Beetle Cat plans?

[CJ]

Does anyone know if they exist, and if so, how I can get a set for the 12 foot Beetle Cat? Thank you.

[Nicholas Carey]

No and No. But the Beetle Boat Company will build/sell you one. I believe they run about $13K US or so. Plans for a Beelte Cat may exist, but good luck getting them from Beetle :D

Beetles are somewhat mass-produced -- all the tooling is set up in the form of molds, patterns, jigs and fixtures.

They've got the process pretty much nailed down -- the parts are made separately and assembled into a boat.

You can go to their web site and order up, for instance, a specific plank (port side, 3rd down form the sheer, say) and receive it, pre-spiled and ready to install.

Phil Bolger has a stitch-and-tape plywood version of the Beetle Cat available, and there are plans for small cats of similar dimensions available, but not for the Beetle. They have a vested interest in preserving their franchise.

[htom]

Bolger's Bobcat /Payson's Instant Catboat are kind of like the Beetle Cat, but the real Beetle Cat plans may be available.

http://www.instantboats.com/bticb.htm

[JimM]

Why not look at Bill Garden's Tom Cat. It was designed to sail the the same or better performance than the Bettle Cat. And the plans and a book are available from Wooden Boat Store. One added feature. You don't have to sit on the floor boards.

[Keith Wilson]

William Garden has designed a very very similar boat for himself. It's based directly on the Beetle Cat, with slightly more freeboard, and seats to make sailing more pleasant with 90-year-old knees. He has written a lovely little book published by WB called "The Making of Tomcat". It's available from the WB store, and contains plans and some construction details. The boat was in WB magazine a while back. I'd highly recommend it if you want a little catboat. Look here:
http://www.woodenboatstore.com/Prodinfo.asp?number=325-128&item=1
www.woodenboat.com/tcsample.pdf (http://www.woodenboat.com/tcsample.pdf)

[rbgarr]

Like many Herreshoff Mfg Co. small boats, the original Beetle cats have only been built on a mold with many jigged parts, as mentioned earlier. There are no drawn plans or table of offsets and probably never have been, afaik.

The shop is very interesting to visit.

[adampet]

Or you could buy a restored Beetlecat at IYRS for about $6500. http://www.iyrs.org/
They are experts at restoring them and often have several for sale.
Adam

[ddeaton]

they go for a little more than $6500. I was quoted 10K last year and on thier web site now for $11,500

[Alan]

Has anyone heard anything yet about a larger version of the Tom Cat?

[Steve Paskey]

If I remember correctly, someone on the forum is building a larger version. He's scaling everything up by 37.5% -- WITH the designer's blessing, and 500 pounds of ballast. (If Mr. Garden says it will work, that's good enough for me.)

Here's the thread:
http://www.woodenboatvb.com/www/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=49535&highlight=tom+cat

[Kevin G]

Go to beetlecat.org. There are a few of them for sale there

kg

[Steve Paskey]

There's a list of used boats for sale at the builder's web site:

http://www.beetlecat.com/used-beetle-cats-for-sale.htm

A "project" boat can be had for as low as $1,800. Several are listed at $2,500.

[rbgarr]

At a local bar there's an old one that has been cut in half lengthwise and mounted high on the wall like a half model. Last weekend there was a charity motorcycle run and there were hundreds if not thousands of bikers in town. It's an annual event and the half-cat's cockpit gets used like a basketball-hoop-wastebasket for patrons empty beer bottles. My daughter had to clean it out once.

Come on up with some pretty LA girl in short shorts and if she'll climb a ladder to take measurements while you record them, I bet you could get free beers all day long! Of course the lines and offsets you'd end up with would be wobbly and unfair, but I'd blame that on the boat.;)

[Dave Carnell]

Some years ago WB started a serial article "How to Build a Beetle Cat". As I remember, only one installment was published. Nothing else ever was published.

[JimM]

The articles are in issues 51, 52 and 53. They show how Concordia Shop build the boats from keel to ribs. There is not table of offsets.:(

[CJ]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've only built a few boats and would need quite a bit of information in order to pull off building a Beetle Cat. I'm not really interested in a restoration project or building a 'similar' boat. The 12 foot Beetle Cat is somewhat sentimental to me as I have fond memories as a kid hanging around a marina in Westport, MA and sailing one of these with a toothless, old boat builder who built one at that yard. He let me watch him build it, help him roll it way across the marina with logs to get it to the ramp and sail it some - taking it out much further than a 12 footer should go. Anyway, I was really hoping to find some info to build one myself as I do like the chubby lines it has. I'll keep searching. Thanks agian.

[paladin]

There's an 11 foot catboat designed by Charles Wittholz...and the 17 footer currently built by Cape Cod Shipbuilding was designed by Wittholz originally for Ted Hermanns boatshop...plans still available from Missus Wittholz....and the plans for the 14 foot corvus is available from WB...