I'm to design a canal cruiser that can handle high seas...

Here's another boat which might be a starting point for Solitaire.

It's a small Maine "lobsterboat", 23 feet / 7 m LOA, 8.5 ft / 2.6 m beam so it's a bit wider than his 2.5 m beam. It feels very stable when two or three adults walk from one side of the cockpit to the other. This design is commonly used in large bays and the ocean. Top speed with 150 HP outboard is over 20 knots. No "hump" is noticeable when slowly accelerating. It cruises and handles very nicely without wandering at all speeds including down to the minimum speed of several knots.

 

Reading this thread It looks like people think that Solitaire is asking for more than I see him asking for. As I see it his SOR would look something like this.

1) Fit on a canal
2) Safely hold 6 people
3) Be able to handle 3-4' seas
4) Get up to 10-15 knots

This doesn't seam all that unreasonable to me, I know I've been out on the ocean on boats that hold that many people, handle seas that size, go that speed, and fit in a space that small. Heck put on a wetsuit and get some strong friends together and you could just about meet those requirements in a rowing shell. He's not looking for a home for 6 people that will cross blue water and do corners in the canals in amusement park rides. At least he isn't if I've read him correctly.

 

And the size restriction due to the canal is much less serve than the restrictions on many other canals, particularly most canals in Britain.

 

Hmmm..doesn't seem to fit with:

Those don't look like multihulls to me!

Indeed

Please show where I have made that statement.??

As requested by myself and others, a clearer definition is required to make any kind of assumption what the OP really wants and what can realistically be achieved.

Anything is possible. But, without an SOR...everyone is just pissing in the wind with my dog is better than your dog!

Hmmm...!!!!!

 

I think that Solitaire was inclined to the conclusion that a multihull ship would best fit his SOR, not adding multihull to his SOR. The OP can clear that up for us, but based on reading what he has said I don't get the impression that it's a requirement.

 

Didn't claim you made that statement. The entire paragraph is a possiblity, as indicated by the first word "Perhaps", about how you came to make negative comments about Solitaire's posts. It's a guess on my part on what may have occured, but only a guess. Something else happened?

Seems to me that Solitaire is in the exploratory stage and does not have a definative SOR yet. The exploratory stage is a critical part of the overall process from initial thoughts to completed design. It requires very different thought and work processes than the later stages of developing and refining the design after the SOR is arrived at.

So you agree that you made a mistake about his speed expectations?

 

Canals have bridges barely 6 feet from the water if your lucky. Transporting through the bridge you would lie on your back on the roof and walk it through while the horse went round the long way.

 

Some canals do, such as many in the UK, but not all. Solitaire said about the canal he is concerned with:
Being designed primarily for canaling the maximum dimensions would be a draght of 1.5m, a beam/ width of 4.5m and stand 2.5m tall above the surface of the water.
2.5m is over 8 feet.

Maximum height above the water on other canals are even higher.

Why don't folks read what was written before replying?

 

Hmmm…you’re clearly getting yourself confused. I’ll show you again:

See, the pronoun “you” is the giveaway. That indicates a direct assertion to me, unless you have another definition of “you”…??

Sorry, that is utter nonsense. Clearly you design boats very differently from me. You cannot explore an idea (i.e. someones ‘thoughts’ on what they would like) without knowing the objective. Unless you’ve suddenly become French and just sit in a Café philosophising all day about…thoughts.

Err….again, where did I say this?? You are the one making bold assumptions and inferences about the OP and what other posters are saying when they haven’t even said it and then go off on tangents related to your own assumptions. Most peculiar!

 

He suggested the possibility, he did not make the claim. There is a subtle difference, but it is a difference.

 

Post 22 adds to my understanding of the objectives and accommodations have not been mentioned as a priority. Post 22 also adds:
5.) "the occasional obstacle in the water, surveyed and unsurveyed."

 

Milking mares.

To Ad Hoc,

Truth is stranger than fiction. A 1982 source reported 230,000 horses were kept in the USSR, specifically for producing milk to make into Kumis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis

 

If his max build has to be, or less than 2.5 meters or 8 feet then 6 feet would be where you would need to be.

You would have less than 2 feet clearance, depending on rainfall.

With just 2 feet clearance on a round top bridge you would need to be accurate.

As I said you would back walk them through and you would need more that 2 feet clearance.


What would you do with that 2 feet --make a mast and a steady sail.

 

It is delightful to travel between Bristol and London by canal and river, via the Kennet and Avon and the River Thames.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennet_and_Avon_Canal

The Caen Hill locks are astounding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caen_Hill_Locks

However, work is on-going to reopen the Thames & Severn canal, the Wilts & Berks canal and the North Wilts canal.

http://www.cotswoldcanals.com/pages/a-quick-guide.php
http://www.wbct.org.uk/
http://northwiltscanal.org.uk/

A narrowboat must be 6 feet 10 inches wide to fit the locks and have a maximum length of 60 feet, in order to go anywhere on the connected network of UK canals.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...=54.007769,-1.669922&spn=6.200836,14.0625&z=6

 

The Montgomery canal is also being restored.

http://www.montgomerycanal.me.uk/restoration-july-2012.html

Volunteers welcome.

http://www.montgomerycanal.me.uk/diary.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Canal