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James wharram designs, by captain james r. watson —gbi technical advisor.

For many decades Gougeon Brothers Inc. has kept in contact with multihull designer James Wharram. Wharram, of Cornwall, UK, has sailed and designed Polynesian-style catamarans for 50 years. Amateurs and professionals have built his boats and sailed them to all corners of the planet. The designs he creates with his engineer and artist partner Hanneke Boon have evolved over the years, but remain unmistakably, Wharram Catamarans. Continue reading →

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Wharram's catamarans: tropical dream, nightmare at 50ºN, 2ºW?

• Thread starter dancrane
• Start date 15 Mar 2012
• 15 Mar 2012

Well-known member

A 21ft Wharram Tiki came second in the Jester Challenge, single handed transatlantic [ clicky ]  

• 16 Mar 2012

dancrane said: I first encountered James Wharram's designs in the August 1986 Yachting World article about the Pahi 63, "Quetzalcoatl". Just dreaming, as usual...I'm interested to learn anything about these alternativist designs. Are they of limited use outside tropical zones? Have any examples made more than token use of the large bridgedeck area? Are they very payload-sensitive? Is that modest half-formed gaff rig really as good (and as big) as the design could carry? And, is there any reason why the Pahi 63' couldn't have its plans upsized by a third, to build a three-masted Pahi 84'? I like the fact that these big cats are only roped-together. Very clever, being so simple. But are they mainly for the wide Pacific? Click to expand...

whipper_snapper

dancrane said: Are they of limited use outside tropical zones? Click to expand...

dancrane said: Have any examples made more than token use of the large bridgedeck area? Are they very payload-sensitive? Click to expand...

dancrane said: Is that modest half-formed gaff rig really as good (and as big) as the design could carry? Click to expand...

dancrane said: I like the fact that these big cats are only roped-together. Very clever, being so simple. But are they mainly for the wide Pacific? Click to expand...

Deleted member 36384

Wharram explains his design philosophy on his web site very well. http://wharram.com/site/ The lashings are strong but the resilience is not in the strength of the lashings but in the fact that the hulls will move on the lashings. Other designs have slight camber on the hull where the beam touches it to facilitate this, while some designs have pivots through the hull which the beam is connected too. There quite a few Wharrams sailing about in Northern latitudes. My old Tangarroa ended up in Denmark and being sailed around those waters. A friend has a Captain Cook on the West Coast of Scotland and I am aware of two more on the Firth of Clyde. There are many stories of Wharrams surviving tropical storms and managing inclement weather very well. I sailed a Phai in about a Force 7 beating up wind off the West Coast of Jura. It slammed occasionally and while we could achieve 45 degrees, I felt that freeing off about 5 degrees was far more comfortable and faster. They can be insulate very easily and be fitted with stoves. I would propose the concept that Wharram use is very suited to Northern Latitudes. The many compartments allows for easy living, with out different activities clashing with one another. For example a wet room can be established and sleeping areas kept very separate and dry. Wharram's boat design philosophy very much dove tails with sailing as a leisure activity to be enjoyed. I have never met the man but oldbilbos comments remind me of a friend who visited his premises to view a boat. He reported back that at lunch time they all took their clothes off and sat around in the sun eating lunch! A remarkable man and remarkable boat designs.  

A Brokerage That Specialises In Wharram Cats http://www.multihulls.uk.com/wharram/boats.htm Lots here to get some ideas.  

Blueboatman

Old Bilbo, that is a very good bit of writing. Wot, after all, is the point in sailing to deserted tropical islands and being unable to park right on the beach, bbq fish for the vegetarian lassies and sleep al fresco on a trampoline net, eh? Great concept, perhaps with a limited ( left field) kind of resale value down the line, but many people have enjoyed epic voyages at a far younger age than would be possible by buying conventionally and expensively.imo.  

