Sailing Catamarans

(Scroll down to see the very latest news!)

As you will discover, this website is now very large and it may take you time to find what you are looking for. But please persevere and in particular please read the FAQ's and Forum pages as you will probably find the answers to any questions you may have there.

The Year Reviews are also worth reading as they contain details of boat launchings and all the still relevant "Latest News" reports for that year, while there is also lots of good stuff in the Articles and Boat Tests pages.

Other sites may claim to be the most informative multihull site, but I think once you've read through this one you will agree that this one gives you the most information about the design and sailing of multihulls.

If you are new to catamarans and want a general introduction then I suggest that you read THIS ARTICLE first. Below the Latest News is a section on general design comments that gets regularly updated

There are now over 90 YouTube videos scattered around this site. If you want to save time you can see a list of them all if you search YouTube for www.sailingcatamarans.com or visit my Woods Designs Sailing Catamarans youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodsDesigns?feature=watch

If you plan to buy, or indeed, have bought, download plans then you should also check the Plan Updates page in case there are any for your boat.

If you still have questions then please email us and we will try and help.

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January/February 2013

As always the winter is a time for design work so I have been busy finishing off the Vardo plans - three now building - and the Skoota 28 and Strike 15 - twelve now building.

We have been going over to Sequim every week to admire Josh's workmanship on our own Skoota 28. I must say I really like to watch craftsmen at work. A pity I cannot afford to employ them full time. Note, this photo does not show the removable forward anchor locker unit. Its made but not fitted. The bridgedeck front isn't really that vertical!

As always the pace is slower than we had hoped, but that's normal, so no real surprise. By the end of January the structural work had been done, "just" sanding/painting and fitting deck gear left to do

One Friday in late January we left Port Townsend and drove south to San Francisco. On the way south I thought "I wonder if there is any multihull sailing this weekend?" I checked online and found that indeed there was, in fact the years biggest race in the Bay area was to be held the following day. The 2-handed Three Bridge Fiasco already had over 350 entries, including 35 multihulls.

Read More....

While in the UK I got this photo from Josh and learnt that the whole boat has now been primed and the hull bottoms have four layers of Coppercoat. So launching is imminent! (The anchor locker is being made and painted separately)

I also received the following email from Rajen Shah of India who had his Romany professionally built a couple of years ago

"Golden Cat (Romany) and I were on front page of Times of India, Amdavad edition for state of Gujarat - a major English newspaper. We were also in news in local papers all on front pages. This was a first sailing voyage to lakshadweep from Gujarat. There may be a couple from Mumbai, but all were on larger imported production yachts with professional crew on board. On our Golden Cat I was the only one RYA qualified, rest were all trained by me.

This was big and unheardof news in this part of the world. The Romany superb design and my builder quality work has helped me to complete my dream. We sailed at least for two days in 23 kts wind with 2 reefs. Romany sailed smoothly in a rough sea of 1.5 to 2 meter waves. We also had about 18 kts wind while crossing my longest offshore passage of 150 nm two ways.

Both time the sea was fully built with tall waves, most inter island Lakshadweep ships cancelled their trips but we sailed without problem - in fact the wind helped us to cross faster. We didn't see a single sailing yacht during our 40 days voyage. Regards, Rajen P. Shah

I sold a set of Vardo plans to the Philippines on January 9th. On Feb 23rd I got this photo. Fast work!

Also from the Philippines

"My SKOOTA 24 was launched last Saturday Feb 16, 2013. It is powered with a Yamaha 50 hp 2 stroke using a 11-3/4" x 10" pitch propeller which gave it  5000 rpm at WOT and a top speed of 28 kilometers per hour. It will probably go faster as the boat was heavily loaded with the sea trial crew of 8 adults"

April 2013

I apologise for the lack of news over the last couple of months. It's not that nothing was happening - more that we were very busy finishing and then launching our Skoota 28 power catamaran

We are very pleased with it so far. Comfortable, fast and economic. Even at 16 knots we use less than 3 gal an hour with our twin 20hp outboards. I was amused recently to see an advert for a similar powercat that said "Worlds most efficient! 4.9gph at 16 knots"

Recently we motored from Port Townsend, Wa where the boat was launched to Sidney, BC via a "drive past" of Friday Harbor. A distance of 49.3 miles. We left 8.30 am, arrived 1.45pm, and used 7 gallons of fuel. No photos as it poured with rain all day. The Skoota was very heavy as not only did we have all the tools and spare epoxy/glass etc aboard, but also I had the outriggers and complete rig for my new Strike 15. Plus lots of gear/clothes for 5 months in Canada.

Read More...

Meantime other builders have also been active. I was recently sent this photo of a Saturn building in Florida. Getting close!

Also in Florida, Jeff is making good progress on his Vardo, despite the cramped working conditions. He has now reached the assembly stage, you can see more on his detailed blog

http://sailingcatamarans.blogspot.ca/

you can also see why photographing his boat is difficult!

