Way too expensive for me...

A new land speed record, some interesting details, and in the "Believe them when they say they're going to do shit" department...

Well at least it doesn't have that condomaran look. 

Listening to Moonalice

So it goes...

An interesting cat...

Cost effective power, losing teachers, and Wendig with an artifact of rage and frustration...

Bernd Kohler has a new version of his KD860 design...

The KD860 Open

From where I sit there's a pressing need for an affordable small multihull that can be easily built and an open bridgedeck variation of the KD860 certainly fill a void.

One of my biggest issues with modern multihulls is the lack of simplicity and the idea that everyone wants a boat that will do well in the charter market. A situation that results in multihulls that are big, heavy and expensive.

The KD860 Open is by it's very nature simple which results in a lighter better performing cat that is also a lot more affordable.

My want list for a cruising cat for a couple is pretty spartan. A good place to sleep,a comfortable place to hang out/work, and, multihull performance.

Which, is pretty much describes the KD860 open to a "T". I'll be checking out the study plans ASAP and have more to say about the design and rig once I've had a chance to price it all out. In the meantime, there's more info over on the K-Designs website that you'll want to check out.

Listening to some songs for a certain mood

So it goes...

a revised design...

EBM points out that a shortwave receiver might come in handy, all kinds of wrong, and in the "Not so deep cover Russian assets" department...

Revision is not a trait you see all that often in sailboat design. While a designers new design may include learned lessons from a previous design, the act of going back and making an older design better is fairly rare.

A sad fact when you consider the 20/20 view that hindsight enables.

The other day while looking at Bernd Kohler's website I noticed that he'd revised his Duo 1000 catamaran design...

 

Bernd had this to say about his changes...

"An update of my DUO 1000 design. Building a boat is a nice and satisfying experience. But sailing the result is more fun. So I improved the boat so far that over 200 pieces less are necessary and to be built. I changed from the biplane rig to a single mast rig for cost reasons."

Excising two hundred pieces of a design is a fairly serious revision. One that I find quite exciting and would love to study the revised plans to see just what Mr Kohler changed and the why of it. I expect I'd learn a lot in the process.

As a builder of boats myself, there is not a single build that I have not sat back after the boat was launched and made a list of what I would have done differently if building the design again. Except for dinghies I have not had the luxury of building with hindsight in total but what I have learned does become a big part of my boat-building evolution.

Listening to Kristin Diable

So it goes..

a little progress...

EBM finds a must watch interview, voter hijinks from the usual suspects, and some depressing news regarding libraries...

Michael Schacht is keeping busy. 

Looking good.

Listening to an album's worth of steely Dan coverage

So it goes...

Something interesting in development...

I have a bad feeling about all this, more about flags of convenience, and in the "a whole lot of kelp in our future" department...

One big issue I have with folks designing multihulls these days is that hardly anyone is thinking about smaller, more affordable cruising boats. 

If you get into your way-back machine, you'll see there was a pretty active trade in small affordable cruising cats with designs like the Heavenly Twins, Hirondelle, Prout Sirocco, Catalac, and Iroquois to name a few production cats. At the same time, just about every multihull designer around were designing 26-30 foot boats for home builders.

What happened?

The market is still there for smaller designs if the mail I get is any kind of indicator whenever I write about smaller multihull designs.

Now, I sorta/kinda understand why purveyors of cats and tris focus on big buck clients because they want the big bucks, and folks with lots of money want bragging right with their boats.

The why of what's keeping designers from designing smaller boats is a whole different thing. Designing for home builders has always been about stock plans. The idea is that if someone wants a specific type of boat and they hire a naval architect to design it, the rights to the design remain with the architect who can sell it as a stock plan for a lot less than it cost to come up with. A good example is when I commissioned Phil Bolger to design Loose Moose 2. I paid a large (to me at least) chunk of money to Phil to design the boat and afterwards Phil continued to sell the plans for about 10% of what I paid. 

