Gold Coast launches new Bieker 53 cat
Gold Coast Yachts of St. Croix, USVI, have launched the new Bieker 53 performance cruising catamaran. The polarizing aesthetics aside, we are very interested in this build. The curved boards are a moderate use of hydrofoil tech that is extremely promising. Unlike the fully flying Gunboat G4, FUJIN’s foils do not lift the hulls completely free of the water’s surface. The boards augment righting moment and pitch stability, making the…
The Flying Boat
Advanced Aerodynamic Vessels of Nantes, France, aims to improve the speeds of passenger vessels by harnessing the flow of apparent wind. The catamaran employs planing stepped hulls similar to a seaplane, but the resemblance to a flying machine doesn’t stop there. The central bridgedeck is carefully shaped into a wing that creates aerodynamic lift and reduces both displacement and drag:
The operational speed of today’s small workboats…
Trailerable Brine Shrimp in California
Though it doesn’t say in the ad, this 23’ folding catamaran is a Thomas Firth Jones designed Brine Shrimp. Built in 2000, the boat appears a bit rough but the nice thing about plywood boats is that there isn’t anything that a little time and basic wood shop skills can’t fix. The sale includes trailer, sails and 4 hp outboard (that needs a tune up). Find it here on Craigslist in Vallejo, CA for $6000.
From the designer:
Brine Shrimp…
The Sultans of Wing
Just to prove that we aren’t complete small boat snobs over here at Proa File, here’s a yacht that’s well over our usual cut-off in length and opulence. This is the sort of thing that Nigel Irens Design has been up to lately, and we have to say it: the A-65 is probably the loveliest luxury sailing catamaran launched since the turn of the century.
The challenging brief from a client in the Emirates was to design a truly exceptional…
Water Bug - an SUV catamaran powerboat
The Water Bug is an experimental catamaran motorboat designed and built by Russell Brown of Port Townsend Watercraft. It uses a pair of Tornado catamaran hulls as the base, and is extremely efficient, getting 20mpg at 11 knots, while loaded AND pulling a dinghy. Russell uses it like a water-born SUV - hauling stuff and going camping. The “car” is plywood/epoxy construction, it was drawn on the back of an envelope so there are no…
James Wharram Designs Mana 24
James Wharram Designs has a new boat on the drawing board, a 24’ trailerable catamaran that slots nicely between the venerable Tiki 21 and 26. The Mana 24 features some new wrinkles in the Wharram design evolution spiral, most noticeably a chined hull. The new design also features a cat ketch rig, which is well known on trailerable monohulls, and it is interesting to see it employed on a cat. No jibs means no head stay tension, giving…
Slightly Dangerous Commuter
We’ve become very interested in lightweight, fuel-efficient power multihulls. Slightly Dangerous is a 26’ plywood commuter cat for the San Juan Islands, from Bieker Boats, built by the owners, Gordy and Judy Cole.
Slightly Dangerous is not a kit boat really, but all the plywood and foam parts were NC cut for easy assembly. The hulls are 9 and 6mm Okoume ply, finished off at the bow with a foam crash-box. The deck is 3” blue foam with…
1980 sailing rocket w/ trailer
Seeing a Stiletto catamaran in 2014 always causes a “what the hell happened?” moment. The Stiletto was launched in 1975, the first (and possibly the last) production boat moulded in an autoclave of prepreg epoxy fiberglass/kevlar over a Nomex honeycomb core. This was aerospace tech for the middle class, and the multihull future looked bright indeed back in the 70’s. The styling was pure aerospace as well, and the boat stoked my teenage…
A Victorian Catamaran in San Francisco
This photo of a top hatted Victorian era gentleman sailing a catamaran named “Duster” by the San Francisco waterfront has recently come to the attention of the internet. After some initial uncertainty as to its vintage, the craft is now known to date from 1894, as in that year it participated in sailing regattas run at Sausalito, California by the San Francisco Yacht Club.
Unfortunately, beyond its name, not much more is known.…
Vaka Motu - work boat and beauty queen in one
Pacific Voyagers Charitable Trust is an NGO that builds sailing vessels that only an NGO could build. Neither the market driven yachting industry or corporate sponsored racing could even conceive of boats as cool as these, let alone build a fleet! This is Rangi, the second of the Vaka Motu line of inter-island cargo, passenger, and fishing double canoes. Intended not as a reproduction of prior art, the Vaka Motu imagine the future. The…
