Kurt Hughs Design

[brenno]

Can anyone tell me about this building method is it as time and cost efficient as is stated on their web site. I am also looking at his 41 foot tri as I could change the Beam to suit storage/ mooring will it hold up to sea conditions.

[waikikin]

I reckon it "could" be with the right can do attitude & cow boy go for it approach, but there's a bit of an uncool marketing vibe especially in the distain exibited for other designers & methods, also a tri is probably not the most efficient way to translate your money into multihull space in a cruising boat, & that you already want to modify the design I'd keep looking at other vessels & construction & look & talk to people building them & sailing them.
All the best from Jeff.

[jamez]

Originally Posted by brenno

Can anyone tell me about this building method is it as time and cost efficient as is stated on their web site. I am also looking at his 41 foot tri as I could change the Beam to suit storage/ mooring will it hold up to sea conditions.

Suggest you have a look at the CM DVD Kurt sells. It shows the buiding of a 40'tri.

[brenno]

Thanks for the info I have sent for the Disc. I would like to meet other builder and talk to them about their projects but as I am in Toowoomba in Queensland Australia we are quite a distance from the water and therefore not too many builders in the area.

[Charly]

Hi Brenno,

I am in the early stages of building a KH 36 Daycharter Cat. I hope to do the first run in a couple of weeks. The plywood for the hulls is purchased and the forms put together. All I have to do now is buy some epoxy. So far everything has been coming together pretty easy-- the plans are straightforward, etc.

The biggest problem I will have will be wetting out the ply and getting the bag on before it kicks. The weather here is starting to warm up, so I will need a lot of helpers and a good organized workspace. I will keep you posted.

Charly

[brenno]

Charly it all sounds great would like to be of assistance but to far to travel!!!!!
Let me know how you go as I am interested in your progress Good Luck
Brenno

[CatBuilder]

I'm just beginning the 45 cruising cat. We should all keep in touch. I'm literally at step zero - supplies on order.

[brenno]

You are one step ahead of me as Im waiting for some study plans and how to DVD. At least your weather is getting better for a start we're going into winter here. How long are you thinking of taking for this project??.

Cheers
Brenno

[CatBuilder]

I plan to take 2-3 years, full time project. How long were you expecting? I'm not sure Kurt's methods are that much cheaper than any other ply/epoxy method, or are they incredibly faster. Well, this is an amateur's thoughts, not fact. I haven't built the boat yet!

I think ply over epoxy boats all come in around the same price. I priced out a Chris White Atlantic 42 before the KHDS 45 and was priced right out of building it. The materials alone were $60K. I think the pricing has a lot to do with the method of building and what materials you're using and that's about it. I don't see where Kurt's method would be any less expensive than the others. It just seems like it would be easy in terms of sanding the hulls to me. The hulls come out nice and fair, so the sanding is reduced. So, I think there may be some slight time advantages to that, as well as just folding up the hulls instead of laying strips (cold molding) or other methods.

Just some thoughts from a very green builder. Some might disagree or have better ideas!

[themanshed]

I'm building a KH racing 20' tri the spitfire design. I opted for foam and carbon fiber to reduce the weight. I also had Kurt do some custom design work on the hulls. I've been working on it part time for about 16 months. Link to my website http://themanshed.net/tms-20-trimaran.html where I have documented the project.

Charley I use West with the tropical hardner. It takes several hours to start to kick in Florida's heat.

[Chris Ostlind]

Originally Posted by Charly

The biggest problem I will have will be wetting out the ply and getting the bag on before it kicks. The weather here is starting to warm up, so I will need a lot of helpers and a good organized workspace. I will keep you posted.

Charly,

You can look into infusing the wet-out and actually take your time. It's really pretty easy, clean and all about staying away from the resin after it is mixed. Henny van Oortmarssen in the Netherlands has a great instructional CD that he sells complete with a starter infusion kit to do a practice run, or two. http://www.fram.nl/index.html

[Charly]

Hi Chris,

Thank you for the link. I am interested, but I have already made the final arrangements for the first hull panel. I have some slow resin on order from Raka, and hope to do the laminating sometime this week. I am sure I will have something to "show and tell". Hope its all good