hard deck on catamaran

we have two 17 ft catamarans and wish to build a hard deck on it.
My question is to where to attach it.
Option a : attach directly to the side of the hull?
Option b: attach to top of. Cross members?
All help appreciated. Thanks in advance
Scott

 

Bit hard without pics, but sounds like the cross members are exposed, so whack it onto them.

 

Hard decks are painfull to sit on for long.
Heavy, generally, and slow down the boat.

Perhaps you could let us know why you want one?

Pictures and a little explanation would help, like Landlubber suggested.
Most cats do not have a lot of extra buoyancy to take additional weight.

 

I have an old Pacific cat 19 with hard decks, i love it, it was hard on the knees scrambling across during tacks so we installed some peel and stick foam like they use on PWCs, it is now a very comfortable boat but it was designed this way and has sunken cockpit wells too. Its heavy at over 500 lbs but still plenty fast enough. You will need to keep it light. You may be able to sit it on top of the deck and fasten it and lace it to the bottom of the beams, it will be a challenge fastening to the hulls as you cant access the inside

Steve.

 

I have thought about this before and I think I would stay with a fabric deck that is modified with full battens. It would work like this, design and make a new trampoline type deck, but out of webbing, and than weave into it a series of wood or fiberglass battens of about 1/4x1" or 3/8"x 1.25" size in one direction only. this will give you a simi-rigid deck that should be firm enough to stand on, but still have some flexibility.

This will allow the new deck to attached the same way the current trampoline deck attaches, and it also allows you to remove them and roll them up like bamboo beach mat. If you use cedar or fir it should not add much weight either, but should give you a deck that is rigid enough to walk on. And it will still drain water from splash.

 

Thats a fresh idea Petros, i like it.

Steve.