Aluminium catamarans.

[aqfishing]

I was looking at the Garcia yachts 52 ft mono as the result of reading another thread and stumbled across the Garcia Explocat 52. WOW

Pity about the €1.3m starting price.

But this got me thinking about Ally vs composite.

I have GRP and Aluminium vessels in my fishing fleet. Both have pros and cons.

I actually did not know that anyone was building ally cats. Are there any others?

What does this forum think of these compared to Epoxy or regular polyester composite cats in terms of:
Build cost effectiveness.
Safety and strength.
Maintenance.
Performance.

Wonder if Garcia are planing some smaller versions?

[SV WELDER]

Sure seems like a big advantage in terms of hitting reefs or surviving lighting strikes.

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by SV WELDER

Sure seems like a big advantage in terms of hitting reefs or surviving lighting strikes.

Was thinking reef, semi submerged containers etc.

But trickier to repair.

[Fatboypaul]

Ovnicat 48, shown on the Alubat website, although I'm not sure whether they have built one yet

[fillintheblank]

Mumby/cypher cats are also AL. check out the below channel, he has a vid series where he visits his boat as its built. At one point he states its costing him 300k, for a 48 footer. I am not sure how much that has changed, or what it came with for that price

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNd27y6T9-I

[SV WELDER]

Maybe harder for some to repair. For me, much easier. In fact I even invented a 24v battery power aluminum welding rig that works perfect for aluminum in the range of 1/8-1/4” thickness.

[hpeer]

Do a yachtworld search for aluminum sail catamaran. Not a lot but maybe a 1/2 dozen builders over the years.

[mcarthur]

Pro-meta (and Meta) in France did for years. I think they may still. Ours is from their stable, but is a powercat. Look up the Banana 43 and ilk for sailing.

Note that there's the usual aluminium build, and Prometa's Strongall (trademarked) version which essentially does away with cross bracing except for a couple of bulkheads. One obvious difference is that a 45-50 footer may use 4-5mm plate on the hulls for the usual build, whereas the Strongall is 12mm!

Another designer/builder - though not still doing it I believe - is Dashew. Both power and sail versions are out there.

[Garrett Reid]

Interesting that this gets brought up on occasion! I'm currently in search of plans for a build. Peter Kerr of Lizard Yachts has been my first contact and I'm awaiting his response. Owen Easton is another name that pops up and if anyone has his contact info please pm me.
I've been searching for a catamaran for the last year and a half, unfortunately the non metal ones that I've come across (within my meager budget) have all had high moisture issues. I've since changed my search for aluminum ones or perhaps a self build because of this issue.

[SV WELDER]

I’d love to build one too but it’s a big project for sure.

[Chrisatlantic]

I saw the DeVilliers 62 Elcie in Riviera Beach shortly after she was purchased by her second owner. Spectacular. IMHO the model example of an expedition catamaran.

https://devilliersmarinedesign.co.nz...ium-catamaran/

[Garrett Reid]

The Devillier 52 concept and plan design is very impressive. Are there any out sailing as of yet? I'll look into them further, thanks for the link.
SV WELDER, indeed a massive project for a self build! Might need some help!

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Garrett Reid

The Devillier 52 concept and plan design is very impressive. Are there any out sailing as of yet? I'll look into them further, thanks for the link.
SV WELDER, indeed a massive project for a self build! Might need some help!

Compared to a production cat of 52', the Devillier is surprisingly inexpensive when built in South Africa. Way out of my budget, but if I were looking at a 52' Lagoon, I'd much rather save the cash on a custom Devillers.

Matt

[zurk]

just take aluminum cat plans to any aluminum yard and have them built. no tooling required and all they do with the plans is toss them on a CNC which laser cuts the plates, toss the plates on a hydraulic bending machine and weld it.

unlike plastic cats metal cats are easy to build.
heres a ton of plans and they are waay cheap to get a new alu cat built.

https://www.bruceroberts.com/public/...escription.htm

[fillintheblank]

Originally Posted by zurk

just take aluminum cat plans to any aluminum yard and have them built. no tooling required and all they do with the plans is toss them on a CNC which laser cuts the plates, toss the plates on a hydraulic bending machine and weld it.

unlike plastic cats metal cats are easy to build.
heres a ton of plans and they are waay cheap to get a new alu cat built.

https://www.bruceroberts.com/public/...escription.htm

I agree, the only issue is a regular fab shop might not be ready for the distortion that happens when it is welded. Go look at jupiter 2 build videos and see how much they put in to stiffeners to prevent some of the warping.

As well as a fab shop wont be the best at the fairing process.