What does everyone think of a contest between universities to see who can build the best catamaran, say, an A-Class? I think it would make a great cross-curricular project and would help get more young people into cat sailing. Of course, the biggest problem would be finding a sponsor(s) willing to put up the money for such a project. But they've got to be out there.

Comments? Suggestions?

Robert-
I think that's a great idea, and using a development class or formula class (for instance there are a number of homebuilt 18 squares and F 16HP's as well as "A" cats) allows some individual design input as well with the boat/rig specifications being already provided. I think what would work best is getting committments (at least for interest) from a number of Universities and THEN approaching potential sponsors with those numbers of committments in place. I could imagine you MIGHT be able to get some "big" sponsors to offer say, all the wood used or all the Epoxy (I'm thinking maybe WEST system or one of their big retailers- West Marine, etc.), sails (or sail making materials??), blocks, beams, masts, etc. for all the boats in exchange for recognition (or at least maybe some real price breaks so OTHER sponsors like Suntan oil companies, beverage companies, etc. monies could get more of the supplies). Should have a "championship" regatta scheduled so the boats would all have to be completed by a certain date and then maybe rotate the builders (on the team) racing/sailing the boats.
I would suggest if you pick "A" cats you use the Category 2 designation (minimum weight 200 lbs. all up) so you can get away with using wood and aluminum in the construction rather than having to go to CF, glass, Kevlar, etc.

Kirt

Actually, I'd be more interested in sticking to the 165 lb minimum. It would be a great place to showcase the latest developments within the university. At NCSU, for example, we have a rapidly growing College of Textiles that is developing countless new materials that could potentially be used in hulls, spars and/or sails.

Well, if you go with the Category 1 boats AND you come up with a faster boat then the University could potentially sell "building rights" to the plans.
So you might want to keep this in mind when trying to set all this up and/or trying to get sponsors--

Kirt

When I was an engineering student in college, we built concrete canoes and raced them against other universities. As a matter of fact, we raced at lake Norman in Charolette, NC. UNCC hosted the event. It was agreat excuse to have a fun and a big party. That was a long time ago though. Catamarans would have been a lot more fun, but I agree, who would have the budget? What about concrete catamarans? They make ferro-cement sailboats. Sounds like an engineering challenge and fun to me.

Don Cook
ARC22

Robert: I've spoken with several textiles graduate students, and they are all chomping at the bit to try something like what you suggest.

Getting the aerospace engineers in on it would be the fun part. I'd imagine they'd try to hook us up with some kind of hard wing.

This is an awesome idea!
Talk about a real-life, hands-on, cross-curriculum project! You could even get the business department involved to oversee budget and expenses, keep track of man-hours, etc.; and the marketing department to find sponsors and to promote and publicize the project.

I went to the U. Florida Materials Engineering Dept. 2 years ago to see about getting some carbon fiber parts made. The prof who does this said that they make little CF etc. specialty parts as biomedical projects- for $50,000 per project to start. The Aerospace Engineering Dept. makes mini-spy-planes for their annual student project, lots of prize money from the US Army, in a national contest run here. So it can be done- but show me the money! Graduate students, CAD-CAM design equipment and shop projects cost $, and undergraduates are generally very busy with required classwork. Signed the Ol' Perfessor

Well, it does not have to cost a lot of money. I met an old guy up in Western Canada who used to build an A-class boat (Unicorn), single-handed, every winter in his garage. The cost was covered because each boat was pre-sold to a friend or neighbor. Doesn't have to be a high-tech extravaganza. You figure out what you can sell the finished product for and build within that budget.

Well, RTodd and I attend the same University.... boasting the #1 Textiles School in the world. One could probably build an A-class carbon boat out of the scraps they discard every day.

Back when I played paintball, I had a COT undergrad make me a jersey made out of a polyester/kevlar mix that made getting shot by paintballs a little less stinging.

What an idea. Maybe sell the concept to Hobie, since they are obsessed with making strong, heavy, durable boats (No, I`m not criticising Hobie, they make great boats, just too heavy for my liking !)
I think ferro-cement boats only become feasible once you exceed 36-38 ft length in keelboats, not sure about cats. I`ts all about the volume of air contained by the hull vs. it`s mass. You also have finite limits for the min. skin thickness to deal with which means that the hulls would weigh more than the volume could support.

Make mine with a periscope !

Steve

I think the point of this competition would be to make it as light as possible.

Road & Track magazine recently featured an article about college engineering students building open wheel racers, why not cats? Check it out at:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/technical/articledisplay.asp?articleid=384

Hi Don

In my colleye, we have a "youyou" competition (youyou is a french slang word for dinghy)
The rules are simple:
100$ total cost including taxes (and it is in canadian $, once you remove the taxes and convert it to USD it about 58$)
4 hours build time
Only had tools
Does 50% of the race wind powered and 50% human powered

It is always alot of fun, some of the design are very funny and other are a bit more researched.

Here was our entry


The boat was built with frames cutted in insulation boards with strigners in spruce 1"X2" and covered with plastic. The Chute was shaped with packing tape and they were no stays but we used spruce 1"x2" to hold the mast (2"X3") up.

The foam frames were actually computer design. The shape of the hull was drafted with a 3d hull cap program.

The boat did well (we won the competition) but the wind was way too light and the chute did collapse a few times.

I was wearing my favorite hawaien shirt that day.

Wow.

Remind me to never use a $100 budget when building a boat :P

Charles,
That boat looks really cool. It would be fun to see photos of all the competitors. Did one person or two have to ride the craft?
Jack

Charles,

I like it! I imagine that you guys had a good time putting that thing together. Once again catamarans show their speed!

Thanks for the pic.

Don Cook
ARC22

Hi Jack

The rules: two person on the boat. On the humain powered part, we had paddles made from plastic serving platters and 2"x2" rounded with a plane

I have a few other pictures in my yahoo picture site
Main page of all of my pictures:

http://cf.photos.yahoo.com/leblancc_99

"The prao 24 pieds" folder contains picture of last year entry. It was a 24' proa built with a steel hull.
Unfortunatly it sunk! but it was the result of pilot error, it almost capsized in a gust while under sail and the hull took some water.

Proa link:
http://cf.photos.yahoo.com/bc/leblancc_99/lst?&.dir=/Prao+24+pieds&.src=ph&.view=t

2001 competition
http://cf.photos.yahoo.com/bc/lebla...w=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/

2002 Competition
http://cf.photos.yahoo.com/bc/lebla...w=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/

Other rules:
Some boats were bult with in the "professionnal" class, they get to spend 200$ on material.

All of the building material has to be purchased new

Next year we were asked to register in the professionnal; category. This means that we will have enough money for a 20' aluminium tube for the mast and also enough money to get a rudder and a keel (centerboard).

On the other folder, you will see a few picture of the back contry in my region. We are ocated near the Chic-chocs montains, an extension of the Appalacjians mountains

Hope you enjoy the pictures

Charles Leblanc