Trying to design my own cat.

Free CD? I was going to charge you for it.

I've done the final bits of vocals. Just working on the master mix now.
Sing about the new boat? That's almost as bad as Masalai's idea to do a BoatDesign.net theme song. aaaagh!!

If I need some ultra-corny ideas I know who to turn to

 

So what do you sing about then... yuk, surely not females or l o v e

 

I sing words that seem to make sense, but actually they don't. I just sing words that sound good with the music. I don't think I have ever sung a sentence that makes sense. You'll have to hear the style to see what I mean. I couldn't get away with it if my voice was right up close and in your face, like it is with most of the commercial stuff.

 

Oh I see, you make political music.

Bloody hell, it does sound a bit like designing a boat eh ! Just when you think you have it something changes

 

I feel good about the design now, Fanie.
As long as there are plenty of days when I can sail the boat without dragging the aft beam through waves, then I can accept all the other compromises.
It just needs a few aesthetic additions to make it look nice and cosy....light coloured curtains and cushions and fake wood everywhere.
There will be portable 'horse-shoe' cushions that clip on to any part of the forward open mesh or aft tight-weave net. They clip on so that you can lean back against them. You might also want to use a beach towel or a mattress......super-comfy.
If people enjoy the 'party-on-a-floating-cushion-feeling' then I could think of a rotomolded version mass produced in China. My own personal one will not be rotomolded. The plastic is very puncture resistant but it scratches and flexes and weighs a bit more. Nice and cheap though, for people who don't give a damn. Rotomolding has become very advanced now. It's no problem for a machine to spit out a double skinned hull, and the plastic is better quality now.

 

OK....I am fully conclusive now. No more doodles.

Some time in the near future I will be asking a NA to draw my design, with double-ended canoe hulls, flat rocker, asymmetric flaring, fittings to rig the boat upside down for re-capsizing (will be done manually - no electrics), low but not too low aspect ratio bermudian rig, daggerboards, cabins forward of mast (3 ft headroom), no motor, and all within 10 ft BOA so it won't be demountable.

I imagine a lot of high-performance cat sailors will think the design is crap. A lot of storm-beaten cruising sailors will think the design is crap too. Even the guy who does the final design will think it is crap. But....wait till you see what all the first-time boat buyers have to say after they have had a taste of REAL SAILING onboard the....um...can't think of a name for it.

 

Several names come to mind, but I think even Jeff would censor it out and I would get more anonymous points allocated.... Manie has claimed "My Way", I think, so, in a similar vein "up yours" - - alluding to a capacity to be turned over? - - "Phew" in recognition of the long and painful gestation... "CYA" in recognition of the language used electronically and to fool others that it is Cruising Yacht club of Australia/America.... "Play School", "Diversion", "Dalliance", "Wanna-Sail-Too"... that should start something?

 

He he... my first thoughts also

Richard, please, do go and sail on someone else's boats that is similar in size to yours. Then go sail one just a bit larger than that. Even if you have to buy the guy a couple of beers (or threaten him) it may be worth it.

Look, it's a big expense building a boat. Make sure that the thing you're going to do is what you expect to have, or buy a gun also so you can shoot yourself in the foot later on

The name is not important now. I think when you've made your first run it will be obvious... like "Oh **** !" or "Sweetheart"

 

LOL!! Thanks Mas for the ideas. I was thinking more about commercial names incase I make a line of rotomolded boats (thinking way too far ahead ofcourse). Something like 'Sunblazer 22' or something equally cheesy. I want it to sound like a fun summer boat.

Fanie, I know, I know, I know.....it's expensive...I'll need to do some proper testing first... etc. etc. Heard it too many times. I have had some experience sailing small catamarans. I've only sailed them a few times, but it was always a whole lot of fun. I am crazy for not continuing with those experiences. Life has been very inconvenient.
What I have drawn is not totally radical. It will be GOOD ENOUGH, especially after a NA has tweaked it here and there.
If it sails lke a dog with 6 people onboard, then I will consider having another one built to spread the load. The design is very affordable now. It's just a boat!!....not a rocket ship destined for Mars.
Other people in this forum claim to have wasted a lot of time with their own design attempts. That's because they bit off more than they could chew. I haven't bitten off too much.

You should get a NA to take a look at your sea-mansion I get the feeling you are the kind of person who likes to swallow without chewing (no offense)

 

Alright, alright I'll still keep the motor. Stinking evil things. I hate motors.
Probably won't mass produce my design either...got better things to do....

I find it amazing that New Zealand, with all it's top naval architects, produced an Americas Cup boat that filled up with water.

This does not give me much confidence in computer simulations and small scale model wave tank testing.

Is it actually possible to accurately predict a sailboat's performance in waves....or is it still just a case of expensive trial and error?

 

Hi Richard,

I thought all NZ boats are like that, filling up with water... which is why I always suggest the bigger boat, it takes longer to fill with water

If you know your software, know a bit about boat and water behaviour then you may have a pretty good idea what to expect.

Some things are known, so the expectancy is there. A true simulation at this point and time is unlikely, there are a gazillion factors that affects a lot of things. So for us it is a matter of following the footsteps of what is known to work, and then do make some things different in the hope of it adding a bit of feature.

Saw a documentary on tornadoes. Aparently some makes for a down draft on the side of it, almost like a sail would accellerate air speed. It was not knowed before, but after a plain crash they investigated this phenomina. So this is what we do too. Wait till a boat fills with water and we figure out why and hopefully improve on that.

One up on the stinker. It is a good measure for backup, even if you never use it, it may well get your bacon out of the pan. Remember to take fuel

 

Why the f*** do boats have rocker?? Pitching is bad, right? Is the rocker there just to help with recovery if a bow digs in? Is the rocker just for tacking? If you're cruising in a straight line and have the weight in the right place....and you are not in the habit of steering the bows at right angles to waves....then why the f*** would you want rocker for a slow displacement hull?? It's only going to remove buoyancy from the ends and slow you down.

Is this another one of these conspiracies where the racing boat philosophy interferes with the cruiser philosophy? Or am I missing something.

 

If someone replies I promise not to say f***

 

By all means have at it... helps me get a lot of things done

Rocker happens when you have a narrow bow and a narrow stern. When a wave causes the boat to pitch foreward the narrow bow will cut into the water easily... the trying to level itself coming back up the stern on it's turn will go under... so the bow and transom would have little resitance rotating around the hull's centre of bouyancy.

This is usually capped by making the stern part a bit fatter.

No, you don't want rocker. When your rocking speed and wave frequency coincide it may want to rock out of control. The sails and mast should be a bit of a damper on it.

Fatten your stern some and see if you can stay on it

 

Fanie,
rocker is the longitudinal curve of the bottom of the hull. I can see it's merit if you want to go fast on a catamaran....sit well aft and raise the bows....semi-plane on the flatter, wider stern.

The thing is...you never see a design like mine....small slow cat with no rocker. If the reason for this is just personal preference, then I can accept that (most people want a catamaran that is optimised for a higher speed).