Siamese Cats...
Hi jj,
Two very experienced and knowledgeable sea men that I know well have built aluminum cats.
These two boats are made for the charter business and there website can be viewed at
www.far-way.net . The cat chameleon has a well documented supplement on this website about the construction and fit out work carried out in Thailand.
Both of these boats have very impressive performance and are (perhaps) the ultimate in aluminum boats.
The naval architect Tim Mumby, based in Brisbane, Australia, is well worth a look…
http://www.waynehill.com.au/sailing_multihulls.htm
On the question of safety in using aluminum, I would personally think the only material to rival it is steel. The weight (and therefore performance) and rust factor often make steel a second best when compared to Aluminum. If constructed and maintained properly, Aluminum is one of the easiest to maintain and strongest boat building materials.
Of course there is a down side; Special attention should be given to the following;
Welding methods, electrical circuits and grounding/earthing, special aluminum paints, other metals used as fixing ect.
“Mozart” has achieved 24 hour runs of almost 325 miles, cruising speeds of 10+ knots and peaks of 15+ knots. As you can see aluminum does not have to mean poor performance! Of course this is all relative, ie sail plans, hull shape ect.
Good luck on your research,
Dan
