Biplane rigged Catamaran
Hi there, very interesting to read
of another side by side rig
and in Junk sails, (see Dragon
Wings by Gary Lepak), I 'd love to see a picture
under sail.
In the late 70s I designed and built a crude
sailing catamaran ,meant for ferrying building material to GB
island.
It was 31 feet long out of steeltubes(rolled 2,5 mm plates),4
scaffoldingig planks (upright), keels 10 apart, 9 inch shallow
8 feet long keels, for grounding and lateral resistance.
2 telegraph poles 19 feet long in heavy tabernacles,
hinged, lowered when needed.
Sails - 5 battens, fan shape (home designed of
awning material approx. 16o square feet each.
Took a while to get it sailing on the wind in
light to medium wind, best result with the windward sail a wee
bit harder in than leeward. Seems paradoxical, beam reach was
different - leeward harder.
It steered so well with the sails alone that
I could take both rudders off.
Wing and wing downwind in a breeze broke some
battens - which were just pine from the local building supply.
Better material would be polyethylene water pipe.
Well, I'd really like to hear from your readers.
Best wishes Hermann
Otto