The cool thing about stock plans is that for the designer, if done right, it's pretty much all profit for very little work because the design work has already been paid. For the buyer of stock plans, it's great because they are getting a good plan for 10% of what it would cost if they had commissioned the design directly with the naval architect.

So far so good.

The problem arises in that most folks who can afford to commission a design don't want a small cruising cat or tri, while the folks who do want one can't afford to commission. This leaves us with a few designers working on spec; 90% who work on spec are doing so to lure clients who want big expensive designs. Resulting in a whole lot of hungry designers drawing 50-foot condomarans on spec and leaving a big hole in the market where small affordable designs should be.

We're lucky that there are a few architects that are into their craft and art, rather than the big buck payoff.

Which is why I really like it when I get an email with a work in progress like this...

Michael Schacht has an interesting biplane cat design in development that has me excited. For starters, it's 26-feet and with about the same accommodation as a Wharram Tiki 30, with either a lug or junk rig.

I'll repeat that last part: lug or junk rig! Be still my foolish heart.

What's not to like?

Granted, not everyone is like me and groks just how great an open bridgedeck, biplane lug-rigged catamaran would be. It has it own character, aesthetic, and unlike what most people think a modern cat should look like. For those of that ilk, I'll point you to Michael's Ghibli design. It's well worth taking a look at.

I'll be watching the development of this new design closely and will share more info as I get it.

Listening to Crumb

So it goes...

Boat building, economics of scale, and two catamarans...

A new low on the greed front, something about child labor, and in the "Just how much insanity can you take" department... 

I'll get right to the point and point out that the old build-yourself-a-boat-in-your-yard model of building a boat is no longer with us. You can spell that D-E-A-D as the proverbial door nail. The cause of death is a combination of the powers that be and your neighbors being less accepting of folks working on things like a boat within view or earshot and mostly because the cost of materials has mostly priced the home boat-builder out of existence.

Seriously, from where I sit that's a real bummer.

Of course, the need for some folks with dreams of tropical anchorages to build their own boat will find cunning and creative ways around most obstacles and, as the late Hunter S Thompson pointed out...

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.”

In my too many decades of experience in boat building I've learned that the folks who are most successful with boat projects are those who treat the exercise in a professional manner and treat the actual build just like a real business would.

One of the big disadvantages for home builders is that not only are the material costs high in general but that a single builder does not have the purchasing power to bring the costs of those materials to an affordable level.

Another disadvantage of note is that most sailboat designs available are not really all that builder friendly. Far too many stock designs take ease of building or material costs into account as most stock plans were never designed to be stock designs but to be built by professional builders.

With that in mind let's take a look at a couple of 30-foot catamarans...

The Wharram Tiki 30 is designed to be home built. It has a simple construction method using accessible materials. It's a pretty awesome design that can be built by a motivated builder in 900 hours of labor..

There's a bridge deck pod you can add to the build for more room but the thing is what makes it such a nice little catamaran is that it's a nice little catamaran. The headroom in the hulls is less than five-feet and the headroom over the berths is a kiss less than three-feet. The good news is that the design works just fine as it is .

However the inbuilt desire of many might want to make it bigger add more headroom which would become a much bigger, more expensive boat. Trying to make an significant changes while keeping the boat to thirty feet would destroy any vestige of performance and leave you an unfortunate result.

Building the boat as designed is easy and quick providing you treat the project like a real job.

One of the issues with the Wharram and other plywood designs is that as the cost of plywood keeps rising while the quality of "affordable" plywood becomes worse and worse.

Michael Schacht with his 30-foot design-in-progress ARGO in a lot of ways mirrors the simplicity of the Tiki 30 however, due to the high cost of plywood the decision to work with more affordable composites was taken.

Since the use of composites allows for a more refined shape and, when combined with a couple of simple molds and a modular construction, adds the possibility of a great reduction in labor.

