our C3200 Catamaran "Everything is possible..."

Hello from Andalucia,

We would like to introduce our catamarán C3200 “Everything is possible….”

We have lived in Nerja (Malaga), South Spain for six years now and the sea is directly on our doorstep. Of course we had to have a boat. Since building boats is my profession and I am also a big catamaran-fan – I started looking for the ideal design. The following points had to be considered:

• The catamaran had to come out of the water after every sailing trip because the next harbours (marinas) are 10 and 15 miles away, and are completely full. Therefore the catamaran had to have wheels in order for the Caterpilar to pull it across the beach to the boat storage.
• It had to be able to be sailed with 1 hand only, because it would have to be used in the day charter business in the summer months. So it had to be: easy, quick and profitable.
• And last but not least: It had to be built on a very low budget. The time of 4 months for €5.000 - €7.000 was allowed but I can now say that it has turned out to be €12.000 and a 7-month-building-period as well as approx. 700 labour hours (6 weeks break inbetween because of the immense heat in the summertime).

The catamaran had to have wheels in order for the Caterpilar to pull it across the beach to the boat storage.

For the design I was inspired by the french-design Raidrider however the C3200 is an absolute shanty-style (scharpie) because I didn’t have time for forming and bending. Also we necessarily needed a center gondola so we started drawing our catamaran the way we saw it.

Regarding the rig: it should have had an A-frame mast angled toward the rear but HSS (Horizontal Sailing System) was the keyword. Many nights I drew and thought about it, but as Othmar Karschulin the founder of www.multihull.de said: "It will be an experiment because no one has experience with the rig on an 8 mtr. Catamaran." I considered James Wharram's Wingsail… but finally I decided on a completely different system. More about that later.

On the 23rd of March I started a scaffolding with square metal tubes. My neighbours declared me mad saying: "How on earth would that be able to swim?"

The total wood bill, inclucing marine plywood planking (7 mm), vertical frames (22mm), grounds (10 & 15 mm), came to €1.400 which was quite o.k. . The next steps were to cut the vertical frames and keels, glue them and then adjust the frame.

The first hull was standing. After removing the metal frame we built with the second hull.

The first hull was standing. After removing the metal frame we built with the second hull. Now they could be connected with the beams. The beams cost me €150. They came from a 14mtr. mast (200 x 125 mm profile) off of a Beneteau. The yacht transporter somehow got caught on a house corner between shipyard and harbour and since then it had sat in a lonely corner of the yacht harbour.

Now the decks are being glued…….

Both keels have to be very steady and strong because the wheels have to be fastened on the ends. For this I have welded a supporting frame from stainles steal square pipes which I have glued to the individual frames. Both sides have been covered with 15 mm Plywood.
The canopies were made from 3 mm plywood and then laminated over. Both hulls were sanded and coated with epoxy resin. Afterwards I’ve did the paint job.

At the same time, I started building the gondola. The requirements were as following: The outboard engine had to disappear completely in a box. Apart from that it has to have mounting points for the wheels to be able to cart them to our beach 50 mtr further. The building materials for this: 15 mm and 8 mm plywood. The equipment rack was really an optical gag, but it has proven to be very meaningful in actual experience.

The equipment rack was really an optical gag, but it has proven to be very meaningful in actual experience.

Luckily, I was given a large number of aluminium tubes for free (case of beer - Actually I only asked for the front beam). Since a mast profile is not very cheap, I was obliged to make something out of scrap aluminium. I had 80 mm and 100 mm pipes with a wall thickness of 5-6mm. The 100s were too heavy and the 80s too slim. So what could I do? That is when the aerofoil/wing mast idea came into me and with that the future sailing system was set. It needed to be as easy as possible, therefore I will do without a mainsail and only sail with a jib and a genoa. This provoked a lot of prejudices because this kind of rig is not common. But experience proved different. More about it later. I used an 80 mm pipe as leading edge, cut ribs for the profile from PU-foam, covered the whole with 3 mm plywood, laminated twice with 300g fiberglass and finished the wing mast for €200. Well, the weight wasn’t too good. With a length of 10 mtr and reduced from 50 cm to 30 cm, it weighed without spreader 55 kg. But it looks really good.

The 23rd of October was the big day. All parts were brought to the beach and assembled. The crane was ordered for 16.00 h to set the mast. Unfortunately the mast slipped out of the strap because one of the helpers didn’t watch out, and fell from a height of 6 meters onto the sand. No real damage, just cosmetic. I repaired it with tape - then the next shock. The back stays were 70 cm too long. An error of measurement on my part… Despite all that we gave the cat it's name: Everything is possible…. and celebrated with a beach party until early in the morning.

On Sunday afternoon I wanted to get the boat in the water, because I desperately wanted to know where the water line was. It was a strange feeling when the Caterpilar pushed me into the water backwards. My worst thought was that the water would swash over the swim platform, but it's short by 10 cm. After an overall check, I turned the engine on, pushed the throttle forwards and we started our first test drive. Up to that point our catamaran had fulfilled all our expectations.

The wind was getting stronger and the Cat was getting faster. The portside hull was lifting.

On Monday I had the back stays shortened and repaired the mast top and on Tuesday it stood as planned with a 15 degree declination aft. Both sails as well as the 10 hour old Mercury 15 HP outboard were bought very cheap on the www.bootsboerse.de website. The genoa had to be shortened at the lower leech. Both sails have roller furling gear from Alpa. The 4 main-sheets as well as the both furler-sheets are easily being operated from the cockpit with 2 Antal 30 winches.

A few days later we went into the water with the new rig. With a slight wind it suddenly went backwards!!! I rolled up the sails, put on the engine and drove a few miles out, then the wind came up. Engine in the box, sails out and off it went. The wind was getting stronger and the Cat was getting faster. The portside hull was lifting.

The cat was going 4 –6 knots. That is not bad with 4 wheels on the keels, is it? (obviously they come off). On the night of Dec 26, 2004 (Tsunami in Malaysia) we also had a very, very big storm here on the Costa del Sol and during that night, I lost both sails and the vessel collided with another boat in the boatyard!

In the spring the new sails from Stravsails in Slovenia arrived and we set out for the next test drive. At about 20 knots of wind, the vessel reached 8-10 knots speed to windward. Not superfast for this fast looking design but enough for the cheap sailing system.

A lot of questions have been answered on to the German Multihull-Forum. I must admit that this is my first wooden boat - before this I worked only in GRP.

In the spring the new sails from Stravsails in Slovenia arrived and we set out for the next test drive. At about 20 knots of wind, the vessel reached 8-10 knots speed to windward.

For the fillets we used 30 liters of wood flour. Epoxy we got for €5,80/kilo. Total used: 90 kg. 2K-PU yacht paint was €14/kilo. We esed 20 Kg. The hulls as well as the gondola were not completely fiberglassed over - only the stressed points - but they were given three coats of epoxy resin.

Best wishes from the sunshine Coast
Angelika & Achim
www.coast-flyer.com
coast_flyer@hotmail.com