Since we were talking about cats...

So, here are a couple of out-of-the-box designs I really like...

First up is by Michael Schacht of PROA File infamy so not exactly surprising it happens to be a Proa named "Herbie". What impresses me off the mark is that in the proportions shown you won't have to go up towards fifty-feet in length to get a thirty-foot monohull interior...

I'd expect the sweet spot of a boat like this would be in the 34-40 foot zone with a cost to build on par with what an equivalent accommodation/payload monohull would. For my needs I'd expect a forty-foot version would work out just fine.

Two more reasons I like this concept is it sports a powerful, but inexpensive, balanced lug rig which makes all kinds of sense in a shunting sailboat and the design in general lends itself to an easy affordable build. Which, after all, is what a VolksCruiser is supposed to be about.

The other design for today is the Bit & Kontell 5.5 by Yann Quenet and it's not a Proa but then again neither is it a cat in the accepted sense...

Now, at 5.5 meters (18-feet) it's a little small for most folk's tastes but I've been very tempted to build one and sail it around the USVI/BVI/Puerto Rico for couple of months long surfari of all the good surf spots as a proof of concept to see just how it works and whether or not scaling up the concept to a full time liveaboard cruiser would make sense.

Offhand, I think an 11m50 version of this boat would make a great cruising boat...

So, do you know why we don't see more interesting designs like these? Why most multihull and monohull designs are just the same old same?

I could blame the yachting press for slavishly promoting/pimping whatever their advertisers are selling, the idiocy of designers only really designing for three markets (those being yacht charter, racing, and luxury play toys for the rich) none of which are optimum for just plain normal folks, or the collective greed of the marine industry where profit trumps everything else... To some extent I'd be right.

That said, the real reason we're not getting the boats we say we want and need is that we're simply not supporting the sort of designers who are putting heart and soul into different boats knowing full well that, more than likely, no one is going to take that leap of faith, buy a set of plans, and build them.

It's our fault...

So, if you want more innovative cruising boats whether it's a bluewater sharpie, a scow, catamaran, or proa buy a set of plans, build a boat, and go scandalize an anchorage .

Nuff said...