Design idea for a 15' cruising cat

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by David Swingler, Oct 16, 2023.

  1. David Swingler
    Joined: Oct 2023
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    Location: Seattle Washington US

    David Swingler Junior Member

    Hello, my name is David, and This is my first post on this forum. I have been boating my whole life, and currently own a somewhat unique (as far as I can tell) 12' hews craft v-bottom aluminum boat, but I am looking for cruising boat possibilities for Puget sound and Canada in the northwest. I have been studying boat design for a while and am considering designing a boat that would fit the bill. Due to our garage and storage limitations it has to be under 18' loa and under 7' max beam. I have looked at many ideas including the Hartley Scamp 15 half cabin boat, as well as a Jarcat 5. I think that for me a cat is the answer to a decent cabin while being stable and fast. I am going for about a 15 footer with a 7' beam, i have considered going with really fat hulls in order to put a bunk in each, but it is probably better to go with more hydrodynamic hulls and a cabin up like a Jarcat. So what do you guys think? this is just an idea, but if i do design and build it i will document it in case people would like to see it.
     
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  2. Banzai
    Joined: Aug 2014
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    Banzai Junior Member

    [​IMG]How about this one. Duo 480 (K Designs). This is my own boat, lots of images and vids online on K designs website
    Cheers
     
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  3. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

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  4. bajansailor
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Welcome to the Forum David.

    The suggestions by Banzai and RWatson above will probably 'fit the bill' very easily re your requirements - although they are small cats, they are still complex creatures to design, and money spent on buying a set of plans will be a small fraction of the cost of building a boat.

    You could also have a look at Richard Woods' smallest sailing cat for inspiration (although she is a bit bigger than what you want ideally) -
    Sailing Catamarans - Chat 18 daysailing catamaran with small cuddy https://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs-2/2-catamarans-under-25ft/475-chat-18-daysailing-catamaran

    The Jarcat designs are very neat as well.
    Jarcat Five and Six https://www.jarcatyachts.com/Jarcat5.html
     
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  5. David Swingler
    Joined: Oct 2023
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    Location: Seattle Washington US

    David Swingler Junior Member

    Thanks everyone for the ideas, i will check them out!
     
  6. waterbear
    Joined: Mar 2016
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    waterbear Senior Member

    David, I've read stability goes up with the cube of the beam of a boat. If that's true, and if you reduce the Jarcat from the standard 8'6" trailering beam to 7', you've reduced stability by 44%. My gut feeling (and that's not worth much) is that when you're comparing to a 15x7 monohull you're not going to have much stability benefit, you're going to have a pretty awkward interior, and the only real benefit is going to be somewhat reduced fuel and horsepower requirements at planing speeds. With this in mind it might be better to consider a monohull for the interior space, and just accept that you will need a somewhat larger engine to achieve the same performance.

    Also, have you considered widening your garage door to 9 or 10ft, installing a folding tongue on your trailer, or storing your boat outside?

    And have you looked at the 14.5 x8 Phil Bolger box keel microtrawler? It's basically the room of a ̶s̶c̶o̶w̶ sharpie with the box keel to break up chop forward and provide added space on the centerline. Supposedly this works well in a chop. Laurie McGowan also designed a microtrawler inspired boat for his woodenboat column called Hercules, though I doubt there are plans.

    2543173746_c1f77507ea_b.jpg grebe7.jpg Hercules-Bow-2.jpg Hercules-GA2-filtered.jpg mtlin copy.gif mtlines1.gif mtlines3.gif
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Oct 27, 2023
  7. David Swingler
    Joined: Oct 2023
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    Location: Seattle Washington US

    David Swingler Junior Member

    yes i have looked at similar boats and am going to consider it, thanks!
     
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  8. waterbear
    Joined: Mar 2016
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    waterbear Senior Member

    Ok!

    Out of curiosity, can you tell us more about how you plan to use the boat? Eg, when cruising how many days, how many crew, what's speeds you plan to travel at? Etc.
     
  9. David Swingler
    Joined: Oct 2023
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    David Swingler Junior Member

    well its probably going to be a short term liveaboard, im not looking for to much speed, mainly efficiency. in a little over a year i am planning to move onto a boat in the islands and work at a marina for several months. i originally just wanted a small trawler for the are near me, but i am thinking about a little bigger to live on, none of my plans are concrete yet. i was just offered a 14' Hi-Laker speed boat for a very good price, so i am thinking about using that for a year or 2 until i need a liveaboard. as for that it would be just me and i would only need around a 4-6 kt cruise.
     
  10. waterbear
    Joined: Mar 2016
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    waterbear Senior Member

    If you're looking for a cheap live aboard that's easy on gas you should be looking for a sailboat. They're more efficient at low speeds and unlike a hi-laker they actually come with accomodations and a roof. Best of all, they can be had free or very cheap. Don't worry about fitting it in the garage, just give the boat away when you're done living on it.

    I looked on Seattle craigslist and right now there's..

    $105 San Juan 24
    $200 Columbia T23
    $300 San Juan 24
     
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  11. David Swingler
    Joined: Oct 2023
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    Location: Seattle Washington US

    David Swingler Junior Member

    Ya it's a good idea, I have always liked the San Juan boats, but I agree
     
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  12. Martins
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    Location: Guarapari, ES, Brasil

    Martins New Member

     
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  13. Martins
    Joined: Nov 2023
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    Location: Guarapari, ES, Brasil

    Martins New Member

    Good afternoon,
    W have a small catamaran measuring 480x230 CM, but the hull is not tall enough to sail on the open sea. I would like to know the height and width of the hull of your catamaran (DUO480) to better analyze the necessary changes or purchase another project.
    Thank you,
    Wallace Martins
     

  14. Will Gilmore
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

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