The design as shown has quite a bit more room than the Tiki 30 albeit with the same headroom issues. Which, I'll point out that being 6'5" I would not find the headroom to be a deal breaker since if I want to stand up I can always go outside. As far as interior ergonomics go, the real test is simply having enough room to do the mundane tasks needful for life aboard.

Having built a Wharrram Tiki 31 and have more than a passing experience with modular construction I'll be getting into how one can build a Tiki 30 or an ARGO faster and cheaper when we get into the economics of scale and how it's going to be a major factor in successfully building either design.

Listening to Camila Cabello

So it goes...

a case for "different"...

You'll find this might make you furious, some places best avoided, and in the "The last place in the world I'd ride my bike or spend tourist dollars"  department...

Currently the boat design I find most interesting is the ARGO. Seriously, what's not to like? It's designed to fulfill a need, involves innovative building methods, and  it's meant to be affordable.

Where the problems come in is it's different in how people have come to think about multihulls in general and catamarans specifically. 

Being different is, at best, somewhat problematic.

That being what it is, different is, in this case, something of a necessity. Catamarans have become expensive so just the simple goal of an affordable catamaran is going to be different which requires one to not only accept that but get outside the box and embrace it.

Just think about that for a bit.

Next up we'll be talking about a comparison with the ARGO and a different 30-foot catamaran.

Listening to Daniel Meade

So it goes...

Here's a must read if you're thinking of building a boat...

A question I've been wondering about,  measuring stupidity, and something from the Brexit Fubar files...

Over at Proa File Michael lays down something of a manifesto of a sensible route for future home builders with his Argo design.

 

He makes a whole lot of sense.

I'll be writing a lot about the how and why of what makes the Argo series the sort of boat design that excites me in the very near future but, for the moment what you really need to do is go check out what Michael has to say about it.

You're still here?!?

Listening to the Iron Leg Radio Show

So it goes...

a great design from the early 60's...

Some important bullet points, a question of note, and a bit of needful reading...

Yesterday while perusing boats for sale in the PNW I saw a Piver Nugget going for not a lot of money. I always liked the look of the Nugget but will be the first to admit it's a bit small for cruising.

That said, its big sister the Nimble would still make an excellent small cruising multihull.

 

 

Listening to some Christopher Cross coverage

So it goes...

An interesting Tri...

On the subject of getting away with murder, some needful situational awareness, and in the "Dealing with bad/scary news" department......

While the available headroom might be a little tight for someone who's 6' 5" there's a whole lot of cool design in the Tricat 30.

 
Listening to too many dead  musicians

So it goes...

a new exciting design...

An interesting read on modern journalism, something regarding  rare earth elements, and in the "same old same false equivalency assholery" department...

As it happens, Michael Schacht (that Proa File guy) just sent me a very interesting drawing of a design for home builders he's currently working on...

The design is an evolutionary offshoot of his Bug Out Boat design that has come about in the quest to get a bit more displacement into the B.O.B. which entailed getting away from flat panel plywood construction.

Yeah, a fiberglass multihull for home builders that makes sense!

Now, while I find the AVION a very neat boat, what really excites me is the construction method. Michael has sorted out a system that involves just a few simple to build and inexpensive molds that allows the builder to fabricate a bunch of shaped panels that will, when put together, result in fair oval hulls. 

All in all an excellent way to build a good boat quickly and inexpensively.

I know that Michael will be putting a much more detailed article on the design and building method together that will be on Proa File so you might want to bookmark Proa File or add it to your RSS feed. Of course, as soon as there is any new Avion info available I'll be sure to mention it on Boat Bits,

Listening to Mike Zito

So it goes...

A quick update in case you have not been paying attention, some bad news on the Covid front, and a different way of collecting hurricane data...

Today I was looking an interesting "cruiser/racer" trailerable trimaran and something bothered me. Actually, the thing is, I tend to get bothered whenever I look at most multihull designs because almost always there seems to be some contradictory logic involved in the mix.

The logic works something like this...

