Simpson catamaran designs?

I'm looking at a 10.2 meter / 34 foot catamaran that was owner-built to a design by Roger Simpson. I'm not familiar with Simpson's designs but he appears to be fairly popular in Australia. Is anyone familiar with this design or Simpson's designs in general? Any idea what their sea keeping and performance is like? Construction is strip planked cedar with Bruynzeel plywood bulkheads and cabin, then covered with epoxy and glass. Finish is pretty rough (more like a work-boat than a yacht) but otherwise seems solid. I found no voids or delaminations (but I'll leave it to a surveyor to make sure I didn't miss anything). Any info is appreciated.

 

In Australia Simpson designs have a reputation as solid cruising boats. Simpson got out of the design business by the early 2000s and his boats may look a little dated now for some. They don't usually have daggerboards and are usually owner built. There were some production Simpsons - Cloud 9 and Formula one cats. One of the most iconic series of images is that of the Simpson cat Ramtha in the Queens Birthday storm. She was abandoned at the height of the storm without a parachute or sea anchor and made it through. The owners got her back and cruised on herc again. They were very impressed with her. Search Google images for "Queens Birthday Storm Ramtha" and look at some incredible pics of a Simpson doing a great job in atrocious weather.

 

It looks like plans are still available through Boatcraft Pacific. Older catamaran designs but well proven and safe: 10.2m Catamaran : Boatcraft Pacific, the home of wooden boat building. http://boatcraft.com.au/Shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=32_33&products_id=68&zenid=534330f25f632c0a60cca3c25234f61b

 

Bigkahuna, I happen to be sitting on my Simpson 10.2 out off the old Streeters Jetty, in Broome Australia, waiting for some spares to arrive before pushing on.

I left Hobart just after the S2H boats finished, around Matsyker Is , Cape leeuwin and north to Broome.

I built mine back in the 90's and have done a few miles since. I love it. Its been a great sea boat for its size. Four crossings of the Great Australian Bight have given it a little test.
I have a copy of the plans under the rear berth. From memory they are dated 1985, and the transom extension was dated 1992 or there abouts.
From mixed fleet racing it is a fair bit quicker than the Seawind 1000.
Does the one you are looking at have the transom hung rudders or the underhung spade/skeg style

You may be interested to know that the PDQ 34 cats came out just after Simpsons 10.2 plans. The PDQ published specs had identical waterline hull beam and immersion rate figures. What a coincidence. Even more surprising was the transom extension got added to the PDQ , making it a 36 just after Simpson revised the 10.2 plans. I'm sure that was just another coincidence.

In Aus the quality varies greatly as most were home built. My Cabin does not have the square front as drawn but more the more streamlined PDQ style.

Also the original plans did not have standing headroom in the bridge deck. The turret came latter.

Any questions please ask. If I can work out how to post pictures or video, I will.

 

A very short clip , sailing down the Channel, Bruny Island.

HELP, I've tried to upload a few seconds of video, stuffed up and now can't see it, can't delete it???

Ok the best I can do is say the video is here....
Simpson 10.2 | Boat Design Net https://www.boatdesign.net/gallery/simpson-10-2.25428/

 

The Gallery works great for images. For longer video, it works best to upload to youtube or vimeo and then use the Media button

 

@Gwion - This 10.2 has under-hull skegs and rudders and was completed about 10 years ago. How well does yours perform under sail?

 

This is the boat I'm looking at: Boat for sale - Simpson 10.2 meter Custom Catamaran - 35' http://www.boatersresources.com/bfs_detail.php?adid=450874

 

Bigkahuna, yes mine has the transom extensions as you can see , so has the balanced spades. The early ones, sans extensions just had the transom hung rudder. I did increase the size of the rudders ( by 25%) after our first circumnavigation of Aus. They were just too small as designed for light air. We do not motor much as we only have a single 9.8 tohatsu 2 stroke. its very noisy and way underpowered. That being said it sails great. I'm from a one design race background so love to roll up for the club mixed fleet races. Sails upwind with similar sized cruiser mono's ie benes' etc, but down wind it'll clear out. Like any cat you gotta keep it light. You may be able to see from the photo that I'm running with hank on headsails. Yer I know its a little hardcore (hard work) but theres nothing like a decent headsail on a mast head rig.

 

@Gwion - I also come from a racing background (monohulls of all sizes). What sorts of boat speeds do you get with yours? How bad is the bridge deck pounding in waves / chop? I rather like the twin outboards on this boat. Should make docking her pretty easy.

 

Bigkahuna I just looked at the Advert. The aft cockpit coamings aren't built to plan. Then again as I said earlier the front of my cabin isn't iether. Its funny how we home builders can't follow instructions. The transoms don't appear cut away for any useful boarding benefit. I made up a composite forebeam which is a lot neater than what is shown there. That forward catwalk structure has got to go. To the builders credit it appears they have resisted the urge to add a second story. The hulls look like the real Mcoy.

What size primary winches are they. I'm running Andeson 40's and there undersize for my 450 ft^ number 1.
The boat was designed for diesel Inboards so I'm not sure about those mounts. Each builder has his own take on how to mount OB's

 

The bridge deck pounding is a non issue. I have a central OB nacele tortured up out of 3mm ply and glassed and its still as built all these miles and years later. You will have to take that one out in a seaway to see how those motor mounts perform. There is nothing there that a chainsaw and some epoxy won't fix. Docking with a single non steering OB is more of a controlled crash than a serious seaman like manouver . That being said going into marinas backwards with the enlarged rudders has kept us out of trouble.

 

@Gwion - Yes, there are several things I would change and that catwalk structure is just bizarre. It only has the two winches on the cabin top and they look to be pretty small. I don't think the boat has anything larger than a #3 / #4.

 

@Gwion - Sorry to nag, but what sort of boat speeds are typical for your boat?

 

Sorry I missed the bit about boat speed. it is really only a 33'6'' hull so does tend to dig a hole at around eight knots. That being said our record speed is 20.7 knots on a southern ocean swell. Light and stripped makes a huge difference and the hole I speak of at 8 is no longer. If I have to plan a voyage 12 months out I'll work on 120 mile days . Anything greater, which it often is, is a bonus. Have done a couple of 100 mile sprints in daylight.