A lot has been written about the recently concluded A Cat Australian Champs. Not much to add here except to agree that it was a fantastic regatta and a great way to learn about these elegant and sophisticated boats. The hosts were generous and hospitable, the race management was smooth and efficient and the competitors...Read More
A few days of boat preparation are an interesting opportunity to come up with solutions to some problems common to many boat types. As always the factors to consider are weight, reliability, durability, cost, and repeatability. Usually in that order. Here are some images of what we came up with…Trapeze lines: starting from the top, the 2.5...Read More
First outing for the new test platform after only a very light wind race out of Kurnell the previous Sunday.Having a designer at the helm meant expectations were low: The goal was to get around the course cleanly and begin gathering data (rigged the boat with instruments at some key locations) for baseline values before...Read More
An economical, quick and practical conversion from an existing ‘generic’ flat frame trailer to a specialised A Cat transport… Not the most glamorous part of a development campaign, but necessary. Getting this right will make life easier day in and day out during long testing and practice campaigns. Before: And after: The parallel side rails...Read More
Just something in the pipeline… We want to get this right so the testing will continue until we are confident that meaningful gains are possible. In the excitement of a new project we must remain clear and resolute about our aim and why we are doing what we are doing!Read More
The box is an ‘off the shelf’ part that we can offer from our own mould, made to take a standard sheave. It is half the weight and stronger than a steel box. Exit holes can be drilled at either or both ends and different pin sizes are possible. This is an experimental installation in...Read More
Though the boat was already at minimum weight, we went through the exercise of ‘updating’ the basic systems and details as a first step to proving some of the concepts we are considering for use on the new A cat. Despite the minimum overall weight rule, in reality the weight saving imperative still exists for...Read More
Just took delivery of this Boyer MkIV. Though not at the cutting edge, this boat represents a known platform, and a practical test bed for our development ideas. The plan is to gradually modify the boat, replacing discrete components with our prototype parts. Once we are happy with the detailing, we can transfer the successful...Read More
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