Choosing the right performance cruising cat for Uhuru.
- Thread starter Mambo Kings
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Agility
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My mast was controlled by a very simple loop of line and a continuous line winch. If I left the boat for an extended period, I took the line off and tightened the simple internal mastfoil caliper(?) so there was some friction but not enough that it couldn't freely rotate until there were maybe 5 -10 knots or 10 - 20 lbs of pressure. I was particularly paranoid because it was our primary home for 2.5 years. That worked for me for a year after our circumnavigation at the dock. There are lots of pros and cons. That wasn't one of them in my mind.
Also, the mast foil on the A47MF was only maybe a 3-foot cord a requires laminar flow to produce much power. Don't get me wrong, it was more than the windage of a mast but not that much more unless trimmed for lift.
Mambo Kings
Super Anarchist
- Thread starter
- #583
Images like these confirm the old saying
"Carbon is merely the poor man's wood"
That interior looks beautiful and restful.
If you have a big multi you have room for a glass/foam SUP. Just saying and yeah I think they will outlast anything inflatable by a decade or two.
Thanks.
No, just epoxied, other than the cabin floors. Generally 450 gm/ m2 biaxial sheathing, doubled up on the bottom, which is double thickness paulownia as well. Table top has 150 gm/m2sheathing. The free edges around the bulkheads and the bulkhead/hull junctions are are double taped/tabbed.
Anywhere that is going to get a bashing, paulownia should be sheathed appropriate to the bashing. That said, it is often used unsheathed and only oiled for solid surfboards.
The bulkheads are 14mm edge glued paulownia panels BTW, similar to these:
Paulownia Edge Glued Panel | Tailor-made | iPaulownia
Paulownia edge glued panel of single layer. Extremely light, strong and flexible. Edge gluing is an effective way to create a large, dimensionally stable panel of hardwood for creating a seamless and…
www.ipaulownia.com
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Beautiful work Sidecar. I love Paulownia and have built a few SUPs(paddle boards) with it.
Years ago I had samples of 4mm Paulownia ply made up. The idea was to use it for surfboard, SUP and small boat kits as it is lighter than Okoume ply. Was going to work out a little more expensive but not alot.
I also wanted to make lightweight panels for yacht and camping cars. Paulownia ply and armacell core. Armacell is a foam core made from recyled plastic bottles. Then a flax and Green epoxy backing. Sent emails to all the big boat manufactures in France and some other places. Nobody was interested as I didnt have samples and they had never heard of Paulownia. Flax was still pretty new as well. Didnt have the time or money to get the container load of ply. You would then need to do testing and get it certified. Then make the test panels. Lots of time and money I dont have. Still think its a good idea though. As sidecar said Paulownia is more available in Europe now so you wouldn't have to import it from China. All the materials could be sourced in Europe making it a lot more environmentally friendly.
Years ago I had samples of 4mm Paulownia ply made up. The idea was to use it for surfboard, SUP and small boat kits as it is lighter than Okoume ply. Was going to work out a little more expensive but not alot.
I also wanted to make lightweight panels for yacht and camping cars. Paulownia ply and armacell core. Armacell is a foam core made from recyled plastic bottles. Then a flax and Green epoxy backing. Sent emails to all the big boat manufactures in France and some other places. Nobody was interested as I didnt have samples and they had never heard of Paulownia. Flax was still pretty new as well. Didnt have the time or money to get the container load of ply. You would then need to do testing and get it certified. Then make the test panels. Lots of time and money I dont have. Still think its a good idea though. As sidecar said Paulownia is more available in Europe now so you wouldn't have to import it from China. All the materials could be sourced in Europe making it a lot more environmentally friendly.
^^^^^ This.
I looked long and hard at buying a container load of paulownia ply, even edge glued panels and bailed out for similar reasons plus inadequate Chinese contacts. It really is a no brainer.
As a teenager, in the late sixties, early seventies, I used to build my own Cherub class racing dinghies out of 4mm okoume ply (gaboon in Australia) I even used to weigh each sheet out of a batch to get the lightest ones. IIRC, 13lb was the magic number. If only I had paulownia ply back then. The irony (now) was that there was at least one Cherub class builder at the time who used to bleach okoume for a blonde look, looking pretty much like paulownia.
Back then, there were small plywood mills in QLD where you could specify the ply that you wanted, in terms of thickness, layers and timber species in each layer in sufficiently small quantities to make it worthwhile if you were building a couple of boats. I tried again when it came to building Sidecar, but no one wanted to know, even if I supplied the veneer logs.
For me, lightness isn’t necessarily the ultimate, it is the option of extra thickness you can achieve for the same weight as cedar or okoume, much stiffer and therefore should be stronger, plus more insulative value.
Paulownia ply is a missed opportunity for a niche market.
I understand that paulownia is grown and available in USA. Just do the research for the nearest/best supplier.
