Peter....as you can see there is no mad rush by designers climbing over each other to entice you into buy their cutting edge F14 design. The F14 has pretty much been still born. The two designs we hear about on this forum ( Bernie’s 430 and Darrel’s A&O) have failed to get any traction in the market place. You would think a designer would throw their hat into the ring selling just plans. Although the designers might scream foul I wonder just how much effect there would be if you reduced a set of cutting edge F16 design plans by 15% to build an F14? We are no longer handicapped by the limits of what can be built with plywood. With the strip foam/female frame/mold method there really isn’t a hull shape on the catamaran landscape that cannot be built one off by an individual builder in foam and glass. Selling plans to a cutting edge F14 may or may not be as profitable as designing/building/selling a turn key boat but it sure beats not selling anything. If the market isn’t there to sell a completed boat at least you could get some ROI (time/money) by selling the plans. It’s a lot more practical to send a cardboard tube full of plans from Australia to the United States for $20 (shipping cost)than to ship a finished boat. It might be just what is needed to get the party started.
Yep, I did and I’m still thinking about it. I have the permission of Ncik to stretch the Tabby to 14 feet, still that will not maybe be the latest state of the art F14 cat. Still I think that if we throw in a little bit of money we could maybe get Ncik or Scarecrow to have a go at a F14.
It is too bad that the F14 is not going well. 14' seems to be a good size for a cat that is easy to make and transport, but still a good size for a regular adult single-handed. There are some 14' cat plans available, but they all seem to be rather wimpy.
Last edited by Peter F. Patel-Schneider; 12/18/0904:59 PM.
Yes, it's a 14 feet version of the Tabby 12. and it would be good enough to me. I agree with you, for me it seems the perfect cat to sail single handed. 30 kg lighter than the top F16 makes a lot of difference, it would be possible to car top.
There are some 14' cat plans available, but they all seem to be rather wimpy.
14 foot can look wimpy on the beach but when the wind comes up they're the bees knees. I now have three 14 ft Arrows, my 12yr old daughter and 12yr old crew sailed today in 18 knots on hers. Every time we went near them they were screaming and laughing.
Last edited by JeffS; 12/19/0905:46 AM.
Jeff Southall Current boats Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider Nacra 18 Square Arrow 1576
I'm not particularly convinced that a catamaran with a publicity shot showing it being sailed while sitting on a beach chair is going to be high performance, as was the case for one plan I came across.
We have a home built Pixie 14 from Woods, it's sailing all right, but the Tabby 14 will be a lot more fun and also ligthter and faster http://www.gust.ax/gallery/pixie/08-06-04/
Is it the one on the right in the first photo? They look really nice, and great colours as well. My wife is fighting me all the way on an F14, one day perhaps. If I could only buy one off the shelf, but I can't afford the Alpha. Are the plans available for the F12 boat?
I misunderstood what you meant earlier about 14 ft cats. I wouldn't call the Quatro a high performance design, the 14ft Sundance that Darry Barrett used to make was nearly identical in hull shape 20 yrs ago. The Quatro wont go up wind that well without centre boards, won't tack too well and it's not a high aspect rig I'd condsider all of these important to call it high performance. The hulls are only a small part of the cost and the rig will cost the same whether you buy the same as a 40 yr old hobie rig and look dated straight away or a modern high aspect rig like the DS12 that Gato built. just my thoughts (I'm building a DS12 as well) regards
Jeff Southall Current boats Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider Nacra 18 Square Arrow 1576
There is another funny thing about the costs: the hull/sail+ rig costs on a F12 cat is about 50/50, on a F16 cat 20/80. It would be time for some pics of your DS12
I don't want to hijack the thread but I'm building it slowly whenever my 9yo lad want's to build it, there's no point me doing it in a rush on my own. It's fun to do it with him and I've got 6 other junior cats. I've just finished painting one of the Arrows pink with my daughter. Has anyone asked Darryl or Bernie if they can make the shells without bulkheads and send them as a part finished kit inside each other for the new owner to put the bulkheads and decks on?
Jeff Southall Current boats Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider Nacra 18 Square Arrow 1576
There is another funny thing about the costs: the hull/sail+ rig costs on a F12 cat is about 50/50, on a F16 cat 20/80. It would be time for some pics of your DS12
I think that number changes a bit if you take the DIY approach to the rig and sails as well?
You will be surprised Btw, you can get a declassed Tornado carbon spar from Marstroms, and they give you a good price. Valtteri vent to bring one for his Blade.
We have three used Tornado alu masts in storage already which cost next to nothing. Thanks for the tip though!
Big part of costs is shipping, I got fairly decent price about ferry to Stockholm, so I picked the carbon mast myself from Västervik. All in all total price was less than what I payed from fully fitted superwing. The T mast chopped to 8.5 m was about 13.7 kg's while superwing was 21.8 kg's, so the clear winner is carbon (no righting aids needed ;)). It would be interesting to know what the chopped down fitted alu T-mast weights... Please note that price was low because that mast has been floating around their workshop (it didn't measure into T-rule), also currency exchange rate favored me a bit.
Only drawback is that my Blade is not F16 class legal anymore, the mast foot is about 1 cm's too high (7.5 cm allowed from beam to mast, my mast sits at 8.5 cm from beam). I could of course make new mast foot fairly easy if I would participate to a F16 event, but I probably would try to change the rule first (I'm not member though, so I don't have that option). Anyway I don't think that there is going to be any F16 class action happening near me next summer, so I probably wont bother.
Btw, you can get a declassed Tornado carbon spar from Marstroms, and they give you a good price. Valtteri vent to bring one for his Blade. 
