Multihull Boat Comparisons

[MAMiddleton]

Hello all -

I grew up sailing on a Hobie Cat with my family, and now later in life I'm interested in the concept of multihull boats in general. Call me late to the game but I never knew much about Trimarans in particular, and after a scary experience capsizing the Catamaran in the ocean and floating until the Coastguard picked us up, I like the stability offered by Trimarans.

I found a couple articles comparing boats to one another:

Hobie Tandem Island to WindRider Comparison
this one compares a hobie tandem island to a windrider 17

Comparing the WindRider 17 to the Weta Trimaran
and this one has a little less info but compares a weta trimaran to a windrider 17.

I was hoping someone with more experience could talk to me a bit about how these and other multihull boats really differ? Or if anyone could direct me to other articles comparing, that would also be much appreciated!

[senormechanico]

What are you looking to do with a trimaran or any multihull for that matter?
It's possible to capsize any multi if you push it hard enough.
That being said, I've never come close with my Dragonfly 1000.

However,

Several years ago, during a trimaran delivery from Puget Sound to Southern California, three of us sailors with variable experience came close to a capsize off Cape Mendocino. It was due to several conditions, partly boat outfitting design (jam cleat location and orientation), boat condition (centerboard stuck down), weather (slowly increasing wind with lots of sun), crew interaction(newb insisting on going DDW to avoid any semblance of roll in swells), and lastly, crew fatigue.
A member leaned back in the cockpit which released the barberhaul on the jib. (BAD PLACEMENT BY THE MANUFACTURER)

The jib immediately gybed which put us from DDW to a close reach.
We almost capsized before recapturing control.

The centerboard was stuck down before the trip started (my bad for not insisting it was fixed before the trip started) which exacerbated the condition.

The wind was such that we couldn't turn downwind for over a mile.
We were doing better than ten knots on a close reach with flogging sails with the tiller hard over. The boat was heeling around 30 degrees with the windward tramp blown upward like a balloon.

It can happen regardless of boat size.
See the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair".