Who can build me a powercat in Asia

Does any one know of any one who could build a power cat in asia. I want a 40 + footer, light but stong in fibre glass I would want the hulls to be about 7ft wide and in true planing form. I want to put in two 120hp with surface props. I need the whole rig to weigh in at no more than 6 tons. Including 1000ltr fuel. I expect to achieve about 25/30kts.
I will fit the motors all I want is the hull. Must be built in Thailand ,Malaysia or Singapore.
Would consider alluminium

 

I don't profess to be an expert on the subject, but some of your goals seem a little optimistic. Catamarans gain their performance from having long slender hulls - commonly with length / beam ratio's of greater than 12:1. With a beam of 7 feet you are looking at around 8:1. Admittedly planing cats can get away with beamier sections, but these do seem unusually wide.
Also, a quick run through a few similar examples shows that in order to attain speeds up to around 30 knots, you would need at least 230hp per side. Those that I have looked at with around 100hp per side (generally of the displacement type) only manage in the mid to high teens.
Lastly, an all up weight of under 6 tons seems quite an ask. I know of a locally built planing cat that was recently launched here. The owner was meticulous about weight reduction, but at 45 ft, the boat, from memory weighs over 10 tons in cruising trim. I think it uses a pair of 420 hp diesels running though v-drives and maxes out in the low 30's.
As I said, I'm no expert and you may well have a great deal more experience than I, but it would certainly pay to get some professional advice from someone knowledgeable in the field before you embark on such an expensive project. You may have already done that, in which case I will happily be proven wrong - either way, I hope you will post some drawings & pics as the boat progresses.......

 

Thanks for the input Will. Actually I have printed the wrong speed expectations -it shoud be 23.4kts flat out. Weight is critical but at approx 8/10lbs per hp (depending on enginetype) I dont think that 6 tons is un-achievable. I chose 120 because I like ford lehmans, maybe some thing a little more perhaps
The hulls I have in mind are hard chine planing and not the usuall power cat tunnel shape where the inside of the tunnel is wasted wetted area. These are in efect very deep v. My idea is to get the boat right out skimming on top( the faster you go the less wetted area). Maybe in choppy sea's it will nock your teeth out but I can always back off on the throttle.
Your example boat had huge engines that would be around 6720lbs plus the v drives, 4 shafts- lots of wieght there, not to mention fuel required to run those 5galls per 100hp per hour ? I might be going wrong here but some times I think you can just pour on hp just to get what you had in the first place due to the extra wieght in powering up
also Will I will be insisting on surface drives( no appendix drag) its the only way to go these day's and getting more popular.
jack

 

Interesting choice of engine. I like the Lehmans too - my father has a pair in a 38 ft Cheoy Lee "trawler" style cruiser. But they are rated as a pretty low output engine and are very heavy - I would have thought that one of the newer generation lightweight turbo diesels would have been a more natural choice - but then again, ours have over 3000 hrs on them and are still ticking away as if they're new.
I'll check up on the figures I gave you about my friends cat. It was designed by the guy who came up with the original wave-piercer concept and who designed most of Incats earlier ferries ( http://www.incat.com.au/ ) so he definitely knows his stuff. The chap who owns and built it supplies some of incats high-tech gear - like they're active foil systems, so he too is no dumby in this area.

You might want to check out Malcolm Tennants site about cats - he's considered a bit of a catamaran guru in these parts www.tennantdesign.co.nz or http://www.stanyonmarine.com.au/
Both tend to lean towards displacement cats, but are definitely worth a look.
For a champion of the planing hull see http://www.powercatsnz.com/

 

Please visit our site about boat building in Asia: http://www.promaritim.com

 

For engines Since Geo. area I would lean towards Yanmar. But Even a better engine is Cummings.

 

neven I tried to look at www.promaritim.com but your web site is loading really slowly right now. It took 5 minutes for the homepage to come up and the other pages dont seem to load at all (maybe I just didn't wait long enough but I gave it 5 minutes...) Thought you should know.

 

Thanks for letting me know. But I have no problems with the site. Maybe there was a problem with the server. Should be alright by now! Please take another look:
http://www.promaritim.com

 

Gave it another try and this time your site came up fine - must have been a temporary problem for a 1/2 hour only. Sorry.

 

Dear Neven, your website is quiet interesting but you're making a big mystery out of the building places it seems.

 

Dear Edmund. It took us some time and effort to find out the good building locations. That’s why we don’t like to spread this knowledge for nothing. However, we will give the information about an appropriate location free of charge if we see a concrete plan and will to build. According to the specifications given us we will choose the builder. It would be difficult for someone who is not familiar with the country and the language to find a better or more cost effective place. It can be an expensive adventure to try out which place is really the best. Especially in Indonesia one will be glad to have us on his side.
If one is satisfied with our choice and the information about the costs and the conditions, one can ask for further assistance whether for living and travel arrangements or help with visa and customs formalities. Anyway, should someone prefer to look for a more suitable place by himself, our informations will at least give him a general idea of the conditions he is going to face. We hope of course that, as a gentleman agreement, he will keep the informations for himself. The boat builders on their part take also no advantages of building plans presented to them.

 

Fair enough!

 

Dear Jack,
I am an engineer/boat-builder from Srilanka, Last year I Built a catamaran desigend by a German designer in UAE , It was a composit construction powerd by two Volvo engines, I can do it in Srilanka I f you are interasted please contact me on <gamage2@sltnet.lk>

 

Dear Gamage
Thank you for your assistance, but as I wish to do all the electrics, engine fittings etc myself as a retirement project I need the boat some where near home. I am sorry but Srilanka is too far away.
However I would like to say that I have got absolutely no where with finding where to build. Nor have I yet over 3 weeks been able to manage to find out how much to build a hull. I have contacted 3 big cat builders in Australia for a price for a hull,painted in basic white with internal bulk heads and mouldings, tanks, bridge etc.
My next Idea is to go to the Sidney boat show in August, Yes thats how serious I am, is the boat industry in Australia so busy?-- 'note' I can stay in Ausi and speak the language.
I have contacted Neven at his site 'promaritime' and heard nothing yet. Come back to me Neven if you did not recieve.
Perhaps its my opening thread thats putting the builders off. Well--- I have been looking at the web sites that was suggested by the following writer and completely changed my mind. I now want the. Prowler 1250--or the Delcat 13.5 or a Ventura 44. All very simillar performance.Completely different to my original specifications. However I dont know if I shall be able to carry this project out because I have no Idea (yet) how much a simple hull would cost. ---ANY ONE ANY IDEA ?

 

Jack, I thinkk the Prowler was designed by Schionning Design. I'm not sure of his website, but you might like to contact Powerplay catamarans, who build the 1250 ( http://www.powerplaycatamarans.com.au/ )