I've been thinking about someday building a little boat to sail in severe weather. Does anyone here have experience with these?

Quattro 14

Yes, I have buildt one before I started to sail the Tornado. The Quattro 16 is a handful in severe weather. The front beam has issues with punching trough waves. Otherwise it is much like the Hobie 16.
Dont know about the 14 tough..

If you want to sail something in hard weather, get an old and cheap boat and sail it to smithereens instead. You dont want to wreck something you just spent lots of money and time to build yourself.

Check http://www.multihullboatbuilder.com for pictures of my Quattro 16 during building.

It now lies at rest in storage..

I have read your website many times before- you built a beautiful boat!

There is an abandoned H14Turbo near my boat on the beach, and I might be able to get a new mast and mainsail from a friend (who got them for free!). I don't expect the Hobie to last very long though, and truth be told I'm not fond of such a low-bouyancy, pitchpole-prone design with so many joints in the pedastal that the boat cannot remain stiff.

I currently sail a G-Cat, which is also a 3-beam design. I wonder if the Quattro could survive as a two-beam boat, especially if unirigged with a very high bridle. I plan on using Prindle 16 beams from a demolished boat further down the beach which is slowly becoming a new dune.

I would also like to cant the hulls so that the leeward hull is verticle when the windward hull is just out of the water, and perhaps modify the deck ahead of the mast beam for greater bouyancy, with a V'ed shape to reduce the risk of a pitchpole.

Basically, I want something to experiment with

You could possibly manage without the front beam if you sailed it Uni rigged with a forestay to each bow.

I think the skegs on the Quattro 16 would be a source for frustration if you canted the hulls..
But, if you want to experiment, why use an old design like the Quattro hull forms ? Draw up whatever hull lines you like and strip plank the hulls yourself. At least, that is what I would have done.

Or, you could get the plans for the Taipan 4.9 and use those hulls. They are much better than the Quattro in my opinion.

Good luck!

Well, the Quattro is a stitch-and-glue design done in plywood, which is much easier to build than a strip-plank design on a frame. Especially when I don't have much work-working experience and I'll be working in (at best) a 40' cargo container, or (at worst) an open-sided pole-and-tarp 'car-port' in the back-yard.

I could add a 2"-wide plywood 'side-stringer' to the inner side of each hull. It would be about 2/3 up the hulls and perpendicular to the inwards-pull of the bridle-wires or dual forestays.I'll have it run the full-length of each hull and slot the bulkheads to allow it to remain un-cut. I imagine this could add a lot of strength to the hulls.

Also:
1) I think the Quattro hull design would be stronger than the Taipan design, due to the V-shape having the most material located at the keel. Round-bottom hull shapes have just as much (er, little...) material on the bottom of the hull as the sides.
2) V-shape hulls pierce waves better. The difference in ride between my G-Cat and my friends Prindle 18-2 and Hobie 18 is very noticeable in the wave-action. I tend to punch and slice through where they pound the heck out of their boats.

I don't see where the skeg design is going to be affected by canted hulls. This is being designed as a severe-weather craft, so if I can't be flying a hull while out on the trapeze... I'll be out sailing my G-Cat instead. This should keep the skegs more verticly-oriented.

How heavy was your Q16 in comparison to similarly-sized boats? If this is not a weight-friendly construction method, I very well might have to try strip-planking instead

I never weighted my Quattro 16 so I honestly dont know. A lot lighter than my Tornado and perfectly manageable for one person to rig, launch and retrieve. I have never sailed or handled an other 16 foot cat.

I dont believe you will use a lot more time on strip-planking than on stitch'n glue.

I know that newer designs without front beams uses several 'sub-decks' below the top deck in front of the beams to improve stiffness and strength. Marstrøm Tornado's has three decks in front of the mainbeam. This could be hard to do on a Quattro, but not impossible. Order the plans and ask Richard Woods, he can say wether stringers or sub-decks are the way to go.

The Taipan 4.9 has several deck stringers, but the hulls are othervise build much the same way as the Quattro. Perhaps you dont even need to do anything.

It sounds like you have a firm set of ideas and plans. Go ahead and build it. Even tough I would hate to break a boat I have buildt myself..

Good luck!

Does anyone have a resource for tornado plans?

A sailor in our Fleet built one, in fact it's for sale (although it's not class-legal). Drop me an email and I'll send you his. His boat is listed on our classifieds as well.

I'd like to build my own tornado if possible, but thanks for the lead, I emailed him.

Re: Tornado plans

I think ISAF still has buildings instructions for a wooden Tornado. Try info@sailing.org
If you can pick up a rig/beams/rudders etc. somewhere from a broken boat, you can build a quite cheap Tornado.

Dont expect it to last long tough

Keith- I don't see a Quattro listed in the classifieds, or were you talking about the carbon Tornado?

The carbon Tornado. Kevin built this boat, so the reference was mostly to contact Kevin for info on building a Tornado, although it probably sounded more like an ad.