considering building Kurt Hughes

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by John Coulson, Mar 12, 2018.

  1. John Coulson
    Joined: Mar 2018
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    John Coulson cacador

    I am considering building a multihull in the 35'-45' range for ocean sailing. I really like Kurt Hughes' designs. Has anyone built one? Or have a contact to email someone about their experience?
     
  2. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    I've found Kurt to be great to deal with over the years. Unfortunately my project has suffered a number of hold ups over the years due to personal and business issues but through all that time I've found him supportive and helpful. I think his plans are very reasonably priced and he will tweak a stock design at a moderate cost to fit your personal requirements. If you are a facebook user I can point you in the direction of a current catamaran build that's being documented.
     
  3. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    Thank you very much, I would like to see the thread. . Is this'd your boat?
     
  4. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

  5. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    Thank you very much for the links. I have seen your blog in the past. Those are pretty cool looking tris. I requested to join your mate's FB group. I really like Kurt's 36' cat, so am keen to see what your mate is up against. Any idea what to expect for speed on the 36 footer? I had a 45' monohull for about 20 years and got tired of going 5 knots. I would like something that held 12 or more
     
  6. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    It depends on conditions but most cruising guys with 40' cats work on something like an 8 knot average when planning passages. That's obviously allowing time for being becalmed and windward work etc where your VMG suffers. There will be times of course where your going much faster than that, 36'er could easily be somewhere around the 20 knot+ mark in top speed and I would think you would see 10-15 knots pretty routinely.
     
  7. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    Hmm, big difference to the 100 mile a day monohull sailors use! I see the guy building the 36 footer is using foam and vacuum, not the suggested CM technique. I suppose more time consuming my less hectic. Have you ever heard of someone building with aluminum?
     
  8. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    Normally the plans come with scantlings for several build techniques my original F40 plans for example are scantled for CM with stringers and CM with core for panel stiffness and he has worked me some new numbers for the revised centre hull in foam and carbon sandwich. Aluminium works out a bit heavier in smaller sizes of multihull than is desirable.
     
  9. Bruce Woods
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    Bruce Woods Senior Member

    Common Corley. Thats only if you are prepared to motor lots and you have decent sized engines.

    Good luck sailing upwind at consistent 12 to 13 knots in the open ocean to make your 8 knot VMG.

    Plan in advance on SAILING AVERAGES of 6 and you won't be so disappointed.

    Bruce Arms in a boat closer to 14 meters couldn't average 8 for the Circum Nav and he rang that boats neck with no cruising gear on board and weather routers at hand.
     
  10. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    Sounds an awful lot like steel with mono hulls, under 50' it doesn't make much sense. So if looking at aluminum over 40'is better.
    As far as sailing averages go, while you frequently encounter unexpected weather, with any research you can have a rough idea what to expect in an area in a time of year. I sailed from Florida to Thailand on my last boat. From Florida to Torres Straits I averaged probably 6 knots and steamed for under 300 hours. From Torres Straits to Thailand I probably averaged 2 knots and put around 2000 hours on the engine. All things aren't equal at sea, and you can really only evaluate an average against another boat, not it's self because of all the variables.
     
  11. Richard Woods
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    Richard Woods Woods Designs

    There is a huge difference between a 35ft and 45ft catamaran. Even more so than between monohulls. More than double the volume. So you should narrow down your size range before deciding anything. Having owned several 30-35ft catamarans and sailed them thousands of miles I think 35ft is a sensible size for a cruising couple. We did spend several months on one of my 38ft cats (Transit 38) a few years ago and found it hard work just with two, fine for 3-4. And the Norseman 43 I raced Capetown to Rio was very hard work even for 6 men.

    Richard Woods of Woods Designs
    www.sailingcatamarans.com
     
  12. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    I am new to multihulls, so might ask a few dumb questions. While i agree that there is no sense in having more boat than you need, I don't understand your point on size and crewing. My last boat was a 14 meter monohull. I sailed that boat several thousand miles alone, and had no trouble with the sailing asspect. As long as you have a good way to get the anchor back, sensibly rig and reliable engine and autopilot i don't see the problem with size. Again, I am new to the multi-hull discussion, so am probably missing something specific to multis, but am keen to understand more about this beast
     
  13. jamez
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    jamez Senior Member

    The photos of the 36 on Kurts website are of an alloy version, briefly referred to here:
    Aluminum and Small Multihulls http://multihullblog.com/2014/07/aluminum-and-small-multihulls/
     
  14. John Coulson
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    John Coulson cacador

    Jamez,
    Thank you very much for that article, that was an awful lot of information packed into a short article!!
     

  15. catsketcher
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    catsketcher Senior Member

    Why Hughes, have you looked at Chamberlin, Grainger, Pescott, Woods, Schionning, Kelsall? I have never gotten the aesthetics of Hughes boats. How do you get into the hulls of the 36? Looks like some gymnastics required, I would probably fit some steps. As for the no-cabin 36, I built a no cabin cat and now it has a pretty normal cabin.

    cheers

    Phil
     
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