PetiteFleur

Together with 5 other people we built an 'ORO' (46') in the late 60's, soon after he had returned from his initial transatlantic voyage and when he had set up house in Deganwy. One of our group had met James some time earlier so we all went down for a chat and came away fully fired up with the ORO plans and a RTW trip in mind. Yes, we did meet some of the 'wenches'! We built the boat and launched on the Orwell near Ipswich. Unfortunately we did take some of James's ideas too literally - we didn't have an engine so soon found all the Orwell mudbanks. Winches would also have been a good idea as well as a few home comforts, particularly for our Northern Hemispere. Our's was a spritsail rig which was OK but I probably wouldn't choose again. The group broke up a few months after launching so we never did any decent trips - the best one was a trip down the Stour with the potential new owner when we overtook all boats in sight, including some much larger ones. That trip sold the boat and the last we heard was that it was in Whitby but what happened after that I've no idea. Would I buy another one - probably not but it was a good experience at the time and if we had started our RTW trip we would probably all been drowned! One of the group a few years ago did have a Wharram built in Thailand which was a nice boat but that had to be sold in the end and unfortunately he died soon after.  

snowleopard

Active member.

oldbilbo said: One of the great benefits of large Wharram cats is that they come equipped not with Lewmar or Harken 2-speed winches, but a range of large and small wenches, to do the sail handling, trimming and deckwork. These uniquely-economic and renewable resources make for very pleasant sailing, clad as they usually are in simple blue lavalava/pareos and some flowers. ? Click to expand...

Bosun Higgs

oldbilbo said: Certainly, they're more suited to the sub-tropics than Svalbard - but isn't everything? Click to expand...

Friend of friend day chartered one (35ft?) out of the Turcs and Cacos (sp) Built it in Canada, sailed it down and had a good business. Decided (with local money) to build a bigger one to carry more PX. Well known multi designer was engaged and a 65ft design was produced. (google Rustic Schooner) At this stage I was asked if it could be be built in Portugal at a reasonable cost, I looked around at several multi builds and worked out some figures. Finaly it was built in Florida. Sadly, for Bill, the F of F, the money didn't stretch far enough and it is now in a big charter fleet. It was very like a big Warram, similar rig to the 'short gaff'. Little story told by a sailing friend: Manager of a big paint co. something like national paints but with wider scope. Visiting his local S.W rep. to see how it was on the ground. Rep says we are visiting a designer of catamarans to talk about antifoul. Knock on door, answered by wench in sarong. 'Please take your shoes off, it is our custom.' While waiting for the great man, they notice a wench at the drawing board. Clad only in nickers. Manager not too comfortable. After the man arrived and they started on the subject of antifoul, he said they needed to talk to the marine biologist. She turned up, wearing nothing at all. At this point the manager lost it. Probably just a story... DW Spirit of Gaia was parked in Ferraguda for a while, aquaintance steeled himself and called. Warram was very welcoming and gave him a copy of 'Two Boats, Two Women'. I admire him for filling in gap in the market/lifestyle. But I am not sure I would want one,.  

• 17 Mar 2012

Bajansailor

I first encountered some James Wharram designs in the mid 70's - I vividly remember one about 45' (perhaps an Oro?) called "If Dogs Run Free" arriving here from across the Atlantic. And James' personal boat then, the 51' Tehini also visited here about then, and I remember asking if I could have a look around on board (but I dont remember a crew of scantily clad wenches though.....). And I had a pal here with a sprit-sail ketch rigged Tangaroa called 'Taaroa' - both the main and mizzen were sprit-sails, like a Thames barge, and they could be brailed up immediately - very easy to handle. And I know some Bajan folk here who were living in Vancouver in the 70's, decided to sail home, so bought Wharram plans, and built a Narai in their back yard, and then sailed her home westabouts, with three little children, all of whom were ace sailors. . I think that Richard Woods ( www.sailingcatamarans.com ) worked for Wharram for a bit after he left college in Southampton - you can see some Wharram influence in the older Woods cats (eg re open bridge decks, and vee shaped hulls), but Richard's cats were all generally significantly faster (and dare I say it much more attractive).  

Bajansailor said: I think that Richard Woods ( www.sailingcatamarans.com ) worked for Wharram for a bit after he left college in Southampton - you can see some Wharram influence in the older Woods cats (eg re open bridge decks, and vee shaped hulls), but Richard's cats were all generally significantly faster (and dare I say it much more attractive). Click to expand...

