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Unmatched peace of mind. Bering Yachts are a legacy of unwavering safety. Founder Alexei Mikhailov envisioned vessels you could trust with your life, and that commitment remains our core principle. Industry-leading safety and life-redundancy systems are built into every yacht. Fire-resistant materials and meticulous construction ensure your well-being at sea.
Where luxury meets tranquillity. Every Bering yacht is meticulously engineered for minimal noise and vibration, even at sea. Spacious galley cabinetry ensures effortless meal preparation, while ample wardrobe space caters to every guest. Advanced insulation and air conditioning maintain the perfect temperature, be it an arctic adventure or a tropical escape.
Limitless exploration. Every Bering yacht boasts an impressive transatlantic range, empowering you to conquer vast distances. For the truly adventurous, Bering 88 and above, push the boundaries of exploration. Bering Yachts prioritize efficient performance, ensuring the range adapts to your cruising style. Discuss your exploration goals and discover the perfect Bering yacht to fuel your voyage.
Explore further, for longer. Our vessels redefine self-sufficiency, empowering you to venture further for longer. Dual power sources ensure uninterrupted freedom; advanced watermakers transform seawater into freshwater, while spacious freezers and ample storage keep provisions perfectly preserved, enabling weeks or even months off-grid.
Leave a lighter footprint. Bering Yachts champions responsible exploration with advanced watermakers and onboard waste treatment systems. These features minimize your environmental impact while maximizing your self-reliance. Freshwater becomes readily available, and waste is processed responsibly, allowing you to explore with a clear conscience.
Your yachting adventure is defined. Bering Yachts adapt to your vision. Weekend escapes, extended expeditions, or full-time living – our vessels seamlessly transform to suit your desires. Navigate vast oceans, explore hidden coves, or embark on a lucrative chartering career. With Bering Yachts, the possibilities are limitless.
Bering Yachts crafts personalized vessels designed to exceed every owner’s expectations. We offer complete personalization for superyachts over 24 meters. For the boats under 24 meters, we ensure the same level of comfort, safety and ocean-crossing range as any other explorer yacht in our range.
Our Turkish shipyard in Antalya, nestled amidst the stunning Mediterranean coastline, serves as a central hub for international clientele. Its proximity to Istanbul, a global travel crossroads, facilitates seamless accessibility for clients worldwide. Our Bulgarian Shipyard, a rising superyacht hub — provides unparalleled expertise and accessibility.
From pre-sale consultations to after-sales management care, your dedicated personal manager ensures a smooth and rewarding experience. Hospitality, concierge services, and travel inspiration are all within reach.
Where ownership meets community. As a Bering owner, gain exclusive access to the prestigious Bering Club. Connect with fellow explorers, share experiences, and elevate your yachting journey.
Your source for the latest news on yachts, boats and more. Read through our articles to find out how to compare boats and find the right fit for you!
Power Catamarans: A Complete Guide
Dec 06, 2023
less than a min
Power Catamarans, often termed as the epitome of modern maritime engineering, are gaining popularity for all the right reasons. Their distinct design, enhanced stability, and cruising efficiency set them apart from traditional monohull boats and even their sail-driven counterparts. This guide dives into the world of Power Catamarans, shedding light on their advantages and how they compare to other vessels like monohulls and trimarans.
Historical Prelude:
The concept of catamarans traces its roots back to ancient maritime cultures. However, the power catamaran is a relatively modern innovation that marries the traditional twin-hull design with powerful engines, offering a unique blend of speed, stability, and space.
Distinguishing Design:
Power Catamarans are characterized by their twin hulls, which significantly reduce the drag, thus enhancing speed and fuel efficiency. Unlike monohulls, they have a broader beam, which contributes to increased stability and more living space. The absence of a ballast for stability further lightens the vessel, contributing to its speed and fuel economy
Speed and Handling:
One of the significant advantages of power catamarans is their speed and handling. The twin hulls allow for a smoother glide over the water, making them particularly favorable for watersports enthusiasts. Their handling in rough waters is superior to monohulls, thanks to the inherent stability provided by the dual-hull design.
The stability of power catamarans is unparalleled, especially when compared to monohulls. The wide beam and twin hulls provide a stable platform, reducing the rocking and rolling common in monohulls. This stability is not only comforting in rough seas but also crucial when docking or anchoring.
Comfort and Space:
The spacious design of power catamarans offers homelike livability, with ample room for cabins, lounges, and even onboard amenities like grills and bars. The wide beam also allows for large deck spaces, ideal for sunbathing or enjoying the scenic ocean vistas.
Economy and Redundancy:
Power catamarans are economical, with fuel efficiency being one of their selling points. The redundancy built into their design, with separate engines for each hull, provides an added layer of safety, ensuring that the vessel can return to shore even if one engine fails.
Regular Upkeep and Care:
Power catamarans, given their unique design and structure, come with their own set of maintenance requirements. Like all boats, routine checks and upkeep are essential to ensure smooth sailing. The twin hull design means double the underwater gear – from propellers to rudders, which necessitates regular inspections for any signs of wear, tear, or fouling.
Antifouling:
Given that power catamarans have a larger surface area underwater due to their twin hulls, they may be more susceptible to marine growth. Regular antifouling treatments can help in keeping the hulls clean, ensuring optimal performance and fuel efficiency.
Engine Maintenance:
One distinct advantage of power catamarans is their dual-engine setup, but this also means double the engine maintenance. Regular oil changes, cooling system checks, and filter replacements are crucial. It's beneficial to synchronize maintenance schedules for both engines to ensure consistent performance.
The lifespan of a power catamaran largely depends on its build quality, materials used, and how well it's maintained. With proper care, a power catamaran can last for several decades. The engine's maintenance significantly impacts the catamaran's lifespan, with gasoline engines requiring maintenance at 1,200 to 1,800 hours and diesel engines at around 5,000 hours. The construction materials play a crucial role; for instance, fiberglass catamarans, when well-maintained, can last for many decades, while aluminum cats might change ownership after 10-15 years but can last a lifetime with proper care.
World-Renowned Builders:
The power catamaran sector boasts several reputable manufacturers such as Lagoon, Leopard Catamarans, Fountaine Pajot, and other notable names like Seawind Catamarans.
Lagoon, a revered name under the Beneteau Group umbrella, has carved its niche in crafting luxurious, spacious catamarans. A prime example is the Lagoon 630 Motor Yacht, embodying opulence with its nearly 250 sq. ft. aft deck and 900 sq. ft. interior, comfortably housing up to 12 guests. Known for its superyacht styling, it boasts superior fuel efficiency and a commendable average velocity-made-good of 9 knots.
Leopard Catamarans:
Emerging from the reputable Robertson and Caine shipyard in South Africa, Leopard Catamarans is synonymous with innovation and efficiency. The Leopard 53 Powercat is a testament to this legacy, showcasing excellent seakeeping abilities, offering 3 or 4 cabin configurations, and achieving a top speed of 25 knots.
Fountaine Pajot:
A trailblazer since 1976, Fountaine Pajot constantly redefines catamaran design. The Fountaine Pajot MY6 is a shining example, encapsulating the brand's visionary ethos. Stretching 15 meters, the MY6, equipped with dual engines of up to 2 x 353 Kw and 2 x 480 hp, promises dynamic sailing. Crafted meticulously by Pier Angelo Andreani, the interior mirrors a 20-meter monohull's spaciousness, reflecting modern aesthetics and comfort that stand as a benchmark in the Motor Yacht world.
