G’day Everyone in RC Sailing land,
I’ve not been a prolific contributor to any of the topics over recent times, but I do have a question for anyone in the US or anywhere else around the planetwho knows anything about the Gougeon 32 foot catamaran. There is very little about this boat on the net but what interests me about it is;
its self rightable - according to a comment on steam radio forum
water ballasted - generates stability
narrow beam - road trailable
I realise it has nothing to do with rc yachting, but there are plenty of people out there whom I’m sure has some information I’m looking for e.g. how does the self righting work? how does the narrow beam generate any power etc? Are these boats still being built?
I’ve emailed Gougeon Bros but received no reply.
Just one other thing I’ve just finished a Scharming mark 8 IOM - a flat bottomed plywood hull similar to John Spencer late 80’s designs. It will be interesting to see how it goes against the local hotshots here on the Gold Coast Australia.
The cat is no longer being built or produced. There are a few sailing, but mostly owners are using them for cruising - not for racing.
The self righting was a multiple function concept - a) water ballast in the hulls and b) a method to allow shrouds to be loosened, rig tilted and then restraightened using a simple winch and line after boat was back upright.
Water ballast played an important role in allowing the boat to generate power.
It was (to me) kind of “funky/star wars” design and didn’t seem to follow conventional looks of a cat which may (??) have influenced potential buyers. Usually, they are very good about reponding to emails - and you might do a follow-up and ask for a reprint of their article on the G-32 that was in one of their most recent issues of “Epoxyworks”.
If you are unable to elicit an answer, PM me here and I’ll see if I can find the article and send you a PDF of it. As a follower of theirs (I lived about 30 minutes away when living back in Michigan) I had the opportunity to interact and keep abreast of their projects. It seem as they aged - like many of us - the projects became fewer while they concentrated on their core business of selling epoxy. They still do some projects, but the shop isn’t nearly as busy with a lot of them as it once was. With the current emergence (again) of energy concerns, I am wondering if they will reopen their manufacturing of wind turbine blades. Seems a lot of interest is beginning to focus on the blades again, and they were a major player back in the late 1970’s to mid 1980’s - fabricating wood/ply composites that outlasted and outperformed even aluminum blades.
Sorry for the trip into history - it is just they have been on the leading edge of may construction methods - especially using that high-tech material - wood !
Thanks Dick,
I now have more of an idea of the concept. I see they use a mast head buoy to assist in re-righting. One can only think that re-righting a 32 foot boat in anything other than flat calm conditions would be a handful. Thanks for the info re; contact, I’ll try again. Maybe it didn’t get to the right depatment.
The whole thing struck me as very interesting. The stabilty limitations of the narrow beam is possibly one reason why so few boats were built, however one article written by a boat reviewer said the boat felt powerful and he would sail to the Bahamas confidently on it. The idea of a trailable cat that long is certainly an interesting concept.
