I see the New Stiletto is Out

I see they went ahead and came up with one.  It could have been so much better.  I recall the design brief called for something besides cross tubes, but they did that anyway.  They sure should have looked into Rafi’s Cat2Fold system.

One of the biggest faults of the original I thought was that it had berths, one per side, that were some 13′ long and about 2′ wide, or close to that. That always seemed useless to me.  I offered them flared hulls with enough inside room to sleep two, the right way.  What I see is a wide transom that gets wider fast above the waterline.  That will promote pitching in waves.  Maybe it was not intended for waves.

I see it  has a prod to  hold up the bow net.  That is easier to break down, but once the mast is down,  you have nothing holding the lot up.

They did do a belly pan instead of tramp between the hulls.  I don’t see how they will origami it, if they will.  Again, Rafi worked out a way to fold those up, and in carbon, they’re not too heavy.

I thought mine looked friendlier also.  I don’t see any designer’s name mentioned in the advertising, so I’m guessing the whole call for designs thing was actually a call for ideas, like I suspected.  (Normally I can edit image size.  Word press changed without me knowing it and no longer will allow resizing photos.  I will have to look into that.)

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the design they settled on
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those look like cross tubes to me
stilettol11PSP2
I sent them this. Wide enough for two double berths, and real windows.

45 Bridgedeck Cat Update

I finally got a chance to update my long running and very popular 45′ cat model.
I wanted to keep the look and feel, and amenity similar, but add much more.
Notice the reverse bows to dampen pitch in waves, and the spray deflector that slides back into hull flare.  The hull flare is the best way to get gobs of room inside the hulls and still have a skinny waterplane so it can be fast.

It has about the same layout options inside, but a suncover over the cockpit and added transom steps for easy water access.

I  have chosen to allow the builder to make his own parts as much as possible.  The bowtube is composite, as is the compression tube, chainplates, mast and boom.  I will create an exploded view of the components as a flat panel assembly probably this November, along with the study plans.

I will offer this design once there are study plans, for the same price as the present model.  Once the set is done or nearly done, it will be available at a competitive price for the plans.

Mast can be fixed or rotating.

psp3b
an early version
psp12b
a later version
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later version at night

CMAX 2015

Its next week.  As my friend and GRPguru (www.grpguru.com) Andre Cocquyt notes,  “CAMX is the joint show of previously ACMA and SAMPE, so it is indeed the best event for composites in the US. Tons of seminars and the entire who’s-who in the composites trade is there, as are most vendors and technical experts, perfect place to (re-)connect with peers and make new business links. Good live demos at the composites alliance booth for everything from infusion to prepregs and RTM. Anything that is new in terms of materials and techniques is shown and you need a couple of big bags to take home all the samples and brochures. It is in Dallas, starting next Monday 10/26 thru Thursday 10/29.”

It used to be that the MACM conferences in Florida were then best to get information.  They ended.   IBEX used to be pretty good but nothing like the MACM.  CMAX is supposed to be the deal now.  I will make it to next year’s.

Geko Sailing Now

Quick little video in light winds. Looks so much nicer than when I owned it.  Seems to be impossible to place the url here, so below is the best I can get for now.  Not  on the YOutubes yet.   “Engine is working again so we had some fun sailing on Oosterschelde.”  In Face again.

Posted by Trimaran Gecko on Tuesday, October 13, 2015

gekoimages

 

Newest Uganda Ferry Sea Trials

The MV Bluebird is undergoing seat trials on Lake Victoria now.  It is built from developed plywood/epoxy, with lots of core on flat surfaces.  The whole thing went over in several containers after it was built near Seattle.  I will be offering an option that is not quite as wide and a little lighter also.

https://www.facebook.com/EWFerries#  I see this link only works in Face now.  If it gets onto Youtube, I will grab it.

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Out of Office Until 27th

I am out of the office and on east coast until the 27 of this October.
I will bring the study plans with me so I can send them. I will have CADD workstation with me and will catch up on several people’s projects. I intend also to do the update to the venerable 45′ ocean cruising cat. I should have online access most places.