Waller 1200 or Easy Sarah? Advice please.

Greetings all,
I'm in need of some advice from those that know more than me about these boats.
I'm looking for my first multihull project and have narrowed the field down to two designs: either the Waller 1200 or the Easy Sarah; both 12m ply cats sharing what appears to be very similar design and build philosophies.

I prefer the look of the Sarah, however the problem I'm having is the lack of available information about the boat from the designer. Their website hasn't been updated for about 5 years it seems and they have very little information about the boat, the plans (no study plans available it seems) or the build process. I have heard various anecdotal stories (on various forums, youtube etc) that say what a wonderful design it is, but it's not really enough to help me decide which one to go for. It seems strange that a well respected designer should have so little information available.

Ideally I would like to talk with someone who has sailed/built/been on board both designs but accept that this is unlikely.

Can anyone help me shed some light as to the similarities and differences between these two designs?

Cheers!

 

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Hi Jason,

Welcom to the forum . .

Did you ask the mentioned designers for additional information ?

If so, what were their answers ?

 

Hi Angelique,
Waller has plenty of information, it's the designers of the Easy range that don't have much available. No study plans and very little information on their website:
http://easycatamarans.com

When I asked why they didn't have more information available they said they did need to update their site and would work on it. I asked for more information but all they sent was a bunch of photographs of their own completed boat, plus a hand drawn schematic of the hull layout.

 

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OK, thanks Jason, let's hope some additional info about Easy Sarah will be posted here.

But if you choose to build one, then do you trust you'll get enough guidance and support from the designer to complete the build successfully :?:

Also a 12 m Cat is big project in time, effort and money, do you have a budget in time and in money? If you post this info then some might tell you how realistic this is

What about a used Cat, you know what get for your money and when, and also you'll sail right away. :idea:

Good luck !

 

Thanks for your good wishes Angelique,
From what I can see with my limited experience reading one or two Easy Sarah build blogs, the designer does support the build process very well. All the more strange that their website is almost totally devoid of information on the vessel.

Mike Waller does seem to offer excellent support. Looks like I'm leaning his way at this stage, for no other reason that the Easy seems shrouded in the shadows!

I'm thinking the best way forward for me is to go and see a finished example of each design and hopefully meet with the builders. Still, any info I can get here on the forum will be very useful.

Regarding building a boat this size, yes, it's a major undertaking - but one that I am very much looking forward to. Its kind of a retirement gift to myself, albeit one that I am planning at least 8 years before retirement! At this stage I'm budgeting around 4,500 hours for the build (at around 1,000 per year with my current workload). I would never consider buying a built boat - why deny myself all that pleasure?

 

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OK Jason, thanks for the update on your plans

You've put up the thread on the Boat Design section of these forums.

There might be a better chance for input on your questions on the Multihulls section of these forums.

You can't move an established thread yourself, but if you want to move the thread you can ask the Moderator to do it for you.

An option to do so is to click ‘‘Flag for Moderator’’ in the right top corner of post #1 and put up the request to the Moderator in the window that appears.

Good Luck !

 

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PDF: The Coastal Passage, 39th Edition, Nov. - Dec. 2009 ---> page: 26 - 27 - 28 - Diane Challis & John, building an Easy Sarah.

I think it's their boat that since long is for sale, now asking - AU $ 285,000 - negotiable - launched in 2012.

Boats Online: SOMERLED - Easy Sarah 12m - - Yacht Hub: SOMERLED - Easy Sarah 12m - - Vessel Location: Hervey Bay - QLD - Oz

‘‘ Time and age has caught up with us and it's now time to do other things, so our beautiful catamaran home is up for sale. ’’

 

My suggestion is pop over to the DIYyachts.com forum and ask for the thoughts of people who are building them. I'm sure there was a Waller build in one of the threads there built by a bloke in Tassie. There are a few Easy build threads too.

https://diy-yachts.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=23&sid=069f11cc94c79351b27df3420b5cfecb

 

Huge boats, massive projects. Lots of those size cats get abandoned and when they come up for sale as projects you get maybe 1/4 of the materials cost back and no labor.

