JWD podcat.

[Alex]

I know that this is tabu according to the "philosophy" but not everyone that wants a Wharram lives in a tropical paradise.... The videos of the Lapith voyage also left me thinking how much nicer it would have been with some decent cover on deck. The windage argument can be mitigated by reducing the hull windage and only using them for storage? Quick build hulls, without all the fitting out and easier to fit out a pod due to bigger space to work in.... That and a lot of folks add a deck pod anyway.
SomethIng like the islander 39 but smaller? What do you think?

[paul anderson]

A pod say that could be removed when the weather is good would be an option .But how to make it light weight strong and durable is the trick. To be honest here in the southern hemisphere i think it would not be a pleasant space to be in for a long time.There have been some shall we say ''clunky'' attempts to build these type of things on smaller w.cats but to be honest they seem to lead to a significant amount of other compromises that are unforeseen. IE rigging,getting around the boat, more weight. An idea i like for my boat is the pram like tents over the hatches used by Rory on cookie as well as others to offer some protection. Alex i just think these boats are just so good at what they are and really see no workable way to build something like what you have in mind unless you go the whole hog with a monocoque design, but as you say that is tapu round here.

[Alex]

Moved to Ireland recently and that changed my thinking! Even a light one with roll down sides & ends would be good.
The idea behind a podcat would be to have it on a smaller boat,reduce build costs and times etc.

[laurent]

for the pahi 26, following the weight and windage constraint ,I bought that :  http://www.nauticab.com/  ????  i didnt use it yet ???? easy to install 5mn , to crush and fold for security ... but i got bargain on the orange / yellow flashy colours, It smells plastic inside, i dont like   and I fill like in a safety emergency dinghy  ( may be it will save my life one day  !) i dont know if I will keep this concept ?

[Robert Sheridan]

I used to put up a dome tent on my Hinemoa when I was at anchor - worked a treat.  We put the JWD pod on our Tiki 30 and it has increased the weight and windage significantly and made sail handling a bit more tricky (it was great just dropping it into the open cockpit); but has made it a much more comfortable boat to live on.  It is all about trade offs and the type of sailing you are going to do.

As an aside: we experimented for a time with putting V shaped inserts into the standard hatches so that they could be left partially open to allow easy access for us and keep the spray out.  We were running with a F5-6 and when I took the inserts out the speed and dropped the hatches the speed dropped by nearly a knot, the inserts were probably not much more than a meter square.

Robert

[Alex]

It does look like a life raft but hey - in the right/wrong weather it could be good without permanently ruining the nice pahi lines. That's part of the problem with smaller cats - even with sitting headroom, sitting cross legged, the pod just looks too big. But practicality vs aesthetics....
P.S. put more pics of your boat up - there aren't enough pics of the Pahi 26 out there!!

[Sami Rumpunen]

Hei,

I'm rebuilding tane 27 and i think that i do hard bimini-top over deck with remowable sides. Something like this : http://www.mecat.com/photos/boats/30/Ragamuffin2.jpg CAt in picture is 30 foot.

Any opinions/comments ? 

Sami

[Alex]

Hi Sami - it's funny because I was thinking a Tanenui would be the smallest that it'd look "right" on.

[laurent]

hello,

wharram style, interior really cosy , make me think the TABOO of Wolgang Hosner http://yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-catamarans/custo...

[Alex]

While pods have become a reality on wharrams, I was trying to see what people would think of a podcat - ie a catamaran (wharram specifically) where the pod was the main focus and the hulls are secondary - purely storage and not even habitable..... Would anyone want/need such a boat?
Use for such a boat might be in cold/harsh climates, possibly for older or even disabled sailors.

[Galway Bay]

As someone who is no longer young [ouch] based in a harsh climate I just love the open bridgedeck boat. Even when we sail the old Hookers [coastal trading cutters] we all much prefer the un-converted open boats. For me a harbor tent yes but not for sailing.  Put a hardtop on an open roadster and you might as well buy a toyota saloon ??? Some times I sail a large trawler-yacht ketch and there is no doubt there is comfort  but also his cockpit is smaller then mine and you must stand on the seats to see where you are going......

There is here a large  inflatable used for charter tours etc. It has a super pod / cabin to seat 8 or perhaps 12 ?Very streamlined.  I could easily see something like this between two hulls and with a decent cockpit as a super angling charter boat or similar but more difficult to see it as a sailing boat ??

[Sami Rumpunen]

Here http://www.pca-seapeople.net/sp-02.html in page 16-17 are update plan for tane. if you do (like i) plywood deck you can make it "two layer" deck. Upper is demountable-bimini-top and second is deck(hope that you understand this idea). And when is nice day you don't need bimini top, and you have open bridgedeck boat. But when is raining or you are in beach overnight etc... you have covered deck with bimini and removable sides. And bimini is also removable. Last week i really needed some decent deck cover/pod because it was snowing and temperature was way below 0 c degrees when sailing. Not all who have wharram live in tropical paradise. We have 4 seasons and we're happy with that. And if you build a boat - build it to yourself, not somebody else. And if you are happy with yourself on your boat so then what about what other people think. I'm also putting some webasto/eber gasoline air heater to my boat due to icy fall/winter conditions... They : http://www.boatsmithfl.com/ added bimini-top to a wharram tiki and i think that they do not drive toyota cars ;-) This is just my opinions to this. If someone else thinks otherwise, then it is his headache. I'm only worried about safety issues when bimini-top is up-position.

cheers,

Sami

[Michael Zechany]

Hi,

I know that a deckspod is a no go on a small Wharram-cat although we have one and we are more than happy with it. Our Tiki26 was built in the Netherlands, later sold to the german island Borkum where we bought it five years ago and transferred it to Lake Neusiedl in Austria. Mostly we are sailing two by two with our dog. Our Pod meassures inside 1.9 m x 1.35 m and is big enough for us to sleep in it. If we have guests overnight on board, so they sleep in the hulls. The living space outside the pod ist limited to the rest of the cockpit behind and the trampolines in front. The cockpit is well sheltered from spray. If we have to sail in rain or if it is cold, one of us can rest in the pod. From April until October we spend normally three days a week on the boat, in July and August we use to stay two or three times for a week. I don´t think. that we would stay for such a long time on the boat, even if the weather is not so good.

I think, it depends on the region and the usage of the cat, if a pod is useful. 

To us applies as Charlie said: "got a pod on my tki, man it would be miserable without it, without a doubt, it "makes" our boat."

michael