The Vision Behind Rapido

Rapido began with a simple idea: there should be a better way to cross an ocean under sail.

For Paul Koch, co-founder of Rapido Trimarans, that idea grew from a lifetime spent designing, building and sailing multihulls. His journey began in 1986 with OSTAC Yachts (Ocean Sailing Trimarans and Catamarans). From 1994 to 2010, he led Corsair Marine, helping transform the trimaran from a specialist sailing craft into a highly respected and increasingly popular form of performance cruising.

After decades in the industry, Paul, together with his business partner Richard Eyre, saw an opportunity that hadn’t yet been properly addressed: a genuine ocean-going trimaran that combined performance, safety, comfort and simplicity, while remaining practical for a couple to operate.

It wasn’t to be a racing boat adapted for cruising. And it wasn’t to be a conventional cruising boat with performance added as an afterthought. It was to be a boat designed from the beginning around what a trimaran could do.

That vision became Rapido.

Our Mission

Turning that mission into reality meant bringing together two things: world-class multihull design and the composite manufacturing capability to build it properly.

Video above: Behind the scenes, Barefoot Doctors Sailing interviews co-founder Paul Koch about the design philosophy driving Rapido Trimarans.

Designed by Morrelli & Melvin

To develop the Rapido platform, Paul and Richard engaged Morrelli & Melvin, the California-based naval architecture firm founded by Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin.

Morrelli & Melvin are the only design and engineering team with two multihull America’s Cup winning design credits: Stars and Stripes in 1988 and BMW Oracle Racing’s trimaran in 2010. They were also part of Emirates Team New Zealand’s design team for the AC72 in 2013, and have written the technical class rules for multiple America’s Cup multihull cycles.

Their role on Rapido wasn’t simply to make the boats faster. It was to engineer a platform in which performance, structural integrity, stability, handling and ocean-going capability work together. The design was conceived around advanced composite construction from the outset, rather than having the material imposed on an existing hull shape.

• Learn more about Morrelli & Melvin’s technology and design process.

Built by Triac Composites

Rapido Trimarans are manufactured exclusively by Triac Composites, the composite manufacturing company Paul and Richard co-founded in Vietnam in 2014.

Triac was established to provide the manufacturing capability and expertise needed to bring the Rapido concept to life. Today, its purpose-designed facility near Ho Chi Minh City combines large-scale CNC and robotic machinery, an 8.5-metre autoclave and an experienced composite manufacturing team.

The relationship between Rapido and Triac is close by design. Many members of the Triac team have worked with Paul Koch for years, bringing together experience in advanced composites, marine structures and high-performance multihulls.

Three Threads, One Boat

Morrelli & Melvin bring the multihull design and engineering. Triac Composites brings the manufacturing capability to build those designs accurately. And Paul Koch’s decades in multihulls tie the two together.

The result is a direct connection between design, engineering and construction – from the first drawing to the finished boat.

Rapido owners take it from there – sailing the boats across oceans, into remote destinations, and on the kind of journeys a specification sheet can’t really capture.

Come and See Where Rapido Is Built

Rapido Trimarans are built at Triac Composites in Vietnam, approximately 45 minutes from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City.

We welcome prospective owners to visit the facility, meet the team and see the construction process first-hand.

Arrange a private factory visit → Email [email protected]

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