rapido trimaran cost

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Sailboat Review: Rapido 40

• By Mark Pillsbury
• May 6, 2024

In the great debate among sailors about what’s better—a monohull or a catamaran—both sides make compelling ­arguments. Monohulls are more efficient at going upwind. Their sufficient ballast ensures stability in a seaway. Some would say that a keelboat is just plain more exciting to sail. But cat lovers counter that they don’t care to “sail on their ear.” They’re willing to motor to windward if necessary, they enjoy the ability to pull up next to a beach, and they rave about the outdoor living space that two hulls afford. 

And then there’s the trimaran crowd, which, on a boat like the Rapido 40, gets the best of both worlds. Fast, flat sailing upwind and down? Check. Shallow draft for cruising in skinny water? Check. Lots of room to spread out on deck, and generous accommodations below for a cruising couple with kids or occasional friends? You bet.

The Rapido 40 is designed by the high-performance team at Morrelli & Melvin, and is built in Vietnam by Triac Composites. Rapido was co-founded in 2014 by Paul Koch and Richard Eyre. Koch is an old hand at trimarans—he was formerly president of Corsair—and he says that there is a market out there, albeit a niche one, for performance-oriented, oceangoing cruising trimarans. 

Rapido’s 40 is the smallest in a line that ranges upwards of 60 feet—its original model. Just sitting at the dock, the all-­carbon-fiber build is one sleek-looking boat. It has a rotating, spreaderless, double-tapered wing mast; a V-shaped boom; and a square-top main that’s paired with a versatile two-headsail sail plan. That sail plan includes a self-tacking jib for upwind sailing or days when it’s blowing, and a screecher set on a sprit. There’s also a continuous-line furler for off-the-wind or light-air conditions. 

Underway, that package provides plenty of horsepower, as my Boat of the Year judging colleagues and I would discover on Chesapeake Bay this past fall. It was a ride where we all vied for the dubious honor of top tiller hog.

In 10 to 12 knots with the small jib rolled out, we skipped along at close to 8 knots, according to the GPS. Things got really lively when we rolled up that sail and unfurled the big dog. Twelve knots and change was about top end for us in those relatively light conditions.

And boy, was the Rapido fun to sail! The boat has bench-style seats outboard to either side of the cockpit, so skippers can sit with the tiller extension in hand and legs stretched out, watching the world fly by. C foils in the amas are adjusted up or down depending on the point of sail; strategically placed electric Harken winches raise them, and gravity drops them down. Sheets and halyards can also be led to the winches, so, for a shorthanded crew, sailhandling—especially with the self-tending jib—is pretty simple.

A base model Rapido 40 runs just under $700,000, though the boat we sailed in Annapolis—with top-of-the-line North Sails, B&G electronics and a composting head—carried a price tag of $800,000 and change. Other options include a performance mast and electric propulsion. Lithium batteries are standard.

I’ve been on smaller tris, where the interior can feel cramped because of the relatively narrow beam of the center hull, but the 40 has more-than-adequate living space. An inline galley takes up the starboard side of the salon, with a dining table opposite. The raised cabin top and windows all around provide 360-degree visibility and 6-foot-6-inch headroom. Rear-facing ports are removable for ventilation and to provide better visibility forward from the cockpit. I liked the look of the carbon-fiber countertops and drawers, which felt light as a feather to open. And the composite work was clean as a whistle.

Beneath the cockpit, there’s a double berth that’s accessible through a cockpit hatch or from below. It would be a great place to stash the kids, and two single berths are an option. I’m told that in later models, the cockpit sole has been raised 3 inches, making the aft cabin that much roomier. The owner’s stateroom, with a double berth offset to port, is in a cabin forward of the salon, along with a head and shower.