These manufacturers continue to innovate, offering a blend of luxury, performance, and efficiency in their power catamaran models, making them a popular choice among maritime enthusiasts.
Comparing with Monohulls and Trimarans:
While monohulls are traditional and often cheaper, they lack the stability and space offered by power catamarans. On the other hand, trimarans, with three hulls, provide even more stability but at the cost of additional drag and less interior space.
TheBoatDB - Your Gateway to Maritime Exploration:
If you’re looking to delve deeper into the world of power catamarans and other vessels, TheBoatDB offers a comprehensive boat database. Explore various catamaran models, compare them with monohulls, trimarans, and other types of boats, and make an informed decision on your next maritime adventure.
In summary, power catamarans encapsulate a modern engineering marvel in the maritime domain. Their blend of speed, stability, comfort, and economy makes them an attractive option for a broad spectrum of boaters. Whether you are a long-distance cruiser, a water sport enthusiast, or someone who cherishes the tranquility of the sea, a power catamaran could be the vessel that transforms your maritime adventures into unforgettable experiences.
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THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE
Introducing Metal Shark Yachts. These highly advanced, industrial-grade oceangoing vessels defy convention while enabling a new level of worry-free exploration and adventure. Our all-aluminum, American-made catamarans offer global range and deliver self-sustaining independence for months on end, putting the world within reach. We invite you to explore the many benefits of these unique expedition vessels.
Our efficient catamaran hull designs deliver nearly twice the efficiency of a comparable monohull yacht, allowing you to cruise at 10 knots comfortably, cross oceans at 17 knots, and exceed 23 knots at sprint speed, all at efficient fuel burns with epic ranges.
Our knifelike catamaran hulls and wide stance reduce vertical ship motion and latitudinal rolling while underway, while a high tunnel and nacelle eliminate wave slamming. Integrated active ride control mitigates both roll and pitch. Use a stemmed wine glass at sea!
Stay at anchor for days, weeks, or months at a time, in comfort and safety, with an unmatched level of autonomy. Our enhanced stability, coupled with massive ground tackle and solar power, combine to create a solid, stable, self-sustaining island of independence.
A Metal Shark Yacht's wide catamaran footprint results in far more usable deck space, opening up myriad possibilities for entertainment areas as well as ample storage space for tenders, toys, and cargo. With a Metal Shark Yacht, you can take it all with you.
A key benefit of our catamaran hull design is a significant reduction in draft compared to conventional monohull vessels. Anchor in 8' of water, safely traverse the small cuts between islands, or let the boat dry out on the hard, without worry. Nothing hurts it.
Unlike traditional yachts with their dark interiors and limited views, a Metal Shark Yacht's elevated, open spaces and floor-to-ceiling windows give the feel of a luxury penthouse while allowing an immersive connection with the surrounding environment. See where you're going. Enjoy the view!
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Owen Clarke Design began as multihull designers, sailors, builders and project managers. Indeed, the first yachts they designed and built were a 35’ racing trimaran and 30’ fast cruising catamaran. One of the company’s founders raced multi’s extensively, including as navigator on an 24m cat and then on a 60’ tri in the 1985 and 1989 Round Europe Races. This beautiful performance ocean cruising catamaran represent the latest in their thinking for multihull cruiser racer design. OC have taken the requirements of yacht owners and professional skippers to develop a fast, refined and stylish new blue water catamaran. | 24 m |
Beam: | 10.48m |
Displacement: | 29,500 kg (Full Load) |
Sail Area: | 335 sqm (upwind) |
Sail area/displacement ratio: | 36 |
Length/displacement ratio: | 59 |
To discuss your own particular cruising requirements contact: OC CRUISING
For background on Owen Clarke's involvement as multihull sailors and designers go to: MULTIHULLS
For an explanation of the technology behind the design process go to: NAVAL ARCHITECTURE
For an insight into our engineering and detailed design work go to: ENGINEERING
How To Create the Perfect Cruising Catamaran Layout
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More than ever before, sailing fans are gaining an interest in catamaran layouts and designs that define performance. Many others are also looking into either buying a cruising catamaran or designing and building one. While building a catamaran is no piece of cake, this article shows you how to create the perfect cruising catamaran layout.
To create the perfect catamaran layout, carefully consider factors like a good hull design, optimal helm station placement, boat stability, and adequate load-carrying capacity. Excellent galley positioning, ease of handling, and spacious living and sleeping quarters are also crucial.
The modern cruising catamaran is a far cry from the simple Polynesian double canoe of old. That’s because structural innovations and new composite materials have resulted in multihulls with impressive cruising abilities. Keep reading to learn more about exceptional catamaran layouts.
The Changing Trends in Catamaran Designs
The early cruising catamaran designs resulted in boats that could sail much faster than traditional sailing boats. In addition, they could glide with ease in shallow waters and required less wind and crew. Unfortunately, these cruising cats were heavy, had small, cramped interiors, and boasted somewhat challenging handling abilities.
Today’s cruising catamarans are different. They boast the utmost comfort, high speeds, and the safety of a well-designed cruising yacht. They are also more exciting, visually appealing, deliver the smoothest of rides, and sport more spacious interiors.
Have a look at the below video showcasing the top ten cruising catamarans:
Features To Look Out for in Catamaran Design Layouts
Cruising catamaran designers understand what most sailors look for in a cruising vessel. They, therefore, design cruising multihulls that address these pertinent issues and more. Some of the features you might want to consider having in your dream boat include the following:
- Responsive performance. Outstanding performance allows for pleasurable cruising and ensures your safety since you have more options during difficult weather.
- Excellent load-carrying ability . This allows you to have an extended cruising vacation or ocean crossing.
- Boat stability . Go for lightweight, robust construction, which results in a lot of buoyancy.
- A low center of gravity for smooth rides and enhanced performance. Centering weight around a low center of gravity improves the overall sailing quality, reduces pitching movement and reduces the risk of capsizing .
- Adequate bridgedeck clearance to reduce slamming and provide better performance in rough conditions. A high bridgedeck also means less noise and slapping action from the waves hitting the boat bottom, thus ensuring a quieter, smoother ride.
- Comfortable sailing. To enjoy a quality life on board, you need comfort while at sea. Thus, elements like gentle movement, no creaks or groans, no bridgedeck slamming, and minimal pitching are essential for quality, peaceful and restful sleep.
Now that you know what a cutting-edge catamaran features, let’s look at how to create the perfect cruising catamaran layout.
Build a Larger-Sized Catamaran
The early catamarans ranged between 36-42 feet (10.9-12.8m). At the time, this appeared to be a good size in terms of safety and ease of handling. However, the boats were heavy, and the additional drag and displacement adversely affected their performance and windward ability.
It’s now possible to make the new generation catamarans lighter, larger, and more spacious with excellent power-to-weight features. The current trend is larger-sized catamarans in the 45-50 feet (13.7- 15.2) range. Composite engineering and technologically advanced equipment such as furling systems, electric winches, and autopilot make it easier for a smaller crew to sail larger boats with confidence. And to do so without compromising safety or stability.
Get the Best Catamaran Hull Design
A cruising catamaran’s performance depends on three main aspects; its length, the sail area, and the boat’s weight. Long boats are generally fast. A light boat with more sail area is also faster than a heavier boat with less sail area. In other words, you can make a multihull faster by making it longer, lighter, or adding more sail.
