RAPIDO 50
Discover the fully carbonized, foldable trimaran
Factsheet
| Length | 18m |
| Persons | 5 |
Description
For sailors. The Rapido 50 trimaran is the ultimate folding ocean cruising trimaran in the world. Designed by Morelli & Melvin, it is built exclusively by Triac Composites. The Rapido 50 – the world’s ultimate Folding Cruising Trimarans: When the idea of making the Rapido 50 a folding trimaran was first proposed, our initial reaction was “ARE YOU CRAZY?”. But after consulting with Pete Melvin from our designers Morelli & Melvin, we thought: “Why not!”. After all, our management team has built more folding trimarans than anyone else in the world. If anyone understands the challenges and knows how to do it right, we do! The folding mechanism adds slightly to the initial cost, but the ability to park the boat in a marina that accepts monohulls is well worth it and the payback is huge! Advantages of the Rapido 50 folding system: The Rapido folding system keeps the floats vertical in the folded position. This prevents growth from occurring on the sides of the floats, as is the case with other folding systems. And if you’re not prepared to clean the floats before your next sail, it looks visually unattractive. Not so with the Rapido 50, which keeps the side of the floats in pristine condition. Compared to other systems, the Rapido model actually contributes to the overall strength of the boat by reducing the load on the beams when sailing and does not make the boat longer when folded, thus reducing the length of the required berth or slip in the marina.
Interested?
RAPIDO 50
The Rapido folding system is supported by a winch to, some say, eliminate the recoil force required on larger boats with other systems. While the Rapido folding system adds cost and complexity, we believe it is easily justified by the massive benefits in practice, and having been designed by Morrelli & Melvin, it is built to last. It’s even bulletproof. The vision behind the Rapido: Have you ever had a consuming passion for anything? Paul Koch, co-founder of Rapido Triamarans, certainly does. While trimarans may be a niche market, it is a market that he has essentially dedicated his entire professional life to developing. Paul owned and operated OSTAC yachts (Ocean Sailing Trimarans and Catamarans) from 1986 to 2008 and the trimaran company Corsair Marine from 1994 to 2010. A pioneer known for his passion and vision, Paul has driven many innovations in the multihull industry. For most of his career, Paul has worked with James Sganzerla, Operations Director of Rapido Trimarans. Together they have built more than 1,500 production trimarans over a period of 60 years. You would think that 1,500 trimarans later, Paul would have felt he had done everything with trimarans. But not so. Paul was convinced that one segment was missing from the market:
a trimaran that was owner-operated, powerful and cruised at sea – and could be safely crewed by two people. Enter the concept for the world’s fastest production cruising trimaran , the Rapido 60. Armed with this concept, Paul turned to his friend Pete Melvin of world-renowned naval architects Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering . Their task was to develop the design and construction for the Rapido 60.
The builder
The builder – Triac Composites: Triac Composites is the manufacturing arm of Rapido Trimarans. It was established in Vietnam in 2014 by Paul and co-founder Richard Eyre to build the Rapidos. Importantly, Triac is intentionally diversifying its revenue streams by opening up to both general and non-marine marine industries. While Triac Composites are specialists in building sailboats, we are also specialists in working with composites, regardless of the industry in which they are used. Composites are particularly well suited to the marine industry as they are lightweight, super strong, non-corrosive in salty environments and can be molded into virtually any shape. These properties are in high demand throughout the marine sector in general, as well as in other industries. Accordingly, as Triac Composites’ production capacity (e.g. Kuka Robot, autoclave, CNC machine, manpower, etc.) has increased, our order book has become very diverse and robust. Triac Composites has an international management team and technical staff. We employ nearly 100 people locally – many of whom have been with Paul since he opened a composites manufacturing facility in Vietnam in 2006.
The Designers – Morrelli & Melvin: Rapido Trimarans believes that Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering is the best qualified and most professional multihull design / engineering company in the world. Morelli & Melvin don’t just sit in the design office. They actually sail and build boats. Combined with their state of the art engineering work behind America’s Cup campaigns and other world famous projects, we believe they have the perfect balance of technical knowledge and practical experience. They then designed the Rapido 60 (followed by the Rapido 50 and Rapido 40) and gave Paul the plans to start building it.
The designers
More information
The vision behind the Rapido: Have you ever had a consuming passion for anything? Paul Koch, co-founder of Rapido Triamarans, certainly does. While trimarans may be a niche market, it is a market that he has essentially dedicated his entire professional life to developing. Paul owned and operated OSTAC yachts (Ocean Sailing Trimarans and Catamarans) from 1986 to 2008 and the trimaran company Corsair Marine from 1994 to 2010. A pioneer known for his passion and vision, Paul has pioneered many innovations in the multihull industry. For most of his career, Paul has worked with James Sganzerla, Operations Director of Rapido Trimarans. Together they have built more than 1,500 production trimarans over a period of 60 years. You would think that 1,500 trimarans later, Paul would have felt he had done everything with trimarans. But not so. Paul was convinced that there was a segment missing from the market: a trimaran that was owner-operated, powerful and cruised at sea – and could be safely crewed by two people. Enter the concept for the world’s fastest production cruising trimaran, the Rapido 60. Armed with this concept, Paul turned to his friend Pete Melvin of world-renowned naval architects Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering . Their task was to develop the design and construction for the Rapido 60. The designers – Morrelli & Melvin: Rapido Trimarans believes that Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering is the best qualified and most professional multihull design / engineering company in the world. Morelli & Melvin don’t just sit in the design office. They actually sail and build boats. Combined with their state of the art engineering work behind America’s Cup campaigns and other world famous projects, we believe they have the perfect balance of technical knowledge and practical experience. They then designed the Rapido 60 (followed by the Rapido 50 and Rapido 40) and gave Paul the plans to start building it.