Custom Catamaran Cost & Builders

[alansmith]

Just forget having a boat built. Maybe a wharram style. Out of Florida would come in at that price point. But I don’t think you would consider such basic boat.

There are several things that you need to consider other than the boat. Are you doing this project in USA or overseas? If here then you better check how much money it costs to house the project while working on it. Will you work on it part time or full time? Will the yard allow you to bring in outside help for speciality things... like riggers, electrical, engine installation? Because some yards demand their employees do all work in the yard. Just saying!

All boats are compromises. It has been said ad nauseum. Buy a used boat that ticks off most of your boxes and have at it. You are dreaming or smoking something if you think you can get 45 footer custom built and sorted out at half a mill. A project boat or used boat ... and clever-handy guy with electrical, rigging, mechanical, and some serious acquisition skills ... in the right location not impacted with weather issues... maybe!

[Michael Pope]

I know you are not going to like this BUT for 500k you might get a partialy assembled outer skin, that you would not want . Simple rule A 45ft mono
hull finished if Custom one off will cost you 600 to 800k a cat the same length will cost you twice as much SIMPLE twice the surface area ,, Bigger tougher rig . Twice as much joinery as is twice as much room . I spent quite a few years building these and some customers would get mad at me . but you have to do the maths. Mono Hulls you can build by the pound Catamarans by the Acre.

Find an olderhull by a good builder modify it your self at least you have something you can sell and have fun doing it your way. Best advise I can give you is [do not keep the invoices.] It will make you enjoy the experience much more Michael Pope
Good Luck and enjoy!

[hlev00]

Check out Fusion 40. It is a modular kit that I believe you can customize. XYZZY is an example. https://youtu.be/iENwfK3anMs

[Squanderbucks]

We are used to purchasing most everything in our daily life that is mass produced on an assembly line. Very few things are custom hand built for our daily use. Can you imagine how much it cost to buy a one off Flat screen TV or buy one of those hand made watches?
Imagine the gist of your car if you just went to the parts store and bought all the parts one- by-one and sssembled it yourself.
Buying a pre-built boat does involve compromises but building from scratch also involves compromises. It’s just that YOU get more say about where and what they are.
I have a 55 year old boat that I have owned since 1990 and it is just now fully fitted out the way I want it. But I have had the use out of it cruising every year since then. Little steps. The journey has been part of the fun.

[ranchero76]

Anything is possible. Just forget building it in so called "first world countries" or by so called "very reputable companies". One day of work in these countries and/or companies costs as much as 1 month of work in other places.
You will need to manage project yourself, be general contractor, general manager, supervisor, problem solver and much more.
Search "Parlay Revival" on Youtube. This is good example what can be done for thousands of $ instead of spending 100's of thousands.

Most people in modern world are uneducated, lazy, unwilling to learn or look for possibilities.

If you want to give $500k to someone and get boat built for you - forget about it. Marine industry - one of the biggest scams in the World, oriented towards ripping people with deep pockets off. What in regular world costs $1, in marine world costs anywhere from $10 to $100, depending on their greed and your stupidity.

[Muaddib1116]

Perhaps you can find one of the many hurricane damaged cats out there, maybe one with more water damage and less structural damage, and then basically rip the interior out and rebuild it how you like.

[Paul Howard]

I have a Damien McLaughlin built custom catamaran, a Walter Greene design. I am not the original owner, though the original owner has told me they allowed him to work on the boat in their shop to help complete. They have built many cats and tri's as well as traditional mono's.
dmcboats.com, located Falmouth, MA, near the Cape Cod canal.

[alansmith]

Hi Paul H, I nibbles on a Walter Greene cat up in Maine for several years on and off. Bare bones cat. But she looked a hell of a sailor. I still think about her. He and his son had a custom mast built. She is sitting in Walter’s old yard ... not getting used in years now. Wanted over 100k for her and wasn’t priced right.

[Steve_C]

My gut has been telling me for sometime that for the quality that I want it probably not doable as a custom, but as I said before, If I am going to spend this kind of money, I want to make sure I don't have too many regrets

I have owned/worked on offshore boats my entire life. I do know what it takes to own one. I am just not overly exited by most of the models out there, and that certainly includes most all of the used and older models. There are a LOT of features on some of the new designs that don't necessarily cost more, but are certainly something I intend to have. I tend to work really hard to do things right and since I plan to live on this for the foreseeable future I don't want to just settle.

I will look at some of the suggestions given, but will probably end up with a slightly used newer production model and just bite the bullet and change things enough to suit me.

Balance is probably my favorite new cat at the moment, but they just don't quite make one for my budget, too bad!

I really like Outremer but the new models are hard to find used and are a bit small on the inside unless you go over 50ft, and of course expensive even used.

For my budget I am leaning towards the Lagoon 450S, but not a lot of used models available. I would prefer dagger boards and I don't want one loaded to the gills with generators and heavy options. But I will keep looking and who knows, I may even decide to slightly increase m budget!