However, there are exceptions to this rule; a boat with too much sail area is more likely to capsize if there are brisk winds. Also, if the boat’s design makes it too light, it’ll be unable to handle much punishment, while a hull design that’s too slim would make the vessel incapable of carrying any significant loads. But that’s not all; if the boat is too long or too large, it’ll become grossly exorbitant. Narrow hull shape might also mean smaller cabins.
Nonetheless, these three factors alone are not enough to determine a cruising catamaran’s performance. While faster boats boast finer hulls, the wetted surface area tends to increase as fineness increases; thus, fine hulls end up becoming less fast in low wind speeds. Also, very wide hulls mean a reduction in actual performance.
The Prismatic Coefficient (Cp), a measure of how full the ends of the hull get, is the most essential design hull shape factor for any catamaran. A high Cp equals high speeds, although you can still use a lower Cp if you have fine hulls. Nevertheless, the key to a good Catamaran design is a higher Cp for fast sailing.
To achieve a high Cp, there are several things you can do:
- Fit bulb bows . Unfortunately, the bulb bows tend to slam in a seaway when you do this.
- Have an extensive planning aft section . However, this can increase the wetted surface area, WSA and lead to additional challenges.
- Flatten out the hull rocker and add a bustle aft. This helps to add displacement aft.
Build Convertible Main Living Spaces
The open cockpit is now a thing of the past. Instead, pioneering designers for catamaran manufacturers like Nautitech, Gunboat, and Catana now replace traditional-style salons, cockpits, and cabins with spacious indoor and outdoor living spaces. The concept involves merging separate saloon and cockpit areas with duplicate lounge spaces and the use of hard-wearing composite materials.
You can also design the cabin to suit your preferences. You may decide to add a cabin or remove one, add a bathroom, have the forward berth in the hull or on the wing deck.
- The design enhancements boost usable space while opening up the living areas.
- It reduces time and costs for interior maintenance and cleaning.
- Large windows bring in more light, increasing visibility.
- Luxurious, spacious, and airy owners’ cabins provide more comfortable living space.
Bulkhead Helm Stations vs. Twin Stern Steering
Many catamaran owners have traditionally preferred bulkhead steering. This helm position remains popular, but twin stern steering positions come with more advantages since they provide greater sails visibility. The twin stern positions are also best suited for racing or day sailing since they often lack adequate protection for extended cruising.
Exposed helms are not ideal for a long ocean passage. Go for a safe, secure, and well-protected helm station that provides good visibility and comfortable space for long watches. Again, it’s best to have all control lines at the helm to establish a static control station. Also, have all push-button-controlled winches, instruments, windlass, and autopilot prominently located inside the cockpit.
- Twin stern steering positions give you a better view of the sails
- You get a better feel for overall sailing conditions.
- Twin stern steering positions lack the necessary protection for extended cruising.
Go for the Flybridge Design
The flybridge design is appealing because it offers excellent visibility, more comfort, and additional entertainment and lounging space for everyone on board. Unfortunately for smaller boats – those below 50 feet (15.24m), there is minimal protection from the elements. As such, you might want to consider adding enclosures to offer protection. The flybridge, thus the helm, remains cut off from the vessel, which makes communicating with the crew a challenge.
- It provides great visibility.
- It offers comfortable spacing.
- It might be unsafe to move from the cockpit to the flybridge in bad weather.
- It isn’t easy to communicate with the crew.
Daggerboards vs. Fixed Keels
Average cruising catamarans typically utilize fixed keels while high-performance cats have daggerboards . Fixed keels allow you to beach your catamaran easily, and your hull remains intact if a collision occurs. While you lose some angle when sailing upwind, you gain more interior space in the hulls that you can put to good use.
Daggerboards are essential in a performance cruising catamaran since they guarantee that the boat delivers good upwind sailing, including during difficult situations. During long passages, they allow you to point better upwind though the drawback is that they consume much interior space within the cruising catamaran’s hulls.
Since flying on foils ( hydrofoils ) isn’t that practical on cruising catamarans, designers of larger-sized boats have also come up with modified daggerboards. These daggerboards produce lift and prevent leeway, too, thereby improving performance significantly, as seen with the Catana 59’s curved daggerboards. These foil-like daggerboards lift the boat ever so slightly upon reaching higher speeds, making it feel less heavy and much faster.
At the end of the day, calculating the performance of a boat sailing in a wide range of varying seas and winds might not be easy – despite a daggerboard or fixed keel configuration. This is because upwind speed depends not only on the sails’ quality but also windage and the height of the bridgedeck beyond the water.
- The design innovations -curved daggerboards and hydrofoils- improve catamaran performance significantly.
- Daggerboards enable you to access otherwise inaccessible anchorages.
- Daggerboards take up hull space in the hulls of your vessel.
Galley Up vs. Galley Down
Galley layout are becoming more and more important as more people, including families, start sailing regularly. While at sea, your galley needs to be a safe place, well-ventilated, and functional. Everything should be well-thought-out for the sailor’s comfort, including handholds to make it safer to move around the boat.
While the galley location can either be up the bridgedeck or down in the hull, galley up appears to be the most popular trend. This makes the galley the focal point of both the living space and entertainment areas.
If you have a family, this placement is ideal since you make your meals from the galley and get to spend most of your time here. Many cruising families and couples prefer this arrangement and find separating the galley down the hull unappealing. Besides, carrying hot food up and down the staircase is unsafe.
Still, galley down is ideal for charter boats since it offers a private cooking area and uses up hull space efficiently.
- Having the galley on the bridgedeck is ideal for families and cruising couples.
- Placing the galley on a similar level with the serving area and cockpit is safer and less tiring.
- There’s better ventilation on the bridgedeck, making for comfortable cooking.
- There’s less kitchen privacy galley up.
- On smaller catamarans, this layout can impact the size of the saloon seating area significantly.
Production Catamaran vs. Custom
The choice of either a production catamaran or a custom design might seem pretty straightforward. Production catamarans from major brands come backed by proven designs, dependable construction, solid warranties, and many years of experience. The catamarans are easy to service, source for parts, and most – particularly the owner’s versions – hold on to their value, making them much easier to resell.
On their part, custom boats are fantastic in that you can tailor them to your exact needs. However, they might be more challenging to maintain or service. That’s because of parts unavailability and lack of construction knowledge.
Choose Quality Construction Materials
The best quality materials to use on your catamaran are both light and robust. While carbon fiber is great, plywood, plywood/epoxy, and strip-cedar are excellent materials too. What’s more, they are also affordable, so you don’t have to get too hung up on cutting-edge building materials. What matters is build quality; thus, a well-built plywood catamaran boat can last as long as a boat made from more high-tech materials.
Combining various materials also helps combat some of the issues that plague plywood boats in terms of resale value. At times, the design tends to make the boats appear pretty dated.
- Plywood and strip-cedar materials are affordable and provide excellent build quality.
- Plywood boats may have a lower resale value than those built with modern materials.
Consider Ease of Handling
An important factor in handling a cruising catamaran is deck layout. Most cruising catamarans sailed short-handed , so if your boat has one helm, all lines should run back here to allow for a static control station for the entire boat.
