Crowther Eureka Info Needed

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Eureka!Girl, Dec 16, 2008.

  1. Eureka!Girl
    Joined: Dec 2008
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    Eureka!Girl New Member

    Hello to everyone

    we are new to this forum, having just come across from "The Dark Side" of monohulls.

    We recently bought a 1985 build Eureka 32 sailing cat, apparently built in Victoria, Australia.

    Just interested in any info, advice, comments regarding this boat??

    Cheers
    :?:
     
  2. masalai
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    masalai masalai

  3. Eureka!Girl
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    Eureka!Girl New Member

    Thanks Masalai for that.

    I saw on another forum that Incat Crowther have archived old Crowther plans away forever, never to see the light of day again.

    Another lead was Stuart Bloomfield, I think an ex-employee of Crowther, but same deal, all info is now stored.

    Thanks anyway
     
  4. catsketcher
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    catsketcher Senior Member

    Eureka info

    Hello

    As I recall the Eureka 32 was designed by Lock as an alternative to his fast racer cruiser designs like the Windspeed 32 and the Crowther 10. Both were much wider (about 22ft) and couldn't fit into a mono dock. The Eureka was designed for the niche that Prouts and Geminis occupied. They sometimes had just one diesel in one hull. There was a flop moulded Eureka clone called the Osprey. They had a pop top for standing headroom in the bridgedeck.

    If you want to know more I would try googling Norm Silva and John Basden. I remember John talking about the Opsrey back in the 80's. John is an architect at Nabiac - Sunergy design. They worked for Lock for a long time. Stuart Bloomfield and Brett weren't there when the interesting cats and tris were being designed in the 70s and 80s. Later Lock got more into ferries and charter cats a move continued by his son.

    At least one Eureka did some serious cruising. In the 80s one sailed around the Pacific a bit. If you can find some old cruising skipper magazines (not cruising helmsman) you may find an article on one.

    My feeling is that they are good solid cruising boats, less money and performance than similar sized "normal" aussie cats.

    cheers

    Phil Thompson
     
  5. J hulls
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    J hulls New Member

    Eureka 32 builder needs plans/construction specs

    Hello;hope you had some luck with your search,I have bought the production moulds for the lovely eureka ,do you still have the boat and are you still searching for imfo like to hear from you ; j hulls
     
  6. redreuben
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    redreuben redreuben

    I have just come across this thread. I used to work for Bolwell in the eighties and although before my time i believe they made Eureka cats, try http://www.bolwell.com.au/index.html
    The man you need to speak to is Campbell Bolwell.
     
  7. Typhoon
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    Typhoon Senior Member

    I tried to reply to this thread a few weeks ago.
    I've got a lot of experience with Eureka 32's. a good friend's family owned one back in the 80's-90's, it was the boat featured in the Skipper magazines mentioned above.
    The one I knew was a very well built boat, was fitted out from bare moulds by the owner. I recall that the hull and deck moulds made extensive use of balsa core and were very strongly built too.
    They're not fast by multihull standards, but fast by 32ft cruising monohull standards and have a mountain of storage and living area in them for their size. Although it should be said that the boat I am familiar with was quite overbuilt and always heavily loaded with gear, so that would've affected performance a bit.
    If I needed a cruising cat in this size, they'd be very high on my list.
    J hulls, if you build the boat properly and market it well, it should be a big success.

    Regards, Andrew.
     
  8. guzzis3
    Joined: Nov 2009
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    guzzis3 Senior Member

    Hi,

    I know this is an old thread but there are several eurekas on the market at the moment. One claims it's got glass hulls and ply decks ?

    Were these production boats or one offs ? anyone know anything about their construction ? I'm thinking about going to have a look at one advertised near me...
     
  9. redreuben
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    redreuben redreuben

    I used to work at Bolwell in Mordialloc Victoria in the mid eighties, there was a catamaran hull mould in their paddock which I believe was the Eureka mould. Not sure of the production history.
     
  10. guzzis3
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    guzzis3 Senior Member

    Thank you for the reply. Any info appreciated :)
     

  11. DCA
    Joined: Oct 2015
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    DCA New Member

    Kudjinka

    The Eureka 32 referred to as having been extensively cruised "Kudjinka" was owned from new by Keith Post. The original builder in Ballarat went into receivership whilst "Kudjinka" was in the moulds. Keith rescued the boat and completed it to a very high standard. Auxiliary power was a 2 cylinder Volvo Penta diesel, shaft drive, mounted in the stb hull. The interior linings were moulded fibreglass making it easy to clean. Keith lived aboard with his family for a period sailing the south Pacific.
    I purchased the boat from Keith in 1995 and lived aboard for many years coastal sailing until I settled on Lamb Island Queensland. I fitted a remotely controlled 5hp outboard on the port transom on a stainless 'drop down' saddle to assist with negotiating tight spaces in marinas etc.
    The windward ability of the boat was restricted to around 60 degrees which was not helpful when confronting an opposing current but we were in no hurry.
    As far as I know she ended up somewhere in the Whitsundays and has had a pair of diesels fitted.
    Cheers
     
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