In looking at small cat designs for a possible build, I've looked mainly at Richard Woods designs, and at Bernd Kohler's designs. I love the simplicity of Kohler's flat bottom trapezoidal hulls, but in almost every other respect, Richard Woods boats are a better fit for me, though their
hull designs are considerably more complex, and time consuming to construct, and have more
draft per inch of
displacement / less payload.
Maximizing performance is not as important to me as maximizing payload. I have no interest in setting speed records, or
racing, so I consider the differences in wetted area trivial, in fact they become a non-issue as the weight increases in my opinion. Over loading even if one is very careful, is likely on a long voyage.
We all have our priorities, and mine are no doubt different from yours.....
One glaring difference between the two
hull designs is the knuckle which is a distinct feature of all of Richard Wood's designs. The knuckle is above the WL, and presumably serves two purposes. One being to deflect spray to a more horizontal trajectory, and the other is to transition the hull shape, widening it rapidly at the sole. Presumably the area below the knuckle is
bilge, the area above it is
cabin.
In real life, how much value does the knuckle have in terms of spray....... I'm not fond of a wet ride, but in reality, the
cockpit is well aft. In the center, the bridge
deck is going to block a lot of the spray, and the tramp, depending on it's construction, may break it up a lot. Spray
outboard may be
wind driven into the
cockpit. Without sailing both
boat designs in similar conditions, it's difficult to say
weather this difference is significant.........
Any real world experience based wisdom on this??
H.W.