Multihulls are light (with the notable exception of condomarans) and since they're light they are faster than comparable monohulls. Now, admittedly, that's a gross over-simplification but it is mostly correct. 

With me so far? 

So, here's the question: Why does the 8.5 meter (27-feet and change) trimaran I'm looking at sport a working sail area of 59 square meters (635 sq feet)?

More on the subject soonish.

Listening to Rickie Lee Jones

So it goes...

a few thoughts on the whole bigger and more complex is better mindset...

An excellent argument for the use of vaccines, some wage theft fuckery, and some very good news for Puerto Rico...

Not too long ago looking at various multihull plans I had a moment of realization that I haven't seen a new smaller design in ages. Every new "cruising" multihull I've come across is of the bigger is better sort. More cabins, fore and aft cockpits, bridgedeck flybridges, and a whole lot more complexity. 

Bigger and more complex is always going to be more expensive and the last word I want associated with any cruising boat I'd consider is the word "complex".

Now, the word "simple" when associated with a potential cruising boat has me salivating like one of Pavlog's dogs. Simplifying a product happens to be what used to be an evolutionary step in the design process along with making things more affordable and compact (if you need an example just think computers). Sadly, at least where boat design is concerned, it's just the opposite.

In spite of appearances, I don't really wear rose-colored-glasses when looking at older designs although I do appreciate the fact that most older designs were purposed more for cruising rather than charter. Still, most older designs could use some serious improvements because there really have been a lot of advances in boatbuilding during the last couple of decades.

For instance, as much as I like Jim Brown's trimarans or Wharram's catamarans I have to keep in mind that construction methods and materials have improved and, just maybe, taking the basic design and bringing it into the current century might not be a bad thing. Even better is the idea that one might also be able to make a less expensive greener boat with a smaller carbon footprint while you're doing it.

Now, wouldn't that be some kind of progress.

More on the subject soon come.

Listening to ten songs on a paradisaical theme

So it goes...

Since we're talking multihulls...

Something I'm looking forward to reading, a better way to build surfboards, and in the "Disappointing but not unexpected" department...

I'm in the middle of writing a longish article for VolksCruiser on multihulls of a VolksCruiserish bent (spelled affordable) that should be ready in a couple of days and, as it happens, I happen to have this boat on my desktop.

It's the Prout Sirocco which for some time I seriously considered buying a hull and deck to finish off to become our chosen boat to go cruising in. At the time, after some intensive research, the Sirocco seemed to deliver just about all of our needs in an affordable 26-foot package.

I still think it is, just maybe, the best design Prout ever did.

While we were on the French canals going down to the Med we crossed paths with a French family who were on a Sirocco that they'd built up from a hull and deck. We had a great time checking out the boat, discussing boatbuilding and trading cunning plans to cruise the world.

One thing I noticed about the Sirocco was that the bridgedeck escape hatch had a fish eating weed off the hatch. I accounted for the boat being very low on the waterline as a temporary thing as the family still had a lot of shore side gear and were still transitioning from city life to sea life.

About a year later in Lanzarote our paths crossed again. The Sirocco, along with a gaggle of French monohulls, came in to our harbor. The French group had been buddy boating from the Med, North Africa, down to the Canaries, and were now getting ready to sail across the Atlantic headed for Martinique.

They were a fun group and their radio interplay was often the best entertainment around with a recurring theme on the speed differential between monohulls and multihulls. Sadly our friend on his Sirocco was the butt of the ongoing theme as his boat was painfully slow and always last into an anchorage. Considering that one of the boats in the group, a Philippe Harlé designed Cognac (a 24-foot monohull) consistently beat him to each anchorage had to be embarrassing.

But that's the thing about multihulls. Add an extra thousand pounds they're not designed to carry and all of a sudden that speedy catamaran becomes a four knot tortoise.

But, like I said, I still think that the Sirocco is the best Prout they ever designed or built and would make a great boat for a couple to go cruising in and, if they leaned that way, circumnavigate.