Tiki 36 Our tiki 36 is a good fit for us, a family of three. The permanent mooring at the right price is obviously a key requirement, not sure you'd want to pay by the square metre in a Marina. Having a cat and the confidence to dry out keeps you closer to inland services and out of marinas. We were lucky to pick up a well built and looked after model. Life is too short to build one. For the money, a deck pod and now with a permanent sun canopy there is plenty of space and stability, the winches are smaller than on my previous gk29.  

Nice to see there are a few people like me who have a romantic attachement to Wharram cats. When I first wanted a real boat in the late 60s I bought the plans for Tane-a 28 footer as I recall-as I could just about afford to build it one hull at a time but reached 17 and a car took its place. I still have the plans and sometimes think maybe-the last time was after seeing several around about Paihia in the Bay of Islands NZ and thought I could really have fun with one in the Hokianga Harbour and out into the Tasman Sea with its shallow draft and beaching ability counteracting the shallow harbour bars of the NZ west coast. What I need now is a Kiwi telling me I must be mad!  

Back in 73, I shunted my car and was a few weeks short of the new one being delivered. My insurance guy had mentioned a Citroen 2CV for sale. Turned out to be a musician from Germany living on a farm and building a Wharram. I bought the car (£10) and then spent a couple of hours helping him with the plans. Not the easiest for a first timer (being polite here) He had built one hull, so was well on the way. But.... no sailing experience, and planned a RTW trip. No idea how it turned out, but doubt the RTW. The car did though. Spent another £6 on an exhaust and MOT. Rebushed the carb to get it running, used it till the new car was delivered, then sold it to a student for £50. 1959 425cc model. DW  

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WHARRAM PAHI 42: A Polynesian Catamaran

The catamaran designs that British multihull pioneer James Wharram first created for amateur boatbuilders in the mid-1960s were influenced by the boats he built and voyaged upon during the 1950s. These “Classic” designs, as Wharram termed them, feature slab-sided, double-ended, V-bottomed plywood hulls with very flat sheerlines and simple triangular sections. The hulls are joined together by solid wood beams and crude slat-planked open bridgedecks.

Wharram’s second-generation “Pahi” designs, which he started developing in the mid-1970s, still feature double-ended V-bottomed hulls, but the sections are slightly rounder and the sheerlines rise at either end in dramatically up-swept prows and sterns. The most successful of these in terms of number of boats built–and also probably the most successful of any of Wharram’s larger designs–is the Pahi 42. It is an excellent example of a no-frills do-it-yourself cruising catamaran with enough space for a family to live aboard long term.

First introduced in 1980, the Pahi 42, a.k.a. the “Captain Cook,” was the first Wharram design to include accommodations space on the bridgedeck in the form of a small low-profile pod containing a berth and/or (in some variations) a nav station. Unlike the Classic designs, which have no underwater foils other than rudders, the Pahis also have daggerboards, though these are quite shallow and are set far forward in each hull. The rudders are inboard, rather than transom-hung, set in V-shaped wells behind the aft cross-beam.

As on the Classic designs, the cross-beams are flexibly mounted to the hulls, but are lashed with rope rather than bolted on with large rubber bushings. Hull construction likewise is very simple, all in plywood, and explicitly conceived to facilitate home-building by amateurs. The frames consist of a series of flat bulkhead panels fastened to a long centerline backbone with longitudinal stringers running down either side to support the plywood skin panels. Through the main central area of each hull the bulkheads all have large cutouts in their midsections to allow room for interior accommodations space. To increase moisture and abrasion resistance the hull exteriors are sheathed in fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

As designed the Pahi 42 has a single mast and flies a loose-footed mainsail with a wishbone boom. There is also a staysail on a wishbone boom and a conventional genoa flying on a bridle over the forward beam. Many owner-builders have substituted other rigs, including Wharram’s unique gaff “wingsail” rig, where the main has a luff sleeve enveloping the mast, but conventional Marconi rigs are probably the most common. The original design also calls for a single outboard engine mounted on the stern deck to serve as auxiliary power, but many owners have engineered other arrangements, including inboard diesel engines and even electric drives.

