Construction has begun on a new Gato Especial in Athens, Greece. My client, Alexis and his father have already cut out all the hull panels, as well as the building forms.

The forms have been aligned, leveled and pinned together for rigidity.

At this point, they will be butt joining the hull panels together and getting everything ready to stitch the hull together.

They have chosen to build an 8’6″ (2.62 meter) version of the Gato and will be using the boat to cruise the islands of the Aegean.

I’ll be posting regular updates as they progress with the build.

Chris Ostlind

Lunada Design

Posted: March 17th, 2009 under Catamarans, Sailing Multihulls.
Comments: 1

Solo Trimaran Style With a Two Crew Twist

Perhaps the title, Solo16 Sport, is a bit of misnomer with regards to this posting today. While this trimaran is an extension of the design aesthetics and thinking that led to the other two boats in the series, the Solo12 and the Solo14, it takes a bit of a turn with the ability to carry a crew of two by design.

While the Solo16 was planned as a logical, next-step design path for the 12′ and 14′ boats, it was pushed a bit in its development by a request from the Sailing Anarchy Mulithulls Forum for a very stable trimaran for the posting member and his handicapped daughter. He was looking for a boat that would provide a significant degree of stability while sailing and still be able to give the two of them a lively degree of speed and performance. The copy below comes directly from the letter I wrote in answer to the query.

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Posted: March 5th, 2009 under Sailing Multihulls, Trimarans.
Comments: 7

Fuel Efficient Power Boating For a New Economy

I’ve been getting a significant number of inquiries for the power version of my Gato Especial sailing cat. I let it slip out, some time back, that there would be an engine driven version coming along, but time got away from me and so, the project sat idling on the design table.

I’m kind of drawn to cars and boats that can solve a host of utility needs, as well as provide a comfortable, transportation experience. I’m about to sell my venerable Toyota Landcruiser and get myself into something that makes a lot more sense when it comes to utility and fuel efficiency. As a result, I began to think of a motorized version of the Gato platform as a Crossover/SUV type of vehicle with a big interior volume aft of the helm station and truly fuel-efficient engines to complete the picture.

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Posted: March 5th, 2009 under Power Boats, Power Cats.
Comments: 16

Another Trimaran/Skiff … But With More Power

Well, you had to know this would happen…

When the Montage Skiff/Trimaran was introduced, the Lunada Design website was absolutely flooded with an ocean of page hits every day right after the article was posted. I received several dozen personal query letters regarding the boat and sizeable slice of them were directed at the potential of a bigger version of the Montage.

The concept of being able to build your own boat and rig it with a used mast and possibly even used sails, (if they are in good enough condition) had struck a chord with the homebuilding community. The creation of a larger version of the Montage would take the specified rig choices up into the much more commonly found beach cat rig sizes and make the business of finding a used rig in great shape, a whole lot easier. After pencilling a collection of thoughts and running some rough numbers on the potential, the idea came into focus as the 18′ Collage.

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Posted: March 3rd, 2009 under Sailing Multihulls, Trimarans.
Comments: 10

I’ve drawn a lot of small trimarans in the last seven years, beginning with my A18 for performance coastal cruising. During that time period, there has been an explosion of other small, daysailing trimarans on the market, most of them coming out of France. Recently, a new trimaran/skiff hybrid has been introduced from New Zealand called the Weta.  www.wetamarine.com

This boat has immediate appeal to beginning and intermediate sailors. It offers much of the speed experience of a high performance skiff in a stable and predictable platform that is really tough to capsize. The Weta is one of the first boats to encourage family participation and reintroduces the waterborne fun of the beach sailing culture, established way back in the late 60′s with the intro of the Hobie catamaran.

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Posted: February 21st, 2009 under Sailing Multihulls, Trimarans.
Comments: 11

A dual Mirage drive powered, two person launch

Sometime back, I encountered an ex-pat American, now living in Melbourne, Australia, by the name of Mack Horton. Mack wanted to build a two-person boat for cruising the harbor and waterways of his hometown, Melbourne. He was looking to propel his boat with a twin setup of the wonderfully innovative Hobie Mirage drive designed by Greg Ketterman. I really liked that idea as I had already done a few different boats that were Mirage capable, but they were all solo boats. This design concept opened a new door for me, as it would allow me work out the balance and weight issues for a twin drive and once built, I could also discover how much more speed potential might be available beyond a solo drive.

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Posted: December 23rd, 2008 under Human Powered Vessel, Mirage Drive.
Comments: 1

Let’s just imagine that you have been recently slaving away in your very cool, very modern version of Geppetto’s work shop and you’ve come up with something that is every bit as nifty as Pinnochio… only your cool thing is a truly innovative doo-dad for the boating industry.

Suddenly, the heady rush of riches and fame come charging through your brain and it hits you like a huge exlosion! “My GOD! I need to get this thing patented before someone finds out about it and swipes my wonderfully inspired effort.”

Well, hold on just one minute there, Pilgrim. Perhaps you better give this article a full read before you rush off to the nearest Legal Office where they practice Intellectual Property Law.

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Posted: November 13th, 2008 under Editorial - Opinion.
Comments: 13

“That’s one serious sailing tool!”

Posted: November 6th, 2008 under Boater's Gear Review.
Comments: none

Phase 2 Design Study

I’ve shown the Cabrillo Skiff at a couple of well trafficked Internet boating Fora now (Boatdesign.net and Sailing Anarchy’s Dinghy Anarchy Forum) and have had a host of comments to digest. Along with those comments, I have cooked up a few changes of my own for the design. The boat shown in the following renderings represents the collected enhancements, if you will, for the Cabrillo Kid’s Skiff concept. 

I have widened the aft side decks just a bit. While the changes are not really very radical, they are wider. I figure that most of this will be addressed by each individual sailor as they tweak their boats to suit their own preferences. I’ll probably see a nice use of adhesive backed neoprene, or maybe even some color keyed, indoor/outdoor carpeting along the rails, as the boats are modified for best comfort and rail edge radius.

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Posted: October 29th, 2008 under Daysailing, Sailing Monohulls.
Comments: 7

Kid Sized Performance

for the Homebuilder

Recently, a design brief appeared on the Dinghy Anarchy Forum pages of Sailing Anarchy.  Within that first post, the following objective elements were shown: Dinghy Anarchy Thread 

Kid’s Boat Design Brief

I responded to this Brief by posting a couple of renderings for a small kid’s skiff which I had drawn-up some time earlier and had left on the shelf in favor of other projects. The Sailing Anarchy posting gave me a chance to unveil the new boat, but the story about its creation started much earlier…. much earlier.

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Posted: October 16th, 2008 under Daysailing, Sailing Monohulls.
Comments: 6