An original podcat
GALLERY | Click images to enlarge
The 32’ Podcat was designed and built by D. Kirk Fuller in the late 1980’s. The iconoclast cat was featured in the March/April 1988 edition of Multihulls Magazine in a story written by Jim Brown. Apparently Jim and I were among the few who liked the design, because few, if any, were ever sold. Innovative in its day, the Podcat featured all composite construction with fiberglass truss beams and a carbon fiber free-standing mast. To avoid corrosion, there was no metal at all in the design, with everything from stanchions to cleats custom fabricated from fiberglass composite. Truly a giant beach cat, the boat was more like a surfer’s mobile base camp than a lumbering condomaran. It had minimal accommodations in the central pod, but plenty of storage for surfboards and other large items within the hulls.
This example is said to be 36’ LOA, and it appears that a transom extension is responsible for the extra length. Find it here on Craiglist in Santa Barbara for $36,000. Watch the video here on Youtube.
Surprised this actually exists; I remember seeing tiny ads for the Podcat by “Captain Kirk” in the back pages of MM and/or Woodenboat for years. There was never a photo and I figured it was vaporware, that none had ever been built.
Time seems to have left the space-frame beams behind; probably a good thing as I suspect there’s a lot of hours and effort in them for little or no advantage.