Just wondering if you are able to home build a f16 blade and if so where can you get the plans from

You should contact Phill Brander about the plans. See http://www.bladecatamarans.com/ the "Who" section for details.

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Valtteri

Contact Phillbrander at Phillbrander(at)bigpond.com to get the plans.

However he is out of town for now. Back in two weeks. If you can't wait, then I may be able to answer your questions. Wouterhijink(at)hotmail.com

Wouter

Im just wondering how much the plans are? I like the look of this boat.

Im in the process of building a new mossie with kite.

250 Aus$

It's a steal.

Several components you can't build yourself are also available through Phill for decent prices.

Wouter

hanks for that Wouter.

How much are one of these things new?

PM me your email address. Marcus Towell is looking at putting the Blade into production soon and is based in SA. I'll hook you two guys up.

You are in Australia, so if you would buy new, you would probably do so at the Aussie builders.

The price from these builders has not been fixed yet, so the only price we can go on is the one for the US build boat. Roughly this translates a "below 20.000 AUD" quote. I guess this is a good estimate for now.

Of course this is for a fully fitted sloop rigged boat including stuff like spinnaker and snuffer. The works.

Wouter

Got my plans yesterday. Paid 270 AUSD, guess the difference is for the shipping.
Was a little bit sad that the plans for some details like centreboards and rudders were not included. But that will not stop me from making them myself.
Have so far only had a first glance, but by the look of it it’s not really for the beginners.

I'm not Phill, so I can't speak for him, however in the past it was mentioned that making dependable rudder- and daggerboards is above the skill of an average homebuilder. These items are under significant forces and the risk of breakage is quite large unless they are being made by a truly knowledgable person. Especially with the new high aspect board and when you want them to be down to an acceptable weight.

It is strongly adviced that homebuilders buy these parts. It is my guess that that is the reason why there are no building specs for these parts included in the plans. Even the professional F16 builders themselfs are sourcing these from experienced suppliers.

However, if you contact Phill determined to build these yourself anyway then I'm sure you'll get the details to do so.

I'm not sure what happened to the building specs for the mast. My set of plans (2004) didn't include those yet, because some optimation was still being done there. However, contacting Phill will get you the latest details on such aspects.

You have bought the plans and you will be fully supported all the way to completion of your boat. This also includes gettting advice and help on how to best source parts and implement certain design aspects.

I guess I'm trying to say here that set of plans on paper are only part of a larger deal. At this time several people are working simultaniously to develop the design further and I have no doubt that upon request homebuilders will be benefitted with the latest results. It is just too much work to type everything up in the plans.

Wouter

Thanks Wouter, I don’t doubt a second about that Phill, You ,Valtteri and others will give me any help and advice I will need and ask for. Guess that this is one serious reason for going in to building a F16. This spirit is still present in this class, and here it is maybe still possible to knock together a boat for about 10.000€ (all included) that will at least have fair chance in a competition.
To build a 6.50 Minitransat with a chance to win one can multiply that sum by 10.
As for the specs for the mast they are not included in the version 2006, but that is maybe not so interesting. To break a homemade carbon mast is a lot more wasted money than to break a rudder…

In my set of Blade plans there is a drawing showing the general layout for the mast like height for the hounds, spi turning-block etc.

One of the great things about building your own boat, is the ability to customize and experiment. Having some default values for the mast and foils are nice, but perhaps you want a "fat head" mainsail and some other aspect ratio/outline or foil section to suit your own sailing style and opinions. Then you would want to look at the mast design again to optimize it.

The Blade plans are one of the better sets I have seen. They are by far better than some of the other plans I have buildt to where guesswork is a rather large part of the experience. They are not perfect, but of the plans I have seen only Ian Farriers plans are better. The plans describe a lot of the techniques you should use and how to do it instead of only the structure of what you are building..


Building foils are not really that hard, but it gets proportionally harder as your demands grow. If you want foils buildt to the same standard as e.g. a custom foil from Phils foils, you need access to amongst other things a CNC router. Phill has documented a nice method for foil building here: http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/phillbran...ander/my_photos


As you say, one of the great things about the F-16 class is the option of doing things yourself if you want to.

Hope to see you at Zandvoort next year! Looks like there might be a fair number of homebuildt ply boats there. Personally, I also hope someone turns up with some personalized "waco" ideas they have implemented on their boats. Adds another dimension to the racing and "apres sail".

At least for my needs the Blade plans are somewhat perfect. If something has not been clear (maybe twice) then Phill has provided exellent support and the issue got resolved pretty fast.

It was clear to me that I wouldn't build the mast and the foils because these are quite critical components and if they do not work the cat is pretty much useless. Only thing missing that I can think of is plan for trampoline, however the design is pretty easy to figure out. I haven't decided yet if I'll build the trampoline myself (well, wife of course) or do I have it built in sailmaker.

I hope to attend to Zandvoort, but as I said before let's hope that she floats before that <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

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Valtteri

Maybe not everybody have the skill (or is stupid enough) to want to experiment with their first cat.
That does not mean that they don’t have the skill needed to build one. Both are beginners no?
Lets face it, there is a lot about building the hulls, a lot of descriptions and very few drawings but for the rest... you are supposed to know what it looks like and were and how to fix it.
If I compare to the plans of the 6.50 there is about 40 sheets of computer drawings (a CD with all the files to have the plywood cut and the rudders shaped by computerised machines) and one paper with text. Ok, they cost 7 times more.
Still I like the plans for the Blade, maybe because the best things I have made has always come out of drawings made on the floor in the workshop.

I thought Phill maintained a websource with about 70 pictures of the boat at various building stages to look at ? I also seem to remember there is also a homebuilders forum with respect to the Blade design. Rolf, you are more into it then I am, can you confirm this ?

I build from the Taipan set of plans. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Wouter

Here there are at least some http://www.thebeachcats.com/modules.php?....php&page=2

Gato: The link you posted is the definitive Blade building gallery.
About who the plans are for, you have a point there. We all want different things from building plans, just as we have different skills and experiences. I suppose Phill can say more about this, (why and who) when he is back. I am sure you will have no trouble getting foil crossections and geometry specifications from Phill.

Yes, there is a Yahoo forum for Blade builders on: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BladeCatamaran/

It has been inactive for a while now. I guess Phill is handling most of the questions directly by e-mail and dont have time/energy for the forum.

Gato,
I was walking past an internet café and thought I’d drop in and see what’s going on.

As far as C/Bs and rudders are concerned:-
The Blade, set up properly with good professionally made C/Bs and rudders should have finger tip steering, turn on a pin and tack almost as good as a mono.
To maximise the boats performance I recommend the purchase of professionally built boards as others may not deliver the same magic feel.
So I have not detailed the boards in the plans.
Although in the past I have provided detail for a simple method of constructing carbon foam boards, Carbon rudder boxes and carbon tubes for rudder arms and tiller cross bars.
I had posted this on the catsailor.com forum with pics on a general (non specific) boat building web site that I used to have the time to maintain.
In addition to this there is a heap of stuff in the public arena on the net.

If you want more info on building your own boards (like specific profiles and dimensions) or if there is anything else that you would like more detail on please Email me and when I’m back home I will provide you with that info.

Everyone wants something different out of a set of plans and there are some things that are best left to specialists, hence the plans are what they are.
As you have plans, if you have not already done it, join the BLADE Catamaran egroup, read the helpful hints messages in the archives and just email me what else you want and I will send it your way.

Hate to write and run, but the family is waiting.

Hope things are going well.

Regards,
Phill