Large sharpie for the Adriatic

I have yet to gain knowledge to contact the designer to make a custom design, still weighing all the trade offs.
So far the french established designs look very tempting, especially the the Aviateur 570. Having the cut files for CNC more than pays for the increased price of plans because it saves a lot of time.

 

I have considered multihulls in the first place but have no idea where to keep one. Still have to check local regulations if it is possible at all to have it tied to a swing mooring.

Wharrams are proven ocean crossers but regarding the multihulls I am not much on low tech.
Tiki's have undersized rig (which is welcome in heavy conditions) and have no boards.
I have seen Tiki 20 here in Croatia and while it probably does not roll much it has other challenges, it hobby-horses like crazy upwind, guess that is the trade off of smaller double canoes.

CLC's Madness proa is the one I like the most, it is an odd beast with many proa-related quirks but I could live with it, it moves through the waves effortlessly, like if they were not there. I dig the crazy looks to. Madness is developed with consultation of Russ Brown so it has got serious pedigree for that type of boat.
I have bought the study plans and Madness while not overly complicated per part, there are a lot of parts to fabricate. I would still build it only if i had a place to tie it while not in use.

 

Serious spreadsheet you have there, got to check all of those out
There is one more intersting design in Parker's Sharpie book, though it is more a skiff than proper sharpie judging by its b/l ratio, the Hampton flattie 24.

It would be great pocket cruiser/gunkholer in the Chesapeake, Long Island sound or Florida, not sure how it would cope with conditions found in Adriatic and Aegean sea with its big flat bottom, though it ends in V at the stern. Stylish for sure.

This is the boat i used to come back to stare at for a long time and discussed with mr Parker actually, in brief his words are that for my area the Egret is more suitable boat.

 

Very omplete, good sails, precoated panels, seems a hargain at 12750£

 

A delicate ply boat at a mooring?
A design without CNC data or a kit?

 

I am not too fond of the idea either.
It is glassed inside out so should be as durable as grp boat.
The kit is not sold anymore so yes, it is a handful.

 

Here's a thought on a design approach wich could meet the AVS goal without going nuts with ballast (going really deep, or going really heavy).

It's a trick I learned from Sven Yrvind. It only works on open boats and it requires tolerance for some down flooding.

The idea is to get the center of flooded buoyancy above the flooded Center of Gravity, while having enough freeboard left over to be able to bail the boat out.

Such a boat would be very difficult to completely turtle, as the down flooding water will quickly act as ballast.

A simple way to do this is to divide the boat into three compartments.

The forward compartment would be completely decked over as wouldl the stern one. Each of these would have a watertight bulkhead separating it from the center portion of the hull. Each would have a top hatch for light storage.

The bulkheads could do double duty as support for mast steps.

The center portion of the boat would be completely open without even side decks. Lengthwise seating would help provide structural support for that part of the boat.

For ballast, it may be possible to cover the bottom with heavy GRP, or even a metal plate (to take beachings). Such could easily come to several hundred pounds. This would not be sufficient to right the boat if it were entirely enclosed.

But, if it were partially flooded, the in coming water would help by further lowering the Center of Gravity. The boat then could be rolled over onto its side, but would resist further capsizing.

I am using a similar system on the 10 ft scow I am building.

 

I think that the Goat Island skiff uses that same principle flotation in the ends of the boat instead lenghtwise.

The pros: boat will not turn turtle and is easy to get upright.

The cons: Due to all that freeboard it scoops a lot of water in the process.
While it is easy to get it upright it is a task to keep it that way while bailing hundreds of liters of water.
GIS is a 120 pound boat and still it takes cool head and laser focus to self rescue in hairy conditions. Not sure I would want to try that with 1 tonn+ boat.

 

I have not sailed a big sharpie, so I can't say if it's suitable for the Adriatic or not. But seeing that the discussion has branched into other boats, I tought I should say something. Plywood is a fast build if one doesn't have to sheath it inside out. In todays market I don't see the advantage of using it, strip plank can be just as fast and cheaper.
P. Balta has some interesting offerings, designed to be stripped in spruce and sheated inside out, or on sawn hardwood frames (no strongback). Balta Patrick Architecte naval, architecture navale, Motor yacht, yacht design, catamaran http://balta.fr/cadre%20mono%20voile.html

 

the small Wharrams dismantle easily, they are not heavy, within road trailer limits when dismantled, storage no more difficult than Monohull of same ength. "Accomodation" practically inexistent though. (& definitely not self-righting )
This thread would be incomplete without the offerings from Germany:
Seggerboote_Trailerkreuzer http://www.segger-boote.de/trail-kreuzer.htm
simple builds Uebersicht-Frameseite http://www.segger-boote.de/uebersicht.htm

 

Some seriously nice boats there

 

Wharrams have conservative sail area, how much it takes to flip one over? Do they rather bury their bows and pitchpole downwind? Guess anything can be capsizes given the right/wrong conditions and setup. Had a second look at Mana 24 kit, it is extremely smart package at the great price point.
James Wharram was a genius indeed.


Here is the 14 meter catamaran that capsized month ago near island Olib, Croatia.
(Note the very flat sections)

 

@Wharrams: any cat can be capsized, some easier than others. Oktant, afaik, is an Outremer, cruising cats very much on the racy end of the spectrum=easier to capsize.
Running before steep, breaking seas I am sure you can pitchpole a Wharram, sailing overpowered hard on the wind or beam reaching it will be possible, bot not easy, to "sail her over". Size for size & expense (both in labour & money) they are surprisingly seaworthy boats. I would not say they are ideal for your pourpose (as I perceive it).
btw, we rtw-ed a 34' Wharram (that I built in Austria) in the 80s-a great, really great adventure!. James Wharrams genius imho is twofold: 1. to give a total newbie, who has never been to sea nor had anything to do with boats whatsoever, the "confidence" he could do it (& "he did!") & 2. marketing.
As I perceive the ideal boat for your purpose: weatherly, high AVS, reducible draft & of course the suitability for budget & building skills.

 

I don't blame you for your misgivings. With my proposal, you could end up having to scoop out a half ton of water or more.

But I don't think the Goat Island Skiff is a good example.

This is for two reasons:
1.) The Goat Island Skiff is designed to be as light as possible. It has no Ballast of any kind. For this reason, the effect I discribed would be minimal. Since the entire boat is built out of plywood that is lightly sheathed with GRP, there is a great deal of buoyancy near the bottom.

2.) I would make the end compartments longer. The bow compartment would be 35% of the boat's length, and the stern one would be about 20 to 25%. This would leave a cockpit area that would be 40 to 45% of the boat's length. This would mean an 8 to 9 ft cockpit on a 20 ft boat.

Also, after the thick sheathing of the bottom is accounted for (weight wise) additional ballast, in the form of sand bags, could be added to bring up the total ballast to about 20% of the boat's empty weight.

 

..a boat that has to be righted & bailed by it's crew seems utterly unsuitable for "serious" coastal cruising on the croatian Adriatic coast (apart from "bay-sailing" max 1nm from the beach/marina/harbour)