Woods Wizard walkthrough (Bombay Duck II)

Noticed this video link came up on the Multihull Boatbuilder Yahoo group might be helpful for anyone considering building a Woods Wizard and trying to visualise what they are like.

 

Thank you for posting that link

Brad bought the plans in November last year and launched a few weeks ago. He also has a very comprehensive set of photos of his build on his website

Another great Wizard video is this one, taken by a singlehanded Wizard sailor using a kite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt7VJfgvOZs

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Nice job. And great sound track. I don't know how many videos on youtube have absolutely horrible heavy metal music but it must be in the millions. Simple humming is a lot more restful.

 

looks great. Richard, is that the first ply hulled version to hit the water?

 

I have been selling the hard chine Wizard plans for several years but Brad's is the first one I know to be sailing. However at least two hard chine Sango's (the Wizard 25ft big sister) have been sailing for some time

Unfortunately few builders send me photos and news of their builds so I really have no idea how many of my boats are actually sailing.

For example, I saw a 27ft Surfsong on ebay recently. It was built in the UK, sailed to the Mediterranean and had been a successful live aboard cruiser for 20 years, yet I never heard from the owner after selling him the plans

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Mr. Woods,
Aside from the aesthetics of the strip-planked version vs the chined plywood option, would there be a noticeable difference in performance or feel between the two ? I'm thinking ease of build would lead one down the ply option, aesthetics would take one down the strip-planked path, and perhaps performance & comfort difference (if any) would settle the argument.
If I bought plans, rest assured, you'd never hear the end of me.. I've looked several times at the website of that chap who built the blue one in Scotland, and fell in love with this little boat long ago. It really is a smart design which offers so much more than it should be capable of at it's size.

 

Glad you like the Wizard, yes it offers far more than one might think

"sleeps 6 in three cabins, standing headroom, trailable, 15+knots proven speed, 22ft long"

I don't think there will be very much difference between the two hull shape options, only noticeable between two equally talented sailors racing alongside each other. The hull shapes are as near the same as I could make them

Typically a ply hull will be quicker to build than a round bilge hull, but having said that I remember that when building the second hull of our strip planked Wizard two people started planking on a Monday and turned the glass sheathed hull over on the Thursday.

So the choice is yours

Hope that helps and I hope to hear from you frequently as you build!!!

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

I was wondering how much time does it take to get Wizard from trailer into water, get mast up and ready to sail? (or from water back to trailer) Is there any video?

 

Never mind, I already found answer (multihull-maven.com says it takes about an hour).

 

I'm not sure where multihull maven got that time from, for as far as I know they never assembled a Wizard.

We once rigged ours in front of a Practical Boat Owner journalist who later reported in the magazine

"The whole operation - (unfolding and launching the boat including stepping the mast) - had taken 20 minutes of easy work."

I'm sure PBO can still sell you a copy of the boat test, it came out sometime in 1992 or 1993, not sure exactly

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Thank you, I will try to get a copy of that test.

Although 20min sounds pretty fast, I'd like to get an estimation for average time lunching time, not ultra-fast records.
In comparison: some people claim to get folding trimarans from trailer to water in under 20min, but I think this is unrealistic for average person. From what I've read if you aren't aiming for a speed-lunching record you need 30-40min in average for say a 24' boat.