Trimaran

South African Guy Joubert has been adventuring into every corner of Africa since before the age of ten, and in his adult years his pursuit of fishing, sailing, surfing, diving and exploration has enabled him to try first-hand the traditional native watercraft of numerous countries. So when Joubert decided to design a modern day, high tech, expedition quality, multi-purpose adventure sailing craft, it’s not surprising that the design should have DNA recognizable from outrigger sailing craft that evolved over thousands of years … made of modern materials, and with ingenious use of space and propulsion methods. The Crusoe craft is your fully adaptable go anywhere, do anything mobile home and equipment locker. Read More

Are you “mediagenic, geeky, youthful, and insanely adventurous”? Those are the qualities that Steven Roberts is seeking in the new owner of his custom pedal/wind/solar-powered micro-trimaran, the Microship. A self-described “technomad,” Roberts is a huge fan of high technology and self-propelled solo adventuring, and the quirky little boat is clearly the lovechild of those two passions. It has a host of high-tech features, yet is intended for escaping the rat race and living simply. Ironic? Maybe, but it comes with a great story. Read More

After first leaving terra firma in December 2009, Austal's next-gen 102-meter trimaran is now nearing completion. The company says the vessel has impressed during sea trials this year, achieving a speed of 39 knots at 90% MCR (maximum continuous rating) with 340 tonnes deadweight. Read More

There’s an old maxim in racing, and it goes along the lines of “when the flag drops, the bulls**t stops” and after more three years of legal action and posturing between the teams' billionaire principals, Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli, it was a much awaited start in many ways that mercifully kicked off the America’s Cup yesterday. Just 40 nautical miles (nm) later, the whole event seems all but over, as BMW Oracle was clearly faster downwind and particularly so upwind in comparison to the defending champ Alinghi V in conditions which were expected to favor the Swiss team. The racing was compelling and very spectacular, but in the best of three series, with the second race scheduled for Sunday … Read More

America's team BMW Oracle Racing (BOR) has taken full advantage of a "wide open" set of design rules for this year's America's Cup to produce one of the most staggering and ambitious vessels ever seen on the water. Throwing out the cloth main sail, team BOR have fitted the BOR 90 with a gargantuan, motorized, solid carbon-fiber wing, nearly twice the size of a Boeing 747 wing at 190ft, or 57 metres tall. The engineering and logistics surrounding this incredible boat are mind-boggling - imagine trying to work out where to store the giant wing structure, how to transport it and how to fix it vertically onto a boat - let alone how to sail the thing - but the benefits of a non-deforming main sail include the potential for the multimillion-dollar trimaran to travel at up to 2.5 times wind speed. It's a crazy, massively expensive and hugely risky experiment that's never even been prototyped, and will only get a few weeks' worth of testing before it races in February. Read More

Shipbuilder Austal first came to Gizmag’s attention in 2005 with the launch of the world’s largest aluminum vessel, the 127 meter Benchijigua Express. The company then started building Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) for the US Navy, based on the same trimaran design. And, now, Austal is launching an even more refined version that improves sea-keeping, passenger comfort and fuel efficiency. This week, Tony Armstrong, Austal’s head of R&D, spoke exclusively to Gizmag about potentially building 20% of the US Navy fleet, how they reduced fuel consumption by a quarter, what sick bags can tell you, and much more. Read More