Schionning Boats, good or bad?

Look at alot of plans and heard about alot of designers, but one name i haven't heard been throwen around these forums is Schionning Designs. I've looked at Chris White, Richard Woods, Bob Oram to name a few, but the boat i've settled on is the Schionning Cosmos 1100, but haven't a brass wasso about it or there designs, so asking you guys for your option.

What i'm really asking for, are these boats proven (on the schionning web page, they took 1st and 2nd place for the Brisbane to Gladstone 2009 race) so i guess they are fast. But do they have any little bad quirkes, or are they the million dollar boat they look?

Dave.

 

Are yes, nice boats, but i'm trying to stay under the 40ft-12m mark.

 

Google "John Shuttleworth" ....

 

The Schionning boats are definately some of the better looking catamaran kitsets on the market and as you say performance is proven. I have been told (but have no first hand experiance) that they take a lot longer to build and typically end up more expensive than claimed.

With any kitset product from any designer ask for some references for people who have built the same boat so you can talk to them about their experiance (or find someone with the design and ask them personally without having the enquiry filtered by the designer. This is the best way to get to the truth. You should also check what comes with the kit. Some people will send you a pile of Duflex panels and call it a kit. While other company's kits (Roger Hill for example) will include everything cut to shape right down to interior lockers and bunks etc.

 

I have heard - though only 2nd or 3rd hand - that their scantlings are a bit on the light side. Regardless of who you choose, I'd ask for the contact details of a few clients and ask them about their experience.

 

Don't all boats, though?

Displacement of 3900 kg for an 11 metre cat. If that includes the 1000 kg payload, then the entire structure and systems weight could be no more than three tonnes. That would seem to suggest either some pretty clever composites engineering, a very limited set of built-in systems, or some rather light scantlings.

Contacting the designer, expressing your sincere interest in the design, and asking if there are any owner/builders who would be willing to talk to you about their experience is certainly an essential step. Just about anyone with a boat is always very eager to talk to anyone else interested in that same boat. (Or, for that matter, anyone interested in boats, period....) Owner/builders are likely to be much more frank with you about the actual build time, complexities, and the quirks of the design than the kit supplier will be.

 

Good... Here's one allmost done.. http://www.saunalahti.fi/pekkajlh/boat/story_e1.htm