Quote:
Originally Posted by owly
Spoken like a true Wharram Acolyte
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That might not be entirely fair @owly.
Starting since I was around 10 years old I have ended up with a wide experience on a multitude of different vessels, from dinghies to coastal boats,
live aboard ocean cruisers, wooden classics to full carbon
race boats, monos to multis, high speed
motor yachts capable of 40 and 50kn plus, and probably more that I forgot too.
I'd like to think that this has given me some appreciation of the characteristics of different vessels and their relative plus and minuses.
Are Wharrams a perfect
boat? Hell no, far from it. If
budget (both initial and ongoing) was no object would I be interested in a Gunboat or
Outremer, etc? Hell yes, because I like to go fast.
This may seem totally at odds with also appreciating the benefits of a Wharram, but read on.
Even on a Gunboat or
Outremer I would still incorporate many of the suggestions in my previous post too, because I know enough to understand what works and what doesn't, what breaks and what doesn't, and what is needed on a practical day to day basis in different circumstances. In this respect I can also understand how a Wharram is absolutely not the right for some people.
However, as soon as the question of
budget (again, both initial and ongoing) is thrown into the mix a lot of the so called 'better' options become unobtainable for many people, and the right, good Wharram can give them a lot of options especially for tropical cruising.
Additionally there is the whole rational of 'simpler is better' (for some sailors) which is what I was trying to convey in my earlier post even if it wasn't strictly on your original topic. And this should be understood as a 'whole boat'
concept, instead of in an old fashioned way of this means 'no showers, no toilets, no comforts, etc...'
Having said that, some of my suggestions would be considered quite radical and even heresy in hard
core Wharram circles, however that is changing too - it's not 1970 anymore - and many newer Wharram owners are adopting exactly the approach that I suggested - using the more obtainable platform to get into a really well customised and suitable boat at a still reasonable
price.
Starting with a Gunboat and then customising it... You are going to need very deep pockets...
The 'double end/canoe sterns' seem to be a particular sore point for you and I can understand that. Especially on a
monohull (even a motoryacht) I always noted the disadvantages, except perhaps for some they can look beautiful.
But access to the water always bothered me since why be on a boat and have difficulty accessing the water? To be honest, I'm not that impressed with water access on most modern cats either. Even with square sterns and swim steps you still end up with a very small and limited space that is also not very good for
dinghy boarding either.
I'd like to see this vastly improved on modern cats, taking full advantage of the wide beam and providing a
motoryacht style access to the water and
dinghy. When cruising you are constantly in and out of the water, and the dinghy, and catching and
cleaning fish, etc, and nowhere near enough thought is put into this (again I'll reference La Vagabond here, for while I'm an Outremer fan, they free dive and spear
fish a lot and the transom/swim platform on that type of modern design is disappointing and impractical).
Most (modern) Wharrams are actually an improvement in that respect. Again it is basic but most of them have the entire back
deck fold down into the water which is already better, and with a few tweaks could be amazing. here is an example:
Pahi 52 for sale E. Med (ref 1245) - Scott Brown Multihulls
Yes you can view the long narrow hulls as wasted space. But on the plus side these are (or should be

) water tight compartments, and they make for an easily driven boat that tracks well (for self steering), just as in a
monohull or a long narrow
motoryacht. These are not
day sailing marina queens so at
anchor the extra length is less of an issue. And it means more
deck space
Now onto the sailing perspective. Most Wharrams have a bad reputation in this regard and it is a pity. The modern Tiki and
Pahi designs will sail well enough if setup properly and sailed properly (no, not Gunboat level performance, let's not be silly... but 'cruising cat performance').
But here is where the budget aspect works against a Wharram, as many are built poorly, equipped poorly, and sailed poorly, mostly by non sailors in fact.
Here is a short video of what can be done instead:
Hammer down and consistent mid teen boatspeed numbers (18+kn on the GPS) on this French Tiki 38 (wet though, see my earlier post with mods to help with that). I appreciate that pushing like this might be excessive for some people, so ok, throttle back and do an easy 10kn all day long instead. That would still be very good cruising for a 38 foot boat which is closer to only 30 feet on the waterline, and is fantasy land for most cruising monos.
Pity there is no video of Wharram himself going upwind in the red sea in a blow on the
Pahi 63 whilst most cruisers were hiding or motoring
head to
wind.
So I think what I was trying to suggest by saying "Let's not complicate it again by changing the whole design ethos of a Wharram cat" is that it's possible for them to be surprisingly good already despite all the supposedly 'wrong'
parts of the design.
For the budget conscious I think it's better to focus on and enhance the positive aspects of a Wharram with everyday usability mods instead, because it seems that these mods are required on most boats anyway. Most boats are just not that perfect out of the factory for
live aboard cruising.
Even expensive modern cats still seem to need a lot of changes, and still seem to have the same silly stuff break and go wrong like it did 20 years ago. Why pay a premium for that?
As @Redreuben said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redreuben
A Wharram (can be) a package where the sum is greater than the parts and that’s why people love them.
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My 2 cents @owly, hopefully better explained