What ever happened to tri hull boats?

[reelfishin]

I can't help but notice that no one makes a new trihull these days? I have owned several of these, and they are great hulls for river, lakes and back bays, especially for fishing. They are super stable, can be pretty light, and hold nearly twice the weight of a comparable V hull. I do realize that they are not the ideal ocean going boat, but I have had several of mine out a ways from time to time in fair weather.

Was there some inherent flaw in this design that made the manufacturers quit building them?

 

[KCook]

Re: What ever happened to tri hull boats?

Search hard enough and you can find a few new deckboats and skiffs that at least hint at the old tri-hull design.

Kelly Cook

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: What ever happened to tri hull boats?

Yes. They beat you to death in choppy water. They were popular because they were the first bowriders. But ride quality suffered and people gravitated toward open-bow V's when they came on the market. Now you can hardly give a trihull away.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What ever happened to tri hull boats?

they don't have the sleek, bling look of the V's. even the most popular deck boats, have the dominate sleek V look at the bow, with the tri's set back. the makers have learned that installing a little BLING, is very profitable, doesn't matter if it's really usable.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: What ever happened to tri hull boats?

Sure give a rough ride in anything but calm waters. My wife insists on a "Oh Sh*t Handle" in our V hull, she would need a few more in a tri-hull !!!!

 

[Texasmark]

Re: What ever happened to tri hull boats?

I had a few and the only ones that were ok were the ones with a deep V and "sponsons". In essence you needed the V hull to cut the water and the sponson just turned the spray around for a dry ride.

Other problem with them is if you were driving into a wind/waves at a quarter (45 degrees off 0 with the wind off the helm side....starboard) the boat would dip it's wing on that side and beat you to death and soak you down.

Agree the open bow gave them popularity as most larger boats had a covered deck which made 1/3 of the boat useless making docking, launching, and anchoring a real chore.

So they learned that people like the open access to the bow and the deep V gives the soft, dry ride so that's where they (the industry) went. BTDT and will never have another.

One company (Tri-Sonic) made a 17' and 19'. If you can find a picture of both on the www or wherever, pay particular attention to the frontal view of both. The 19' was very successful on Texas lakes which are always (seems) boiling. The 17 was not. Looking at the hull shape (from the bow) shows you why.

I think Mark Twain made a similar boat to the 19 and Cobalt also made a nice deep V tri-hull.

Mark