Restoring 1967 B-LION catamaran

[BMcF]

I sure don't recall. It's been 30 years....

 

[onekiwi]

Thanks I thought it may be a longshot, I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday sometimes!Just doing a dry run assembly on the B-lion and in the process of nutting things out.
cheers

 

[normancook]

Norman Cook Composite Engr.

Good day: I own and have owned 2 B-lions have the original Plans and am friends with the designer let's talk!

 

[normancook]

Own a B-Lion

 

[Tom.151]

Good day: I own and have owned 2 B-lions have the original Plans and am friends with the designer let's talk!

Plans? Very interested. Are the plans for home building?

What type of construction... cold-molded?, tortured ply?, strip-planked?

You mention you know the designer - could the plans be available?

Would be great to revitalize a design like that.

Thanks
TomH

 

[onekiwi]

Hi Norman sent you an email, I got a LOT of questions
Carl
Email bounced back, my email is crazyonbikes@yahoo.com

 

[normancook]

Tom: the answer to your questions are: yes I know the designer....good friend and a mentor...his name is Dave Hubbard of Stamford CT ...he and his brother were the top designer in the early 60s Jerry retired but Dave is still quite active as he designed tell wingmast on Oracle the Americas Cup cat.....COOL yes?
The boat was originally designed for home building which made it very affordable to the public...later it was built by American Fiberglass of Norwalk CT....then later by NcNair Boats of Deep River CT ....later the Tornado cat came out and that was the end of the breed....sad! Today Tornado cat would cost a sailor $25K !!! Not for the average Sailor by a long shot! Recently , I spoke to Dave Hubbard but he did not have the plans any more so I sent him a set for his records. I however, as you suggested thought it would be great if the class could be recreated and updated to be competitive as MATERIALS available have changed. So I have modified a original hull to create a advanced design based on the original concept for homebuilders. I will take a picture of it as it sits in the College Classroom where I and my class in Composite Engineering have constructed it. ALSO , I have Sail Set if you do not and if you were closer, I have a Spare Trailer for a B-Lion
Give me a call so we can talk ....Norman

 

[Doug Lord]

B-Lion

Fantastic reading your discussion of this great boat-thanks!

 

[warwick]

Good luck in reviving the class.

 

[Gopherit10]

My father and brothers and I had a B Lion in the mid and late 60s, I am very familiar with it. We used to race against Sherwaters and later Tornados. 235 SF with either 30 or 32’ mast, 20’ x 10’ now, hinged to trailer.

Broke the hinge bolt regularly when we flipped it or caught a big gust, it supposedly was intentionally designed as the weak link to not take out the casting, which would have been catastrophic. Always carries a spare in a bag hanging from the bottom that would bang on the strut tensioning the hinged crossmember joint.

It took three of us to erect it, it was a real chore for us since we were 8-12 years old at the time.

It was a light design and with so much mainsail it was a rocket taking off in a gust. Which surprised the skipper of a Sherwater one day when he swapped boats with my dad to see whether it was the skipper or boat that made the most difference (the Sherwater had no cleats on the mainsail so we watched him and one of my brothers frantically jumping up and down on the upper hull as it flipped over).

 

[Gopherit10]

Was very hard to tack with the 10’ beam and minuscule jib.

 

[Doug Halsey]

I could have sworn I had an article about sailing B-Lions, but I haven't been able to find it so far. I think it was one of Bob Smith's series of articles in One-Design Yachtsman called "A Boat Is A Boat ..."

I did find this photo, at least:

 

[Gopherit10]

I could have sworn I had an article about sailing B-Lions, but I haven't been able to find it so far. I think it was one of Bob Smith's series of articles in One-Design Yachtsman called "A Boat Is A Boat ..."

I did find this photo, at least:
View attachment 163972

That’s the older version, it does not have the bow crosstube we used to switch hulls when coming about when we weren’t running the jib.

Of course balancing on that crosstube while crossing over was quite difficult! We fell off regularly, usually resulting in having our heads hit by the main crosstube or being sliced by the tensioned guywire or center strut.

 

[Doug Halsey]

That’s the older version, it does not have the bow crosstube we used to switch hulls when coming about when we weren’t running the jib.

Of course balancing on that crosstube while crossing over was quite difficult! We fell off regularly, usually resulting in having our heads hit by the main crosstube or being sliced by the tensioned guywire or center strut.

Why were you doing that?

 

[Gopherit10]

Why were you doing that?

Dad would dive across under the boom and whichever one of us was on the jib would go under the jibstay (since it was faster).