As its light-ship D/L and SA/D ratios attest, the Pahi 42 has the potential to be a very fast performance cruiser. Wharram claims top speeds in the neighborhood of 18 knots with average cruising speeds of 9 to 12 knots. In reality, however, it probably takes an unusually attentive, disciplined sailor to achieve anything like this. The Pahi seems to be more weight sensitive than most cats and typical owners, who carry lots of stuff on their boats, report average speeds more on the order of 5 to 8 knots.

The boat also does not sail well to windward, as its daggerboards are not large enough and are not positioned properly to generate much lift. Instead they act more like trim boards and help balance the helm while sailing. They also make it difficult to tack. Most owner-builders therefore consider the boards more trouble than they’re worth and don’t install them, preferring instead to retain the extra space below for storage and accommodations. With only its V-shaped hulls to resist leeway the Pahi reportedly sails closehauled at a 60 degree angle to the wind, though performance-oriented owners who keep their boats light claim they can make progress upwind faster than other boats sailing tighter angles. A few builders have also put long fin keels on their boats and these reportedly improve windward performance to some extent.

As for its accommodations plan, the Pahi 42 has much in common with other open-bridgedeck catamarans. Except for the small pod on deck all sheltered living space is contained within the narrow hulls, which have a maximum beam of just 6 feet. The standard layout puts double berths at both ends of each hull, though many may regard the aft “doubles” as wide singles. The central part of the port hull contains a small dinette table and a large galley; the center of the starboard hull is given over to a long chart table or work bench, plus a head.

Naturally, many owner-builders have fiddled the design a bit to suit their own tastes. The most significant changes involve the deck pod. Those who crave more living space tend to enlarge it; in at least one case it has blossomed into something approaching a full-on bridgedeck saloon, which must hurt sailing performance. In other instances, in an effort to save weight and improve performance, builders have omitted the pod entirely.

The great advantage of a Pahi 42, or any Wharram cat for that matter, is its relatively low cost compared to other cats in the same size range. To obtain one new, however, you normally must build it yourself. Wharram estimates this takes between 2,500 to 3,000 hours of effort. The alternative is to buy one used, which now normally costs less than building one.

There is an active brokerage market with boats listed for sale all over the world. The best sources for listings are Wharram himself and another Brit, Scott Brown , who operates mostly online. Because Wharrams are built of plywood, even if sheathed with epoxy and glass, the most important defect to look for is simple rot. This, however, is not hard to detect and, because the boats are structurally so simple, is also not hard to repair.

Specifications

Beam: 22’0”

–Boards up: 2’1”

–Boards down: 3’6”

Displacement

–Light ship: 7,840 lbs.

–Maximum load: 14,560 lbs.

–Working sail: 640 sq.ft.

–Maximum sail: 1,000 sq.ft.

Fuel: Variable

Water: Variable

–Light ship: 89

–Maximum load: 165

–Working sail: 25.91 (light ship); 17.14 (max. load)

–Maximum sail: 40.48 (light ship); 26.78 (max. load)

Nominal hull speed

–Light ship: 11.9 knots

–Maximum load: 9.8 knots

Build cost: $70K – $120K

Typical asking prices: $40K – 100K

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please more info and prices for this model!

Response to Goran below: I recommend you follow the link above to Scott Brown’s website. Lots of boats and prices there!

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Complete, clear and detailed plans to build your own Wharram Catamaran, that have often been described as a 'course in boat building'. All Wharram building plans are drawn for the first time builder, so anyone with a modicum of practical ability can build one of our designs. Wharram designs are all based on decades of actual building and sailing experience of the boats, so you can be confident in its sailing capabilities and safety.

The PAHI Designs are a different visual/sculptural approach to the basic design elements inherent in the Classic Designs. From the coastal trekking Pahi 26 to the impressive 63' flagship of the Wharram fleet 'Spirit of Gaia' - the PAHI shape is more evocatively 'Female'. Constructionally, they are simpler to build, using epoxy fillets instead of wood joints, and are designed to use softwood plys which are coated and glassed with epoxy to achieve a durable finish. The PAHI designs were the first to use rope lashings to attach the crossbeams, giving a shock absorbing effect, without the need for metal fittings.

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