[Tin Tin]

Check out these designs, costs are noted at the bottom of each model, excludes cost of 3rd party labor, plus the opportunity cost of your own labor, where it could be used to generate salary instead. Say 5000 hours or 625 man days at 8 hr a day.
https://www.boboramdesign.com/48c
These dollars are Australian so multiply by 0.7 to get USD equivalent.

[tp12]

Originally Posted by Steve_C

My gut has been telling me for sometime that for the quality that I want it probably not doable as a custom, but as I said before, If I am going to spend this kind of money, I want to make sure I don't have too many regrets

I have owned/worked on offshore boats my entire life. I do know what it takes to own one. I am just not overly exited by most of the models out there, and that certainly includes most all of the used and older models. There are a LOT of features on some of the new designs that don't necessarily cost more, but are certainly something I intend to have. I tend to work really hard to do things right and since I plan to live on this for the foreseeable future I don't want to just settle.

I will look at some of the suggestions given, but will probably end up with a slightly used newer production model and just bite the bullet and change things enough to suit me.

Balance is probably my favorite new cat at the moment, but they just don't quite make one for my budget, too bad!

I really like Outremer but the new models are hard to find used and are a bit small on the inside unless you go over 50ft, and of course expensive even used.

For my budget I am leaning towards the Lagoon 450S, but not a lot of used models available. I would prefer dagger boards and I don't want one loaded to the gills with generators and heavy options. But I will keep looking and who knows, I may even decide to slightly increase m budget!

Hi Steve,

It seems there's a lot of negativity around to do this. My offer still stands and I'm happy to pull a formal proposal together, if you decide.

I'm happy to make this offer to anyone else, too.

Cheers,

Tony

[Phantom v]

Hi Steve,
I am the happy owner of a Stealth 13 metre Catamaran designed by Alan Carwardine and built by Asia Catamarans in Phuket.
Alan has some standard hull moulds he uses to keep costs low, but I have seen his boats built in very customised ways to meet each owner’s requirements, from budget cruiser to more sports performance. Alan is hands on with his business partner Roger Diggelmann who overseas construction. Well worth a flight to Phuket to check out their operation. No advertising and no fancy overheads.They sit in the gap between standard production businesses and one off (expensive) design and build.
My boat was completed for a little less than your budget, but these things finally come down to actual specs, exchange rates and VATs applicable at the time of construction.
If you want any further info happy to provide it. You can also have a look at Asia Catamarans website
Andrew

[allatsea99]

Hello Steve,
Have you considered the Easton or Mumby aluminium cats - built to hot weld finish per you spec, variable arrangements for self fit out & finish with builders well within your US budget. I'm half way through to boat's completion.

[Tupaia]

Steve, you haven't really given the basis for wanting a custom build. Why 45ft?

This is a big boat for a single hander and a small boat for a family of 6. You mention an Outremer and then a Lagoon in the same breath and then talk of dagger boards. These boats and features are worlds apart.

Is it the just the layout of off the shelf boats that you have a problem with or do you have a particular performance envelope that you are looking?

How do you see yourself using the boat, coastal harbour hopping, smaller is better, ocean sailing bigger is better but too big can be bad?

Fitting out a boat is tremendously satisfying but you need to know what you want to achieve before starting.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Steve_C

I can certainly see I needed to be more specific.

I am interested in doing the electrical, electronics and controls, most all of the interior cabinetry and woodwork, and a fair amount of the plumbing. Even some of the fuel and mechanical systems.

My budget would be around 500K finished. Most production cats from the bigger builders include many things I have no interest in like propane systems and appliances, lots of marine electrical systems that I would rather replace including batteries, chargers & inverters, etc.. Even things like refrigeration can be expensive and for the same dollars could be far better than what is offered. Windlass and Winch brands, voltages and sizes are not always what I would prefer, but I am either stuck with what they provide, or I pay for it and then replace it

I also don't care for most of the designs out there, I can certainly find things I do like, but they are either too expensive, are too focused on the charter market. Or they are above my budget because they are VERY performance oriented or too big.

I am very familiar with the major designers out there and would have no problem engaging someone qualified to help me come up with a detailed design and working plans to get a detailed quote, but I hate to go down that road if my expectations are unrealistic. I have not yet found an existing design that ticks my boxes, but I have seen all of the things I like, just not all on the same design

Its been my experience that most people don't have the patience to do anything custom, in any facet of life, because its time consuming and requires too much thought and effort. Most seem to want to just see something and go for it, instant gratification. I understand that I would be looking at a process that would take at least 18 to 24 months and require a LOT of research, decision making, and elbow grease.

Even if I do purchase a production boat new or used, I would likely spend 6 to 12 months changing it to meet my wants and needs. If I am going to invest this much time, money and effort I would certainly want the end product to be something I truly love.

Most of the production builders out there have tremendous overheads, with massive marketing efforts and sales channels that I would end up paying for, that's why I am hoping I can find a builder that could possibly meet my needs within a reasonable budget. Before I shell out $500K I just want to make sure I am going down the right path.

I'd say it's doable for sure. It's the details like cabinetry, wiring, plumbing etc that run up the hours. If you do these yourself you should save a lot.