Catamaran that can fit into a shipping container/ flatpack catamaran

[cloudsrule9]

Catamaran that can fit into a shipping container/ flatpack catamaran

I’m looking for a catamaran which can be packed up and put into a standard shipping container, if such a thing exists.
This might seem like a bit of an odd idea but we want to sail around the south pacific on a catamaran. So other than the traditional buy a catamaran and sail it there approach I was looking into other options. So I had an idea to ship the cat to French Polynesia inside a 40foot shipping container, put it back together there and sail away probably ending (and selling) it in Australia. Shipping it home (UK) is an option but if it is like an ikea flatpack and only goes together once that’s okay.

We are two people that will use the boat as a house for a couple of years. Sailing performance is of little interest to use. We do love to sail, but we don’t need or even want to go fast or go windward. We don’t want to take much stuff so weight shouldn’t be an issue. We want a seakind boat which is happy about 250 miles from land . Simple and functional is best with as few electronic bits as possible. Moderate comfort is need which ,to us, means a double bed, hob and oven, flushing toilet and ideally a fridge.

Happy to build if there are plans or help in the drawing up of plans, but designing the boat from scratch is beyond me.

 

[bigwow]

Here's your man

http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/

 

[simonfraser]

+1 Richard is very helpful, mail him and go and see some examples, multihull world southcoast is bound to have some, and in Cornwall of course.

 

[pvb]

Not a catamaran, but there's a Dragonfly 28 trimaran in my home marina which looks quite clever and would fit in a container.

See http://www.multihullsolutions.co.uk/Dragonfly28.html

 

[Humblebee]

Not a catamaran, but there's a Dragonfly 28 trimaran in my home marina which looks quite clever and would fit in a container.

See http://www.multihullsolutions.co.uk/Dragonfly28.html

Quite an impressive machine - I saw one last week and thought it looked very well designed and made (in Denmark).
Both outer hulls fold in alongside the main hull so it would be fairly compact when in transit, through locks or in a marina.

 

[langstonelayabout]

You need to google Wharram Pahi or Tiki catamarans. Fab things in a variety of sizes that are designed for where you want to go. You can often find them here in Europe too.

Oh, the bit about not going fast or to windward. Piffle. You need it as much as the rest of us do...

 

[ShinyShoe]

Not a catamaran, but there's a Dragonfly 28 trimaran in my home marina which looks quite clever and would fit in a container.

See http://www.multihullsolutions.co.uk/Dragonfly28.html

Thats 2.54m wide - I think thats too wide for a standard shipping container. They are 40ft long and I thought 8ft x 8.5ft But doors actually make the entrance just under 8ft...

I'd think a cat in a single container would be an issue too as that would mean a single hull can't be more than 4ft wide which feels narrow to me...

 

[doug748]

Most questions about the choice of monohull boat attract a post saying: "Have you considered a catamaran....."

So, just to buck the trend, here we are:

http://www.containeryachts.com/

 

[PetiteFleur]

The only one I know would be a Wharram catamaran, they can all be easily broken down to hulls, beams and decking etc. You may have to have two containers depending on the size, not sure of the current range - look on the Wharram website.

 

[Fossil]

Er... a left-field suggestion would be - go to Australia *first*, buy the cat *there* and then go sailing. There are lots for sale, you'd save on the shipping costs, and could go a bit more upmarket, wouldn't be constrained by size requirements and when you had had enough of life in the South Pacific, sail it back to Oz or NZ and sell it.

 

[cloudsrule9]

Thanks for the great replies

I have considered going to OZ and then into the south pacific but this means going windward which is something i would rather avoid.

What im after (in an ideal world) is the cat version of http://www.containeryachts.com/ . Monos are out (in general) due to there draft and lack of ability beach. Clearly some monos can be beached (i used to have mirror offshore for this reason) but without a deep keel they also tend to sail poorly. Might as well get a cat and have the extra space and not spill your coffee every time you put it on the table. There are a few monos out there which i quite like (eg china cloud https://tinyhousemovement.wordpress...unk-rigged-42-foot-sailboat-on-the-b-c-coast/) but something this big will take me years and years to build and won't fit in a shipping container.

I do like some of the woods designs, the Gypsy is probably closest to what i want. If the front berth as wide enough for two then it might be a winner.

I have also had a look at some of the wharram designs. The Tiki 21 is nearly perfect but lacks a double bed and i think is probably a bit to uncomfortable for us. I'm not sure i could do what Rory did on cookie. The Tiki 26 seems to have the same issue. A tiki 31 looks like the best wharram boat for what i want. I really like the to small masts and the space aboard seems good. If it had a central cuddy then it would be a very good option.

