Welcome Captain !
Here is why three really is the magic number.
1. Monohulls
A large heavy block of metal is needed is a keel to balance the forces on the sail. The entire structure has to be heavy & strong to hold the keel, and more force is needed to overcome the extra weight of the keel and the boat and the drag.
While they may arguably be the best boat to have in a storm they will drive through every wave. As a pleasure craft, many leave locations because of the incessant rolling at anchor.
2. Catamarans
Until the last 10 years catamarans had a bad rep. With understanding of the safe reefing guides for wind and conditions those have been overcome – just be sensible and it will stay right-side up.
Their popularity has grown as they provide the largest accomodations when the full space between hulls are turned over to an enclosed cabin. Being above deck, daily living is much like the best over-water hotel rooms. Having two hulls at anchor and often at passage, items can be left on kitchen counters and be reasonably trusted to stay there (except in more adventurous offshore conditions)
3. Trimarans
As catamarans, we have believed for over 10 years that this is the next generation of sailing waiting for the market to appreciate and get excited by.
Current designs are becoming more impressive and heads are beginning to turn more this way.
Trimarans are more stable than catamarans. When a catamaran is powered enough to lift a hull it is time to use extreme caution. When a trimaran lifts a hull, that flying hull weight acts as a free keel held out meters to the windward side of the sails bringing the boat into balance, which means the leeward hull doesn’t have to provide so much lifting force and isn’t pushed into the water so much.
The hulls can be much racier than catamarans therefore.
Usually these thinner outer hulls (amas) often don’t have any accomodation or it is more restricted, although a few have recently changed this. Hansteiger and Neel are perhaps the best known examples.
Our designs have a number of innovations which we aren’t ready to reveal yet, but combined we think it will bring trimarans into the mainstream and performance cruising world marketplace.
I’ll have the one below in blue please, with 5 beds, 3 heads & a well-equipped kitchen/galley !!