Catalac is a defunct English maritime construction company that specialised in building
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
s. The company was founded by Tom Lack (hence "Cata + Lac"), in
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part ...
. After a successful period of production, the company closed in 1986. In the 1990s, the Catalac 9M was briefly revived and updated in the US as the "Catalac 900".
Catalac catamarans
The Catalac company's main model was the 9-metre 9M. All the other models are derived from the 9M and use a similar design concept; the 8M even used the same hulls as the 9M. All Catalacs were very strongly-built with thick
grp hulls and glass windows. Some of the superstructure, such as the solid foredeck, was of
sandwich grp construction. Compared to modern designs, Catalacs had a narrow
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of less than half the
LOA
( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerat ...
, and vertical transoms (rather than the more modern "sugar scoop" with transom steps). Initially featuring lifting dinghy-type rudders, Catalac moved to fixed rudders protected by a skeg; this allowed the boats to sail a little closer to the wind. Only the 9M has a staggered sheerline (which allows easy aft access from a pontoon); the other models all have an unbroken sheerline.
The sailplan is a
masthead Bermuda sloop
The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda rig ...
of modest area. Although modern catamarans tend to have a fractional rig, the Catalac's mainsail has a straight leech, short battens and no roach. Twin backstays run to the transoms, enabling the forestay to be kept taut. The babystay gives a slight mast curvature to enable a fuller-shaped mainsail. There are no known examples of a Catalac ever pitchpoling or being blown over and upturned.
All Catalac catamarans feature:
*Widely-flaring chines and overhanging bows.
*A considerable "rocker" underwater profile to allow manoeuvrability and skidding to leeward under high winds.
*Solid foredeck with no trampoline.
*Twin inboard diesels (sited aft), or single centrally-placed steered outboard.
*Vertical transoms.
*Aft cockpit with protected wheel steering.
*Conventional accommodation, with two main berths on the bridgedeck forward of the saloon.
*Occasional single berths further aft in the hulls.
*Galley-below layout (in the port or starboard hull).
*Single head & shower room.
*
Roller furling
Roller furling is a method of furling (i.e. reefing) a yacht's staysail by rolling the sail around a stay. Roller furling is typically used for foresails such as jibs or genoas.
A mainsail may also be furled by a similar system, whereby the ...
on the forestay.
Reception
Catalacs have been very well-received. In ''Cruising in Catamarans'' Charles Kanter declared that the Catalac "27 and 30 are among the best cruising catamarans ever produced". Kanter wrote,"when sailing in a 41-foot Catalac 12M alongside a beautiful 55 foot gold-plate ketch, ''Pacific High'', we loped along with a steady upright forward motion and in 3 hours they were hull down over the horizon. In 16 hours we had covered 140-odd miles". In ''Catamarans for Cruising'', Jim Andrews (himself a Catalac owner) praises the 9M's interior layout and its good sea-keeping qualities. A ''Practical Boat Owner'' magazine review of a Catalac 9M summarised it as a "competent, versatile and long-lasting cat".
Overall, 255 Catalac 9M boats were made, making it the most successful model in the range. The other production figures are: 8M - 216 built; 10M - 45 built; 11M - (''no data''); 12M - 27 built.
Catalac models
Catalac 8M (aka 27)
*LOA: 27"
*LWL: 25' 4"
*Beam: 13' 8"
*Draft: 2' 4"
*Displacement: 6,000 lbs (dry)
*Sail area: Main xx sq ft, Jib 348 sq ft
Catalac 9M (aka 30)
*LOA: 29' 3"
*LWL: 25' 4"
*Beam: 13' 9"
*Draft: 2' 6"
*Displacement: 8,000 lbs (dry)
*Sail area: Main xx sq ft, Jib 348 sq ft
Catalac 10M (aka 34)
*LOA: 33' 8"
*LWL: 27'
*Beam: 15' 3"
*Draft: 2' 9"
*Displacement: 11,000 lbs (dry)
*Sail area: Main 283 sq ft, Genoa 333 sq ft
Catalac 11M (aka 36)
*LOA: 35' 9"
*LWL: 28' 3"
*Beam: 15' 5"
*Draft: 2' 9"
*Displacement: 13,000 lbs (dry)
*Sail area: Main 27fsq.ft; Genoa 333 sq.ft
Catalac 12M (aka 41)
[ 12M dat]
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*LOA: 40' 10"
*LWL:36' (est)
*Beam: 17' 6"
*Draft: 3' 1"
*Displacement: 18,500 lbs (dry)
*Sail area: Main: 336 sq ft, Genoa 410 sq ft
See also
* List of multihulls Types
* catamaran = two symmetric hulls
* proa = two asymmetric hulls, reverse-shunting (interchangeable bow/stern)
* trimaran = three hulls
* quadrimaran = four hulls
* pentamaran = five hulls
Pre-modern Austronesian
* ʻalia
* Amatasi
* B ...
References
{{Reflist
Catamarans
Defunct shipbuilding companies of England