Well, I think I'm going to try to be the first person to
build an F14
I am going to base my craft on the
Quattro 14 design by Richard Woods, but make a few changes...
The beams will (most likely) be P16 beams because I can get them free from a wreck on the beach. So the boat will only be 8' wide instead of 8'6" (Q14 plans call for 7' beam). I don't care though, since going 6" more would cost me actual money
Also, my trailer and Cat Trax are for my 8' wide G-Cat, so I can hopefully re-use them on this boat.
I say hopefully because... I'm going to cant the hulls to whatever that "ideal angle" is where the leeward hull is verticle when the windward hull is just flying. I figure since this is a skeg design I'll need to do all the footing I can! However... I'm also playing with the idea of adding daggerboards because...
The rig should be a H14 mast and mainsail. My friend was given a like-new set of these for free and I want to beg him to sell them to me cheap. [color:"red"]I understand that a H14 mast is only 22' tall? Hopefully I can find a H16 mast and cut it down to 24'.[/color] However, a couple of nearly-free windsurfer masts later I'll have a big pole to fly a roller-furling headsail from. I'm thinking of something like a giant jib. Flat enough to be used upwind as well as downwind in just about any conditions where I can handle the extra sail area. Messing with the CoE like that could require some dagger boards to be used for balance while going upwind...(though the stock design does call for a small jib). I'll have to settle on my rig design before deciding for or against placing the 'boards. [color:"blue"](Rick- what's your expirience with the Hooter-equipped Wave? How high can you carry it, and into what wind-strength? How does it effect the Wave's balance with respect to CoE and CoLR?)[/color] [color:"red"]What would be a good maximum sail area for these F14s? Figure with a square-top mainsail on a 24' mast, plus some sort of headsail...[/color]
Rudders will be from a H14 or TheMightyHobie18 since I can also get these fairly cheap. If forced to, I could slap my Dotan Sampson 25s onto this boat. They didn't hold up on my G-Cat 5.7M though, and I don't think they're strong enough for catamarans (even if Hans is using them successfully on his G-Cat 5.0T). They'll be set perpendicular to the hulls, so the leeward rudder is verticle at the "ideal angle". Rudders also play a large part in resisting drift, and having them as verticle as possible should make them most effective.
I may also raise the bows and make them more rounded on top for some extra bouyancy and reduced pitchpoling tendency. It'll be fun to see how this project turns out, and having a light-weight (suspect it will come out under 200lbs) platform will make me much more willing to trailer to racing events. I
can and do load/unload my 400# G-Cat solo, and also raise/lower the mast alone, solo the boat in light-to-moderate winds, etc.... but it's a whole lot of work to do it for only one or two days of racing elsewhere, when I get to leave it mast-up on the beach here. As a result, I don't race at all. I know a lightweight single-handed racing machine would get my 150# self to a lot more starting lines (and hopefully finish lines!), and I bet it would do the same for many others as well.
[color:"red"]Any (constructive) comments and suggestions are welcome![/color]
