SKOOTA 28/36 Power cat

Good day brethren.. I would like to ask if someone in this Forum had built or building or have seen or any information on WOODS DESIGN Power Catamaran Skoota 28 or Skoota 36. Thank you guys.

Edwin

 

I assume that you've already been to www.sailingcatamarans.com
The designer, Richard Woods, is a member here as well.

Here's the latest Skoota video:
Looks great.


for more Skoota videos on Richard's YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodsDesigns/search?query=skoota 28

 

Yes i have, I am thinking of buying the plan. But would like some opinions on the design and the sea worthiness of the design.

 

Looking at the video, if this were a sailing catamaran I would think that the bridge deck clearance is on the low side. Can power catamarans manage with less bridge deck clearance than sailing catamarans? And if they can, is this because they tend to have narrower overall beam for the same length?

 

Given that the demihulls are asymmetric, I wonder why all that beam was needed.

 

I wonder if someone in this forum actually build a skoota design and used it in open water. Also, instead of using an outboard, was wondering if you could use an inboard diesel engine on boat hull.

 

Richards skoota designs are only very recent, I think there is only 1 skoota 28 has been launched to date, it's the one in the video, and it was only launched about 3 months ago. I'm not aware of any skoota 36 that's been launched yet.

And yes, with narrower beam, the bridge deck clearance can be lower.

 

Thank you for your interest in my Skoota designs. As Groper says, and as I write on my website, the Skoota 28 and 36 are new designs. Only one Skoota 28 is in the water (mine, in BC, Canada). One other is building (in Europe) and two Skoota 36's (one in BC, one in the UK). However about 40 of my smaller Skoota 20 and 24's are building or launched.

I don't know the conditions in the Philippines, but the Skoota 28 is certainly seaworthy enough for the coastal cruising most people do. Including going to the Bahamas and island hopping south. Or crossing the English Channel and going through the French Canals to the Med. Obviously one of the major limitations for all small powerboats is their range under power.

Having said that, a powercat is no less seaworthy than a similar proportioned sailing catamaran (more so really, as it cannot capsize). So anywhere it is safe to take a 28ft sailing catamaran you could take a 28ft powercat. Two of my 28ft Gypsy sailing catamarans have made Pacific crossings, and several of my 30ft Windsongs and Sagittas have crossed the Atlantic. So the implication is the Skoota 28 could do the same if it could carry the fuel

In an ideal world every catamaran would have a very high bridgedeck, but that is clearly not possible, because of aesthetic reasons and also because of windage plus the fact that, as the freeboard increases, so does weight. So a high bridgedeck clearance means a slower boat.

It's all a compromise. But I have found that powercats don't need the same clearance as sailing catamarans. In part because they don't heel - which effectively reduces the clearance. And for sure the ride is way more comfortable than in a conventional planing powerboat

One reason for the Skoota 28 wide beam is to fit in the accommodation. One reason for the Skoota 28 narrow beam is so that it fits in a standard 14ft wide slip

I like the twin outboards. More reliability, more manouverability, no smell in the accommodation, quieter. Cheaper to install and repair (I take the engine to the mechanic, not the other way round)

I have only taken a couple of people out for test rides, one bought a Skoota 36 plan. The other offered to buy my boat on the spot for 20% more than we paid for it. I said "But we haven't cruised it yet ourselves". Our plan is to go to Desolation Sound in a couple of weeks time, and then cruise the San Juans and Puget Sound in Sept/Oct. Next year, after a summer heading north towards Alaska, we will trailer it to the Great Lakes and do a "Great Circle" cruise, stopping off for a couple of years in the Bahamas.

I will be talking about things like bridgedeck clearance, fuel consumption, seaworthiness of powercats etc in my seminars at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in September this year where my Skoota 28 will be on display. It will also be at the Vancouver BC Wooden Boat Show Aug 22-25

I hope that helps the debate

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Richard, Thank you for the information. Please if you could email me the price of the plan @ daruffians at gmail dot com. or daruffians@gmail.com

 

"Great Circle"

i'm responding to richard woods message from 06-30-2013. you said that you might do the"Great Circle" in i guess 2014. i live in key west fl and if you plan on stopping in key west i would love to check out the boat. i'm especially interested in a boat for the bahamas like the skoota 36 . thanks!

 

Thank you for your post and interest in my Skoota 28 powercat

As always, my plans never quite work out as I hope. But in my defense, we did get to the Bahamas and Florida last winter - but it was on a Transit 38 catamaran.

We have now motored about 1200 miles on our Skoota, and quite a number are now building, with a lot of interest in the PNW.

Sorry, but it won't be this year that we head south and east, maybe next year though

Meantime, you can catch up with our cruising here

http://woodsdesigns.blogspot.ca/?view=magazine

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

i would love to get some more information on the skoota 36. I think before I could make up my mind I would actually have to see the boat and hopefully take it for a sea trial. I would be happy to pay for that. In the mean time do you think you might be able to have some pictures of the boat as soon as one is finished and more detailed specifications like weight of the boat, displacement, draft (i saw the draft is i think 53 cm but is that with engine up or down?) and a list of materials needed to figure out the cost of the boat and how many man hours on average it takes to build the boat. I did read on your webpage that 2 sets of plans for the skoota 36 have been sold one in Canada and one in the UK. If your customers in Canada would be willing to show their boat I would be happy to pay for that. Otherwise any more information on the skoota 36 would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi Richard,

Do you know the location of the Skoota 28 that was built in Canada? We'll be sailing far up there for much of the summer, or could make a driving trip up from Portland (our home port) well before that. I have contacted Joshua but not heard back from him yet; sounds like he is a probably not going to want to stop his furniture work anyway. We have already built one boat with the NW Boatschool in Port Hadlock and would love to do so again. We'll need to get in the queue soon if we are going to build a Skoota 28/30 starting next fall, so I'd like to actually see one ASAP. Or, as I am turning 75 this year and have been planning to take a rare and special faraway trip, we might be able to come there to see yours in the fall. I have never been to Cornwall although that is supposed to be where my great-great grandfather emigrated from, so that would be special by itself. My real hope for that trip is to go with my wife to Norway and Sweden to ride electric and H2 ferries, as I am a ferry fanatic and have been working on getting electric passengers ferries on our two navigable rivers here for over 20 years, and am still at it as a serious 5-year volunteer with the Friends of Frog Ferry...Thank you.

 

pm me

I built a Skoota 32 dm and know about a Skoota 36 in Vancouver to be launched.

At the age of 75, you need to build the 28 I'd say. I am friend on facebook with a fellow who is in that area who built Richard's 28 which was sadly destroyed by Dorian at Marsh Harbor. The 36 is a 5-7 year build for a solo builder. The 28 would go much quicker.

 

Thanks for the info and thoughts; I agree that the 28 is the one for me/us. I hadn't heard that Richard's 28 was destroyed; was this by a fire or striking a reef in the Bahamas....?

I'd willingly drive up to Vancouver to see a 32 or 36, if I couldn't find a 28. Can you provide any way to contact one of those owners, would one be you? Could come next weekend.