Cutting a catamaran in half

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Medicman, Oct 14, 2017.

  1. Medicman
    Joined: Oct 2017
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    Medicman New Member

    I will apologize in advance if this has been asked and answered, but i have scoured and came up with nothing.
    I am planning a catamaran build starting in the spring and have narrowed designs down to a three but the problem with 2 of them are getting them from my property to the main road for transport to the nearby river. I am building on my property in which i have plenty of space, but my small road to the main has a bottleneck limiting me to 18 ft.
    I am toying with the idea of building it in halves and assembling it a little further down the road where one of my neighbors said i could use the lot space for a few months. With the exception of the front cross beam, the rear crossbeam, and mast support which would be added whole, does this seem even possible? Iv'e looked at Payson joints, puzzle joints, scarfing, and butt strapping but can not come up with a definitive decision as to whether or not this would even be safe.
    The boats I'm looking at are the Waller 1100, 1200, and the Woods Flica 37. I have built a few smaller boats and am familiar with building techniques but i have always followed plans and have let designers handle the structural stuff.
    Thanks for any info or insight in advance.
     
  2. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    out of my depth even commenting, but Magic 8-Ball says "try something else".

    I'm thinking an intricately designed semi-monocoque Cat is gonna leverage the DESIGNED building method for strength and weigh savings, and messing with that is gonna cost a lot of weight, strength and/or labor.

    I'm hearing this song in my head thinking about when the day comes to join the two halves.


    I'd think about building a special rig and cradle and tipping up on its side to get through bottleneck on a big flatbed truck. Hire a big crane to hoist it WAY up in the air over any trees or buildings. :)

    Pour some Root Killer on any trees in the way now, and by the time the boat is built no one will make the connection. :)

    If its a building, it could be cheaper to tear it down and rebuild/remodel than mess with a boat's structure. Hire a house-wrecker and have them accidentally demo the wrong house. Insurance will cover it. :)

    And when folks come around and point out the bottleneck issue during construction tell them you've been having visions of a Great Flood because of Al Gore, melting ice caps, Bible, etc.
     
  3. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    This isn't all that uncommon with multihulls, though you should contact the designer to see where the breaks should be.
     
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  4. latestarter
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    latestarter Senior Member

  5. Medicman
    Joined: Oct 2017
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    Medicman New Member

    :) Some of those ideas are great, but one major problem is a utility pole, thing just won't die!
     
  6. Medicman
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    Medicman New Member

  7. Medicman
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    Medicman New Member

    Thanks, I'll shoot him an E-mail and see, I've bought the study plans for the 1100 and the 1200, and the 1200 is really the one that I really want to build.
     
  8. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    The pole might also be an issue with a big crane. :( Regs might require it to be powered down if a crane is gonna be snuggling up to it, and that is gonna be a hard sell just for a rich man to play with this toys.

    IIRC there was a case of a guy paying the power company some big extra money to put the lines underground in front of his house and property, and the kicker is it seemed to add to value of house quite a bit with the new "curb appeal".
     
  9. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Hiring a crane isn't difficult or very costly on short, quick "hops" like this. I have a buddy that has a 100 ton mobile and just a few hundred bucks for a half a day's service. He's lifted over power lines, houses, etc., so not a big deal.
     
  10. ImaginaryNumber
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    ImaginaryNumber Imaginary Member

    If I remember correctly, some of Richard Wood's bridgedeck catamarans have been built in two sections, and glued together after moving from building site to launch site. Richard posts to this forum, but usually in the Multihull section. Maybe the Forum administrator would think it worthwhile to move this thread to that sub-forum?
     
  11. Boat Design Net Moderator
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    Boat Design Net Moderator Moderator

    (thread moved to the Multihulls forum so that it may get some additional input)
     
  12. rberrey
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    rberrey Senior Member

    I would think using a lowboy would get you under the power lines . One option would be to build a cradle that can be off loaded and role under a powerline if there is only one or two lines involved . Another option is to call a house mover and ask if they can move it ,or what they would do to move it .
     
  13. hump101
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    hump101 Senior Member

    Richard can pipe up for his specific design, but as a principle it is relatively trivial to split the hull structures during fabrication and knit them together later, particularly for composites. Much better to do this during construction, when you can leave in tapers, etc., compared to cutting a completed structure.
     

  14. Richard Woods
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    Richard Woods Woods Designs

    Sorry I only just seen this thread, in part because I was away sailing and only just got back. Not a great quality/size photo but this shows our Banshee being taken 7 miles to launching. About 20 Flica 37's also went this way as well. I think you say your minimum gap is 15ft high, 18ft wide? If you build the boat without adding the keels you can sit it lower to the ground. Keels can be easily glass/epoxied on the outside later. If it is a utility wire maybe it can be disconnected for an hour?

    Photo came from this page Sailing Catamarans - Finishing off a Shell http://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/articles/8-building-articles/15-finishing-off-a-shell

    Our Sagitta was launched over the edge of a cliff into the water 10ft below

    I always say "if it survives the launching it can survive anything". My first 18ft wide catamaran had to be launched through lock gates only 12ft wide so I had to make narrow beams and then widen the boat once through and fit the real ones.

    Certainly the more you can build at home the better. It is easy to build a foam sandwich boat in pieces, harder to do a wood boat. The hardest bits are the mast beam and aft cockpit beam as they really need to be in one piece. But as someone has already said, at least one 30ft Sagitta was built in three pieces and then reassembled. That boat has done a lot of miles without problems.

    One option to consider is to cut the boat into three longitudinal pieces not transverse. So cut the boat at the front of the cabin and just behind the main cabin bulkhead. That way you avoid the crossbeam problem and even in wood it should be easy to rejoin

    Let me know your exact gap and I'll look at the drawings and see how I would fit it through. Please email me at woodsdesigns@gmail.com to ensure the quickest answer

    Hope that helps

    Richard Woods of Woods Designs

    www.sailingcatamarans.com
     

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