Wharram Builders and Friends

A Photo & Discussion Forum for Wharram Design Enthusiasts

  The Pahi range was developed in the mid / late 70's. The Classic range was pretty much complete and JWD were looking for a new avenue to explore designwise.

  Apart from the styling differences other important differences were the introduction of lashed beams, daggerboards ,rudders in wells, and the beams were located in troughs on the cabintops.

  The relocation of the beams gave a great improvement in seaworthiness and accommodation. The clearance under the beams is greatly increased in a rough sea. The cabin is approx 50% of boat length while the classic designs were restricted to a shorter cabin between beams 2 and 3.

  I like the rudders as they lead to a very simple tiller arrangement. If a central tiller is hinged on the aft netting beam a reverse gearing operates [because it pivots further back than the rudders do] and the full control of the boat is inside the reach of the helmsman without the cockpit sweeping action of a normal long tiller.

  Any opinion on accommodation / performance will be personal based on what the boat is used for and the prevailing conditions in it's home waters.

  The cabin space is good with a long cabintop. A crew of 3 can gather in comfort in one cabin for a hot meal or a cold beer !! Stowage is good for personal and ship's /galley supplies.

  The clearance under the beams is approx. 4ft / 1.2m so a cockpit can be fitted of 24" / 600mm deep and still have good clearance in rough water or when loaded. With a high Pr/Co and good waterplane this boat takes a generous load without difficulty.

  This boat is designed in line with the stability range of the classics. As such the sail area is moderate. As a daysailer the performance is good even very good but the real strength of this design is it's performance carrying a load in open / boisterous waters. To the daysailer speed means a speedo / log reading. To a cruiser the real measure is miles run in a day.

  So to sum up I think that if you want to speed round the bay on a Sunday afternoon in an empty boat this is probably not for you. On the other hand if you intend to carry stores for a couple of weeks and make moderate passages especially in rough water / fresh winds you would find it hard to do better.

 

 

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Replies to This Discussion

First of all, thanks for starting this excellent group and for the welcome. Second, having seen your restoration photos I am in awe - I once had the opportunity to purchase a neglected Pahi 31 called 'Gadzooks' but my own inspection, confirmed by a Steve Turner survey, put me off. A most remarkable transformation.

Thirdly I am intrigued by your own review of the Pahi 31, since having gone through various standard multihull boat calculations for stability, speed, handling-traits and so forth this is pretty much what I had concluded were the characteristics of the class. Doing the same for the Tikiroa I was struck by the dissimilarities, which [at least in theory] would be the same even if you blew up all the dimensions to the same size as the Areoi - the Tikiroa is much more like an oversized catamaran dinghy and would be a cruiser-racer at that, given more sail and a broad beam.

I am no expert on sailing small Pahis but am interested in acquiring one, so any accurate evaluation of their comparative abilities is invaluable to me.

Again, many thanks.

I am trying to buy a Pahi 31 which is built following standard plans. Does anybody purchase plans for Tiki 46 type beams and for Tiki rig conversion.

Does it worth the money and the effort ?

Thanks

Benoit

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