The Canoes of NG Yacht Design

23 July 2022     Editor    2 Comments.

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Papeete Tahiti based Nicolas Gruet - NG Yacht Design has an interesting portfolio that includes some now famous outrigger canoes of classic Tahitian form but updated with modern ideas about yacht design. See Outrigger Canoe 50 and Va’a Motu 30. They had me with the gaff rigs, but that ama on the 30 is perfect. Their latest outrigger: Pirogue 39’ VIP, is an aluminum power excursion vessel with wave-piercing bows. Again, a really nice ama from developable surfaces.

Ekolo’cat 34 is a performance cruising cat of a size and type that I often visit in my own sketches. It’s a 10m cat with no bridgedeck cabin, all accommodations within the hulls. The bridgedeck is left open to create a huge cockpit, but covered by a big solid Bimini to keep the sun/rain off. But check out the daggerboards: they are placed in the extreme outboard section of the hull, in a large step or chine just above waterline. They are almost like leeboards. You can see the practical result: the board won’t intrude on the interior as much, and the trunk is all above WL so no problems with marine fouling in a tight space you can barely get to, but… what about the downside? The foil is now effectively wave piercing and aerating, and loses the end-plate efficiency of a daggerboard buried in the keel. But wait… when the cat heels, the step will be immersed below WL, so the board will still operate with end-plate effect intact! That’s clever.

Sailaday 60 is a design for a large day charter cat to be built in foam/fiberglass sandwich infusion, which caught my eye because the hull sections are symmetrical both horizontally and vertically. This permits one half hull mold to make the four parts required for the cat. That’s smart.

Much thanks to Paul C. for the submission.

 Designers  Outrigger Canoes