The other essential element is visibility from the helm. The 360 degrees of visibility while maneuvering, docking, or underway is crucial to your boat’s safety, as well as life and property. As such, you should be able to view both bows, or at least the pulpits and sterns, while standing at the helm. If not, you may have challenges handling the boat due to blind spots.
Consider the Load Carrying Capacity
A well-designed catamaran is enjoyable to sail in all weather conditions. It’s also much easier to handle than a monohull because of its widely spaced twin engines. But when you immerse extra hull depth, the vessel gets sluggish and moves slower, maneuvering in tight spots or when docking becomes more challenging. Furthermore, the hull submersion reduces bridge deck clearance, leading to hull slamming.
To allow for adequate load carrying capacity, you need a design that provides a generous displacement. This helps to ensure that you maintain reasonable bridge deck clearance even when fully loaded. It also allows you to avoid digging big holes in the water as you drag your transoms.
Displacement refers to the amount of buoyancy designed into the hulls, which essentially means that your boat will cruise better if its weight is less than your designed displacement.
Note that an overloaded catamaran not only loses out on performance but eventually, on safety too. To counter this, choose a lightweight catamaran with hulls bearing cored construction and interiors made of lightweight materials.
Remember, when you go cruising, you will need to carry fuel, extra water, supplies, equipment, and amenities, translating into thousands of extra pounds. Therefore, try and avoid the following design errors to ensure that your catamaran has an adequate load-carrying capacity:
- Avoid putting in place too much accommodation space.
- Avoid building a heavy boat ‐ use low-tech construction materials.
- Avoid installing inboards in a small boat.
- Lightly constructed catamarans perform faster and carry more weight.
- Cored construction makes for a strong and stiff catamaran, thus enabling good performance.
Final Thoughts
A well-designed cruising catamaran is a joy to behold. Today’s modern technological advancements mean that you can buy or build a light but strong cruising catamaran. And as you can see from this article, there are many excellent cruising catamaran layouts that you can choose from.
However, whichever layout you decide on needs to fit your sailing needs and purposes to ensure you remain comfortable and safe while at sea. Above all, ensure that you go for a vessel that you can handle with ease in all weather conditions.
Owner of CatamaranFreedom.com. A minimalist that has lived in a caravan in Sweden, 35ft Monohull in the Bahamas, and right now in his self-built Van. He just started the next adventure, to circumnavigate the world on a Catamaran!
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The Planing Power Catamaran: A Different Kind Of Cat
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Planing powercats deliver the high speeds dayboaters and weekend anglers crave — but without so much pounding in choppy seas.
The air cushion created between the two hulls dramatically reduces wave impact at running speeds. (Photo: World Cat)
Powercats are different beasts than sailing cats, and the powercats you're most likely to see on your local waters are those in the 20- to 40-foot range (like my 22-foot Glacier Bay). Unlike the big cruising powercats, which are more like cat trawlers with top ends maybe a little over 20 mph, smaller cats have planing hulls that perform much like today's modern powerboats.
Depending on the engine package, there are a few cats that top out in the lower 30s, lots in the lower 40s, some in the 50s, and a few that break 70 or even 80 mph.
While a similar length monohull may have a 40-mph cruising speed in a 2-foot chop, the monohull captain will pull back the throttles and cruise at 30 to avoid being beaten up. The cat guy, on the other hand, may be able to keep on doing 40 thanks to the smoother ride. But having two hulls underfoot does create some interesting similarities in how these different types of boats react to input from the helm. So you'll see a few of the tips here mirror those used for sailing or cruising catamarans. Whatever type of cat you may be captaining, remember the following:
- Center the wheel and use only the throttles to control the boat. Powercats have their engines exceptionally widely spaced apart, and are far more responsive than monohulls when steered via throttles. Generally speaking, turning the steering wheel will only serve to reduce the effectiveness of working the throttles. This, of course, is assuming you have two engines. There are a few rare cats with one engine.
- At identical rpm, the engine in forward will create more thrust than the engine in reverse. So even if the throttles are set evenly when opposed, the boat will likely slide forward a bit as opposed to spinning in its own length. As a result, when attempting to speed up the maneuver it's usually best to favor giving the reversed engine extra oomph as opposed to the one in forward (assuming you don't want to move forward while turning the boat).
- Check the speed and direction of the wind before docking , and remember that some cats, particularly those with low draft, can be blown around more easily than many monohulls as there may be less hull below the waterline.
- When docking in a new slip for the first time with lines that haven't been preset, bear in mind that once you're docked, securing the boat can be difficult in some situations because few powercats have centered cleats. Most will have a single cleat on either side, in some cases obstructed by a bow rail and/or pulpit, which can make crossing lines difficult.
- Never shut those engines down until all the lines are secured . Again, remember that many cats can get blown out of kilter faster than the average monohull, and if you don't have lines preset, it may take a moment to figure out how to best secure them. Many a captain has done a perfect docking job and then shut off the engines, only for a gust of wind to push the boat right back out of the slip before the lines can be tied. Keep those engines running until the boat is 100% secure so you can apply power, if necessary, to maintain position.
Why Two Hulls?
Like all boats, catamarans come with distinct advantages (smooth ride, draft), and areas of compromise (docking, turning). Regardless of design aesthetics, the first question is usually: Why two hulls?
Mike Myers, vice president of product development for World Cat explains: "Catamaran hulls experience little to no drag or resistance to get on plane, resulting in greater fuel economy. They have a steady rise in speed and fuel burn with little to no spikes in fuel consumption."Planing powercats have a unique trait — which many cat lovers consider the top advantage over monohulls — the impact-absorbing cushion of air created by a compression tunnel between hulls.
And when it comes to beam, catamarans' parallel hulls create reliable stability, which helps to avoid heeling and capsizing, and greatly reduces the vessel roll at rest and at trolling speeds.
"Many boats are primarily designed around comfort for the captain. This usually means anyone at the front or sides of the boat takes most of the jostling,"Myers says. "The catamaran-style hull delivers ride comfort, smoothness, load distribution, and stability."That stability draws anglers to powercats of typically 20 to 40 feet; and cruisers to sailing cats 40 to 60 feet and beyond.
— Rich Armstrong
Taming The Cat
When it comes to handling powercats in open waters, the most important thing to remember is that all boats are different. Just as you wouldn't lump the handling characteristics of all monohulls together, the same goes for powercats. But many have a few common traits to consider.
- Some powercats have relatively low buoyancy in the bow compared to monohulls, as many have very narrow hull entries . As a result, in some cases, idling into a sea can allow waves to break over the bow. Gaining some headway so the bow rises a bit and packs air into the tunnel can alleviate the issue.
- Some planing powercats will run smoother at faster speeds than slower speeds, as they compress air in the tunnel between the two hulls. In these cases, speeding up may actually provide a more comfortable ride in some sea states as compared to slowing down. Depending on your boat, its tunnel may result in other differences from the monohull that you may be familiar with. Learning about these will improve you experience.
- Some powercats display a "snap roll,"which is a very fast righting motion that can rock the boat uncomfortably, especially when drifting in a beam sea. In these cases, people who may want to drift often (such as anglers) will sometimes deploy a drift sock off the bow to reduce rocking and rolling.
Photo: World Cat
- In general, powercats are often more weight-sensitive than monohulls, especially when the bow is loaded down . It's always best to be aware of how you're loading your boat, and if the tunnel is slapping or the bow is digging into waves, consider shifting weight aft.
