Hybrid Powered Trimaran Liveaboard

Discussion in 'Projects & Proposals' started by Carlazzomark, May 17, 2020.

  1. Carlazzomark
    Joined: Oct 2006
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    I am looking for design collaborators for a 50’ powered trimaran liveaboard boat. It has some features that may be patentable (and which will be shared if so), and an idea for manufacturing that could make the boat relatively inexpensive and easily customizable.

    What I want is my dream boat, the design of which has the potential to make money if others continue on. What I can offer are the original concepts and the build funding if the project is deemed feasible. What collaborators get is time on the boat plus a large majority of any future business based on the design in proportion to design contribution if a business develops. The boat will be kept in Northern California.

    A multihull designer, a hybrid propulsion expert, and overall naval architect/engineer are needed. Once the team is established, we will spend time simply discussing the project before any actual design begins. I am shooting for late 2021 boat launch.

    Thanks in advance for your interest.
     
  2. Ad Hoc
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    It is not clear what it is you are wishing to collaborate on?

    There is nothing 'new' or patent-able' about this... thus, i'm confused what it is you are seeking/asking for?
     
  3. Carlazzomark
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Ad Hoc,

    The boat is not patentable. As I said, there are just one or two features that may be patentable.

    And, specifically, what I need are conceptual refinements, renderings, and 2D and 3D drawings leading to a build.

    I hope this helps clarify the collaboration for you.

    Thanks.
     
  4. Ad Hoc
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    Then you need to provide an SOR.
     
  5. bajansailor
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Mark, have you scrapped your previous plan to convert an old fishing trawler?
    Old to new trawler https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/old-to-new-trawler.62984/

    There was a thread on here a few months ago about a chap building a 65' trimaran - did you see it?
    USCG Stability Test for Power Trimaran https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/uscg-stability-test-for-power-trimaran.63427/

    You mentioned :
    "What I want is my dream boat, the design of which has the potential to make money if others continue on. What I can offer are the original concepts and the build funding if the project is deemed feasible. What collaborators get is time on the boat plus a large majority of any future business based on the design in proportion to design contribution if a business develops."

    I read this as you want your 'collaborators' to design the boat for you for free, based on your original concepts, and then when your boat has been built and is phenomenally successful they will be allowed to then make a few dollars on future business?
    As you make no mention of any payment for design services, just 'time on the boat' and a 'large majority of any future business'.

    You had also said :
    "And, specifically, what I need are conceptual refinements, renderings, and 2D and 3D drawings leading to a build."
    Are you willing to pay a designer a suitable fee for these drawings?
     
  6. Carlazzomark
    Joined: Oct 2006
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Bajansailor,

    Yes, I have scrapped the trawler conversion idea. Since that posting, I have spent most of my time looking for a used MY for part-time liveaboard. I honed in on the Bayliner 4588, and actually had a contract on one, but the survey showed too many required repairs. In all the boat types I looked at (which are affordable for me), there was always something lacking or not right. I especially hate the idea of burning exceptional amounts of fuel to go anywhere (and I am not a sailor, and too old to take that up).

    So I decided to see if I could conceive of a boat that suits my needs, and on a limited budget. Please understand that my mindset has always been to bring enjoyment, innovation, and pleasure at reasonable prices. Now that I am retired and have already spent (and lost) a fortune on bringing a much smaller boat to market, I want to make a boat for me and, possibly, create a business for others who are willing to collaborate. So that brings us to your significant question of payment for services.

    Perhaps I have misunderstood this particular section of BoatDesign.net. I am under the impression, perhaps incorrect, that it is a place where ideas are floated and those who are interested participate in developing ideas. Yes, at least initially, I am looking for collaborators who are willing to put some amount of time into developing my concepts without payment. Again, if I have posted in the incorrect forum, please direct me to the correct one. When we get to the point where significant design work needs to get done, then we will see if a future upside is enticement enough.

    In the meantime, I hope there are a few souls here who find the idea of making a prototype trimaran interesting enough to jump in, and who believe in, and see the value of, creating an environmentally better way to propel a boat at a reasonable price.

