Reasonably seaworthy cruising powercat conversion

Power Macgregor sister to Cat2fold.

The best answer to your question will be coming in May 2012 when my Macgregor 36 power cat will go for a long seatrail, I had this power cat in folded position for a short seatrail reaching 24 MPH with two 60hp Yamahas .

 

Your Mac 36 powercat project sounds great!

If you have any photos, or a blog, or anything chronicling the project, I would love to see / read them!

 

Yes I do have some pics, but I prefer to wait until the next sea trail when I have better looking pictures, This will be a trail-able catamaran, 8’6” on the trailer and 16’ when open for sailing, yes sailing, it will be a Power Cat with an Auxiliary sail, {vs. Sailing Cat with Auxiliary motor} will be using Bi Plane rig, ( two masts one in each hull like her sister Cat2fold, see : www.Cat2fold.com
It will have a hard deck with a sleeping cabin up front, and a seating cabin in the center. Set up time from trailer to water about 15min. or very close to it. Hold your finger crossed for me, it is much work and lot’s of designing time.

 

That sounds awesome, best of luck with the project! I loved reading about the original cat2fold. My fingers are crossed for you, and I can't wait to hear more about it as it progresses.

 

You can turn it into a hydrofoil cat, you can achieve what you want. Run two foils between hulls, the rear foil can help reinforce transom for mounting outboards. But don't build a large house on top it will cause to much windage and raise your CG beyond safe point.

 

Any news?

 

Trail-able folding Power -Cat

Cat2Fold II had a very good sea-Trail of over 80 miles. boat handles very nice. I have to find how to post some pix and video, hopefully later today.

 

Thank you Milehog for prompting me on news about the Skoota 28

The first Skoota 28 is being professionally built in Sequim, Wa, USA. Currently both hulls are finished and decked. The central cabin base is finished. The builder is working on the saloon seating area having almost finished the galley and heads compartments

You can see some videos on my youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodsDesigns?feature=mhee

where you can see even the decked hull is light enough to manhandle

I'll post some photos by the end of the week after our next visit to the builder. So far he has taken about 800 hours

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

My wife is talking about a roomier boat for retirement though she is skeptical of cats.
We just finished our vacation in the islands near Sequim, I coulda taken a peek at the build. Oh well...
What do you expect the cruising speed of the Skoota to be? Our current boat's sweet spot is 13 knots and it suits us just fine.

 

I'm not sure why your wife should be skeptical about power catamarans. They don't roll, are more economic, have more room, are very much more stable than a monohull powerboat, have a more comfortable ride and are more reliable as they have twin engines.

The speed will depend on the engines you choose. The max will be twin 60hp which will give speeds in the low 20's

I am going to see the boat this morning (it's just off the 101 outside Sequim)

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

I have posted some photos of our Skoota 28 taken yesterday on my forum under "Skoota 28 progress"

See here

http://www.freeforum101.com/woodsde...bc91b7f512910ed643a9e1c9e&mforum=woodsdesigns

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

The photos of the Skoota 28 look AWESOME. Thank you for sharing! It looks like it might be the ultimate coastal cruising boat for 2.

 

Time for another progress report? Hmmm...

 

Yes , you are right, I need to find how to post pictures from my I pad to the forum.
The 36'MacGregor is performing very nice, it is at home on a trailer, from trailer to water is about 15 min, if I get no questions from people around.
The motors are in the aft part of the hull, and yes the boat is lower in the back when there is no fuel, which is in the front, but she is a dream ( good dream) when she is moving, at 10mph the “engine room” is empty of sea water, means the boat is running level, top speed is about 24mph which is way too fast for my comfort level, best speed is 15mph to 18mph.
The hard deck has two large bunks in front followed by privacy curtain separate it from the sating cabin, and driving station next to it.
Two 60 hp motors, looking to sell this to get two 25hp, I think that for my needs it will be enough.
The “engine room” has a slid gate where the motor go thru the bottom, when I crank the winch the motor slide up, and I can close the slide gate to have a better sailing smooth hull. I have not done much with the sailing part, I got only two short masts from smaller boat, but it should sail o.k. for sure not as fast as before the “sex” change.
The boat on the trailer is 8’6” open on the water 16’ wide.

 

MacGregor power cat

Hopefully the pics, will "glue" to the web.....