So we now have a boat to motor, and the sailing season is on us, so our Strike 18 will be going back in the water shortly.

However my next major project is to finish off my Strike 15. I now have the complete rig and foils, the outrigger panels are cut out, so as soon as the rain stops we will be back at work and hope to launch in May/June

May 2013

Summer arrived in British Columbia on May 1st. No rain, no clouds, temperature in the high
60's - mid 70's. Definitely T shirts and shorts weather

So we took off for the weekend in our Skoota 28. We motored up through the Gulf Islands about 20 miles to one of our favourite spots, Wallace Island, for the night. The small harbour is well protected, but it means we have to "med moor" - ie take a stern line to the shore while
anchoring from the bow. That's a bit tricky with no dinghy and a rocky shoreline, but we managed it.

The newly fitted convertible bed works really well. We had a night "in" and watched Django Unchained on the computer

Next morning we were off at 7.30am to catch the tidal gate at Porlier Pass. At its peak the tide runs through the pass at 9 knots so getting slack water is essential. From there it was a 20 mile crossing of the Strait of Georgia to Vancouver. Unfortunately we had to "bash to
windward", yes you do that even in motor boats, for about 10 miles before we began to get
into the lee of the Whistler mountains. One reason why Jetti stayed below and in her
pajamas until we got to Vancouver.

Despite the wind we still tied up at the free dock at Granville Island at 11am. Granville Island is a big market with fresh produce, restaurants and buskers. So something like London's Covent Garden but by the water.

Lots of people, including a very experienced cruising couple who were interested in building their own Skoota. They have visited us several times but after trialing our Skoota and spending time on board they decided to build a Skoota 36 as a liveaboard cruiser in the PNW. They will start work July 1st

We wanted to get back to Saturna before dark so left at 2.30pm. 38 miles later at 5.50pm we tied up to our dock and were at home by 6.30pm

A good weekend, lets hope for more like that one

We are still experimenting with speed/fuel economy. The windward bash obviously didn't help, but the run back was mainly in flat water. On our return we averaged 11 knots and used 5gals of fuel. 7mpg is pretty good for a motorboat where many only do 1-2mpg.

Between rain showers work has been progressing well on the Strike 15. One outrigger is ready to deck and one set of beams made. A mock up photo of the assembly is below

Read More.....

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NEW DESIGNS

Skoota 20 power cat plans cost GBP250 and are now available. I have also drawn a 24ft version for those who want a more cruising orientated boat. Plans for the 24 cost GBP300. The plans for the Skoota 28 are also now available and cost GBP800. All three of these Skootas are built in sheet ply and epoxy. I have also drawn a Skoota 36 for building in foam sandwich, the first set of 36 plans has been sold to a builder in the UK who will use it as a charterboat in the Mediterranean

The Acorn is a 21ft lightweight plywood minimum fast cruiser. Some parts, eg boards, rudders, spars, can come from large beach cats (ie Hobie 18 or larger). The rig shown is the optional racing rig. Plans cost GBP150 and the first few plan sets have now been sold, one Irish builder has made his first hull

Acorn photos on Picassa

The newest cruising design is Vardo, a 34ft cruiser, something between a Romany and Flica. Many people (like myself) don't need the space of a Flica and want better performance. Which is why I like the Romany design. But many less fanatical sailors want an "inside toilet" and basically more comfort.

So this design is a cross between the two boats. The hulls are essentially enlarged Saturn hulls, but with a bit more freeboard. The bridgedeck cabin is Romany styled and a minimum size to get a saloon and space to access the hulls. (a quick note re the name. A Vardo is the Romanii gypsy name for the horse drawn caravan they live in). The first three set of plans have now been sold.

You can see a builders blog here http://sailingcatamarans.blogspot.com/

Please contact me for more details for all of these boats.

As we all know, the world is currently going through a time of financial change. The good thing for many of you is that the GBP has devalued significantly in the last 12 months, by about 25% against the USD and Euro for example. So this could be the best time to buy plans!

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For new readers

When I am not in the UK office Mary Theobald is the person to contact. She has a great background in multihulls as she has been helping to run the brokerage side of the Multihull Centre (www.multihullcentre.co.uk) for many years and currently owns a 33ft catamaran.

Finally: Normally we use Paypal as our payment gateway, but we do still take sterling cheques. If you wish to send one, please make the cheque payable to Woods Designs, not Richard Woods, thank you. If you want to pay me using other means just email and I'll sort something out

Many of you ask me for contact details of other builders. I'm sure you can understand why I am reluctant to give out customer's email addresses to strangers. So can you please use one of the forums and ask there for other builders to contact you direct. After all, that's one of the reasons for setting up the forums in the first place!

We really like the photos you send us of your boats either in build or sailing. Please keep them coming in, but when you email them please send them as JPEG's and send them at 72dpi resolution with a maximum width of 450 pixels. That size will fit neatly on the screen and saves both you and us email download times!! Thank you.