Some tropical issues.
The sun is a killer. Ventilation is a killer. Rain can be a real serious issue.
Many cats designed for the
charter market have some serious non tropical features. The
classic one is sloping large glass/acrylic “windows” across the front of the vessel. It makes the vessel into a
classic greenhouse. Light pours in, coverts to IR inside and cooks everyone. Sloping glass frontages may look good but they can be a disaster in the tropics. (Some approaches can be seen in the stepped slot covers in the
Leopard line up and the rather eye catching but not cool looking vertical shaded windows seen in some other designs.)
Ventilation needs to be really very carefully thought out. Reliance on deck hatches is not smart thinking as they can’t be readily used when it is raining. Just when you have hot humid air inside. Plus your customers fall through them and then sue the bejesus out of you. And these deck hatches cost a motsa … and invariably leak, or are left open in the rain.
So in MHO you should be seeking very large shade areas. Careful avoidance of the greenhouse effect and extremely good ventilation that works in the pouring rain.
These can be achieved if you spend the time designing. E.g. by placing downward facing covered vent slots at the highest place available you can allow accumulating moist warm air to safely self-ventilate out even in the rain. (As it rises to the highest level being less dense than cooler air which comes in to replace that rising air.) These vents are dirt
cheap to make or buy and require no attention at all. But not a good idea in very cold environments unless you put a closable cover inside the vessel.
These passive vents also help prevent mold.
Avoid vertical or sloped windows where possible. Try to get good visibility by having the aft deck at a higher level than the bridge deck floor. This means that with the crowd on the aft deck they can all see over the “roof” of the bridge deck and remain in the shade and be ventilated as well via the slot formed. Maybe a smaller bridge deck section with a much longer covered raised (say 40 to 60 cm) aft deck. Another variant is to simply have a full length covered deck with a wide cover. i.e no separate enclosed bridge deck at all. Breezy, shaded but not great in driving rain.
The
Seawind cats may be a bit small but the larger ones have totally open spacing from the deck into the bridge area. The aft area totally covered.
Seawind also produce a
charter cat with no bridge deck cover at all. Great for night charter! Seawind cats have been used for charter around Darwin which is seriously tropical. They also have very simple effective
outboard propulsion systems. And they sail well. Simple and largely manageable by guests leaving you to regale them with tall stories etc.
Re: building a cat for the tropics
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