I did look at trimarans but i have yet to find one that is really any good as a live board boat. Most seems built for speed at the expense of most other things. They do have a shallow draft but they lack the space of a cat and the carrying capacity of a mono.

Cheers,

Rob

 

[cloudsrule9]

A bit more of hunting through woods designs found this
http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs/2-catamarans-under-25ft/160-sango


It is a tiny bit to wide to go into a shipping container but i have emailed woods to see if he thinks it will be possible to modify the boat so it is 8 inches smaller when folded up.

Ill try to update if I get a response from woods.

 

[Trident]

The Beneteau Blue II - about 20 years old now was designed to come apart and go in to a shipping container. It was part of the design spec.

The other option as people have mentioned are Trimarans - not just the Dragonfly - I was based at Thornham Marina where Multihull World are (give Mark Jarvis a call - the fountain of all multihull knowledge) and saw many new Tri's being delivered in containers

 

[bbg]

I agree with the idea of buying something once you get there.

Go on to yachtworld.co.uk, choose advanced search and put in your criteria. You can limit the search to "South Pacific" or to one or several countries.

A quick search shows dozens of catamarans in the South Pacific at less than 40 feet (although if you are not shipping it, that is not necessarily a determining factor) at less than 250,000 GBP.

There are also companies that ship boats as deck cargo, typically with the masts up. That is their business and they do it all the time. Not sure about shipping Europe to South Pacific but you might want to look into it as an option.

TBH the idea of looking for something that fits in a container is a very very limiting criteria. Your objective is to sail the South Pacific on a catamaran. Doing it on a cat that fits in a container is one possible way to do it, but it seems to me that there are many other options to achieve the same objective, without that initial severe limitation.

 

[[70521]]

Sounds a brilliant idea, but what about the length of the mast?

 

[cloudsrule9]

I agree with the idea of buying something once you get there.

Go on to yachtworld.co.uk, choose advanced search and put in your criteria. You can limit the search to "South Pacific" or to one or several countries.

A quick search shows dozens of catamarans in the South Pacific at less than 40 feet (although if you are not shipping it, that is not necessarily a determining factor) at less than 250,000 GBP.

There are also companies that ship boats as deck cargo, typically with the masts up. That is their business and they do it all the time. Not sure about shipping Europe to South Pacific but you might want to look into it as an option.

TBH the idea of looking for something that fits in a container is a very very limiting criteria. Your objective is to sail the South Pacific on a catamaran. Doing it on a cat that fits in a container is one possible way to do it, but it seems to me that there are many other options to achieve the same objective, without that initial severe limitation.

I have considered buying a boat out there and many other options. Most of them where easy to research on the internet so i didnt want to start another “smallest live-aboard catamaran” thread. Basically buy a heavenly twins 26 or a catalac 8 if you want sometime which is like a house, get a tiki 21 if you like camping.

In an ideal world i would like to be able to sail the boat in the UK before i leave and i can have the boat outfitted the way i like it. I could do this in the south pacific but it would take time and i cant imagine getting a parts for a boat in the middle of the pacific is easy.

If it can be packaged up again and sent somewhere else then thats even better as we would also like to cruise the Caribbean so we might go for a “round the world” trip where the boat gets shipped to america and we sail the Caribbean/states for a year. The stick it into a box and post it to french polyneisa, and sail it to Oz, the post it to Egypt and the sail it back to the UK.

Shipping a boat on deck was also considered but seems rather expensive based on the few quotes i got plus i have read some horror stories. Having moved around the world many times i also know that things get lost or broken when shipped in containers but i do think it is a safer option (4 ton steel box protecting your boat vs nothing)

So i am after the collective wisdom of the internet to see if the “boat in a container” idea is an option. So far Richard woods has come up trumps with his suggestion of an Elf 26 http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/elf.htm or an eagle 24 (http://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs/2-catamarans-under-25ft/455-eagle-24) with the addition of a removable central cuddy. The eagle has a 9.5m mast which will fit into a 40 ft shipping container. At the moment a eagle 24 is looking like a very good boat. The shallow draft (250 mm) is great and with a payload of 650 kg it can carry a fair bit. It is light and beachable. Plus its hard chine design makes it easy to build. However, i would be tempted with a second hand elf if i could find one.

I have had a look at trimarans but so far havent come up with much. Most are over 8 foot wide when folded. It seems like the internal dimensions of a shipping container are about 7
foot 8 inches maybe 7 foot 6 inches at the door but maybe someone knows of my prefect boat.

I am very much of the go small go now school of thought. So a boat which can fit in a box seems to fit in with this. Its very possible that this idea of mine, like many of my idea, is a total non starter...