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Dan, you've hit on a big problem with small cruising tris-- lack of displacement. I guess that's why most of the fast little tris don't have cabins.

The 20' one I've drawn displaces 1400 pounds...

Don't worry about it. It took me a surprisingly long time to figure out that there was no point in replying.

I have to say that I've been doodling a little tri lately. I know, I like cats...

A perfect example of this is the barndoor rudders found on traditional catboats. Folks might recall that I tried barndoor rudders on Slipper, my little cartop cat, in an effort to simplify the...

It's really not that tough to make NACA profiles by hand. As someone pointed out above, it can become complicated if the board is tapered or given an even more complex plan form, such as an...

Wade, if you look around on Duckworks, there's a spreadsheet that allows you to plot and print out a profile of the 4-digit NACA foils.

Another possibility is to buy a model aircraft wing blank of...

There may be lots more unknowns than is generally recognized. Boat design seems to me an inherently conservative preoccupation, in the sense that few designers are willing to diverge wildly from the...

I would say that there's more to the question than speed. It might well be the case that a slow boat that is inherently weak to windward will not benefit as much from good foils as a faster boat,...

For the mathematically challenged, like me, Peter Vanderwaart wrote a nifty little Java program. It has lots of functions, but designing a sail plan is one of the more useful ones.
...

Gary, what a wonderful resource. Thanks much!

Thomas Firth Jones shows an outboard bracket in one of his books that slides up and down vertically. If you could see a pic, you'd understand the idea immediately, but I'll try to describe it. You...

Wox, Woody is gone, but he was a remarkable man in many ways.

One of the guys who's building a Slider is a retired Coast Guard inspector who was stationed in Hawaii. He told me a sad little...

Did you click the link? If not, it was an Oscar-Meyer baloney commercial. Apparently it was a witticism, directed at the notion that Piver's unpleasant personality had anything to do with the early...

The beams of the L-7 are very clever. They are of extruded fiberglass, as is the box they slide in. As much as I like wood, it's a difficult material to make sliding beam systems out of, because it...

Yeah, that was 5 seconds of my life I'll never get back. Foolish me, I thought it might be something informative or interesting about Piver.

Sometimes I think it's really a shame that this forum...

Here's the original modern catamaran: Woodie Brown's Manu Kai:

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4021/5124002899_354d80253e_z.jpg

Some folks may not realize this, but the birth of the modern...

The Spronk cats really were magnificent designs, and still look great and sail well today.

Probably the gold standard for looks is Newick, but he's been accused of going a little overboard in that...

I thought about doing that, but I couldn't figure out a good way to get ventilation and still have it be structurally simple and sound. Besides, when you're sitting in the seat below, the downward...

[QUOTE=JimD;3304929]Ray, I like the look of the oogly cabin. Got a side view?

Jim, this is about as much side as I've got in the carport. It is oogly, no exaggeration.
...

Because of all the usual reasons-- the pleasure of being on the water, with its wonderful variety and interest, the fact that the sea is the last wilderness left on the planet that is accessible to...

You're right, James; I know it must get tedious. Sometimes I feel like a traveling Baptist preaching to the local Satanist congregation (or it might be the other way around.) But I feel compelled...

Here's something I made for Slider. Because Slider is pretty stable, I didn't worry about gimballing the stove. I just cut a hole in the table board, which has cleats underneath to center it across...

Wade, I'm reluctant to say I won't have any rudder trouble, because if I do say it, I will of a certainty be struck down by the catamaran gods for hubris. But Slider's 4th anniversary is coming up...

I hate to find myself disagreeing with a designer whose work I hold in the very highest esteem, but I think the idea that monohulls are faster on some points of sail is no longer true. OSTAR was a...

Did it work?

That's freeboard. Hull depth is 10 inches more. Here's a snapshot I took when I was building, and because the coamings aren't on yet, you can get a better idea of how things are arranged. I think...