I looked long and hard at buying a container load of paulownia ply, even edge glued panels and bailed out for similar reasons plus inadequate Chinese contacts. It really is a no brainer.
As a teenager, in the late sixties, early seventies, I used to build my own Cherub class racing dinghies out of 4mm okoume ply (gaboon in Australia) I even used to weigh each sheet out of a batch to get the lightest ones. IIRC, 13lb was the magic number. If only I had paulownia ply back then. The irony (now) was that there was at least one Cherub class builder at the time who used to bleach okoume for a blonde look, looking pretty much like paulownia.
Back then, there were small plywood mills in QLD where you could specify the ply that you wanted, in terms of thickness, layers and timber species in each layer in sufficiently small quantities to make it worthwhile if you were building a couple of boats. I tried again when it came to building Sidecar, but no one wanted to know, even if I supplied the veneer logs.
For me, lightness isn’t necessarily the ultimate, it is the option of extra thickness you can achieve for the same weight as cedar or okoume, much stiffer and therefore should be stronger, plus more insulative value.
Paulownia ply is a missed opportunity for a niche market.
I understand that paulownia is grown and available in USA. Just do the research for the nearest/best supplier.
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Just needs a better name and $50M of startup capital………
KC375
Super Anarchist
Also known as the empress tree.
Paulownia sounds a bit too transgender for most peoples liking…..
Had a quick look around on the internet, there now seems to be a lot of Chinese suppliers of paulownia plywood with facings of other veneers. Suitable facing veneers would help to avoid dinging and dents and be stronger again for little added weight, especially in thick plywoods, or even edge glued panels for that matter.
Paulownia sounds a bit too transgender for most peoples liking…..
Had a quick look around on the internet, there now seems to be a lot of Chinese suppliers of paulownia plywood with facings of other veneers. Suitable facing veneers would help to avoid dinging and dents and be stronger again for little added weight, especially in thick plywoods, or even edge glued panels for that matter.
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Russell Brown
Super Anarchist
My buddy built a boat from Chinese Paulownia plywood. He was assured it was marine grade but failed to do a boil test on a scrap. Guess what? the only thing left is the bow section bolted to the shop wall. The rest went to the dump after 2 short years of sailing.
boardhead
Anarchist
I found a local supply of 8'x4'x 1/2"+ thick hardwood ply from "the Amazon" all of 30 years ago. When the kid driving the forklift told me the "Old Man" was winding up the business and would probably be dead soon as it had been his life I loaded my van until the steel rims were almost slicing into the flattened tires before driving very slowly to the nearest gas station, over inflating the tires and crawling home fingers crossed that they didn't burst!
Unloading into the basement down a grassy slope I was struggling with a few sheets and weighing them was amazed at the weight differences - like 54 to 78 pounds!
I decked out the loft space in our shore house with it after finding out the glue used was not waterproof but it has held up in that dry environment and still looks great and is super stiff.
We used to get the BS1088 ply in UK, cheap. As I recall the glue was good for immersion in boiling water? Wonderful stuff, very stiff but also heavy - was that Brunzeel from South Africa?
Unloading into the basement down a grassy slope I was struggling with a few sheets and weighing them was amazed at the weight differences - like 54 to 78 pounds!
I decked out the loft space in our shore house with it after finding out the glue used was not waterproof but it has held up in that dry environment and still looks great and is super stiff.
We used to get the BS1088 ply in UK, cheap. As I recall the glue was good for immersion in boiling water? Wonderful stuff, very stiff but also heavy - was that Brunzeel from South Africa?
It is the reason I bailed out originally. Everything was Chinese can do, but no paper work or proof of quality to back it up…… Even the edge glued panels I used were bought from the Aussie paulownia tImber suppliers.
I had completely forgotten, until I met up with the owner of “Champagne Taste” a Schioning 46, who came over to look at Sidecar late yesterday afternoon.
His boat is made out of “Kiri” which rang the bell:
FAQ - Paulownia or Kirri - the "newest" lightweight timber for Boatbuilding.
We first started to see Paulownia becoming available from Plantations in Australia around 2004. Well before the current boom in its use for framing and hulls of dinghies, yachts and other boats. Paulownia is a very lightweight timber from China that provides one way of building lightweight...
www.storerboatplans.com
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Maybe we need to start a Paulownia thread somewhere. I will leave that up to others that know SA better.
Really found a lot of info here great. Always been my dream to go cruising on a 40ish foot cat.
In a couple of years( I have been saying that for years) when the kids get older I may look again. Or if someone wants a break from their cat I live in a 3 bedroom house in Cannes. Could be a good 6 month swap!
Please keep us informed of what you end up with.
Really found a lot of info here great. Always been my dream to go cruising on a 40ish foot cat.
In a couple of years( I have been saying that for years) when the kids get older I may look again. Or if someone wants a break from their cat I live in a 3 bedroom house in Cannes. Could be a good 6 month swap!
Please keep us informed of what you end up with.
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