Fiberglass Pontoon Hulls

Can anyone recommend a fiberglass pontoon hull manufacturer that can produce a 44'L x 48"H x 38"W black fiberglass hull? It seems there are only 2 manufacturers in the USA? This is for recreational use....not COI, for a custom boat manufacturer.. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

How many do you need? Also, specify the shape, laminate thickness, etc.

 

We will be building 8-10 boats our first year and hopefully 16+ starting in year 2 of production. There are 2 hulls per boat. Sizes are listed above. Thickness shown: Honestly, not sure of the exact thickness. We are looking for a legitimate and experienced fiberglass hull manufacturer/fabricator to partner with.


Something similar shown below except the bow overhang....you see will extend around the entire port and starboard sides to the stern. There is an 4"H aluminum platform mounted to the top of the 2 hulls.
View attachment 208667

 

The link is not working

 

I will try to resend. I am a little concerned about posting as some of your members are brutal. I am literally looking for a fiberglass "pontoon type " hull with a flat bottom...twin hulls per boat for a new design concept. Basically a modern enclosed powered floating cabana, climatized, generator, non-planing with twin outboards. I am looking to purchase 16-20 hulls the first year and 20+ the second year of production.

 

What is the intended area of operation? Flat bottoms will pound in waves. On the other hand, if they will move at relatively low speeds a barge type hull would be cheaper and more stable.

 

This works both ways - if you don't post sufficient information initially, then you will get few responses.
Don't worry about anybody being brutal - do you have any sketches or drawings showing your design concepts so far, that you can post on here?

You said :

Have you done any rough weight estimates yet for all the outfit items that you intend to have on board?
A generator, along with air-con, refrigeration, accommodation, equipment, crew..... the weight of all of these add up quickly, and you need to have enough buoyancy in your hulls to support the expected weights. This is even more crucial on a catamaran than a monohull, as the hulls are so much narrower.

 

Good points, but let me clarify something: both monohulls and multihulls must have sufficient buoyancy to support not only their full weight at full load but also a minimum freeboard. These conditions are no stricter for catamarans, nor are they more difficult to meet.
Whatever the hull shape, it must be well-designed so that, in addition to what has been mentioned, the applicable stability and buoyancy criteria are met.

 

I see your point, however Dallyn wants hulls that are 44' long and a bit over 3' wide, with an L/B of about 14.
He does not mention what the overall beam of these boats will be - I am thinking maybe 12' (as I think that this is the maximum width that can be towed in the USA without special permits?).
Even with a 12' beam this is still a relatively narrow cat - a typical power monohull of the same length might have an L/B around 3, and a beam around 14'.
And the TPC immersion for the monohull will be much greater for the monohull than for the catamaran, hence why I suggested that the weight calculations for the catamaran will be even more important for the cat than the monohull - if the cat is say 1,000 kg over the intended design displacement, she will sink much deeper in the water than the same length monohull that is 1,000 kg heavier than it's design displacement.

 

You want brutal at this point in the process, you don't want to spend time pursuing something that has little chance of success only to find out a year from now you need to start over.

 

@bajansailor , I'm afraid I disagree with you. I can only speak about what I do or what I believe naval designers in my field do. I don't lower my standards of quality or my technical rigor when designing a monohull. Going back to the topic you mention, I try to calculate the weights and their distribution with the utmost rigor that I am capable of and that the circumstances demand, regardless of the type of hull I am calculating.
And the other issue, tons per centimeter of immersion (T/cm), what problem could there possibly be with them? If the hull, or hulls, have insufficient T/cm, you simply change the shape and the problem is solved. That's how the much-discussed "design spiral" works.

I honestly can't understand this. My brain cells are rusty, or the "T/cm" values are wrong.

 

The OP said this about his design.

" I am a little concerned about posting as some of your members are brutal."

He was afraid of the harsh feedback he may receive for an imperfect plan/idea

 

OK, thanks.