The Trika 540 trimaran can be built from plywood at home

Trika 540 trimaran with floats folded for easy boarding

+11

Trika 540

Product Description

The Trika 540 is a pretty little demountable trimaran for use on protected waters; ideal for lakes, rivers and bays. The slim hull proportions result in very low drag, so it is a speedy little cruiser that is capable of speeds approaching 10 knots in a moderate breeze.

This versatile super-fun boat was designed from the ground up for efficiency, speed and easy handling by one or two people. It is not a retrofitted kayak but specifically created for excellent performance both under sail and while paddling.

It can be paddled as a large two-person kayak or can be converted in minutes and without tools to be a fast sailing trimaran with amazing performance. It has excellent foot-steering with a retractable foil rudder and a deck layout suitable for single-handed sailing. The rig uses aluminium, GRP or carbon-fibre tubes for the free-standing mast but has a fore-stay for the roller-furling jib. It has a fathead fully-battened mainsail that can be reefed for stronger winds.

The amas (floats) can be easily folded parallel against the hull to reduce beam for easy boarding from a dock or to access narrow berths or waterways. The large open cockpit makes boarding easier and is surrounded by coaming to deflect water.

To make car-topping and storage much easier, both amas can be stored in the main hull.

The stitch-and-glue plywood construction is well within the ability of most amateur boat builders.

The main hull has a beam of 0.7 m. The area of the main sail is 5.5 m² and the area of the jib is 2.3 m². The mast height is 5.1 m.

Plywood-only kit

We do not supply a complete kit of this boat, only the pre-cut plywood panels. The plywood kit contains the pre-cut plywood panels to build the main hull and outriggers and the plywood beams. This does not include the plans, which are needed to build the boat.

Short plywood kit

We also offer a short plywood kit, which contains all the plywood components less than a metre long, leaving you to source and cut the larger plywood pieces, which are a less complex shape to cut. In addition to the short plywood kit, you will also need 6 sheets of 4 mm plywood and a sheet of 12 mm plywood. You will also need to purchase the plans.