Where plans go to die?

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Tom2x4, Oct 7, 2020.

  1. Rumars
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    Rumars Senior Member

    "He who pays the piper calls the tune." People get on the water in boats that sink if holed, with ballast bolted on with uninspectable bolts, made out of wood or ferrocement, etc, etc. All as unacceptable to some as having multiple hulls, or fin keels, or spade rudders, or electric furling.
    Fact is the condomarans have a stellar safety record compared to anything floating and are loved by their owners.
     
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  2. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    I think you are right much as it pains me to concede that. I can't see why you would give up on not having a boat with some performance chops for an extra berth or larger bridgedeck but maybe that is out of sync with the new generation of boat owners. It's going to be a dull day when they achieve their goal of peak roomeran if they are not there already, just look at some of the latest Sunreef's to get a picture of how horrible that will be.

     
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  3. Rumars
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    Rumars Senior Member

    The problem is not with the designers, it is with the expectations. Lagoons actually sail well for what they are. Sure they are not speed monsters, or light air performers, or pointing machines, but their owners do not need or want them to be. They are happy doing 5-10kn reaching and running under white sails, they carry enough fuel to have decent range under engine and they won't end up on a lee shore in a gale (they do not point less then similar size pure cruising monos). Meanwhile the owners enjoy flat sailing, spacious accommodation for all the friends, champagne on ice, huge solar arrays, etc.
    If you wanted the boats to go fast you would need the crew to actually trim the sails, and who's gonna change that spi in the middle of the night? Even if you get a Gunboat, it won't sail itself to its potential. Fact is plenty of Lagoons go around the world and they do it at the same speed similar sized monos do. The difference is that their owners are relaxed on the sofa and the mono owners live on less then half the space rolling downwind like drunken sailors.
    If one is actually prepared to give up the real estate and weight carrying capacity and actively sail the boat instead of lounging on the afterdeck the market has plenty to offer, and they are not necessarily more expensive. The choice between a Lagoon 40 and a TS42 is not going to be made on price.
     
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  4. farjoe
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    farjoe Senior Member

    I don't know about the Lagoons but i can tell you that other cats from similar high profile names are dogs to sail except perhaps on a very broad reach.

    I agree that the customer sets the specs. It is his money after all. All I am saying is why bother with a rig if you are going to need the engine anyway to go from A to B. They may as well spend the money on other luxuries they may actually be able to enjoy.

    Finally, there are of course modern cats which can sail well whilst enjoying loads of space and comfort.
     
  5. Corley
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    Corley epoxy coated

    I never did say the designers were bad, I said that I believed that many production multihull designs had regressed away from a design philosophy that was arrived at when multihulls were reaching their evolved form. I'd prefer a Schionning or a Pescott, Chamberlain, Shuttleworth or Hughes any day in preference to any production catamaran and yes that includes overly complicated boats like the Gunboat. I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on Lagoon performance being acceptable and yes I would change a spinnaker at night as would anyone who was serious about winning races but also might consider doing it at night whilst cruising under the right circumstances.

     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
  6. Rumars
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    Rumars Senior Member

    Corley, there is no disagreement to agree to. What I am trying to say is that out there in the wild, a whole class of sailors exist that find condomaran "performance" absolutely adequate for their needs. I know it's hard to believe, but if you take such a sailor and put him on a performance boat with a full set of up and downwind sails they will not use them (even if they know how to do it). They will sail the boat so that it has the most comfortable motion for the crew for the least effort, not the highest speed, not the best VMG, etc. While they will not miss performance, they will ask where the cockpit fridge is.
    This is reality out there, and even if some will deny it, those people are also sailors. This is also nothing new, think of the success boats like the Colvin Gazelle had, and it's career spanned the entire lifetime of the IOR while blissfully ignoring it. And just like the Gazelle, the condomarans have enough pointing ability to not end up on the rocks, and that is all they really need.
     
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  7. David L. Dodd II
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    David L. Dodd II Junior Member

    What a neat compact design this. Does any one know what it is? I'd like to look up more about it.
     
  8. Rumars
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    Rumars Senior Member

  9. Corley
    Joined: Oct 2009
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    Corley epoxy coated

    The Kraken in that photo was actually the 25' model.

     

  10. David L. Dodd II
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    David L. Dodd II Junior Member

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