New here and new to sailing. I got this boat in pieces and can’t identify it. I can’t post photos so I have to describe it. There is no hull number that I can find. 18’ hulls and 26’ mast. The crossmembers are what confuse me, they are round aluminum with the front 3” and the rear one 2.5”. The hulls have a strip built in to the inboard sides with holes I assume for securing the trampoline. Are there any old catamarans that used round members? The closest thing I can find online in photos is a Prindle. There is a sticker from a sailing club from 1982
My Prindle 18 had a longer mast than 26 ft. Does it have asymmetric hulls like the early prindles (16 & 18) and the hobie 16?
New here and new to sailing. I got this boat in pieces and can’t identify it. I can’t post photos so I have to describe it. ..
Welcome to TheBeachcats.com! Post again and you should be able to add photos.
Round crossbeams aren't unusual.
There is a beachcat identification archive at
https://archive.thebeachcats.com/pictures/index.php?/category/1331
See if anything there matches your boat.
Are there any numbers/letters scratched/etched into the stern? Beachcsts usually had a HIN (hull identification number) either directly in the stern fiberglass or on a plate attached there or on the rear beam.
First photo shows the size of the sterns. I haven’t seen any others online this small. Figured they might aid in identification.
Is there an insignia or symbol on the sail?
sm
Does it have a 'Hull Identification Number' (HIN) on or near the transoms?
It might be a one-off boat. Appears to have very low-volume hulls. Your hand looks like a giant's hand near that transom if the transom was near the vertical measurement of a typical cat. 🤣
@cat-scratch no number I can find. Yes with the tiny rear end it’s hard to believe the hull is 18’ long. Other than the small end, the other sections of hull are commensurate in profile with similar length boat hulls. I’m going to say home built when I go to register it with the state. Since I don’t have a title, it’s my only option.
Is there mainsail only? No jib?
I would say this is home built first generation A-cat.
it should be light too, 200 lbs all together, right?
Not a bad guess - could well be an A Class, but that tapered-to-nothing transom is pretty strange - not like mine at all. Also, I don't have a dolphin striker.
I'm really looking forward to a pic of it all assembled.
Not a bad guess - could well be an A Class, but that tapered-to-nothing transom is pretty strange - not like mine at all.
tapered sterns were hot in 60-s and 70-s. Just look at early Gaugeon Brothers boats.
I am pretty sure someone would experiment with such hull design in open development class.
Here is a primer on A-class history:
one of the first a-cats, Australis, was a double ended. Actually. It is probably Australis. Piece of history.
Australis:
https://sailwiki.com/yacht/australis-catamaran/
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/australis-catamaran/
Looks like it might be Australis.
I’ll be working on it this afternoon, I’ll try to get better photos of it overall
Also measure beams. A-cats are narrow(ish) at 7.5 ft
I am trying to remember the name of an 18 foot extremely lightweight cat that I sailed alongside for hours during a "round the island" race once upon a time. The only one I ever saw. The mast was so light you could just toss it up with one hand.
Unicorn? It is one of original A-cats which migrated into independent one design class in UK.
No, I have a Unicorn, so I would have offered that in a hot minute. My transoms are "normal". Pictures! Pictures!
(Funny I should be clamouring for them, because others have asked for pics of mine. At the moment it's in pieces - one of the hulls is in my basement with the aft deck pulled off. When I sailed it last summer the deck+hull separated, and I didn't want to push it to failure, so I'm reinforcing it.
Didn’t get any work done and can only offer one more photo so far. This shows the hull profile, sorry it’s Upside Down
What's that marking (sticker?) up at the bow?
Of course - would have IDed it if I'd bothered to d/l into an image editor to zoom in far enough.
New here and new to sailing. I got this boat in pieces and can’t identify it. I can’t post photos so I have to describe it. There is no hull number that I can find. 18’ hulls and 26’ mast. The crossmembers are what confuse me, they are round aluminum with the front 3” and the rear one 2.5”. The hulls have a strip built in to the inboard sides with holes I assume for securing the trampoline. Are there any old catamarans that used round members? The closest thing I can find online in photos is a Prindle. There is a sticker from a sailing club from 1982
There's no shortage of boats with round crossbeams - I think it was common among early NACRAs like the 5.2; certainly, SuperCats have them, etc., so I don't think there's much to learn from that. The A-Class Australis sounds like a really good bet.
As far as "new to sailing" goes... Welcome! Personally, I think it's best to learn the basics on a unimaran (aka monohull, dinghy), because there are fundamental boat behaviours that are much easier to learn on a monohull, still apply to cats, but are harder to learn on cats. But you got whatcha got, right? One thing I can tell you, as a new old-A-Class sailor with only a few hours on the water, is that everyone who gets a dreamy look when talking about sailing them is right: It's kinda like sailing on a cloud. Super-light, super-responsive, and (even when the boat is still way outa tune like mine) just really fun, unlike so many rides that can be scary and a real workout. And it was really interesting to me that - over the winter before I first sailed it, while it was just sitting outside the dining room window, covered in snow - I had the feeling that I knew what it was going to feel like to sail. I've had a few boats, and never had that sense before of a boat I'd never been on. And it was just like that, which was strange, but very cool.
You should be up for some fun, alright.