Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

[hibbert6]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Thanks, people, for the info. Guess it'll have to be a v hull.

Dave

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

I had a tri hull.. It hated wake.. It would down right hurt.. It was a small boat.. 15 ft like urs.. It was awesome for fishing and would get in some pretty shallow stuff..
When I sold it.. I knew I wanted a V hull.. Looked for the deepest V I could find.. Love my Four Winns.. Has a great ride.. Seems pretty stable to me.. Wake that woulda scared the crap out of me in my tri hull.. I eat up with the Four Winns.. It's like night and day..

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Thanks, people, for the info. Guess it'll have to be a v hull.

Dave

No sadness. Both have benefits and drawbacks. It just depends where you priorities are.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Turned out that sucker would BEAT YOU TO DEATH with any kind of chop on the water. It wasn't just talk. Might as well have been in a flat-bottom jon boat. I gave it to a friend who lives on a small lake.

A tri-hull can often ride WORSE than a flat bottom boat! The space between the hulls is catching water that at least the flat bottom would have some chance to spray out to the sides.

The one advantage tri hulls have is that they will teach you how strong fiberglass actually is! Your bones/spine will have turned to dust before the hull breaks.

* former tri-hull owner, I've had a couple over the years. *

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

I had a 16 1/2' 72 SeaSwirl for 6-7 years and was surprised how well it would handle heavy waves,,, if you slowed down. You couldn't run WOT into anything over 2', but it handled 4-5' waves without issue trimmed up and going slow. Even had it in 6'ers once (never again) and it rode through them.

I like the ride of my new(er) V hull as it rides through the big stuff better. First trip out we ran into 4-5'ers and it handled much better than the tri-hull. One thing about the SeaSwirl, if you dipped it into a wave, it would roll right off the bow. It had a modified closed bow, front deck was designed to walk around on, but waves would roll off it. If I catch a wave on the new boat, it's coming back into the cockpit...

 

['96 Charger]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

My buddy had a '78 Holiday and then a '78 Hydrasports both 17' bass boats with 115hp outboards. Both trihulls and both would beat you to death. Neither one of them were very stable when walking around the deck either. He ditched the Holiday because the runners inside the hull rotted out and got the Hydrasports cheap. We put that old boat through hell for nearly five seasons before the transom broke on it. With the staggered seating my seat was between the port side and livewell. In turns I'd get squeezedNow he has an '86 Stratos 179v with a V and it will beat you to death but at least it's built solid. My 19' Charger with a deep keel up front and somewhat flat rear half rides like a dream and will plow right through whitecaps without shaking you too much.

 

[Red_BOFUS]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

I had a big 22' Glastron that was awesome as a trihull. Cuddy cabin, for bow seating outside, awesome fishing rig too. Never minded the ride though.

 

[jkust]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

If old school tri hulls were desirable and there was a demand wouldn't every manufacturer still offer them? Sort of a demand pull.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

If old school tri hulls were desirable and there was a demand wouldn't every manufacturer still offer them? Sort of a demand pull.

modern deck boats, as well as some wake boats, ARE variants of trihulls. There are some houseboats that are more or less flattened out tri-hulls also.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

modern deck boats, as well as some wake boats, ARE variants of trihulls. There are some houseboats that are more or less flattened out tri-hulls also.

Starcraft, Hurricane, Playcraft...
Not the "old school" tri-hull, but even the V-bottoms have progressed since then.

 

[jkust]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Starcraft, Hurricane, Playcraft...
Not the "old school" tri-hull, but even the V-bottoms have progressed since then.

Yep and v bottom Mastercraft, Chaparral and on and on. The tri part of the hull doesn't touch the water. They make for a wider more useful bow area among other benefits. I still remember when every third boat on the water was a tri-hull. Do old school tri hulls add any benefit to the interior design like wider or more bow space? I rarely see them any longer.

 

[Hoggar]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

My surfer has lots of space upfront you can seat 4 -6 up there
depending on how cozy you want to get she likes to cruse at
around 25mph, she flattens right out and glides right over the wakes.
She needs some spit and polish but Ive only had her for about
a month and I love it. She will do 31mph at WOT with 8 on board
in clear water.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

although a V is smoother, it won't turn chop to glass. there will still be some bouncing and smacking, so be sure to set your passengers' expectations on "reality."

There is also a different method for trimming. As someone said, you often trim up the bow of a flat or tri hull to deal with chop; with a heavy V you trim down to cut through it.

 

[DJ]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Boston Whalers are tri hulls or more accurately "Cathedrals". No, they do not ride well but they are unsinkable.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r320/a2jdj/P1010180-1.jpg

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Yep and v bottom Mastercraft, Chaparral and on and on. The tri part of the hull doesn't touch the water. They make for a wider more useful bow area among other benefits. I still remember when every third boat on the water was a tri-hull. Do old school tri hulls add any benefit to the interior design like wider or more bow space? I rarely see them any longer.

There's plenty around here. Although, they're all sitting beside sheds with for sale signs.... You can pick them up pretty cheap.....

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

dj that whaler looks great. judging from the age of the motor, from the late 80's? Did yo make that seat?

 

[DJ]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Home Cookin,

Thanks.

Actually, the engine is a 1994 70 HP with a 1988 60 HP hood.

Yes, I made the seat and all the interior wood. It is all Ribbon Mahogany. You can see the project in the Completed Boats area.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=261834

 

[metalwizard]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

My surfer has lots of space upfront you can seat 4 -6 up there
depending on how cozy you want to get she likes to cruse at
around 25mph, she flattens right out and glides right over the wakes.
She needs some spit and polish but Ive only had her for about
a month and I love it. She will do 31mph at WOT with 8 on board
in clear water.

Nice looking old boat.

My arrowglass is a tri hull. It rides fairly nice. Yeah you feel the bumps. but it;s really stable sitting in the water.

I think most newer boats are hybrids of the V and Tri. best of both worlds.

Saw one on a trailer today. don't know what it was, had to be 35 foot, REALLY tall, the deck looked flat (from my view) and it was a catamaran. the hulls must have been 5 feet tall really weird looking thing. wish I knew better how to describe it.


EDIT: looked kind of like this, but open cabin and helm.. Really cool looking boat.

http://www.andamanboatyard.com/catamarans.htm

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

Used to have a 16 foot Chrysler that was like a tri hull but technically was a Hydro Vee. That was a super stable platform when anchored even in some pretty nasty Green Bay rollers. It took waves at WOT nicely for the most part but when you hit one wrong and it pounded hard, I swear it would throw a spray out 30 ft on both sides. I'd love to have that boat back to restore.

 

[metalwizard]

Re: Do all Tri Hulls have a Rough Ride?

The Navy seems to think a tri hull is the new way to go..

http://thebrigade.com/2010/09/29/alabama-has-built-a-real-cool-ship-for-the-navy-19-hq-photos/