Hulls and deck are foam-cored. The prepreg autoclave-cured components such as the bulkheads, boom, mast, C foils, structural beams and T-foil rudder are all made in-house. The main hull and amas (which fold in, reducing the beam from 28 feet, 10 inches to 19 feet, 3 inches) all have watertight bow crash compartments. The engine compartment, which houses a 30 hp Yanmar with a shaft drive, is also surrounded by watertight bulkheads, just in case.

Rapido US importer Bob Gleason—an experienced ­multihull guy and owner of The Multihull Source in Cape Cod, Massachusetts—had fit out the boat that we got aboard to keep the weight down. I still found it packed with all that I’d need for a comfortable getaway. Workmanship and equipment was ­top-notch, just as I’d expect on a boat built to go places.

Mark Pillsbury is a CW editor-at-large and was a 2024 Boat of the Year judge. 

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Rapido Trimarans

For serious sailors. The Rapido 40 offers the benefits of the Rapido 60 – but only requires a single berth in a marina.

The Rapido 50 Trimaran is the world’s ultimate ocean-cruising folding trimaran. Designed by Morelli & Melvin.

Wide-body version of the Rapido 50 with eXtra Space. The performance of a trimaran with the space of a catamaran.

Rapido 53xs.

The world’s fastest cruising trimaran. Offering cutting-edge performance with a spacious and luxurious interior.

Why a rapido trimaran.

Why would you want to cruise on anything other than a Rapido Trimaran if you want the following:

• A stable boat which doesn’t heel.
• A boat that loves long distances, short sprints and the passage between.
• Discovering places that others cannot venture to when you sneak up alongside a secluded beach or glide over a reef (the draft of the Rapido 60 is just 0.75m with the rudder and daggerboard retracted).
• The Speed when you need! Having the flexibility to power up and sail away from bad weather systems is prudent. Powering up and sailing away while other boats are wallowing is, well, just a lot of fun!
• To sail short-handed with centralized systems, Karver reefing hooks, self tacking furling jib, furling reacher and stay sails.
• Safety . Safety is paramount on the water and the fleet of Rapido Trimarans are designed and built to put you in control for fast, safe, fun sailing (see “SAFE” box further below).

Click here to read more about why you should buy a Rapido Trimaran

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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

First look: Rapido 50 folding trimaran

• June 9, 2021

The recently launched Rapido 50 will share many of the same characteristics of her predecessors as a performance folding trimaran that should turn heads

When launched in 2016 the Morelli and Melvin-designed Rapido 60 quickly established this brand as a new breed of ultra-fast, yet practical, performance cruising/racing trimaran

The Vietnam-based builder has two further models in development, at 40ft and 50ft. Both are folding multihull designs, which enables them to slip into a regular monohull marina berth and reduces storage costs when ashore.

Construction of the Morelli and Melvin design is of infused carbon foam sandwich, with beams, daggerboards and rudder made of pre-preg carbon. The central hull is configured for single-level living, with the cockpit and deckhouse both on the same level, although the Rapido 50 has a higher helm station to give a clear view over the coachroof.

Polars for this model show it being capable of well over 20 knots of boat speed across a wide range of reaching wind angles, and as much as 18 knots beam reaching in just 14 knots of breeze. The first Rapido 50 was built for delivery to an owner in Palma, Mallorca.

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Rapido is also working on a 40-footer with curved C-foils and T-foil rudders. As well as offering a performance boost, without the control issues of a fully foiling boat, these allow the interior to be opened up as there’s no need for a daggerboard in the central hull.

The result looks to be a very enticing high performance yacht with a civilised two-cabin interior and acres of deck space.

Base prices are ex works, ex sails and electronics, and with aluminium spars.

Rapido 50 specification

LOA: 15.24m / 50ft 9in LWL: 14.96m / 49ft 1in Max beam: 10.38m / 34ft 1in Folded beam: 5.5m / 18ft 1in Draught: 0.67-3.52m / 2ft 2in to 11ft 7in Displacement (light): 8,200kg / 14,400lb Base Price: US$1.25m ex VAT

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