- Some powercats, particularly older models, lean out in a turn rather than banking in. There's no way to eliminate this phenomenon (although trimming up an outboard engine when initiating a turn may reduce it a bit), so it's important to give passengers a warning to hold on before making any aggressive maneuvers.
- "Sneezing,"or blowing a puff of mist out the front of the tunnel that the boat then runs through (getting everyone aboard damp), is a phenomenon associated with some powercats. In many cases, trimming the bow up a bit will significantly reduce or even eliminate sneezing.
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Catamaran Design Formulas
- Post author By Rick
- Post date June 29, 2010
- 10 Comments on Catamaran Design Formulas
Part 2: W ith permission from Terho Halme – Naval Architect
While Part 1 showcased design comments from Richard Woods , this second webpage on catamaran design is from a paper on “How to dimension a sailing catamaran”, written by the Finnish boat designer, Terho Halme. I found his paper easy to follow and all the Catamaran hull design equations were in one place. Terho was kind enough to grant permission to reproduce his work here.
Below are basic equations and parameters of catamaran design, courtesy of Terho Halme. There are also a few references from ISO boat standards. The first step of catamaran design is to decide the length of the boat and her purpose. Then we’ll try to optimize other dimensions, to give her decent performance. All dimensions on this page are metric, linear dimensions are in meters (m), areas are in square meters (m2), displacement volumes in cubic meters (m3), masses (displacement, weight) are in kilograms (kg), forces in Newton’s (N), powers in kilowatts (kW) and speeds in knots.
Please see our catamarans for sale by owner page if you are looking for great deals on affordable catamarans sold directly by their owners.
Length, Draft and Beam
There are two major dimensions of a boat hull: The length of the hull L H and length of waterline L WL . The following consist of arbitrary values to illustrate a calculated example.
L H = 12.20 L WL = 12.00
After deciding how big a boat we want we next enter the length/beam ratio of each hull, L BR . Heavy boats have low value and light racers high value. L BR below “8” leads to increased wave making and this should be avoided. Lower values increase loading capacity. Normal L BR for a cruiser is somewhere between 9 and 12. L BR has a definitive effect on boat displacement estimate.
B L / L | In this example L = 11.0 and beam waterline B will be: |
Figure 2 | |
B = 1.09 | A narrow beam, of under 1 meter, will be impractical in designing accommodations in a hull. |
B = B / T | A value near 2 minimizes friction resistance and slightly lower values minimize wave making. Reasonable values are from 1.5 to 2.8. Higher values increase load capacity. The deep-V bottomed boats have typically B between 1.1 and 1.4. B has also effect on boat displacement estimation. |
T = B / B T = 0.57 | Here we put B = 1.9 to minimize boat resistance (for her size) and get the draft calculation for a canoe body T (Figure 1). |
Midship coefficient – C | |
C = A / T (x) B | We need to estimate a few coefficients of the canoe body. where A is the maximum cross section area of the hull (Figure 3). C depends on the shape of the midship section: a deep-V-section has C = 0.5 while an ellipse section has C = 0.785. Midship coefficient has a linear relation to displacement. In this example we use ellipse hull shape to minimize wetted surface, so C = 0.785 |
Figure 3 |
C =D / A × L | where D is the displacement volume (m ) of the boat. Prismatic coefficient has an influence on boat resistance. C is typically between 0.55 and 0.64. Lower values (< 0.57) are optimized to displacement speeds, and higher values (>0.60) to speeds over the hull speed (hull speed ). In this example we are seeking for an all round performance cat and set C := 0.59 |
C = A / B × L | where A is water plane (horizontal) area. Typical value for water plane coefficient is C = 0.69 – 0.72. In our example C = 0.71 |
m = 2 × B x L × T × C × C × 1025 m = 7136 | At last we can do our displacement estimation. In the next formula, 2 is for two hulls and 1025 is the density of sea water (kg/m3). Loaded displacement mass in kg’s |
L = 6.3 | L near five, the catamaran is a heavy one and made from solid laminate. Near six, the catamaran has a modern sandwich construction. In a performance cruiser L is usually between 6.0 and 7.0. Higher values than seven are reserved for big racers and super high tech beasts. Use 6.0 to 6.5 as a target for L in a glass-sandwich built cruising catamaran. To adjust L and fully loaded displacement m , change the length/beam ratio of hull, L . |
m = 0.7 × m m = 4995 | We can now estimate our empty boat displacement (kg): This value must be checked after weight calculation or prototype building of the boat. |
m = 0.8 × m m = 5709 | The light loaded displacement mass (kg); this is the mass we will use in stability and performance prediction: |
The beam of a sailing catamaran is a fundamental thing. Make it too narrow, and she can’t carry sails enough to be a decent sailboat. Make it too wide and you end up pitch-poling with too much sails on. The commonly accepted way is to design longitudinal and transversal metacenter heights equal. Here we use the height from buoyancy to metacenter (commonly named B ). The beam between hull centers is named B (Figure 4) and remember that the overall length of the hull is L . | |
Figure 4 |
Length/beam ratio of the catamaran – L | |
L = L / B | If we set L = 2.2 , the longitudinal and transversal stability will come very near to the same value. You can design a sailing catamaran wider or narrower, if you like. Wider construction makes her heavier, narrower means that she carries less sail. |
B = L / L B = 5.55 | Beam between hull centers (m) – B |
BM = 2[(B × L x C / 12) +( L × B × C x (0.5B ) )] × (1025 / m ) BM = 20.7 | Transversal height from the center of buoyancy to metacenter, BM can be estimated |
BM = (2 × 0.92 x L × B x C ) / 12 x (1025 / m ) BM = 20.9 | Longitudinal height from the center of buoyancy to metacenter, BM can be estimated. Too low value of BM (well under 10) will make her sensitive to hobby-horsing |
B = 1.4 × B | We still need to determine the beam of one hull B (Figure 4). If the hulls are asymmetric above waterline this is a sum of outer hull halves. B must be bigger than B of the hull. We’ll put here in our example: |
B = B B B = 7.07 | Now we can calculate the beam of our catamaran B (Figure 4): |
Z = 0.06 × L Z = 0.72 | Minimum wet deck clearance at fully loaded condition is defined here to be 6 % of L : |
EU Size factor | |
SF=1.75 x m SF = 82 x 10 | While the length/beam ratio of catamaran, L is between 2.2 and 3.2, a catamaran can be certified to A category if SF > 40 000 and to B category if SF > 15 000. |
Engine Power Requirements | |
P = 4 x (m /1025)P = 28 | The engine power needed for the catamaran is typically 4 kW/tonne and the motoring speed is near the hull speed. Installed power total in Kw |
V = 2.44 V = 8.5 | Motoring speed (knots) |
Vol = 1.2(R / V )(con x P ) Vol = 356 | motoring range in nautical miles R = 600, A diesel engine consume on half throttle approximately: con := 0.15 kg/kWh. The fuel tank of diesel with 20% of reserve is then |
- Tags Buying Advice , Catamaran Designers
Owner of a Catalac 8M and Catamaransite webmaster.
10 replies on “Catamaran Design Formulas”
Im working though these formuals to help in the conversion of a cat from diesel to electric. Range, Speed, effect of extra weight on the boat….. Im having a bit of trouble with the B_TR. First off what is it? You don’t call it out as to what it is anywhere that i could find. Second its listed as B TR = B WL / T c but then directly after that you have T c = B WL / B TR. these two equasion are circular….
