You might like to have look at my design for something totally new in the world of trailable boats. I've worked with epoxy resin for well over 30 years, and built my first ply/epoxy composite boat 25 years ago. It is designed for the amateur builder who can appreciate the benefits of working with plywood and epoxy. You can find the plans at
www.casacat.com Any feedback would be welcome. Regards, Terry Culley.
Pretty slick Terry. What is your estimate of building time?
Hi Craig, a competent amateur should be able to build her, including the trailer, in about 2000 hours.
That is quite an investment of time. I don't recall if there was an estimated cost published. Any wags on that Terry? Do you have other designs to share?
The 2000 hours I quote Craig is realistic. It's quite possible that a builder will complete it much quicker, but I know of too many designers who quote unrealistic build times. I want a good relationship with my clients, so I'm being straight with them from the outset. There isn't a comparably sized cat that is faster or easier to build than Casa Cat. On the costs side, anywhere from $20k to $35K AUD (Australian dollars), depending on material quality, equipment, fitout etc. Again, these are realistic figures. The FAQ page on my website covers these issues. I don't have any other designs available at the moment, there has been a lot of work to get the plans for Casa Cat to the stage where I'm happy to present them to the public, and now I would like to get out on the water and enjoy her.
P.S. A friend and I are launching his 13m Crowther cat today. He is a very experienced amateur builder and has done a superb job. Large boats take a large amounts of money and time, 12 years in this case, the last 3 full time. 2000 hours pales into insignificance by comparison.
I am afraid that don't care for the styling of the boat. Too angular and technological. Boats ought to be more organic. If it truely does take 2000 hours of effort, its out of my reach as I require 2 hours of retracing and confusion to achieve one good hour of effort.Â
Ah Terry, that 2k hrs works out to about 6 years of building time for most folks. Kids, wife , jobs, all those little nasties that keep us from the boat barns must be delt with. All in all it is a clever design and well though out. Please stay with us and keep us posted on how things go. Everyone likes a well documented build so possibly one of your buiders would like to post his work here. Everyone is welcome as is any design. 8) 8) 8)