The
Whitehaven series of performance cruising catamarans represents
an accumulation of building techniques and design development
that have been developed by Ross Blair and I over the
last 12 years since the Whitehaven series were first drawn.
The
Plans are extremely detailed for the amateur or experienced
builder with full size patterns for the hull station frames
and parts of the cabin and deck as well as daggerboard
and rudder sections.
Plans
Hull
and deck structure is strip planked Western Red Cedar
built over temporary MDF or plywood mold frames and f/glassed
inside and out with Double Bias fibreglass fabrics. Foam
sandwich hulls and decks with Biaxial and Triaxial f/glass
and vinylestre resin is also an option especially for
builders who may have a reaction to epoxy resins. A Foam
sandwich underwing is preferred to the option of strip
plank cedar for its weight saving and added stiffness. The
upper laminate of the underwing is done in situ, continuing
onto the hulls, bonding the u/wing to the hulls in the
one process. In the same lay-up the Carbon fibre or fibreglass
UNI’s that form an integral part of the b/heads are laminated
across the u/wing. Another
development introduced in the upgraded plans is the Strip
Planked Main Strength Bulkheads. The
four main bulkheads are each built as one piece, strip
planked on a large table or workbench and fibreglassed
both sides with Double Bias Cloth and Carbon Fibre or
Fibreglass Unidirectional cloths. The resultant bulkhead
is basically one large laminated beam and is much quicker
and easier to construct than the previous plywood and
timber version. It is also lighter and stiffer and substantially
cheaper than a bulkhead of prefabricated panels bonded
together.