Yes, I noted the same thing. I guess that TR means resistance.
I am new here and very intetested to continue the discussion! I believe that TR had to be looked at as in Btr (small letter = underscore). B = beam, t= draft and r (I believe) = ratio! As in Lbr, here it is Btr = Beam to draft ratio! This goes along with the further elaboration on the subject! Let me know if I am wrong! Regards PETER
I posted the author’s contact info. You have to contact him as he’s not going to answer here. – Rick
Thank you these formulas as I am planning a catamaran hull/ house boat. The planned length will be about thirty six ft. In length. This will help me in this new venture.
You have to ask the author. His link was above. https://www.facebook.com/terho.halme
I understood everything, accept nothing makes sense from Cm=Am/Tc*Bwl. Almost all equations from here on after is basically the answer to the dividend being divided into itself, which gives a constant answer of “1”. What am I missing? I contacted the original author on Facebook, but due to Facebook regulations, he’s bound never to receive it.
Hi Brian, B WL is the maximum hull breadth at the waterline and Tc is the maximum draft.
The equation B TW = B WL/Tc can be rearranged by multiplying both sides of the equation by Tc:
B TW * Tc = Tc * B WL / Tc
On the right hand side the Tc on the top is divided by the Tc on the bottom so the equal 1 and can both be crossed out.
Then divide both sides by B TW:
Cross out that B TW when it is on the top and the bottom and you get the new equation:
Tc = B WL/ B TW
Thank you all for this very useful article
Parfait j aimerais participer à une formation en ligne (perfect I would like to participate in an online training)
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- Yachting World
- Digital Edition
Why these extreme multihull concepts could be the future of catamaran design
- October 13, 2020
Holiday homes, restaurants, even cities may soon be coming to a quiet beach or harbour near you, reports Sam Fortescue
The €500m beiderbeck-designed Galileo2 concept catamaran takes multihulls to another level and is capable of berthing yachts up to 80m
As boats become ever more like homes on water, something else is changing: designers and builders have been turning their attention to the market for floating buildings. New concepts to emerge range from a thatched beach cottage atop a catamaran hull to an entire floating city, generating its own food and power. The one thing they have in common is they’re movable structures that can be parked wherever they can drop the hook. And soon they could be coming to a peaceful estuary near you.
There is an opportunity here, of course, to create additional living and leisure space in areas where the land is already choked with people. Imagine being able to moor a temporary holiday village off Bournemouth Beach, for example, or create a restaurant off Dartmouth without affecting the townscape.
But the flip side of the coin is that someone could park a large floating structure right in front of your sea view, or occupy a quiet, sensitive environment. Imagine, as sailors, falling asleep in a deserted anchorage and waking up with a throbbing beach bar right next to us!
Floating homes and docks are being designed to use Seafloatech’s eco-friendly anchoring system
“If a craft is movable and can drop an anchor, it would be classed as ‘any other vessel’ and would not need consent,” confirms Martin Willis, executive officer of the UK Harbour Masters’ Association. “But if it’s a commercial business, it’d be subject to the relevant regulation – there are no rights to come in and open a business in a harbour without the Harbour Master’s consent.” Alternatively, it may fall under MCA coding as a passenger craft.
In some parts of the world, floating structures are already quite common. Upscale luxury holiday resorts in Thailand or the Maldives, for example, offer floating villas. And soon you might expect to see whole floating marinas if you find yourself close to St Tropez. France’s recent move to protect crucial Neptune grass meadows in the Mediterranean means that anchoring off the town is severely limited for yachts over 24m.
To get round the problem, a company called Seafloattech has developed a system of screwing steel frames to the seabed to moor big structures on giant hydraulic shock absorbers. “We had a prototype size in place for six months in the Bay of St Tropez,” says managing director Lionel Péan, the French ocean racing star and past winner of the Whitbread Round the World Race . “It could accommodate up to 70 boats in a maximum wind of 42 knots, with up to 2.4m wave heights with no structural problems or injuries.”
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Offshore developments
The hydraulics keep the marina on station despite the tide and help to counteract wave action. It is even possible to use the system to tether a boat or a home through storm-force conditions, insists Pean. “If you want to build something to resist a typhoon, for instance, you have to make special arrangements with the customer. It can be done, but it costs a lot. In the Med, you don’t need 5-6m waves resistance.”
Seafloattech itself will ultimately just licence the tethering system, but it is working with partners who envisage all manner of structures atop their platforms. There are swimming pools, beach clubs, superyacht berths, hotels and villas.
“We believe that the demographic surge will force the coastal states to really focus on offshore coastline development,” adds Pean. “I am for a two-fold operation including sanctuary areas and social offshore development zones. We think that Northern Europe will take some more time but as soon as we have some units up and running, it will happen quickly.”
Seafloattech has developed a steel tethering structure that is screwed to the seabed with hydraulic shock absorbers that can secure any number of floating homes. Standard versions can cope easily with Mediterranean weather conditions
Another French concern, Faréa, has taken a markedly different approach, developing a home that sits on two deep metal floats that also contain cabins. It is a simple catamaran, propelled by an outboard at the ‘stern’ and anchored with normal ground tackle at the ‘bow’. Navigation is slow and only for fine weather, but retractable centreboards mean it can be beached.
“They amount to 86m2 of space, with seven double cabins separate heads and bathroom and three terraces,” explains founder Christophe Roi. “They are self-sufficient in water and electricity, thanks to the oversized photovoltaic panels and fuel cells.”
A thatched roof multihull?
The original plan was for something more like a floating house, but feedback from insurers pushed Faréa towards a craft that meets category C of the Recreational Craft Directive. “It means they can stand up to Force 6 and 2m waves,” explains Roi. “What with rental prices so terribly high in England, I am certain that living on water should be a possibility.”
Original Faréa concept was for an economical floating home with a thatched roof, but later versions can meet RCD Cat C
A fully equipped F2C model would cost around €160,000 to install, he adds. With the average Newquay home costing £730,000, according to RightMove, he has a good point.
Alva Yachts offers more architecturally ambitious 45m2 holiday homes with an infinity pool and a terrace. Not self-propelled, costs range from €85,000 to €200,000 depending on finish. The fledgling German company is using its founders’ experience of building catamarans that run on renewable power to offer low-carbon homes.
“The floating homes are literally super luxury yachts without propulsion,” explains co-founder Mathias May. “The hull and ‘sails’ are made of composites, while energy consumption, supply and distribution is comparable to a solar yacht. We strive to be as efficient as possible to get rid of diesel gensets in remote areas. It is no coincidence that our first customer for such a project comes from the Maldives.”
This ocean resort features a number of Alva Yachts floating eco holiday homes costing from €85,000 to €200,000
Meanwhile, two Finnish companies have developed a series of even larger floating structures whose near-total self-sufficiency allows them to remain offshore indefinitely. Architects Sigge and builder AdMares have turned the world’s largest floating villa (all 6,000m2 of it) in Abu Dhabi into an autonomous boat capable of tackling waves up to 1.2m.
By fitting a wheelhouse and three Rolls Royce US 55 FP azimuth thrusters with a total 750kW output, the villa can move itself around the sheltered waters of the emirate. An anchoring system at each end of the platform is equipped with whopping 38mm chain and 1,575kg anchors.
