Hello, this is my first post here on thebeachcats. I'm looking for advice on choosing plans for building my own. I do have woodworking experience and tools, and have built my own [skin-on-frame] canoe, so I'm not coming in totally blind. I figure the users here probably have much more experience and know of far more designs than I've come up with on a google search, so I'm posting here in the hopes of getting some recommendations on plans.
I'm looking for something 18 feet or under, ideally car-toppable, but nonetheless easily transportable. I'd like to use the boat for fun solo sailing (I have some experience sailing and own a sailboat but am far from an expert), and as a fishing and inshore freediving platform (so ideally something I can throw an anchor on and can easily get in and out of). Storage in the hulls would be a massive plus. I'll be launching from US East Coast beaches - typically rocky or sandy.
What I've come across so far are the modernboatdesign Tikino https://www.nautikit.com/…-sup-surf/tikino-16.html and the Woods design Quattro 16 and Pixie 14 https://www.woodenboatsto…cts/16-quattro-catamaran. As I mentioned, I'm in the US, so one of my concerns with both those plans is dealing with converting metric to imperial - I know its not difficult, but it can get messy. The other concern is that one of the comments on the quattro mentioned it was impossible to get a hold of the designer to ask questions, which might make this difficult for a first time stitch and glue builder.
Thanks for taking a look and any response is appreciated!
Edited by seafooder on Oct 22, 2023 - 12:13 PM.
Choosing plans for building a beach cat - advice
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Posted: Oct 22, 2023 - 10:58 AM
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Posted: Oct 23, 2023 - 10:06 AM
Look to build an A-class. These are perfect for solo and lots of fun to sail.
Found this info on this side at Do-It-Yourself: Build your own A Class catamaran! https://www.thebeachcats.…r-own-a-class-catamaran/ -
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Posted: Oct 23, 2023 - 10:02 PM
On a closely related note, I just came into a Unicorn, which is an early A-Class, and there's an active group for these things in the UK, including a guy who appears to be building one now. I'm not on bookface myself, so my wife has been relaying messages to/from them.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/146449118714805
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Posted: Oct 25, 2023 - 09:53 AM
I am currently building the Pixie 14. There is really no need to convert the plans from metric. Just buy a good metric ruler. It is much easier to just stay in metric. The plans are pretty easy to follow and the boat is not hard to build. Car-toppability was one of my main reasons for choosing this boat and even though I haven't launched it yet, the hulls are done and they are light enough that it probably won't be an issue getting them on the rack. I believe that the Quattro is bolted together and so might take longer to assemble/disassemble. The Pixie is basically held together with the trampoline lacing. The designer claims that it is quick and easy to assemble and disassemble. We will see. -
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Posted: Oct 28, 2023 - 09:11 AM
Thanks for the replies! Let me know how the Pixie build goes. I'm currently leaning towards the Tikino but the car toppability of the pixie is a big draw... -
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Posted: Oct 28, 2023 - 09:46 AM
Don’t even bother trying to convert units of measurement. Many brand name tape measures have both scales, & a good metal meter stick is not expensive. It will be way easier to simply mark out 25mm instead converting that to just slightly less than an inch.
Remember, it really doesn’t matter what the units are, as long as you have a measuring device marked in those units. If plans say, cut a piece 3 gronks long, you simply mark out 3 gronks, using your gronk measure stick, & cut.
Even worse, simple conversions can be done in decimal format, but you can’t find those markings on any device, you have to go to 8ths, 16ths, etc.
Once you use metric, you will appreciate how logical it is, the entire system is decimal, it counts in units of 10, & can be taught to any grade fiver in a few minutes. A millimeter is small, 10 of them is a centimetre, multiply by 10 again, you have a meter. We all know “cent” equals 100, milli equals a thousand, & the terminology is the same for all units of measurement.
A millilitre is 1/1000 of a litre, That same milli litre of water weighs 1 gram, one litre of water, (1000 millilitres), weighs 1 kilogram. A thousand of those kg equals 1 tonne. Easy peasy
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Posted: Oct 28, 2023 - 10:17 AM
The problem for me is that my table saw only has imperial units on its (well calibrated) fence scale. I don't know how many pieces I'll be cutting on the table saw to specific widths but that's the thought anyway -
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Posted: Oct 29, 2023 - 12:02 AM
I would simply make a template scale, zeroed to your saw of course, & glue it over your existing scale.
Many years ago I was doing engineering design work for water projects in the dry area of S Alberta, Canada. We were mandated at some point to produce drafts & blueprints in metric, as Canada had recently switched systems.
However, all survey crews were using standardized rods, which were in inches. Metric rods didn’t exist.
After two small field surveys of converting we realized that was ridiculously cumbersome. Someone had the realization that survey rods were simply a big stick with inches/feet marked, & generating a distance was simply reading stadia, (the number of markings between crosshairs on the transit), we could simply repaint the rods, but mark them in centimetres/meters. Now if 2.3 units were framed by the crosshairs, it was 230 metres vs 230 feet.
Easy peasy.
Edited by Edchris177 on Oct 29, 2023 - 12:04 AM.
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Posted: Nov 02, 2023 - 08:10 PM
Those dang elusive decimeters should be in there somewhere... :)
Millimetre, centimetre, decimetre, meter - 1, 10, 100, 1000.
I absolutely concur with your approval of the metric system. Woodworking became sooooo much simpler using metric measurements. America officially adopted the Metric system in 1866, and in 1976 President Ford made it the preferred system. Only the automobile industry followed that because they are so heavily federally regulated (our speedometers are metric too). People who grow up in other countries and move here are great with the metric system every day.
A 2x4 is 3.5 inches wide, or 90 mm. Wanna cut it in thirds? 1.666 inches. Convert 1.666 inches to a fraction = 1 and 33/50", not much help there. So now cut 90 mm into thirds = 30mm. Done. No pencil/paper/calculator on your phone.
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Posted: Nov 05, 2023 - 04:09 PM
Oh, I dunno why there's even a conversation to be had here. In Canada we "officially" switched to metric in the early 70s, but 50 years later, you're still buying a 2x4 (well, 1.5x3.5) or a 4x8 sheet at the lumberyard. The electronics industry was originally based on Imperial measure (e.g. DIP IC leads on .1" centers) but gradually moved mostly to metric (e.g. now I buy a PQFP with .5mm lead pitch). I say "mostly" because I can still buy that .1" lead pitch DIP to use on a .1" hole spacing perfboard, but either of them may now be sold as 2.54mm instead, so we recognize that as "soft metric" because it's obviously just a translation of .1". That .5mm PQFP, on the other hand, is clearly a "hard metric" part and you're unlikely to see anyone referring to that lead pitch in its fractional inch equivalent. So you just keep your wits about you and expend the least effort to adjust to whatever it is you're doing.
Now, don't get me started on the two different gallons or why how much beer you get in your "pint" depends on where you're drinking it...
Edited by jonathan162 on Nov 05, 2023 - 07:15 PM. -
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Posted: Nov 07, 2023 - 11:11 AM
... but as long as you're drinking the beer....
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