37’ Catamaran for World Cruising

This 37 cat is a brand new design. It was begun for a company on the east coast but they became under funded. Finishing the design was done here without funding, since it looked like a very useful design to me.

This catamaran is intended as a small world cruising machine. My usual rule is that no cat under 40’ should have full bridgedeck headroom; the windage is too high compared to the size of the sled. I do understand that many of the production catamarans out there are not really supposed to sail well. Looking good while stern-tied in Miami is enough. They have the vertical house windows and the excess windage is just not a concern. As much as possible, this cat design strives to keep the windage down. To accomplish that, the house shape is designed to be as slippery as possible. Higher freeboard hulls reduce the size of the house also. On the other side of the equation, deep boards and rudders help shove the boat to windward.

The boats draft is 1'-5" with all foils up and 5'-4" with the boards down. The boards allow pointing and tacking that the keel catamarans only dream about. And if a keel catamaran stuffs onto a mud bank, it will stay until the tide changes. With boards and kick-up rudder, you can make a turn back and go the right way.

Using boards can also reduce maintenance. If you hit a reef with a keel, the next stop is a boatyard for a haul out. With boards, the repair can be done while underway.

The flared hull shapes give lots of room inside, with a nice skinny waterplane.

Inside:

With a catamaran design, life goes on at two levels. Part of the upper level is over some of the lower, hull level. For clarity, I separate them into two drawings.

Inside the main salon the headroom is as high as 6' - 3" which allows sailors to go from one hull to the other without bending over.

There are several interior design plans for this cat. That’s one of the great features of all computer design is that designs can be easily adapted to individual needs. I guess I have been touting this for some 20 years now, but it is still true.

Even though the lounge sole measures only just over 9' front to back, with the wide-open hull access and the generous surrounding counter, it will feel very spacious. Sitting around the table space is provided for seven persons.

With Version 7, on port, forward, find the galley. It has a double sink, four-burner stove, cutting board and a total of about 26 lineal feet of counter space. Aft is a full height refrigerator. On starboard there is sit-down dining area for 7. Tucked up forward is an optional inside helm. A little farther outboard is a navigation station.

Version 8 also has galley on port, but the configuration is more compact. The inside helm and navigation station is also on port.

Starboard again has sit-down for seven or eight. Notice the generous counter areas over the lower level.

Now looking down below.

Both hulls have double (5’x 7') berths aft. Forward, of these berths, in each stateroom is a head area with sink, head unit, and on stbd. a shower. Forward of the port side head is a bath and sail storage. On starboard is another stateroom with a double.

On port, forward of the double, V8 has a large hanging locker area for a whole family's clothes and raingear. V5 has a laundry room there.

Out in the cockpit there is space for everybody and guests. Removable tables may even be set up there. The raised helm station gives a view of everything in all directions.

Only the starboard side has the popular, open walk-around transom steps to maximize interior space.

Rig:

The rig is the standard, fractional, extrusion that has proven to be so successful for efficient shorthanded sailing. A fractional rig allows smaller winches to be used also.

Lazy jacks help catch the mainsail when it is lowered, and they allow reefing on a downwind tack. Ball slides on the battens allow the main to be raised, reefed or dropped very easily.

All lines on the boat are led to the cockpit for simple single-handing.

Construction:

The construction is triaxial roving over foam core. The hulls are built with strip plank foam set over waferboard stations. The house, decks and bulkheads are done on a flat glassing table for maximum construction speed. I expect all parts will be built with infusion.

And:

The length overall of this cat is 36'-9". The waterline is only two inches less. The relatively long waterline combines with ideal hull sections to reduce pitching. Everybody can be more comfortable and the boat slugs to windward more easily.

The hulls displace a total of 10,200# with a pounds per inch of immersion of 1,106#. Combined, the hulls have a wetted surface of 270 sqft when the boat is fully loaded. A pair of 6 hp outboards will push the fully loaded boat at 7 knots. The specified engines will push it at 11 knots.

If the plans are followed, an empty weight of 5,480# can be achieved. The bridgedeck windows are 8 mm acrylic on the front and 6 mm on the sides.

This design has kickup rudders for beaching or clearing off seaweed.

This cat is more vehicle than apartment house. The windows in front are sloped to allow it to drive to windward. Those windows are tinted to keep heat out, and below them are large, openable vents.

I believe that this is among the best looking, best sailing 37' bridgedeck cats there are. It has all the right features to provide rapid, comfortable passages.