trimaran in heavy seas

The basic principle, in bad weather, is to move away from the area of strongest winds. Today, modern analysis of weather maps makes it possible to optimize its trajectory. But beware of the coasts: apart from some possible access in all weathers, many ports are inaccessible in very heavy seas. Allow yourself some searoom! Heaving-to

Trimarans are safe in rough seas because they have high righting torques, and conditions have to be extreme before they flip over. They have excellent vertical and lateral stability due to their tri-hull design, and their buoyant construction helps keep them afloat.

This video shows Hallberg Rassy 48 Elysium in heavy weather off Cape Gris Nez, northern France in 2014. The yacht seems to be handling well, able to use a Raymarine lineair 7000 autopilot depsite...

I love multihulls and they're my next (dream) boat but a monohull is the correct answer. The type of monohull is very important so you need to ask what features are safest for heavy seas. In general true blue water boats are going to be heavy monohulls with full keels and center cockpits.

Neel 47 Trimaran: Best Full-Size Multihull. Cruising World Judges named the Neel 47 trimaran the Best Full-Size Multihull for 2020. By Herb McCormick. Updated: December 9, 2019. In the large multihull class, at least for 2020, the Neel 47 proved that three hulls are better than two.

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.

Can’t decide between a monohull and a catamaran? The surprising truth is that a fast cruising trimaran, like the Neel 43 could be the ideal solution. Rupert Holmes reports.

The trimaran (Type 3 high buoyancy amas) has an overall beam of 32 ft. and the cat ( type 6 ) beam = 23ft. The trimaran has less accommodation, and is lighter than the cat, but because of the wider beam it has greater maximum stability.

Heavy weather is not always avoidable. Andy Schell has expert advice on how to prepare for and handle the big stuff offshore

In fact, all significant heavy equipment is located in the main central hull on a trimaran whereas it is distributed half and half in each hull on a catamaran. This superiority of the trimaran is even more significant in heavy seas as shown on the illustration here-below.