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Florida's "Sunshine Coast"
is small boat heaven!
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What's On This
Site:
1. Why I have come to believe that
small trimarans are the only way to go. [click here]
2. A Brief History of the 15 or so
homemade boats and rigs I have build over the past two
years [click here]
3. Our first "trimarans"- made
from kayaks (includes construction photos).
click here
4. Building our first "real" trimaran:
the tandem rig
(includes construction photos).
click here
5. Building the first lightweight, single-seater
trimaran, "No Commotion"
click here
6. Building Laura's 65-lb "ultralight" trimaran
- see 50 construction photos!
click here
7. The Amazing "Planing Amas"- see
40 photos!
click here
8. No Commotion Gets A Slick
New "Sliding Aka" System!
click
here |
2. A Brief History: The
past two years
and our 15 (or so)
homemade boats...
1. May-June, 2009
- Starting with what we had...
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What we had: Two Pungo 140
kayaks |
"Catamaran" #1:
Two kayaks in harness |
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2. May-June, 2009:
Still messing with our kayaks...
|
Replacing nasty wood frame
with PVC |
Patio chair makes it a
single-seater catamaran! |
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3. August, 2009 -
Our first real DIY boat: "The Red, While &
Blue" catamaran
|
Really didn't understand
sailboats yet... |
It looked OK, but it was
WAY overbuilt! |
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With tiny 53 sq ft sail,
also WAY underpowered. |
Finally a decent sail - 85
sq ft. |
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4. September,
2009 - Kayak catamaran #2
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"Laura's Rig" - Two
Potomac 10s |
It actually sailed OK! |
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5. Oct-Nov 2009 -
The "Flat Cat" catamaran
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This is really not a very
good sail... |
It was much quicker with
75 sq ft Sunfish sail |
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6. Jan-March,
2010 - The "Gray Cat" catamaran
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Trying to copy the "Hobie
Bravo" hull design. |
Some assembly required. |
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Fins added to prevent
lateral slip |
It was fairly quick with
75 sq ft Sunfish sail |
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7. February, 2010 -
The "Kiddie Cat" one-piece catamaran
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Sitting on its stabilizer
/ anti-slip fins. |
Homebrew tiller & kick-up
rudder |
|
Good execution,
not-so-good of a design... |
Not enough flotation or
sail power... |
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8. April-May,
2010- Kayak "trimarans"
|
First "tri" and first
homemade sail (ugh) |
Upgrading to a "sloop"
rig. |
|
OK, that looks much better... |
...and it also goes
much better! |
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9. June, 2010
-The "Red & White" boat (AKA "SailYak")
-- a one-piece catamaran
|
A cute lady in a cute
boat. |
It's a sailing kayak
catamaran - really! |
|
Once again, not enough
sail power. |
But it actually paddled
pretty well! |
|
Upgraded to 40 sf homebrew
lateen |
Now it's a really fun and
quick little boat! |
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10. May-June,
2010 - The "V-Cat" catamaran
|
My first sleek & quick
hulls! |
With 85 sq ft sail &
(cumbersome) sprit boom |
|
Replaced sprit boom with
better "foot" boom. |
Really a pretty quick
little cat - often 10+ mph. |
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With 118 sf sail from
Hobie 14 & stayed mast. |
Boat just wasn't strong
enough for stayed mast. |
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11. June, 2010 -
First "decent" trimaran (Pungo 140 w/ bigger amas)
|
Test-fitting the new amas
on my Pungo 140. |
First sail, using homemade
40 sq ft lateen rig. |
|
Finally managed to get
them painted... |
About 40 sq ft of sail in
a "sloop" rig |
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12. June-July,
2010 - The "Waterbug" catamaran
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4' x 12' - it fits in my
van assembled! |
But it's too tippy for
even this small 40 sq ft sail. |
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OK, now the beam is 8',
with Sunfish sail. |
But the sail actually
works better like this! |
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...and even better if I
mount the sail to the mast! |
55 sf windsurf rig looks
nice, but is too slow. |
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13. August-Sept,
2010 - The 16' "tandem" (two-seater) trimaran.
Although the main
hull (vaka)
was new, the amas were recycled from the "V-Cat" (item #10,
above).
|
My first effort to build a
"vaka" (main hull). |
Looks kinda cool with "amas"
from my V-Cat! |
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Bow-on shot with 85 sf
sail. |
Stepping off to the side a
bit... |
|
Now I add a 22 sq ft
homemade jib. |
It's pretty quick -- and
very stable! |
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14. Oct-Nov, 2011
- My first 16' single-seat trimaran, "No Commotion"
|
First assembly, in our
front yard. |
First outing was a "no
leeboard" test.. |
|
Twin leeboards -- a big
improvement! |
Adding the jib furler --
another big help! |
[Home
page has a YouTube video of NoCommotion going
about 12 mph.]
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15. Jan-Feb, 2011
- Laura's 16" ultralight" single-seat trimaran.
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Laura finally has her own
trimaran to rig & sail. |
Standing proudly beside
it, raring to go! |
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But she lets me take the
first test drive... |
Quick, nimble, and 30 lbs
lighter than my tri! |
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