Off nearby Qatar, the Finnish firms have been hard at work installing 16 floating hotels with a total of 1,616 rooms, aimed at providing temporary accommodation for the huge influx of football fans due for the 2022 World Cup. With four storeys including a lounging area and a restaurant, each hotel can simply be towed to a new location after the tournament. The only restriction is the 4m draught.
This Oceanix concept sees hexagonal clusters of floating homes linking up to become towns with net zero emissions
Floating towns
Several orders of magnitude further up the scale and you reach floating towns. Some concepts, like Oceanix, are very serious attempts to expand the boundaries of human habitation to ‘the next frontier’. It is a consortium of companies focusing on the UN’s ‘New Urban Agenda’ with a plan to build homes on pods clustered in hexagons, in turn clustered into larger hexagons, and so on, up to cities of 10,000 people.
Their vision includes parks, arenas, restaurants, offices up to three stories high and built-in docking for solar-powered watercraft. Energy is harvested from waves, wind, sun as well as algae bioreactors and more to create a net-zero consumer, while food is grown on and under the city.
“We believe humanity can live in harmony with life below water – it is not a question of one versus the other,” says CEO Marc Collins Chen. “The technology exists for us to live on water, while nature continues to thrive under. Floating cities by design embrace all types of marine activities, so they are complementary to existing activities like fishing and sailing.”
Nomadia is a multi-deck craft for 3,000 guests. An alternative to cruise ship holidays, it features an internal marina and even beaches
The initial sites envisaged for a city are all on the fringes of the Tropics, from Japan to Thailand, and the structures are designed to withstand Category 5 storms.
A more Eurocentric view comes from two designers of cities on boats. French naval architect Sylvain Viau has developed an outline for a triangular craft measuring 372m in length, with a jaw-dropping beam of 369m. Across 12 decks moving at up to 5 knots, some 3,000 guests can be accommodated, along with lecture halls, meeting rooms, restaurants, shops, manmade beaches and an internal marina capable of berthing ten 100ft yachts.
Fun and games afloat
These giant ‘craft’ are nothing to do with loving the sea or even respecting the enivronment. “People are not interested in the sea, they are interested in casinos, cinema, fun entertainment,” Chen explains. “In my imagination, you welcome everybody on board in a nice location. The platform doesn’t move during the season, only in the winter, when it’s time to find a new spot.”
With yards promoting designs such as this BlackCat 50m, superyacht multihulls look set to be the next very big thing
At anchor, giant inlets like gills down each flank would channel waves into a generator to produce energy. And when it’s time to move, the boat raises its 300-tonne anchor and blows out its ballast tanks to reduce its draught from 20m to 11m.
Germany’s beiderbeck designs recently made headlines with the publication of a €500m concept catamaran called Galileo2, capable of berthing yachts up to 80m, and offering a fold-down restaurant and an open-air amphitheatre cinema. With a nod at managing greenhouse gas emissions, this small floating town would be powered by gigantic fuel cells, and would pioneer so-called marine thermal energy in yachting.
“You can use the temperature difference between the deeper and surface water,” explains Timo Hartmüller of beiderbeck. “Obviously, you need to be in deep water, but we designed the yacht to stow a 1km long hose on board.”
Some of these floating titans may never make it off the drawing board, particularly in view of the way that coronavirus has decimated the cruise ship industry. But the current is running hard towards extending communities above the waves, and whatever you may think of these concepts, be they luxury pads or modest holiday cabins, expect to see more of them coming to a stretch of coast near you.
Mobile pontoon
Multimarine near Plymouth is nearing completion of a 108ft x 28ft motorised platform called the Gweek Pontoon, which the owner plans to charter out for use as a mobile regatta and watersports base.
It is fitted with an anchor and windlass, as well as three 200hp engines, and includes a built-in hydraulic slipway. It is built from foam-core vinylester laminate and carbon fibre for light weight and a trifling draught of just 100mm.
First published in the September 2020 issue of Yachting World.
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Building expertise: our catamaran construction principles
At Outremer every specification has to be precise and consistent with what the naval architect has drawn. During catamaran construction, he or she works in close collaboration with the designers and engineers to reach a harmonious end result.
Safety, reliability, performance, comfort, and pleasure are the key words throughout the design of an Outremer blue water catamaran.
Peace of mind no matter the weather conditions.
An absolute priority for all sailors! We can accept that for racing boats, risks are knowingly taken into account, but for cruising catamarans, a very big safety margin is fundamental. For this reason, the daggerboards are essential to guarantee good upwind sailing, even in difficult situations (storms, rough seas, etc.). We don’t always choose to find ourselves in such situations, but Outremer will bring you back to port, in all conditions.
Resisting the test of time and continuous improvement
Every Outremer will without doubt cover several hundreds of thousands of miles across oceans or around the world during its lifetime and it is crucial that every system is proven and reliable. To achieve this, Outremer takes particular care with the standard of finish, with its choice of technologies and the selection of brands of equipment they install on their boats. What’s more, every year we conduct a survey among all new Outremer owners to help us consistently improve our liveaboard catamaran construction techniques. This feedback is especially important: it allows us to get closer to building the “perfect boat”!
Combining comfort and pleasure of sailing
Multihulls from the Outremer yard are of course, not racing yachts, but they are among the fastest of cruising boats! Performance is both a source of pleasure for any sailor and also an essential safety factor allowing the crew to have more options when facing weather risks, especially single-handed.
Unparalleled quality of life onboard
One of the keys to successful cruising! The quality of life on board depends essentially on comfort at sea. All the elements which go into making an Outremer are combined to achieve an incomparable quality of life with a comfortable interior: more gentle movement allows for quality sleep, no slamming under the bridgedeck, and reduced pitching, leading to good cooking conditions for whoever is in the galley. Silence on board, the absence of any creaking or groaning, so often found on a sailing catamaran, guarantees unrivaled peace and quiet.
Easy sailing and fun for all
Because the pleasure shared between the crew is the guarantee of harmonious life on board during a blue water sailing journey, Outremer takes everyone’s needs into account: skipper, crew, children, guests… Everyone can enjoy 360° visibility, perfect ventilation, and great ergonomics. And of course, the enjoyment of sailing, feeling a boat which goes fast and well, as seen when using the tiller which is available on Outremer boats, an incomparable way to feel a multihull slipping effortlessly through the water!
Loïck Peyron, 4X sponsor: “The point of sailing is the point of departure and the destination. Between the two, the sailing part is fun, of course, but it’s often too long!”
Architecture
Designing the ideal boat
Naval architects translate specifications into lines and volumes:
- Hull designs carefully studied and optimized; long, to carry the required load and reduce forward resistance. Fine hulls demand, in effect, little power to make the move and allow them to maintain high average speeds under way. Not just that, but also to be able to use only one motor when there is no wind, reducing the amount of noise in the hulls when some of the crew are off watch, and also doubling the range under power.
- Windage is limited for maneuvers in port and for better holding at anchor.
- Centering the weight: a very low center of gravity, and weight distribution around that center of gravity – all these unseen elements add to the quality of sailing and reduce pitching movement.
- Fine bows absorb pitching and help produce high levels of comfort under way.
- Daggerboards for sailing to windward, going faster when close-hauled and being able to reach otherwise inaccessible anchorages. Sailing close-hauled on an Outremer catamaran is worthy of the best monohulls, even in the hardest of conditions.
