.

The Rapido 60 has some truly amazing living spaces which provide more open, private and intimate areas than monohulls or catamarans.

stable and comfortable

Trimarans are comfortable on all points of sail.

The combination of safety, performance and comfort put the Rapido in a league of its own. The enormous trampoline nets add fun and excitement as you watch the blue water rush underneath you – or as you lounge on the nets while gently floating over a reef. You will be instantly hooked..

look inside the

Rapido 60 in action.

See more Rapido Trimarans videos (You Tube)

View all Rapido 60 photos

60 in the media

Below is a list of articles which have appeared in various publications regarding Rapido Trimarans.

• Sailboat Review, Rapido 40, A sailor’s dream boat , by Mark Pillsbury, Cruising World magazine, 6 May 2024
• Rapido host much anticipated launch of first Rapido 53XS , Sails magazine, 1 May 2024
• Rapido 53XS – a peak speed of 24 knots during initial sea trials , by Emmanuel van Deth, Multihulls World, 19 April 2024
• Rapido 53XS, the new 16m globetrotter of a trimaran , by Aldo Fumagalli, Vela magazine, 24 January 2024
• First look – Rapido 53XS, a 20 knot cruiser , by Toby Hodges, Yachting World, 29 December 2023
• Video. Sailing Bliss: Unveiling the Rapido 40 Trimaran – GIDDY UP!!! , by Naval Gazing at Camp David, December 2023
• Video. The Rapido 53XS: Tour, review and ideas , by Naval Gazing at Camp David, December 2023
• Rapido 53XS Review , by Yachting World, 9 November 2023
• Video. Der Kat-Jäger: Carbon-Trimaran Rapido 40 aus Vietnam (“The cat hunter: carbon trimaran Rapido 40 from Vietnam”) by Yacht TV, 12 October 2023
• Cruising World announces Rapido 40 as Boat of the Year 2024 nominee , Cruising World, 26 September 2023
• Rapido 40 carbon trimaran from Vietnam – the test , by Michael Good, German Yacht Magazine, 21 September 2023
• C-foils on a fast cruising trimaran? This looks rapid!, Rapido 40 tour, Yachting World magazine video by Toby Hodges, 8 September 2023
• Rapido 40: The Alternative Trimaran , by François-Xavier de Crécy with photos by Ludovic Fruchaud, LE MONDE DU MULTICOQUE #24 by Voile Magazine. July, 2024.
• The Rapido 40 is a 20 knot cruising tri , George Day, Cruising Compass, 24 May, 2023
• Boat Review of Rapido 40, Zuzana Prochazka, Sail Magazine, 4 May 2023
• Rapido 40: ultra fast cruising in complete safety on three hulls , Maxime Leriche , SailboatNews.com, 25 April 2023
• Boat anomaly: Rapido 40 Trimaran , No Frills Sailing, 19 April 2023
• Rapido 40 – Fast, foldable and worry free!,  Multihulls World magazine, No. 189, May-July 2023
• Shipyard Focus: Rapido Trimarans , by Kevin Green, Multihulls World, August / September 2022.
• Rapido, changing the game , by Zuzana Prochazka, Sail Magazine, 23 March, 2022
• Rapido 40: A livable sailboat for cruising on 3 hulls , Briag Merlet, Sailboat News, 23 February 2022.
• Rapido, changing the game , (takes a detailed look at the cutting edge design and technology of Morrelli & Melvin) by Zuzana Prochazka, Multihull Sailor, December 2021
• Boat Review: Rapido 50 , Kevin Green, Boating New Zealand, November 2021
• Harnessing Speed , by Kevin Green, Boating New Zealand, November 2021
• Rapido 60 Trimaran Boat Review: A Bold Gamechanger For Performance Bluewater Cruising , by Zuzana Prochazka, Yacht World, 23 September, 2021.
• Harnessing the wind , by Kevin Green, Multihulls World, September / October 2021 issue, 6 page spread on Rapido Trimarans.
• Sailing La Vagabonde choose Rapido 60 to sail world’s oceans , video announcement by SLV to their 1.59 million subscribers, You Tube, 8 June 2021
• The Ultimate Racer-Cruiser: Clients on Romanza are turning heads on the racetrack when they’re not cruising at high speed , North Sails, 19 April, 2021
• Making Short-handed Short Work – Onboard Rapido 60 , Anna Merchant, Sail-World, 11 February 2021
• Rapido 50 News from the Shipyards , Multihulls World, 2 February 2021
• Buyers’ Guide 2021, Rapido 50 , Multihulls World, 18 December 2020
• “New breed” Rapido 40 & 50 , Yachting World magazine, November 2020
• Cruising Helmsman reviews Rapido 60 , October 2020
• Romanza takes top spot in Yates Cup , SEA Yachting magazine, September 2020
• Rapido Trimarans relocates production arm into Vietnam ,  SEA Yachting  magazine, Nov/Dec 2019.
• Rapido Trimarans, On the March, Seahorse Magazine , October 2019.
• (French)  Rapido 40, un trimaran repliable de 12 m , Bateaux.com, 29 August 2019.
• Rapido 60 – The most exciting production multihull in the world?  (or  click here  for selection of quotes), Multihulls Magazine, Summer (July) 2019.
• Rapido , Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, June 2019 (pp23-24)
• Ineffable’s Steve Bourne: I’m a nutter for sailing , Daily Herald, 26 February 2019.
• Rapido 60′ the fastest production multihull in the world? , International Multihulls World, December 2017
• RAPIDO 60’ : Le multicoque de série habitable le plus rapide du monde? , Multihulls World, 23 November 2017
• Finding Mrs Right , Boating New Zealand, August 2016
• Blue Water Cruising Trimaran , Australian Multihulls World, August 2016
• Rapido 60 , Cruising World, 25 August, 2016
• Rapido 60 , by Emma Bamford, Sailing Today.

Folding System

Legendary ability, unbeatable reliability.

Folding and unfolding a Corsair trimaran takes only a minute. With just 4 bolts to remove, it is easily managed by one person, and is normally done while afloat. Simply raise (to fold) or press down (to unfold) the inboard end of one cross beam. It can be done from the safety of the cockpit and only a little force is needed due to the folding system’s carefully balanced geometry, and the movement of the floats being mostly horizontal.

The solid aluminium folding struts have absolute control over the folding motion and prevent flexing or racking. A stainless steel bolt on the inboard end of each beam secures the floats for sailing. Crucially, wingnets remain attached during the folding process – their frictionless fixing allows them to tension themselves appropriately through the folding process. The system is so simple and balanced that Corsair trimarans can even be folded while motoring.

TRAILERING ACROSS CONTINENTS

Corsair Marine trimarans are especially weight-conscious, and sit low on their trailers meaning they have excellent trailering characteristics. They are equally easy to launch, giving you more time on the water, and the ability to expore many more remote cruising grounds or participate in regattas far from home. Some Corsair trimaran models go from trailer to water in 25 minutes, and with practice even the largest boat models can be done in 40 minutes.

Corsair 880 Trimaran | 2022 Boat Review by Multihulls World

Corsair 880 – Drive Out, Fold Out, Thrill Out, Chill Out

Australian Debut of the Corsair 880 at the Sydney International Boat Show

• Folding Corsair Trimarans: Legendary Ability, Unbeatable Reliability
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