Design and Construction
The Trifoiler is a trimaran with a long central hull flanked by two shorter amas, the whole platform stretching 22 feet on a 19-foot beam that collapses to just 46 inches on its trailer anchor. Construction is light but solid: the main hull uses a foam core to hold its weight to 90 pounds, and the boat's total mass is a mere 320 pounds. Hobie offered white hulls with colored graphics as standard, and the standard equipment list ran to Harken blocks, a how-to-rig video, a watertight storage compartment, and a built-in speedometer. A custom trailer and trailer ties were the notable options.
Rig and Handling
The most distinctive element is the biplane rig, carrying twin windsurfer-like sails on the outer hulls beneath an 18-foot mast, with a total sail area of 215 square feet anchor. Three self-adjusting hydrofoils do the real work: the forward foils retract, while a patented sensor skims the surface ahead of each ama and adjusts the two main foils for proper height, raising the hull clear of the water. The main foils retract fully for beaching, and the rudder carries its own foil and kicks up easily. With roughly 12 knots of breeze the boat lifts off — whether solo or with two aboard — and then sails readily at twice the wind speed, capable of 35 mph or more. Foot pedals steer the boat, and the skipper can tack or gybe almost instantly, generating lateral loads up to 2 Gs, yet the design is almost impossible to capsize. It is happiest on smooth water but will take moderate seas.
Accommodations
This is no cruiser. The cockpit is a bobsled-like recess with shoulder-high sides and a fabric bucket seat for the skipper, who faces a control panel consolidating all sail and foil adjustments. A second seat behind the driver accommodates a guest or a trainee. Standard colored patented multi-sail zippered reefing sails and the watertight compartment round out the practical fittings.
Known Issues
The sources document no structural defects, rot, or systemic failures for the Trifoiler. The principal service consideration flows from its novelty: the foil sensor system, retractable foils, and biplane rig demand correct rigging and adjustment, and the how-to-rig video was supplied for that reason. The light foam-core main hull and the foil mechanisms are unforgiving of neglect or grounding, given the boat flies above the surface only when its foils and sensors are sound.
The Verdict
The Hobie Trifoiler is a purpose-built foil trimaran that delivered production sailboat speeds once thought unreachable, wrapped in a trailerable 320-pound package. Its compromises are those of any specialized machine: minimal accommodation, a skill-intensive rig, and a dependence on smooth water for best effect. For the sailor who measures a boat by velocity and engineering audacity, few production designs from the 1990s compare.
Pros
- Foilborne flight at 35 mph and twice wind speed on 12 knots of breeze
- Nearly capsize-proof with instant tacking and 2-G gybes
- Light, trailerable trimaran with retractable foils for beaching
Cons
- Barely an accommodation — bobsled cockpit with two seats only
- Best on smooth water; moderate seas are its limit
- Rig and foil sensor system require careful rigging and upkeep