Catamaran construction principles: how are Outremer multihulls made?
The methodology of the Outremer boatyard: putting forward a blend of high-tech technologies and know-how. Blue water cruising programs require significant safety margins: you need to be able to count on your boat in all circumstances!
Even though the philosophy of the yard of is to reduce weight, this must never be done to the detriment of the structure, and our designers are committed to reinforcing the essential areas: the bows are protected by several watertight crash-boxes, the lower part of the hulls are resistant to collision and knocking, the daggerboard wells are indestructible as the daggerboards act as a fuse, making it insubmersible as a result.
Even though modern composites such as those found in sandwich construction are essential materials for saving weight, an Outremer always has the lower part of the hull built in a very thick monolithic laminate: in the event of collision, no structure in sandwich construction could compete with the strength of an Outremer hull. The structure is completely laminated in the hull, and not simply glued on: there is no backing mold interfering with access to any part of the underwater hull, and all the systems remain visible and accessible.
The stiffness of an Outremer catamaran is incomparable
The main bulkheads are of large dimensions, and so are able to take much greater loads than a cruising multihull might encounter. Inserts in carbon fiber, closed-cell foam, isophthalic resins and high-resistance polyester: everything is designed to guarantee your safety for offshore sailing.
For the furnishings, sandwich panels are used to reduce weight, with wood veneer for warmth and aesthetic appearance. The furnishings do not add to the rigidity, and are insulated from the structural parts to reduce unwanted noise, creaks and groans. Aluminum structures support the floors, which don’t squeak either. No more wedged doors or drawers that won’t shut. For the equipment, we choose brands and makes for their quality, their reliability and their suitability with the boat’s program.
An Outremer is designed to be around for over fifty years
Owners change over time, all with ambitious projects and wanting to replace or add certain equipment to their cruising catamaran! In this respect, we apply four golden rules: every part of the boat and every system installed must be documented, be accessible, able to be checked and be replaceable.
Today, more than three million miles have been sailed by our multihulls on every ocean, most of them cruising tropical seas, though many have seen extreme conditions, ranging from Alaska to Patagonia. The huge amount of experience accumulated by Outremer has allowed us to refine and consolidate our principles of catamaran construction.
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A 9 metre steel power catamaran for long distance economical cruising. The alternative way of spacious live a board cruising under power. Also available in aluminium construction and a 4 stroke outboard version in steel or aluminium. An exceptional design. There is nothing else like this seagoing cat on the internet
Bering Yachts makes steel hull expedition type trawler yachts under 24 meters, fast hydrofoil catamarans, which are Affordable superyachts, safe, comfortable and rangy ... Bering catamarans have combined the best of two worlds: stability of the cat design and luxury, quality of craftsmanship, and innovations Bering is known for. They are made ...
The mainstream design office catamarans that I see look that way because those gold plate offices are most familiar with designing single hull vessels. They come from a very conservative design place. They know what works for a single hull boat, and the cats they design are even better boats. Their cat designs resemble their single hull designs.
A trailblazer since 1976, Fountaine Pajot constantly redefines catamaran design. The Fountaine Pajot MY6 is a shining example, encapsulating the brand's visionary ethos. Stretching 15 meters, the MY6, equipped with dual engines of up to 2 x 353 Kw and 2 x 480 hp, promises dynamic sailing. Crafted meticulously by Pier Angelo Andreani, the ...
Introducing Metal Shark Yachts. These highly advanced, industrial-grade oceangoing vessels defy convention while enabling a new level of worry-free exploration and adventure. Our all-aluminum, American-made catamarans offer global range and deliver self-sustaining independence for months on end, putting the world within reach.
24m Fast Cruising Catamaran. Owen Clarke Design began as multihull designers, sailors, builders and project managers. Indeed, the first yachts they designed and built were a 35' racing trimaran and 30' fast cruising catamaran. One of the company's founders raced multi's extensively, including as navigator on an 24m cat and then on a 60 ...
All modern production catamarans are made with "FRP" construction (for Fiber Reinforced Polymer). Composites aren't new-it's just using materials together to strengthen the whole assembly. Straw was added to bricks centuries ago, and steel reinforced concrete is a staple of construction over the last century.
Have you ever wondered the processes that go into Catamaran design and building a Catamaran? Maybe. Maybe not.However for those of you who are contemplating ...
CAT MS 65. £895 - €995 - $1,095. To order the PLANS & CUTTING FILES go to SPECIALS PAGE. and click on €995.00 BUY NOW BUTTON. Your plans and CUTTING FILES will be sent to you by. DOWNLOAD to your computer. CATAMARAN BOAT PLANS BRUCE ROBERTS OFFICIAL WEB SITE offers custom boat plans and boat kits for steel boats or aluminum boat designs ...
Get the Best Catamaran Hull Design. A cruising catamaran's performance depends on three main aspects; its length, the sail area, and the boat's weight. Long boats are generally fast. A light boat with more sail area is also faster than a heavier boat with less sail area. In other words, you can make a multihull faster by making it longer ...
If you have fine hulls you can use a lower Cp. Most monohulls have a Cp of 0.55- 0.57. And that is about right for displacement speeds. However the key to Catamaran design is you need a higher Cp if you want to sail fast. So a multihull should be at least 0.61 and a heavy displacement multihull a bit higher still.
This usually means anyone at the front or sides of the boat takes most of the jostling,"Myers says. "The catamaran-style hull delivers ride comfort, smoothness, load distribution, and stability."That stability draws anglers to powercats of typically 20 to 40 feet; and cruisers to sailing cats 40 to 60 feet and beyond. — Rich Armstrong.
T c = 0.57. Here we put B TR = 1.9 to minimize boat resistance (for her size) and get the draft calculation for a canoe body T c (Figure 1). Midship coefficient - C m. C m = A m / T c (x) B WL. We need to estimate a few coefficients of the canoe body. where A m is the maximum cross section area of the hull (Figure 3).
The €500m beiderbeck-designed Galileo2 concept catamaran takes multihulls to another level and is capable of berthing yachts up to 80m. As boats become ever more like homes on water, something ...
The stiffness of an Outremer catamaran is incomparable. The main bulkheads are of large dimensions, and so are able to take much greater loads than a cruising multihull might encounter. Inserts in carbon fiber, closed-cell foam, isophthalic resins and high-resistance polyester: everything is designed to guarantee your safety for offshore sailing.
The new CATAMARAN 465. CATAMARAN MS 65. SEE MORE. POWER CAT VERSION. FIBERGLASS PLANS & FULL SIZE PATTERNS FOR ALUMINUM STEEL or FIBERGLASS CONSTRUCTION. The CATAMARAN 65 MS was designed for personal use or charter work or as a people carrier and the accommodation was laid out with that in mind.
Boat Design Net. Home Boat Design Forums > Design > Multihulls > 20" Steel Power Catamaran. Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Edwardn, Jan 1, 2011. Joined: Oct 2010 ... Make that 20' Steel Power Catamaran I have seen alum power Catamarans but i havent been able to find anything in steel as of yet in the 20 foot range. I assume alum is the ...
With steel, we must design a hull with sufficient displacement to carry the structure. At 490 pounds per cubic foot, the weight of a steel structure adds up very quickly indeed. For smaller vessels, say below around 35 feet, this makes for a fairly heavy displacement. In larger sizes, say above 40 feet, one can make excellent use of steel.
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