First Multihull

[perchance]

For all you Siamese mono sailors out there who designed the first Catamaran in the Western world?

[David M]

I would imagine that the first catamaran was probably two logs lashed together before recorded history?

[perchance]

Originally Posted by David M

I would imagine that the first catamaran was probably two logs lashed together before recorded history?

Rafts don't qualify.

[tenchiki]

I was going to say "Nathaniel Herreshof's Amaryllis in 1876, until I looked it up and found out it was Royal Society member William Petty in 1662. (Assuming the accuracy of Wikipedia)

[Sand crab]

There was a guy in the 30s who built a cat and sailed it from Hawaii to Europe which was the first notable modern day passage. Forget his name though. World War II got in the way and not much was heard from him after that. See also Woody Brown from Wiki:
After the war, Brown served as a US government surveyor on Christmas Island. There he was fascinated by the speed of the Polynesian natives' twin-hulled outrigger canoes. Back in Hawaii he adapted the idea, using lightweight hulls and adding huge sails, and in 1947 built the Manu Kai ("Sea Bird"), probably the fastest sailing boat in the world at the time and now seen as the first modern, ocean-going catamaran. He did not patent the idea; Californian surfer Hobie Alter, who sailed on the Manu Kai, did so and made a fortune as a result.

There are pics of these boats in Gregor Tarjans book "Catamarans".
.

[DaveOnCudjoe]

Certainly not first but definately a pioneer, Rudy Choy. Dave

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by DaveOnCudjoe

Certainly not first but definately a pioneer, Rudy Choy. Dave

I was thinking about him as well. He was part of the CSK team. Seaman was one of the guys and I forget who was K. I beleive they built the first fiberglass cruising cat. Maybe late 50s. I think there is an article in Multihulls World mag about the multi history. I'll look it up when I get home. BOB

[DaveOnCudjoe]

CSK was Rudy Choy, Warren Seaman and Alfred Kumalae. Actually Woody Brown designed Manu Kae which was built by he and Alfred and was likely the first modern(ultra lightweight) catamaran. It seems Brown and Kumalae built airplanes.

[Sand crab]

The boat built in the 30s was the Kaimiloa

See this forum
The James Wharram Catamaran Forums - Voyage of the Kaimiloa
We forgot James Wharram who built his first boat in 54/55. I was incorrect on the pics in Tarjans book. They are in the "25-Year Edition" of Multihulls World Mag May/ June 1010. BTW Prout was the first production cat builder. BOB

[Sand crab]

I posted this in my other thread but felt that it belonged here. This pupose of this post is to try to reduce the history of modern catamaran design and construction to just a few posts if that's even possible. If you have any info especially pics and dates then come on in.

From Wiki.

Early modern Europe's first documented catamaran was designed by the polymath and Royal Society member William Petty in 1662. It was designed to sail faster, in shallower waters, with less wind & crew than other vessels of the time, but the unusual design met with scepticism and was not a commercial success.[8][9]

The first catamaran built in the US was built by Nathanial Herreshoff in 1876. He also patented it back then. This link has a pic of a 1933 replica built of that boat. I'm not sure if he built more than these 2 cats.
THE MULTIHULL PIONEERS, MAGAZINE ARTICLE, JIM BROWN
Then came Eric de Bisschop in the 30s with his Hawaii built Junk rigged cat.
Amazon.com: Kaimiloa: Eric De Bisschop, B & W Illust.
This was built about the same time as replica mentioned above. I think the replica was first so that would be the 2nd cat built and Bisschops would be the 3rd.
Here is a excerpt lifted from Wiki.

In 1947, surfing legend, Woodbridge "Woody" Brown and Alfred Kumalae designed and built the first modern ocean-going catamaran, Manu Kai, in Hawaii. Their young assistant was Rudy Choy, who later founded the design firm Choy/Seaman/Kumalae (C/S/K, 1957) and became a fountainhead for the catamaran movement. The Prout Brothers, Roland and Francis, experimented with catamarans in 1949 and converted their 1935 boat factory in Canvey Island, Essex (England), to catamaran production in 1954. Their Shearwater catamarans won races easily against the monohulls.
The speed and stability of these catamarans soon made them a popular pleasure craft, with their popularity really taking off in Europe, and was followed soon thereafter in America. Currently, most individually owned catamarans are built in France, South Africa, and Australia.
In the mid-twentieth century, the catamaran inspired an even more popular sailboat, the Beach Cat. In California, a maker of surfboards, Hobie Alter produced the 250-pound Hobie Cat 14 in 1967, and two years later the larger and even more successful Hobie 16. That boat remains in production, with more than 100,000 made in the past three decades.

A largely forgotten designer is Bob Harris who published his book, Modern Sailing Catamarans in 1960 and there is a pic on the cover so there must have been some of his designs built somewhere before then but I can't find any specifics. See this
The cat-crazy men who got me sailing
MacLear & Harris, Yacht Designers - Boat Design Forums



Anyway this was some gapfilling on the history of the modern cat. It's stuff I didn't know. Obviously there are much older cats, tris and proas that go back millenia. Thanks all

[imagine2frolic]

Wayfinders : Polynesian History and Origin

Start here, and you will find your answer. It did start with the 2 logs, and began to get refined. You can google Philippine multi hull sailing, Boracay, and see some boats nothing more than logs skipping waves.......i2f

[Sand crab]

Thaks imagine2frolic but I am interested primarily in modern multihulls. This is a great link. Apparantly Herreshoff built at least 8 cats in the 1870s. And there is the actual drawing of one. Now that's what I'm talking about. BOB
nuttyrave's sailing trivia: catamarans 1662-2013

[imagine2frolic]

Just last week I was looking at Herschoff, and his starting the race late to go ahead, and win by a big margin. What would you consider modern? There has been a number of revivals of the multi-hull. It's just that lately it's catching on, and will stay with us. Some of the stupid myths are finally being proven wrong........i2f

[Sand crab]

It is not my intent to denigrate the Polynesians, Indians, Arabs or others for their contribution to multihull design. I'm just interested in more modern designs and the designers or builders. I guess modern for me would include Petty in the 1600s. I would love more pics, paintings or drawings of Herreshoff and Petty and any info of the modern designers like the Bisshoff, CSK team, Brown, early Prout, Harris and the rest. This drawing by Hershoff looks modern to me and way ahead of his time. BOB

[Sand crab]

Here's a link to the Prout Brothers Shearwater III.
Sailboats built by Prout & Sons on Sailboatdata.com
The Shearwater I was their first boat.
And here's a video link to the biggest cat launched yet in that era. 30 tons but they don't say how big she is.
GIANT CATAMARAN - British Pathe BOB