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Concept
Multihull
Summary
A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more hulls, but such examples are very rare and tend to be specialised for particular functions.
Counter-intuitively, it is unhelpful to think of the design progression to be "1-2-3", namely monohull - catamaran - trimaran; rather, it is "1-3-2". A sailing trimaran is, in effect, a modified monohull with lightweight outrigger hulls (or "amas") for stability instead of a heavy deep keel; so it follows that a sailing trimaran will be lighter and faster than a sailing monohull. A sailing trimaran will have a centre hull that may comprise up to 90% of total hull volume, and 95% of total deadweight.
A sailing trimaran at rest will have both amas out of the water and, when heeled, will only ever have one of the amas immersed. As a trimaran heels further, that leeward ama will submerge even more deeply, providing increased stability and buoyancy. A monohull will heel much more than a trimaran, which will in turn heel a little more than a catamaran which typically heels up to 5° or 10°. For leisure cruising, a catamaran is more spacious than an equivalent monohull or a trimaran, but a cruising trimaran can have a greater load-carrying ability than a catamaran, due to its monohull-like centre hull.
Outrigger boat and Catamaran
Single-outrigger boats, double-canoes (catamarans), and double-outrigger boats (trimarans) of the Austronesian peoples are the direct antecedents of modern multihull vessels. They were developed during the Austronesian Expansion (c. 3000 to 1500 BC) which allowed Austronesians to colonize maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, Island Melanesia, Madagascar, and Polynesia. These Austronesian vessels are still widely used today by traditional fishermen in Austronesian regions in maritime Southeast Asia, Oceania and Madagascar; as well as areas they were introduced to by Austronesians in ancient times like in the East African coast and in South Asia.
Official source
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