Ply thickness

[Trevlyns]

Just mildly curious…
In a deep V catamaran design (Wharram for example) what factors would determine the ply thickness for the hulls? I know for example that the Tiki 21 uses 6mm and larger designs up to 12mm. Any thoughts?

[alpamis34]

For the deck lamination to go for a long time , you 'd better keep it thick due to the fact that it loses its skin everytime it is scrubbed.The thickness has to be around 10 mm on the deck generally.

[Willallison]

In any hull, built using any material, the skin thickness is determined by the distance between the supporting structure (transverse frames, bulkheads, floors and longitudinals) and the expected loads that the surface is expected to experience
A boat designed to travel quickly in rough water will need thicker 'plates' than one that is going to move about slowly in sheltered waters.
Similarly boats with framing set a long way apart will need to have thicker skins than one where they are closer together.
There are some rule-of-thumb guides around, but they are all still based on this principle (or should be!)