Wade, I was sorry to hear that you couldn't get leave this year-- I'd looked forward to meeting you. We could have talked about writing, and the new frontiers in publishing.

We won't have...

Yeah, I'm not under any illusions that I'm going to place high, though I would like to beat some of the Hobie AIs-- and I think that's possible, if for no better reason that with two of us and a dry...

I'm compelled to admit that as usual, you make good points. I guess I missed your point because you said this: "I'll be damned if I were to pick a de-tuned sluggish women-friendly boat over a...

It's a mystery!

There's no way to be sure, but I think Slider would be faster, though I have no doubt that James is a much better sailor than I am.

All this evidence is anecdotal, but you'd...

Oh come on. As James mentioned, women are less likely to see the point of climbing a rock wall, when there's a perfectly good tramway to the top. Women are less likely to see the point of camping...

I'm sure you're right about the partner's behavior, which can be truly awful. In fact, having spent a lot of time in marinas over the past 30 years, I don't understand why a lot of wives and...

AHA! You know, I started another thread in which I put forward the proposition that if you want a fast small boat that's also comfortable, you probably want a multihull. I'm just guessing, but I...

If you can't "gender generalize" then what is your explanation for the fact, which no one here seems to dispute, that at any small boat gathering, the men will vastly outnumber the women? This is...

Actually, Sam Devlin has developed some of his stitch and glue plans by making half models, in a process that doesn't seem very difficult or labor intensive. He details this in his book.

Well, okay, but with that attitude, how can progress ever be made? If you don't ask, how can you know? In order to make progress toward a goal you need a plan or hypothesis of some sort, and I have...

I'll do the same.

Sure, but if you're anything like me, you're here to learn stuff you don't already know. I'm pretty ignorant. I'm sure that there's stuff Richard doesn't already know, but the balance of knowledge...

I must have done a very poor job of phrasing my question. I'm not saying that switching to a more comfortable boat will automatically turn you into a babe magnet. Most of the folks who like to sail...

I doubt Richard feels that he's been "driven away." I imagine he just feels that the aggravation isn't worth it. For him it isn't. He gave much more than he took. What makes the whole thing even...

This is truly sad. Richard has been nothing but helpful, and has made an effort not to promote his designs above others, which is amazing, because his designs really are better than the designs of...

These are some inspiring stories.

I fear the vast majority of forum members are not so lucky, but my basic point of view is that there is always hope.

The bit from Richard Woods that I quoted...

You're a very fortunate and unusual man. Most of us acquire mates by a different process.

I met my wife in Nashville, not very long after I'd returned from the wars. I was selling my beginner's...

I haven't said that Slider is the answer; my only reference to my little boat in this thread was to say that my wife likes it.

As to "demeaning" I'd ask the women on the forum to let me know if...

This is a good point, but I know a number of sailors who are much younger than I am, but who also find themselves sailing alone.

Tom's point about children is a good one, too. Before we had...

I sure hope that's true, though sometimes I'm dubious. You're right that I'm a True Believer. But I've owned more monohulls than multis, so give me credit for seeing both sides. In my defense, I...

In another thread, I brought up an idea I have that if you want both speed and comfort in a small boat, you pretty much need to have a multihull. Richard Woods mentioned an issue he plans to talk...

You know, that could be a whole new thread. One of the most consistent comments I get from folks who watch Slider's videos is something like, "Your wife doesn't look scared."

I feel bad for men...

Very true. I have a friend who lives far from the sea, and always had a romantic attachment to the idea of sailing. He did have a Sunfish for a while. He always seemed to feel that our Wharram...

Tom, I don't think you're alone in this-- you're just a lot more honest than many monohull enthusiasts, which is a trait I admire greatly. It sounds as if your boat suits you perfectly, which is...

Tom, I appreciate the kind words. I wish I could take you for a ride on Slider, so you could make a direct comparison. But failing that, let me list a few ways you might find a slight edge of...