perpendicular makes perfect sense
Im not sure where you were going with the excess length of the crossbeams ?
still, my issue would be with sliding,
it is harder to do on your own because if you slide one end too far it can end up trapping/jamming both beams.
I found this neat comparison on compact tris
Report on Nine Small Folding Trimarans
and within this formula: P.I. = L*B*SA / Wt , but I cant work out if thats at empty weight
Elementarry works out at 262 to 209 empty, 155 to 135 with 1 crew, 110 to 100 with 2 crew
note one of the better performing ones of these things costs $13000 !
Im wondering what a really fast LW hull looks like, does it have any rocker?