Fat Hulls

[snort]

Other than load-carrying capacity, what should one expect from a design like this one: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1995.../United-States

[redreuben]

Lots of new friends !

[PAR]

That's a hugely undefined question, with the potential for just about any reply. Is there something specific you're interested in exploring about the design?

[snort]

Well, does this look like any recognizable design? There's a lot of info missing from the spec sheet, and from a designer's point of view, I was hoping to get an opinion or two on how this would likely perform. The rig seems tall and it uses boards, but those hulls seem inordinately wide; like strapping a couple of Catalinas together with a couple of cross beams. What do you imagine regarding upwind ability, hobbyhorsing, safety for offshore (it came a long way!) and anything else that sticks out for you regarding its overall look? Maybe the proof is only in the pudding: test sail.

[rayaldridge]

It's a little hard to tell how wide the hulls are from the pics. But my opinion is that for decent performance, a cat should have a minimum of 10 to 1 hulls, and board up draft should be about half of the maximum waterline beam. The boat is 35 feet. If you say it's 30 feet on the waterline, then if the hulls are no more than 3 feet max waterline beam, it should be okay from a speed viewpoint. If you look at the interior pics, double beds are supposed to be 48 inches wide, though often a double berth in a boat will not be so wide. It looks like the hulls curve in substantially toward the waterline, so you might be in the 10 to 1 ballpark.

Hobbyhorsing: the boat appears to have reasonably full ends and a flat run aft, so should be okay.

Windward ability depends more on the relationship between boards, sails, and aerodynamic drag than anything else. Hard to tell, but at least the boat does not appear to have the excessive windage of many condo cats.

[PAR]

Those hulls appear to be intended for cruising, which is likely to account for their apparent volume. Without a designer or model name, it's difficult to access much more.

[Steve W]

It looks like a nice boat for the money,i think Ray has pretty much described it. If you are truly interested in buying it, get a survey, take a test sail and that should tell you more than anything else, realisticly what other cat can you buy for that money, it really doesnt matter who designed it, its proven itself.
Steve.

[snort]

Thanks all for your answers. I hadn't heard the 10 to 1 rule waterline for hulls regarding speed. I'm thinking this must be a one-off design. I've looked at catamarans for years and never came across anything quite similar to it.

[redreuben]

I don't think it is a Kelsall but that would be the closest fit, inspired by maybe ?
And they are credentialed blue water boats.
RR

[CatBuilder]

You need to see the boat out of the water. Have someone take pictures.

Nobody here knows what the *waterline* beam to LWL ratio is and that's pretty much what will make or break it, speed wise. Ask for pictures of the boat hauled out and share those. If you see a lot of volume below the waterline and the hulls continue to be wide below the waterline as they appear above, you are in for a slower boat. If they simply flared the shape out above the waterline, then you get yourself some more interior space and speed.

The fact that there are boards makes me think it's not as bad below the waterline as you may guess from just looking at the hull beams above the waterline.

You also would have very low wind resistance, owing to the fact that there is no deckhouse. On the flip side of that, you can expect to be cold and wet or sunburnt at the helm. Kind of like Catanas with the helm located far outboard.

The boat doesn't look very heavy (by accessories) which is a good thing. It's not loaded down with crap and was fitted out to be simple and light weight. No idea if the construction is light weight, but at least it's not loaded down with junk.

You will have a very difficult time taking this boat in and out of any marinas with that single Honda 25.

Hope those comments help.

[Petros]

That looks like a great cruising cat. It is located in Anacortes WA, it just so happens I will be in Anacortes on Monday. Do you want me to take a look at it for you, possibly take some hull measurements? Have you talked the broker yet?

[snort]

Petros,
I'm trying to get the time off from work to have a look, but if you check it out for me, I will take you out to dinner or just ply you with beer/wine (whatever your pleasure). Whatever the report: good or bad.
Thanks very much for that generous offer. I found it first on craigslist where it's still listed, but saw it again on yachtworld, which had more photos.

[Dryfeet]

It's actually been in Roche Harbor on San Juan island. I gave it a cursory peek a month or two ago. It's definitely oriented towards performance cruising. The mast has a tremendous pre-bend in it that is almost scary looking but it could possibly be a nice boat for someone. Not my type but if it was in good condition, it could be a candidate if it meets your criterion.

I would say that it's going to be a tough boat to sell so you may as well low ball it pretty seriously if you're interested.

[dstgean]

As Catbuilder and Ray mentioned, it looks like there's some potential for performance. However, that's pretty much determined by waterline beam & sail area. I've sailed up there on a much modified Tennant Tourissimo 10 stretched to 36', inboard pods for double bunks, and an added salon. Gilbert & Sullivan, as it was known then, had what appears to be slimmer hulls than the cat in the photo. It really went though with it's wing mast--12 knots upwind cracked off a bit from pinching and 18 downwind under working sail. Kinda scary really, but fun too.

Will this boat match that kind of performance? I have no idea, but I believe G&S sold for about 50K. Foam & glass construction that was well done. I believe the owner/builder had many articles in Multihulls magazine about it's construction. Can you sea trial the boat? That and a survey are a must if you're serious anyhow.

Looks well done from the pictures....

Cheers!

Dan