Better yet, as it's low on the whole catamaran popularity ladder they're rather affordable if you can find one but, still a bit dear for VolksCruiserish folks at between $15-25K.

Listening to Ruel Vincent van Dijk cover Lenny Kravitz

So it goes...

On why I don't write more about multihulls...

Some poetry of note, on cruising in a Covid world, and something from Dick Dorworth's back catalog...

The other day someone questioned why I was so anti-multihull. A sentiment that always surprises me because I really love multihulls and I'd love to write more on new interesting affordable catamaran, trimaran, and proa designs.

The thing is, interesting and affordable multihull designs are as rare as hens teeth. For instance, Paul Bieker's B53 catamaran is all kinds of interesting but it's not a design I could afford to build or maintain and I know very few people who could.

Most production cats (or should I condomarans) I come across are of the same old same design brief that seems to have most owners using them as motorsailers if they sail at all. The truth is that multihull design suffers from the fact that it's the nature of multihulls to be weight sensitive and the accommodation that is currently fashionable inhibits performance which adds up to a problematic equation.

Made worse, of course, as most folk attracted to multihulls these days are more interested in creature comforts rather than performance. A situation that adds on the poundage to the point where it is no longer a surprise to sail past boat with immersed bridgedecks.

So, if anyone is aware of any interesting multihull designs being developed by some unknown designers out there do drop me a line because I'd really like to see some interesting boats to write about.

Listening to Admiral Fallow

So it goes...

a couple of cartoons to look forward to...

John Scalzi with a couple of spot on posts (1 & 2), Badtux with a needful point, and Chuck Wendig saying what I've been thinking for the last couple of days...

It seems we've all had something of a momentous weekend akin to waking up from a three and a half year nightmare and, as a result, a lot of us are just a bit, shall we say, frazzled.

But hey, this is supposed to be about boats and suchlike so, just maybe, we should get on track and do a post about a boat design or something like it...

As it happens Michael Schacht recently showed me a couple of very enticing "ideas" which, hopefully, I'll be able to share with folks in the very near future. One an interesting 30-foot catamaran for serious voyaging I find kind of exciting. Secondly there's a Proa that was influenced by a conversation we had about one of Phil Bolger's cartoons and Michael asking himself "What would Bolger do?".

This, as it happens, is the Bolger cartoon we were talking about...

 
 

Hopefully you'll get to see Michael's "WWBD" proa interpretation soonish.

More soon come.

Listening to Karen O and Willie Nelson

So it goes...

a very sensible outrigger design...

Not surprising at all, regarding hydroxychloroquine, and in the "Know your enemy" department...

Michael from Proa File has been working on a very cool fishing boat.

 Way better than a fishing kayak!

More information can be found on Proa File.

Listening to Brittany Howard

So it goes...

Some proa prototype goodness...

The question I've been asking for the last three years, some seriously high-level stupidity, and a perfect marriage of the idiot sort...

Here's some video of the HarryProa Mini Cargo Ferry prototype looking good.

More about the Mini Cargo Ferry prototype build and project over at the HarryProa site.

Listening to some apt music for the times

So it goes...

A proa of interest...

Sailing Anarchy making a valid point, something that made my day, and in the "It's 1939 all over again" department...

Well, this is kind of interesting.

A lot more information on the Ex40 over at the Harry Proa site.

Listening to Donny Hathaway

So it goes

a $500 fixer upper...

Badtux makes a good point, some worthwhile reading, and in the "Will our future robot overlords be robotic Lion fish?" department...

OK, I'll go on record and say that if I were currently in Hawaii I'd be all over this sow's ear in a New York second.

Folks might already recognize that it's not a French cat but a British built, Rod MacAlpine-Downie designed Iroquois. A very nice boat despite the foolishness of some previous owners idiocy and a very good candidate for a very affordable (dare I say cheap?) refit if done right.

Ya think?

Listening to The Bad Shepherds

So it goes...