Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

[eeboater]

What are the pro's and con's of a tri-hull? I have never even been in one, let alone driven one to know how they perform on the water. I have been told (and I'm not sure if it is true or not) but they do not perform as well in rougher water as compared to a regular V-shaped hull.<br /><br />Does anyone know what the original purpose of the Tri-Hull was? It seems as though it could provide a bit more stability as far as bouncing from port to starboard is concerned -- but that is only a very superficial observation based upon the construction of the hull.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for the feedback.<br /><br />Sean

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

You basically said it in a nutshell. Good lateral stability but poor performance in choppy seas. Good small lake boats but even heavy boat wakes can make for an uncomfortable ride.

 

[hise]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

Like it looks... it's somewhere between a skiff and a v-hull. stability close to that of a skiff, with a smoother ride; but, not as smooth as a v-hull. Does give a pretty dry ride though.<br /><br />--Hise

 

[swist]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

Multihull boats track better. Whether this is good or bad depends on what you want to do. Quick turns are not in their repertoire....

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

The tri-hull was originally created to achieve bow seating. There have been many different designs within the tri-hull spectrum. If a person is actually interested in one, they need to look for one that has considerable deadrise in the center hull section. A large percentage of tri-hulls were near flat at the transom, which exagerates the bad ride impression. If you look at my link below, the first pic shows the transom. You can see that there is considerable deadrise in the center hull section. This allows my rig to run as comfortable as a V-hull at planing speeds, Turn very sharply, yet it still has the slow speed/resting stability tri-hulls are known for. There were not a lot of tri-hulls made like this, most are like the older Boston Whalers (some were direct rip-offs of the BW design), and the older BWs are not known for a comfortable ride.<br /><br />Tri-hulls fell out of favor as the design of conventional bow rider V hull was perfected. A person can still buy a Tri-hull, although the dealer will never admit that is what it is. The Hurricane Fundeck is a tri-hull, but don't tell anyone. In the end, a well designed tri-hull can be an ideal boat, but they are not currently sexy, and sexy is what sells...

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

Tri-hulls are not fast boats. They have a lot of wetted surface and consequently a lot of friction. I think the pro's and con's have been pretty well covered previously.

 

[trebot]

Re: Pros/Cons of Tri-Hulls

Agree with Jack Shellac. My first boat was a 17' tri-hull Larson that had been re-powered with a 400 cubic inch small block Chevy. 65 MPH motor in a 40MPH hull. Put thru hull exhausts on her and she sounded sweet! Nice inland lake boat.