More Angles
Some more views of the A Cat shapes in far away Mareeba…
Transit Time
No new interesting images this week since parts are on the road and other projects tick along in that phase where a lot of work takes place but the visible differences are small…For now, here is a video of the Aptec CNC machine at work on the A Cat rudder plugs. Thanks to all our regular […]
Milestone
Machining of plugs is complete. Next week they will leave the Aptec facility. After a few days in transit lamination of the female moulds can begin. Our decision to invest time and resources on highly detailed plugs should hopefully make the next steps more efficient.A few words on what you can see in the images: […]
Piercing Insights – Part 3
We saw in Part 1 and Part 2 that generalised statements about the handling qualities of ‘wave piercing’ bows miss the point that bow profile is a reflection of sectional volume distribution, which is a much more useful indicator of design priorities.Multihull bow sections have recently tended to carry volume lower down rather than above […]
Piercing Insights – Part 2
As we’ve seen in previous posts, conventional hulls resist bow down trimming forces by immersing more volume forward. This shifts the centre of buoyancy forward. If the centre of gravity remains stationary or moves aft, the resulting separation gives a bow up righting moment.Tornado style ‘conventional’ raked bow profiles indicate flared hull sections. Meaning the […]
Piercing Insights – Part 1
We are receiving many questions about the pros and cons of so-called wave piercing bows. There seems to be much debate among sailors, partly fuelled by unsubstantiated claims from manufacturers.As our regular followers and clients know, at Carbonicboats we do not make dogmatic proclamations about what our products will do. Instead we explain the reasoning […]
Getting Closer
More progress on the A Cat hull plugs in Far North QLD… The stable and durable yet relatively economical material chosen requires sealing of the final release surface. Skilled hands are needed to do so without altering the machined shape. A final pass in the machine ensures the shape has remained true before painting with […]
Emerging
Robot sculptor setting free the A Cat contained in the block… Images courtesy Alex Kryger, Aptec Composites
Sneak Peek
Machining of the plugs is underway. The time to show all is getting closer. For now here is a taste…
A Class Catamaran Crossbeams
Bonded or Mechanically Fastened? Most current A Cat beams are bonded to the hulls rather than mechanically fastened. With some increasingly rare exceptions, builders and sailors prefer a unitary platform. The downside of this choice is arguably reduced practicality for transport since the platform cannot be dismantled into its component parts. Accepting this compromise […]