Trying to design my own cat.

Drogues and sea anchors

I have both a drogue and a sea anchor for my 38 ft cat and have never used either of them in anger. The designer of my cat sailed to Antarctica in his 38 footer (Robin Chamberlin) he really liked his heavy fabric drogue made by para anchors aust

http://www.paraanchors.com.au/

I bought one and it is easy to use and stows easily - good bit of kit.

cheers

Phil

 

Seabrake

You have the "Seabrake" sold down there in OZ, as well. See: http://www.seabrake.com/

 

I was nutty enough to buy myself an industrial knitting machine some time ago If you have the right tools it's not that diffucult. The one I saw had 500mm x 600mm drogues, and as many as 30 or 50 or something like that. The article suggested they are also easier to ploy and deploy and store. The intention is in fact to let out more or less drogues to have better control over drifting speed.

 

Which tools?

Which software tools are you using for these type of hull analysis?

md

 

Hello OldYachtie,

I know that you are the experienced offshore storm tactician, but let a young whippersnapper that has never had a jammed main school you on storm tactic #1.

My teacher (GOD rest his soul) would call that scene "the lazy sailor spectacle" because you should have reefed long before it got to the point where conditions placed crew and vessel at risk. I would agree with him and I would be embarrased to so easily denote it in a public forum with all the miles I have under the keel. How long did you say you been doing it? I mean how long have you been doing it right? Enough said.

Fanie, all that sounds good. A prudent skipper fully aware of the hazards associated with offshore travel "reefs his friggin sails" before conditions deteriorate.

J

 

Hello OldYachtie,

It appears that Mr J will have to put all of these "absolute" and linear thoughts to rest. Firstly, and the whole sailing community from mono to multi has already agreed, that the Pardy'd are the most experienced, knowlegeable and renowned cruisers of all time with over 200000 miles under the keel. By the way, they also use drougue and anchor at times. Hiscock's circumnavigated twice and saw 1 storm. See these videos so that you can see the conditions and comfort on board:

http://www.thesailingchannel.tv/pardey/storm_tactics/index.htm

Here is some more research that unequivocally argues that only the Pardy's have a high opinion of heaving to and must therefore suck the big one because Hiscock had a low opinion of it. See these:

"Best compromise in under 50 knots",
http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/article/heaving-to

"Heaving to off wind",
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaving_to

"Effective in all but 1 storm situtation",
http://books.google.com/books?id=tj...ts=GgxHK1_Sol&sig=2vcsoYl6yQLEfeirClRQ8Y8dTDI

"If conditions got worse, we would have hove to"
http://www.boat-dealers.us/article/Heaving-to-and-Forereaching.php

Oh my GOD! How could Hiscock have been so correct to have such a low opinion of heaving to? The only vessel to make it out of this whole crap in one piece "HOVE TO".

http://www.mahina.com/leg9.html

I got tired of searching after that. Richard, I'm sorry and I would never hijack a thread, but misinformation that can lead to a tragedy offshore must be engaged head-on.

This reminds me of the old man and the sea...he wanted the whole fish so bad that he refused to cut a steak out of it and let the sharks eat it instead.

J

 

Guys, I still think we should have a seperate thread with storm survival tactics / techniques. Easier to find and would benefit more readers. If you're all chicken I'll start the thread. How says you.

 

Hi guys, I've been away too. (getting pissed off...message is sending when it shouldnt)

J, I was surprised you had nothing to say when OldYachtie commented on your 'lack of experience'. I had a feeling you hadn't been reading I was waiting for a big J -style comeback.....better late than never! LOL

 

Fanie, yes you should.

 

OldYachtie, thanks for your advice...I don't assume that you are wrong, and I think it's healthy for J to give you some stiff opinion. If you have more to say, you are welcome in my thread.
As a matter of fact, anyone is welcome to 'hijack' this thread....cos it's always informative to me. My position is "gimme all you got".

 

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?p=184873#post184873

"STORM SURVIVAL........" here it is (as above)

 

Md

The software Rick used for my hull analysis was Michlet/Godzilla. I have tried to run it on my computer but had problems, and haven't even bothered to use it yet, cos it's already done!

Rick has a lot of confidence with the software, and has done a lot of working models (pedal-powered boats, radio controlled models etc), which perform to his liking, so that gives me confidence. I like 'real world' confirmation.

 

I was walking around onboard my catamaran today. Looked up at the crab claw, looked back at the sea, looked up at the crab claw again....I hate it. I just can't get used to that flimsy, messy looking crab claw. I put another one up there to see what 2 would look like. Even worse.
My house architecture software is very good for 3d visualising, and it just confirmed what I was imagining, so that's it....no more crab claw. The only reason for it's dismissal is it's appearance.
When I threw the Burmudan rig back on, the whole atmosphere came back to life, with the nice canopy effect of the sails creating a happier, more sheltered and 'summer' kind of effect. If I sound gay, it's only because the 'mood' is more important to me than any other aspect of my design.
(I'm not gay...just for the record. If you are...that's OK).

So....I think I am basically done with the preliminary design. I will tidy up my freeship rendering and post my final images. Wait till you see what I've done with the internal seats/beds, and cross-beams. I took Fanie's advice and integrated the furniture with the hulls, for strength, without compromising my bulkheads/beam mounts....so now it is a super-strong boat!

All that's left to do is post the pics and wait for a whole lot of applause and praise. You know...stuff like "Richard, that is such a clever design. You are brilliant..."

 

Here's the final design. Probably too simple to be called brilliant...but I think it is.
Access to the main cabins is behind the back-supports closest to the centre crossbeam. So if someone on the bridgedeck is blocking the way, they will need to be polite. This is a compromise I am willing to accept. You can also access the main cabins by crawling low through the division below the centre beam.
Cushions can be exchanged from the beds to the dining chairs (probably just folding deck chairs) or placed elsewhere so the dining chairs can be on solid floor.
The boat requires a bit of mucking around with cushions and crawling on hands and knees....but that doesn't bother me at all. I hope it doesn't bother other people.

The boat is incredibly strong. I will include shelves which act like ribs to further strengthen the hull walls.

I will decide on the type of mast when I talk it through with a naval architect.

Any criticism is welcome!