From 4 years ago a memory, but so cool. The KHSD 56′ catamaran to the rescue. “Tanks for Vanuatu! Above & Beyond the Call of Duty.
When the crew of Sea Mercy’s Disaster Relief vessel “Lil Explorers” (Courage and Shannon) got word that the people living on two of the remote islands in Vanuatu were in grave danger and at risk (their water catchment containers had been destroyed by Cyclone Pam), they made a decision to find a way to help. Where everyone said it could not be done, they said they would find a way to help. The question was how to get the water tanks on their vessel and secure them enough to make the 80 mile sail to the devastated remote villages in order to deliver them? These pictures show that where there is a will there is always a way. Be warned, these pictures are not recommended to be viewed by the “faint of heart” sailors.
The good news is that containers (water tanks) made it safely, were offloaded safely (floated in), the remote island people were so grateful, and Lil Explorers and her crew came away unscathed and as hero’s. We’ll post the full story (along with offloading pictures and video) when they return to Port Vila and have internet again.
I will be out of the office and the country June 3 through 17. I will have phone with email and text, but not the workstation with me. I will not be able to send plans order fulfillment until I am back. I will be able to respond to questions.
I’ve pretty much been doing nothing but this upgrade to the world cruising 42 cat design to possibly go into production. And the 19′ cat for China. and everybody’s tech questions. I can’t show the design yet. Pic below is one of the original ones out sailing.
2018 was an odd year for my power trimarans. Two customers insisted on the amas being hidden if not all the time, at least in the harbor. They claimed trimarans are ugly but they wanted the benefits. I found a concurring opinion in Boat magazine, a glossy megayacht monthly. In an article on White Rabbit, a 275′ x 66′ “trimaran” they write about trimarans, “some people might not like the look of them.” As you can see in the Boat picture, it has pretty well hidden the amas. I would put it in the stuff done wrong folder, by gold plated design office who has never done a trimaran before.
My first one was a trawler in Estonia where it needed the stability and economy of a trimaran, but the amas must be as invisible as possible. It had so much volume that they had to be big enough. Job ended.
Another one in the last autumn wanted to power trimaran around the world. But the amas had to be hidden in harbor. I broke my rule about giving away too much free work because the project was interesting. 3D modeling was not in the scope of work and not paid for. I did it anyway. Closest I could come up with was sliding in at harbor. He wanted a very organic rounded look. Customer called up screaming that I was cheating him with work he didn’t authorize. I told him it was free. I never heard from him again. Picture is in mode.
Former Skipper Chris Bane notes “I’ve logged over 240,000 nm on that boat. One of the best boats I’ve driven.” Chris has driven just about everything there is.
New 65 foot Mosquito Fleet ferry proposal. Imagine a Holo Holo for cold weather, with classic lines. 135 passengers. 500 hp per side giving 27 knots.
Compare to the recent Kitsap Transit metal cats of 149 pax, needing nearly 5000 hp to go 37 knots. And costing $7.5 million each. They could have probably had 4 or 5 of these for that price, and avoided the soulless utilitarian look too. They could also be electric, but see how they have about a fifth of the carbon footprint already. #multihulls
It must have been more than 20 years ago that I met Gerry Downton. He was a famous around the world ocean racer and I was an obscure designer. He bought plans, built the 42 and sailed it. He notes, “Did a 5 year apprenticeship as a boatbuilder. Left Australia at 21 to go sailing for a year, but didn’t return for 36 years. Too many yacht races to do and race boats to move, fix, modify or build to think about stopping a great lifestyle. Ended up sailing about 225,000 miles during that time. Including some long distance races and 1 marathon race. Loved it all. Built “Exit” a Newick 36’ tri and “Gato” a Hughes 42’ for myself and am toying with the plans for a Power cat as my next build. When will this madness stop?!”
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