After hearing about the drake expedition- the crossing of the passage between cape horn and antarctica, I´ve been seaching for plans to build an open cat 20-24 feet which can take some extra weight like food, clothes and water, for two or three people. Is it possible to just take any cat like a hobie 21 or dart 20 and add extra weight to it, or will the charactaristics of the boat change a lot? where can I find suchlike building-plans??[color:"blue"] [/color] Johnmani@freesurf.ch

A beach-cat will not take the extra weight of gear and supplies, especially for three to four people!

The Reynolds 21 or Stiletto 23 are closer to what you'd need and can be found a reasonable prices. The Seawind 24 is a boat designed for "expedition" style sailing and might be the best production boat you could buy for this purpose.

Otherwise, look at www.sailingcatamarans.com especially the Janus and Strider. These are boats you can build out of plywood and fiberglass.

www.tomcatboats.com

The Hobie 21 can do it. The same guy who did the Drake Passage also sailed from Miami to South America, island-hopping through the Caribbean. Four guys on two Hobie 21 Sport Cruisers. The boats were brand new out of the box and not modified. They were loaded down with lots of bottled water and one of the boats even carried a set of beach wheels.

And Hobie Cat Co. has (or at least used to) a very nice tent for the Sport Cruiser.

I would think it could handle three people easily (although sometimes three's a crowd).

James Wharram's designs are generally well-regarded for their sea-going capabilities: http://www.wharram.com/

Mark.

I'm not positive about this, but aren't those the sme guys that sailed as Team Semp Toshiba in the Atlantic 1000? Last I heard they were continuing up the East coast. Rick Bliss was trying to find folks to put them up during their night stops. There was a lot of detailed info on the cat they built/modified for the Drake's Passage trip on line. Here's a great pic from that trip!

Same guys.

Yeah that's Roberto and Duncan...amazing duo. They have a book out that's spectacular and I think it's available on their website here:

http://www.betopandiani.com.br/

Or here:

http://www.edge-ventures.com/

Semp Toshiba's (Roberto and Duncan) Hobie 21 was a very custom boat - I think they built it from scratch using modern high tech methods...


From http://www.edge-ventures.com/antarctica.htm
"The vessel choice was a custom built Catamaran based on the HOBIE 21 hull shape; construction and engineering of which was carried out by Barracuda Technologies, Rio de Janeiro. Kevlar and Carbon Fibres surrounding a 12mm Divinycell PVC Foam core were infused with epoxy, producing a bulletproof platform. Further modifications included - foam filled "crash boxes" and a total of 5 watertight compartments in each hull. A powerful rig including a 24m2 spinnaker and a 9.6-meter tall mast complemented the 3-meter beam to produce a fast and stable vessel. "

Jake, you are talking about the one for the Drake Passage. The ones they used for their Caribbean trip to South America were, as I said, brand new and right out of the box. We were there when they were getting ready to go at Miami Yacht Club.

By the way, Duncan was not involved in that Caribbean trip.

hi syncho,
Thanks for your message. I looked up those boats you mentioned. They´re however not exactly what I´m looking for.
I really am looking for a boat where you can sleep on deck.. like in a small tent. The hulls are simply for material. The stiletto 23 looks quite interesting.. I also found a nice sturdy beach-cat the shark. It can take quite some extra weight.
thanks johannes

ARC 21, lots of room, forward tramp, simple controls, fast.

Another shot

Hello Johannes,
Check out an RC27. There are five of them in Switzerland. The boat is 16ft wide and the tramps cover 21ft of the length. An eight ft diameter pop-up tent fits easily on either the front tramp or the aft tramp. The boat weighs 900 pounds and has a PN of 54. Check out the photos on web site aquarius-sail.com. This boat is what you call a fast cruiser.
Bill

Thanks billrob,
They look great..the boats on Aquarias sail.com
however I´m want to build the boat myself. I hope to be able to buy plans from them, though it looks like they sell only finished boats?!

Found this link,- haven't checked all of them out, but some might be of interest and some for sure aren't
http://www.bcms.bc.ca/Links/FrameBuilders.html

You aren't considering survivability. None of these boats, including the Wharram, is suitable for off-shore use.

It's true a Wharram 21 completed a circumnavigation, but the designer cringes at the thought.

The Reynolds 21 is a heavily built(1000 lbs) solid fiberglass layup, with opening nacelles allowing access to the interior of the hulls. Handles additional weight pretty well. 11' beam, main and fwd tramps. Rig could use strengthening for your purposes. I think there's one for sale currently in FL. PM me if you want his #.

Dave

There were several small British and Austrialian designs in 20-30ft range. The only one I can think of was the Strider.

Remember the hulls are the cheapest and easiest part to build. If you find an old boat in the right size and type with good rigging and beams, buy it for parts.

Try http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/ for plans