Oppikat Plans (Children's Catamaran)

A boat for the little people

~ Modern concept

~ Easy launch and retrieval

~ Car-toppable

~ Trainer for the big cat

~ Great "my own boat" for the kids

~ Now also detailed for wood construction

She is a small and manageable boat for children to sail either one or two-up as a primer into cat sailing. She is also versatile enough to allow father to sail her either by himself or while teaching small children.

The size has been set for ease of handling both on and off the water. The 2,75m hull length, 1,7m beam and 4,65m mast length make it a car top boat, without having to dismantle hulls and beams. It will also fit neatly on top of the trampoline of a larger cat. From roofracks to launching will be a matter of minutes and a minimum of fuss.

The overall image is thoroughly modern, in the style of the latest racing cats. The keels, moulded integrally with the hulls, will give windward ability and a pivot point for tacking, without the complication of daggerboards. Their draft of 200mm is shallow enough to allow easy beaching and sailing in shallow water. The rudders have simple fixed blades for simplicity. They do not project below the keels so they have protection in shallow water to reduce the number of concerns for novice sailors.

The rig uses a simple sleeve luff mainsail fitted over the tubular aluminium mast. The rigging is hooked onto the front of the mast at a cut-out in the sleeve and comprises only a forestay and single shrouds, attached to the chainplates with lashings rather than bottle screws. An optional jib with integral forestay can replace the standard forestay, for higher performance. The mainsail has a large roach and is fully battened. The large foot batten replaces a boom and is controlled by the mainsheet which runs on a wire bridle on the aft beam. Buoyancy material in the double skin top panel of the mainsail will assist with righting in the event of a capsize.

In May 2007 we have added new detailing to this design for building from wood. This uses strip cedar with a light glass covering to the rounded bottom and plywood to the topsides, deck and keel. It is built over plywood bulkheads, half of which stay in as permanent structure. This additional detailing turns this into a design that is now well suited to building by reasonably skilled amateur builders.

To give it scale, here the Oppikat is drawn alongside an Optimist

Please note that our plan prices include for adding imperial measurements to our metric designs if needed by the buyer.

9ft Training catamaran

LOA 2.75m (9'0")
LWL 2.75m (9'0")
Beam overall 1.70m (5'7")
Draft 0,20m (8")
Weight Approx 40kg (88lb)