Rapido 53XS

The concept of a large pod on three hulls is not new, the American Arthur Piver designed several “ superhabitable” trimarans as early as the 1960s. A little later, the English shipyard Sandwich Yacht Construction developed the complete Telstar range - 300 units were built. In France, we remember the Allegro and its questionable submersible floats... Today, it’s Neel from La Rochelle who has revived this market, offering a range from 43 to 65 feet. The wide nacelle trimaran offers a subtle compromise between helming comfort close to that of a monohull and record-breaking habitability like that offered by a catamaran - not to mention the absence of heel. Until now, Rapido Trimarans, the brand created by Paul Koch, had made headlines in the fast-cruising trimaran microcosm with a first, particularly high-performance 60. The Rapido 50 and 40 have taken up this super-fast cruiser concept, but with folding arms to allow access to a “standard” marina slip. Four 60s, three 50s and twelve 40s have come out of Triac Composites’ Vietnamese workshops, proving the formula’s success. The smaller wetted surfac...