Cat(or Tri) version of the MacGregor concept?

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Squidly-Diddly, Jun 27, 2013.

  1. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    Trailer-able and launch-able with midsize car. Under 26' to avoid a lot of extra restrictions and be covered by homeowner's policy.

    About equal power or sailor. 20mph or better under max power.

    Good inside volume for 'liveaboard' or use as camper on land.

    Generally consumer friendly, not designed for epic offshore stormy passages.

    Something that leverages "mass production" rather than "home builder", so a few tech tricks (like scissors frame, lots of fancy fiberglass shapes) are welcome.


    PS-anyone made good use of heavy duty 'self erecting' tent on a cat, something with some cables that pull up some poles as the cat hulls are spread?
     
  2. Richard Woods
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    Richard Woods Woods Designs

    Of course a Macgregor 26 is not a 50%/50% sail/power. It is more like 80% power, 20% sail

    You actually have lots of choices if you want a 50-50 motorsailer trailable multihull. Both catamaran and trimaran designs exist.

    However I doubt if you would sensibly want to go over mid teens under power, the engine needed will get so big it will destroy the sailing performance. Also you will quite likely need a nacelle fairing in front of the outboard leg (as there will be no hull in front of it). Otherwise you will just make froth and spray at speed. But a 25hp should give you 15 knots under power on a 15knot sailing boat

    If you were interested in a production boat then you might like to know my Elf 26 moulds are available, free, to suitable builders

    Regular tents tend not to work as the sail handling gets in the way of guyropes etc

    Richard Woods of Woods Designs

    www.sailingcatamarans.com
     
  3. daruffians
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    daruffians Junior Member

    Richard I would like to ask if you have an update on your Power Cat Skoota 36. Can I use an inboard diesel engine on it? Also where is the steering or the pilot house located? I am really interested in building this boat. is the Skoota 36 be good for open waters? Thank you and hope to hear from you.
     
  4. tom28571
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    tom28571 Senior Member

    The latest Telstar tri is a lot like what you ask for. I'm sure there are others.
     
  5. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member



    Yes, good call. It has a lot of the features required.

    I looked at a Jarcat as well,

    The Mac won for me just for the sheer interior room. I could comfortably live in the thing without doing severe spinal damage, and have a comfortable shower/toilet arrangement.

    Multihulls being setup or pulled down on a trailer can add a lot of preparation time too.
     
  6. Perm Stress
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    Perm Stress Senior Member

    This is impossible or next to impossible, if same interior room is required, while maintaning the same overall beam when on trailer: macGregor is about as close to the "box" within set dimensions, as possible while maintaining sort of boat-like hull shape; for trimaran, the volume needed for folded amas will necessarily be detracted from the main hull = from the interior room.
     
  7. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Yes indeed - its physics ... and not forgetting having to build ( or buy ) three separate hulls. Imagine the fairing and finishing if you were building a trimaran.

    The monohulls definitely have the advantage if you value capacity.
     
  8. Richard Woods
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    Richard Woods Woods Designs

    But not if you want to get there AND back the same day

    See here for more on the pros and cons of small multihulls versus monohulls

    http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/articles/29-general/221-hpcc

    So a question to you

    "How long does it REALLY take from arriving at a slipway with the boat on a trailer to casting off and sailing a Macgregor 26?"

    Richard Woods of Woods Designs

    www.sailingcatamarans.com
     
  9. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Ahhh, You are speaking to an expert here.

    1) Its not a case of 'getting there', its getting there with enough food, family, swimming gear, toilet /shower setup, water, and comfortable shelter. You cant rely on good weather to stay on deck, or flat water and low wind, so the bigger protection 'pod' you have, the more likely it is that the family will want to come again.

    2) Getting there quickly - a powered boat will get places quicker than any sailboat. Its a well known fact that on any given day, he wind will be blowing in the right direction up until five minutes before you cast off, and then it will keep blowing in the wrong direction until you turn around and head for home. The biggest disappointment in my life was finding out how cramped a farrier 28 was inside, after all that expense and work.

    3) Any trailerable multihull is more trouble to launch than a monohull - as you have to ftritz around with the hulls. Look at all the palaver on this site about folding, expanding, sliding beams. Add to that, often the size of masts on multihulls is often heavier and longer. If the hulls are fixed, then you have all that lost room between the hulls.

    I have no illusions about the time taken to unpack both types of hulls, and get off the land, nor about how comfortable each type is, from a lot of experience.
     
  10. pdwiley
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    pdwiley Senior Member

    As long as we're talking about daysailing, sure. Or if you have an unlimited budget, sure.

    Otherwise - perhaps not.

    PDW
     
  11. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Ah yes, thats a good point. Longer trips by sail may be cheaper than motor and fuel.

    I remember chatting to the owner of a very well setup 40 footer in Melbourne ( Australia) that had just come back from South America and the West Coast of the US. He was planning on heading off overseas again.

    "First up, I need to get a job for 6 months and save up another $30,000. That's minimum for the trip"

    He confided that with supplies, repairs, insurance etc, that would be how much he would need to return over a 6 month trip.

    "Sailing is an expensive sport" he concluded. "Lucky I don't factor in lost income from me and the missus from not working as well, or it would be triple that amount"

    A big jet might be cheaper, but it doesn't let you stop off in little out of the way places, for a week or so, and you don't get the 'sailing experience'.

    Joseph Conrads comment on travelling by sailing ship "Its the same as being in jail, but with the added danger of drowning"
     
  12. pdwiley
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    pdwiley Senior Member

    Not restricted to sailing ships IME. Not that I'd know first-hand about jail accommodation - never got caught.

    You may well have better company in jail too, when I think of some of the people I've been to sea with.

    PDW
     
  13. bpw
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    bpw Senior Member

    That is expensive cruising, plenty of us out there on $10,000 or less (some much less) a year. It really is true that sailing costs exactly as much as you have.
     

  14. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    A very true observation.

    I was careful to say

    "Longer trips by sail may be cheaper than motor and fuel."

    he was sailing a modern bermuda rigged yacht, with all the go fast gear.

    Also many low cost cruisers don't go very far in a year. The price of travel increases dramatically when you visit different countries, with customs, visas, etc.
     
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