What Building Offshore Performance Trimarans Reveals About Modern Composite Manufacturing

Beyond Sailing: The Manufacturing Story Behind High-Performance Trimarans

When people watch high-performance trimarans sailing at 20 knots across oceans, they usually focus on the speed, the design, or the adventure.

What they often do not think about is the manufacturing.

Carbon fiber is stronger than steel in the ways that matter: strength-to-weight, stiffness, and fatigue resistance.

In a recent interview with adventurer and filmmaker Francis Tapon, Triac Composites' and Rapido Trimarans' co-founder, Paul Koch, spoke at length about trimaran performance, safety, electric propulsion, and offshore cruising. Click here for the video interview.

But underneath the sailing discussion was something equally interesting: a glimpse into what it actually takes to manufacture lightweight carbon fibre structures capable of surviving offshore conditions year after year.

Every Rapido trimaran is built by Triac Composites in Vietnam using sophisticated carbon fibre construction techniques refined through years of hands-on production experience, combined with world-class multihull engineering and design from renowned naval architects, Morelli & Melvin.

The original You Tube viceo by Francis Tapon who met with Paul Koch, co founder of Rapido Trimarans & Triac Composites for an extended interview on You Tube.

Engineering Demands That Define the Build

Modern performance trimarans combine conflicting engineering requirements. They must be extremely light, yet capable of handling enormous structural loads. They must remain stiff under sail, tolerate constant vibration and cyclic loading, and survive prolonged exposure to saltwater, UV, and offshore weather - often while sailing faster than many larger monohulls.

Francis Tapon interviews Rapido and Triac co founder, Paul Koch.

That combination places enormous pressure on manufacturing quality.

Small weight increases matter. Minor inconsistencies in laminates matter. Resin control matters. Structural bonding matters. Repeatability matters.

Why Carbon Fibre Alone Is Not Enough

As Paul Koch explains during the interview, Rapido adopted carbon fibre construction from the beginning because it offered the best balance of weight, stiffness, strength, and long-term durability for offshore performance multihulls.

But carbon fibre alone is not the whole story. The challenge is to transform advanced materials into reliable real-world structures, consistently and at scale.

The interview touches on areas such as prepreg carbon fibre, autoclave curing, carbon masts and C foils, lightweight structural laminates, and large composite beam structures - processes more commonly associated with high-end aerospace, motorsport, and elite marine manufacturing than conventional production boatbuilding.

For Triac Composites, however, these processes have become part of everyday production.

Carbon's the lightest, strongest way of building a fast boat, says Triac COmposites' Paul Koch..

Experience Where It Matters: Turning Process into Repeatable Quality

Over the years, the company has developed deep practical experience in producing complex composite structures where low weight, structural precision, and long-term durability are all essential simultaneously.

While Rapido trimarans may be among the most visible examples of that work, the same manufacturing discipline applies across a far broader range of composite applications.

What matters most is not just knowing the processes, but executing them repeatedly, reliably, and under real production conditions.

Vietnam’s Growing Role in Advanced Composite Manufacturing

The interview also offers an interesting perspective on Vietnam’s emergence as a serious advanced manufacturing base.

Vietnam has provided a capable workforce, and through structured training and hands-on production experience, Triac has developed this talent into highly skilled composite specialists that can compete on the international stage.

For industries requiring lightweight composite structures, carbon fibre fabrication, precision moulding, prepreg manufacturing, vacuum infusion, or complex structural assemblies, the broader takeaway is clear: sophisticated advanced composites manufacturing is no longer limited to traditional Western production centres.

Watch the Full Interview

You can watch the full interview here: Francis Tapon Interview with Paul Koch.

Confidential Enquiries

For companies evaluating outsourced manufacturing across marine, industrial, transportation, or specialised engineering sectors, Triac Composites is a partner worth considering.

We regularly receive confidential enquiries and handle all discussions under NDA to ensure discretion at every stage. Our established reputation in advanced composites provides confidence from the outset.

Initial contact can be made directly with Triac’s Marketing and Business Development Director, Phil Johns at phil@triaccomposites.com.