| Here
is the next catamaran from my drawing board. This time it is a
small power cat. The boat has been on my web page as a standard
design a bit longer as a year. I was waiting to introduce the
boat because an client from Bellmore/WA was building the first
one. As you can see from the pictures, he made a professional
job of it. No wonder because he is a professional.
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ECO power boat in a beautiful setting meeting
old and new. |
The boat is derived from our ECOnomy cruiser design. The under
water shape is only changed towards the transom. The interior
layout is the same.
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Interior layout
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Construction is plywood/glass/Epoxy composite, as always. The
boat can sleep up to four when an cockpit tent is used. The boat
was designed as an leisure travel boat with a good cruising speed.
Economical to use was very high on my priority list and I mean
really economical. We expect 12 knots from 2 x 5 hp engines when
light loaded. More to this later.
Specification
L.o.a. 5.50m
Beam 2.50m
Draught hull 0.22m
Weight 275 kg
Weight max. CWL 620 kg
Outboard engines 2x 5 HP
Here some construction pictures of the boat.
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Hulls under construction
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Front view |
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Right side up |
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Side view, cabin and cockpit |
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Engines mounted |
Ron made a beautiful interior too. In general, the boat is inside
as designed and shown in the plans. With all his experience, he
knew precisely what he wanted. I quote him here:
"Two Brompton folding bikes or one inflatable double
kayak fit under the berth flat. Porti-potti below folding
seat in starboard hull. Galley unit slides to center for access
to port hull storage aft of cabin bulkhead (pantry boxes). The
trim and galley was from a lovely sheet of 6mm Bruynzeel ply -
left over from building Wayfarer kits twenty years ago - just
had to use it. Table folds. Ice chest in cockpit doubles as table.
25 liter water jug in port side aft cockpit hatch compartment.
As we have enjoyed our prior Jarcat for ten years, we knew just
what was needed to make the Ecocat a comfortable "cottage
on the water". Snaps are for window coverings. Solar
vent fan in forward hatch. Black access port on forward bulkhead
to anchor locker.“
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Looking aft |
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Pantry and part of the table |
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Cabin looking forwards |
Ron has made extended excursions this summer. I quote again from
one of his letters.
“So there we are with the most detailed data I can
offer. Again, I am totally pleased with the cruising livability
( and trailerability) of the Eco Cat. Just want to rethink the
power. I do think a single outboard is the way I would like to
go. One gives up the ability to spin the boat in place and
the backup of two motors. The water is flat and green between
the hulls so water should not fountain up the motor leg (past
the baffle fins) as with the Jarcat. Control complexity, weight
and cost and will be reduced (if done originally). Fuel
economy at any given speed should be a lot better as the 5HP Honda's
are old tech vs the 9.9/15 heads plus only one motor. NVH (noise/vibration/harshness)
should make life pleasant. And available speed will be much better.
I would like to cruise at up to ten knots and, perhaps, have a
fifteen knot potential.“
This is also my intention. I will discard the two engines for
a single outboard installation. In the near future a trim tab
will be added.
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ECO in a nice scenery |
It is very satisfactory for me as designer to see that the boat
behaves, and was coming out precisely, as intended.
The plans consists of 13 CAD drawings and a 13 page description.
Website: www.ikarus342000.com
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