A 37' foam cat sold here (brisbane) recently for $7k. Complete hull, looked nice. If it'd been about 30' I'd have looked hard at it.

Just saying you need to be confident your going to finish or it'll end up in tears.

I would guess maybe 5000 hours to finish a boat that big ? 3 years working 40 hours a week....

I can not imagine what anyone would do with a boat that big.

You best be sure before you start.... 2c.

 

Thanks guzzis3,
I've restored a classic car (1967 Alfa Spider 1600 - 3 years, 2,400 hours) plus I've built a ply runabout (17ft, probably 1,200 hours but I was having so much fun I didn't really keep count). Ok, it's not a 40ft cat, but I do know exactly what I'm getting myself into. I've been researching for around a year now - it has taken a while to narrow the field down this far.

The Easy designer has about 3,500 hours in his Sarah, but I'm guessing he knows better than most. I'm budgeting between 4,000 and 4,500 hours over 5 years, between 15 and 25 hours a week. Retirement is still 8 or 10 years away, so I guess I'm starting early in case the bones start slowing down faster than I expect...
It also helps that I'm building at home, plus I have a wife who is used to spending much of her time in the workshop with me.

What I really need to do now is to discover whether the lack of upfront info or study plans from the designer translates into a lack of info or support after the sale of the plans, plus I'd be keen to find out what the differences or similarities between the two designs are. Do you have any specific knowledge of either of these designs?

 

Thanks Corley! I have registered with them and have had a good read through some of the posts. Once the admins approve my account I'll definitely be posting for advice there. Thanks for the tip, looks like a good place to be asking.
Cheers,
Jason

 

The people I've known who have completed large multihull builds all have one thing in common. They have been able to appreciate the jobs as they go through and tick them off the list. If you are too focused on the end of things all the time I'm sure you would drive yourself crazy and end up abandoning the project.

 

Absolutely. I love the journey almost as much as the destination. Live in the now as they say. I'm quite sure I'll be muttering that under my breath as I spend countless hours sanding the hulls haha, but there will be plenty of delights too along the way I am quite sure.
It's one of the reasons I could never buy a boat, I'd be missing out on everything it took to get it into the water.

 

That's all good, your grown up and can make your own decisions, it's just so many people dive in without appreciating what they are getting into. If you don't finish there will be tears...and 40' baffles me as I said. a 10 meter cat is a big enough boat for a family to cruise the coast or a couple to cross oceans. It's half the weight, cost and time.

Lots of easys have been built. I've heard nothing but good things from builders. Just remember easy is a trade name not a guarantee. Likewise Mick Waller, who lives on the other side of town to me is a straight up bloke. Very easy to talk to. I like his designes but I wouldn't build anything in ply in a fit.

I assume nothing from Richard Woods suits ?

http://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs-2/5-catamarans-over-40ft

Or Kurt Hughes:

http://www.multihulldesigns.com

I think either choice is good.

 

I've already narrowed it down to these two. I did look at both Richard and Kurt's designs but nothing quite fitted. I'm really trying to build something that looks modern - Richards designs are a little traditional for my tastes.

I love the look of Kurt's update on his 45ft cruising cat:

http://www.multihulldesigns.com/designs_stock/45bdcat.html

It really looks stunning to me. It doesn't seem to be quite finished yet though, and the old design doesn't appeal at all. Not only that, but at 45ft it's starting to get a little large. Also, from what I have read on the various forums, Kurt's designs can be somewhat complex to build, which puts me off a little. It's going to be a big enough project as it is - I don't want to do anything to complicate things. This means sticking to what I know and love (wood) and keeping to simple construction methods. Even cold moulding plywood is more than I want to tackle as I have never tried it before.

So, it's down to the Easy Sarah or the Waller 1200 at this stage.