    The basic premise is to create a trimaran platform upon which customizable marine "tiny homes" would be secured to the hulls. The hulls would contain all the propulsion, batteries, water heaters, heating/AC, water and other tanks. The "securing method" of hulls to top deck(s) would be standardized, and possibly patentable, and all connections from the mechanical and electrical within the hulls to the upper structure would be uniform yet flexible (and possibly "plug-and-play"), and, if a business were to ensue, be published for DIYers or third party tiny home makers.

    So, as I see it, there is a real possibility of carving out a new segment in the medium-sized yacht market, one that offers a degree of standardization, with a wide range of price points from a completed boat, to third-party customization, and to the DIYer. At 70, I am not interested in heading up a business, but I would like to create a boat for myself that would demonstrate the feasibility and market potential of the concept.

    I will check out the trimaran thread you posted. The coolest trimaran I have come across is the Leen 56 (LEEN 56 | LEEN-TRIMARANS https://leen-trimarans.com/range/leen-56/), very nice and very expensive.

    Thanks for your comments.
     
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  7. Carlazzomark
    Joined: Oct 2006
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Ad Hoc,

    SORry, I am not there yet.
     
  8. BlueBell
    Joined: May 2017
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    BlueBell . . . _ _ _ . . . _ _ _

    Really? It's not hard, enjoyable even.

    Sounds like a cool idea.

    Well, this is where you start so...
     
  9. Carlazzomark
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    I was being facetious to AdHoc by writing SORry. But since this, at the moment, is rather informal, I did mean that I am not ready yet to write a Statement of Requirements.

    Thanks.
     
  10. bajansailor
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Thank you Mark for this update.

    You mentioned "The basic premise is to create a trimaran platform upon which customizable marine "tiny homes" would be secured to the hulls. The hulls would contain all the propulsion, batteries, water heaters, heating/AC, water and other tanks."

    How big (approximately) is the platform that you are thinking of?
    And how many 'tiny homes' would be attached to each trimaran?
    Are you thinking of maybe a 2 (or even 3) story 'block of flats' arrangement?
    Any which way you look at it, the houses might be tiny, but they are certainly going to cost a lot more (per house) than similar size (in terms of square feet of area) tiny houses ashore.
     
  11. Carlazzomark
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Bajansailor,

    For my house, I have a footprint of 40.5' long, 16.5' wide, and about 14' tall.* Walls will most likely be 3" thick, making the interior space 40x16. On the main floor there are a small exposed foredeck, two staterooms each with complete head, followed by a galley and salon, and a cockpit. Upstairs are the pilothouse, a half-head, two-three sleeping nooks, and access to a small upper rear deck. Lots of roof room for solar panels and perhaps a helical wind turbine. I have this very simply sketched out in line drawings. The overall shape needs some nicer lines. Materials would be at designer/purchaser discretion. In any case, structural integrity is most important. Since my boat would be for the San Francisco Bay and the delta waterways East of it, I do not need to achieve ocean specs. So the main concerns for the house are structural strength related to water motion, weight, and appropriate weather and sun external materials.

    The hulls would have to have their access hatches pre-defined, so designs would have to work with that as well as with the hull-to-home securing mechanisms and plug-and-play systems hookups.

    Yes, the homes would cost more than a tiny home on land, but the comparison should be with motor yachts and luxury houseboats. And I think this concept would be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars less expensive than a similarly sized watercraft.

    Mark

    * I have some concerns about the overall height of my design, mostly related to steerage under windy conditions. The center hull would be made with a bow thruster for docking help, but I will need to look deeper into steering with crosswinds.
     
  12. Carlazzomark
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    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Bluebell,

    In addition to not wanting to make a sailboat due to lack of knowledge about sailing, I think a powered boat affords much more living space.

    Mark
     
  13. Ad Hoc
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    Then you will go nowhere - very fast.
     
  14. BlueBell
    Joined: May 2017
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    BlueBell . . . _ _ _ . . . _ _ _

    Warp-nine to nowhere!

    SORry we can't help you until then.
     
    Ad Hoc likes this.

  15. Carlazzomark
    Joined: Oct 2006
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    Location: Michigan

    Carlazzomark Senior Member

    Understood -- we are not on the same page.

    Mark
     
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