off topic - been thinkin about buildin a cat and disappearin at c.
Any of you guys or gals build a boat?
on topic ; I thought too much toe but she just wanted to pump and go, is it faster because its red? I will let ya know on the next one. This one is hers. 
5’10-21-2.5 n obviously red
oh and check this out, http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/police-arrest-2-greenpeace-members-over-whale-meat-theft
Hi dlock!
Actually I´ve built one last year from wildwaterboats crosscountryskies and an old rigg. This was built for assembly on the spot (easy transport in the car). It was going pretty well once we found the perfect trim with the “keel”, which can be moved alongside the skies.
Should be possible to use the same construction with other stuff as well.
These pictures hopefully show enough detail:
http://www.soulboater.com/de/news/reports/article/397/
Cheers! - Detlef
check out this website, beautiful boats, easy (ish) to build, heaps of places to stash/lash your quiver and no roll at night! I’m in the process of building the tiki 46…the ultimate right hand point break seeker
I worked for many years at a boatbuilder, but never made one from scratch by myself. I hope you have a big garage or really tolerant neighbors.
I saw this one for sale awhile ago and would have loved to have purchased it- designed and built by Phil Edwards. Talk about a piece of surf history.
off topic - been thinkin about buildin a cat and disappearin at c.Any of you guys or gals build a boat?
I have been involved in the build of cats from start to finish and sailed cats and tri’s a fair bit, many other boat builds as well. I’m still currently working with a boat builder. Did you have any specifics as to what you want? I assume you want to cross oceans and find uncrowded waves since you say “disappear at c”? How much funds do you have to put into it? Its going to cost you a fair bit and take a few years if you intend to build a boat from scratch with new parts that can comfortably cross oceans. Then you’ve got to have the funds to stay afloat for extended periods. Don’t mean to put a damper on it with thoughts of paying for it. But I’d probably be there too if I could afford it. Economically better buying used. But if funds are not an issue no problem.
One of the cat builds I was involved in was designed by this guy:
http://www.multihulldesigns.com/
You might find some insight on his site.
As with many things, it will be better use of your time and money to buy someone else’s boat.
Unknown/unsaid is whether you have the knowledge/experience sufficient to make a round trip.
Thanks guys,
I have three options 1. plywood 2. foam comp. 3. cedar
All locally available and relatively cheap. The Mahi will be coming in soon and I plan to make a day sailer first, after an over 12’ under 20’ is put together I should have an idea of time and materials for the offshore live aboard I “really” want.
I can get cedar cheap. Just thinkin about hull designs now. Small cats are rarely seen round these parts, not sure why.
Any 18’ cat hull ideas floating around? Would love to see any of your input.
thanks again guys.
Man thats an awesome project, gotta follow your dream.
I’m not a sailor (yet!) but i’ve always had dreams of doing the same. Maybe some day
From talking to a lot of people about it, theres a couple of cool ways you could get your hands on a second hand boat
I’ve heard the rumours of cheap boats in the pacific islands… Apparently it’s common for americans to sail down to the tropics of central america, to hit the trade winds across the pacific.
Then sell their boats when they are finished, because you’d have to tack towards alaska if you wanted to sail back to the states!
Then theres the stories of boats being demasted, a little roughed up from going through a cyclone, but easily repairable, selling for a song.
And for some reason the owners have lost the desire to be sailors… 
and all they want to do is get rid of the thing that they almost died on
I always thought a cool way to do it would be to save cash really hard for a few years, then go to indo and build there.
Live cheaply, employ locals to make the job quicker, and just work on it every day.
It would only take you a few months then. Living in indo for a few months costs bugger all, and the labour is cheap
Surf in the mornings, build during the day
Then your right next to the best waves in the world, and the pacific an easy sail away. No ocean crossings. Island hopping the whole way
Kit
Yeah - I can confirm the “for a song” bit.
Florida is a great place to pick one up on the cheap, used to be anyway. Friend of mine couldn’t stop buying cause they were so cheap.
If you were building one now - would you go with composite?
I’m not very knowledgeable about building whole boats…
I run a company that does carbon fibre hatches for high-end yachts using resin infusion - so only small components.
And as I said, i’m not a sailor!
But I would do a sandwich constructed boat, and would infuse the laminate, cos thats what know
The hull is the cheapest easiest quickest bit though. The fit-out and rigging, hardware are the pricey bits
I’ve built a few small boats and know guys that are building large boats both diy and professionally.
The hull is the cheapest part. I think somebody already pointed that out…
I have built wooden boats (plywood stitch and glue) I’d probably do it again 'cause I’m a glutton for punishment. The building part isn’t what is bad, its just that any boat that is going to be in the weather most if not all of its life and is built out of wood is going to have issues. And if you’re going to put the labor in anyway you might as well build something that doesn’t require the maintence that wood does.
I’ve also built some ‘glass boats and for one off construction in composite I would go with foam cored construction, kind of just like building a surfboard, just bigger. Farrier Marine has a whole slew of excellent designs that use this method. Here is the link for a guy building a 44’ cat http://www.supercruiser.blogspot.com/.
Keep in mind that building boats is like building surfboards, you can’t just build one.
Matthew
And if you're going to put the labor in anyway you might as well build something that doesn't require the maintence that wood does.
Boat are very much work anyway. Very little outside cosmetic wood is nice. But then again wood hulls and crossmembers might be a cheaper build these days and can make a boat that can last many years. I guess it really depends. I would contact that yacht designer I posted the link to above. He’s got a lot of experience. I would also contact other yacht designer that specialize in catamarans as well.
These are the two boats that we built on Maui:
The one in the distance was the first built, and it was also the first vacuum bagged composite foam sandwich boat to be certified for charter in the USA. The Coast Guard was visiting regularly during the build. Both were foam sandwich hulls.The crossmember were mostly wood though, it was the hulls that were “compsand” 
, and some of the superstructure. The first took nearly two years and the second just over a year. I was also captain of both on hundreds of trips. In fact I’m pretty sure I’m at the helm of the closer one in this pic. We had both boats in the lower 20s, mostly around 17kts was the normal high speed. This closer one I used to do a sail around Lanai from Lahaina. Into the channel between Molokai and Lanai one time just as we were rounding the backside of Lanai I had this boat going about 26kts. I LOVE catamarans for sailing there is nothing like it. We also had a couple of trimarans in the fleet too though. Tri’s are good too. But I’m a multihull fan in general. But on the faster larger boats a good crew would be very important in my opinion. Things at speed can happen quickly. I’m not sure about fast sailing solo on a cat.
Catamaran hull shape is very important in the open ocean as far as comfort. There is a line you tread between a faster more pounding flat bottoms or the slower V for comfort. I delivered a 65’ Gino Morrelli designed cat non-stop from Dana Point to Costa Rica one time. I did not like the hull shape on that boat as far as the ride. I would have rather taken either of these boats in the picture above. But that boat started it life as a Dana Point charter boat I’m sure not really intended for open ocean. In Maui we had good winds daily and some of the channels can have good waves too. The boats were designed with that in mind.
Good luck, I hope you can do it and keep us posted!
Excellent links and what a gorgeous ride!
… congratulations. Surely many stories behind the pic. I’m kinda speechless.
