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WHARRAM PAHI 42: A Polynesian Catamaran

The catamaran designs that British multihull pioneer James Wharram first created for amateur boatbuilders in the mid-1960s were influenced by the boats he built and voyaged upon during the 1950s. These “Classic” designs, as Wharram termed them, feature slab-sided, double-ended, V-bottomed plywood hulls with very flat sheerlines and simple triangular sections. The hulls are joined together by solid wood beams and crude slat-planked open bridgedecks.

Wharram’s second-generation “Pahi” designs, which he started developing in the mid-1970s, still feature double-ended V-bottomed hulls, but the sections are slightly rounder and the sheerlines rise at either end in dramatically up-swept prows and sterns. The most successful of these in terms of number of boats built–and also probably the most successful of any of Wharram’s larger designs–is the Pahi 42. It is an excellent example of a no-frills do-it-yourself cruising catamaran with enough space for a family to live aboard long term.

First introduced in 1980, the Pahi 42, a.k.a. the “Captain Cook,” was the first Wharram design to include accommodations space on the bridgedeck in the form of a small low-profile pod containing a berth and/or (in some variations) a nav station. Unlike the Classic designs, which have no underwater foils other than rudders, the Pahis also have daggerboards, though these are quite shallow and are set far forward in each hull. The rudders are inboard, rather than transom-hung, set in V-shaped wells behind the aft cross-beam.

As on the Classic designs, the cross-beams are flexibly mounted to the hulls, but are lashed with rope rather than bolted on with large rubber bushings. Hull construction likewise is very simple, all in plywood, and explicitly conceived to facilitate home-building by amateurs. The frames consist of a series of flat bulkhead panels fastened to a long centerline backbone with longitudinal stringers running down either side to support the plywood skin panels. Through the main central area of each hull the bulkheads all have large cutouts in their midsections to allow room for interior accommodations space. To increase moisture and abrasion resistance the hull exteriors are sheathed in fiberglass cloth and epoxy.

As designed the Pahi 42 has a single mast and flies a loose-footed mainsail with a wishbone boom. There is also a staysail on a wishbone boom and a conventional genoa flying on a bridle over the forward beam. Many owner-builders have substituted other rigs, including Wharram’s unique gaff “wingsail” rig, where the main has a luff sleeve enveloping the mast, but conventional Marconi rigs are probably the most common. The original design also calls for a single outboard engine mounted on the stern deck to serve as auxiliary power, but many owners have engineered other arrangements, including inboard diesel engines and even electric drives.

As its light-ship D/L and SA/D ratios attest, the Pahi 42 has the potential to be a very fast performance cruiser. Wharram claims top speeds in the neighborhood of 18 knots with average cruising speeds of 9 to 12 knots. In reality, however, it probably takes an unusually attentive, disciplined sailor to achieve anything like this. The Pahi seems to be more weight sensitive than most cats and typical owners, who carry lots of stuff on their boats, report average speeds more on the order of 5 to 8 knots.

The boat also does not sail well to windward, as its daggerboards are not large enough and are not positioned properly to generate much lift. Instead they act more like trim boards and help balance the helm while sailing. They also make it difficult to tack. Most owner-builders therefore consider the boards more trouble than they’re worth and don’t install them, preferring instead to retain the extra space below for storage and accommodations. With only its V-shaped hulls to resist leeway the Pahi reportedly sails closehauled at a 60 degree angle to the wind, though performance-oriented owners who keep their boats light claim they can make progress upwind faster than other boats sailing tighter angles. A few builders have also put long fin keels on their boats and these reportedly improve windward performance to some extent.

As for its accommodations plan, the Pahi 42 has much in common with other open-bridgedeck catamarans. Except for the small pod on deck all sheltered living space is contained within the narrow hulls, which have a maximum beam of just 6 feet. The standard layout puts double berths at both ends of each hull, though many may regard the aft “doubles” as wide singles. The central part of the port hull contains a small dinette table and a large galley; the center of the starboard hull is given over to a long chart table or work bench, plus a head.

Naturally, many owner-builders have fiddled the design a bit to suit their own tastes. The most significant changes involve the deck pod. Those who crave more living space tend to enlarge it; in at least one case it has blossomed into something approaching a full-on bridgedeck saloon, which must hurt sailing performance. In other instances, in an effort to save weight and improve performance, builders have omitted the pod entirely.

The great advantage of a Pahi 42, or any Wharram cat for that matter, is its relatively low cost compared to other cats in the same size range. To obtain one new, however, you normally must build it yourself. Wharram estimates this takes between 2,500 to 3,000 hours of effort. The alternative is to buy one used, which now normally costs less than building one.

There is an active brokerage market with boats listed for sale all over the world. The best sources for listings are Wharram himself and another Brit, Scott Brown , who operates mostly online. Because Wharrams are built of plywood, even if sheathed with epoxy and glass, the most important defect to look for is simple rot. This, however, is not hard to detect and, because the boats are structurally so simple, is also not hard to repair.

Specifications

Beam: 22’0”

–Boards up: 2’1”

–Boards down: 3’6”

Displacement

–Light ship: 7,840 lbs.

–Maximum load: 14,560 lbs.

–Working sail: 640 sq.ft.

–Maximum sail: 1,000 sq.ft.

Fuel: Variable

Water: Variable

–Light ship: 89

–Maximum load: 165

–Working sail: 25.91 (light ship); 17.14 (max. load)

–Maximum sail: 40.48 (light ship); 26.78 (max. load)

Nominal hull speed

–Light ship: 11.9 knots

–Maximum load: 9.8 knots

Build cost: $70K – $120K

Typical asking prices: $40K – 100K

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please more info and prices for this model!

Response to Goran below: I recommend you follow the link above to Scott Brown’s website. Lots of boats and prices there!

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Wharram's catamarans: tropical dream, nightmare at 50ºN, 2ºW?

• Thread starter dancrane
• Start date 15 Mar 2012
• 15 Mar 2012

Well-known member

A 21ft Wharram Tiki came second in the Jester Challenge, single handed transatlantic [ clicky ]  

• 16 Mar 2012

dancrane said: I first encountered James Wharram's designs in the August 1986 Yachting World article about the Pahi 63, "Quetzalcoatl". Just dreaming, as usual...I'm interested to learn anything about these alternativist designs. Are they of limited use outside tropical zones? Have any examples made more than token use of the large bridgedeck area? Are they very payload-sensitive? Is that modest half-formed gaff rig really as good (and as big) as the design could carry? And, is there any reason why the Pahi 63' couldn't have its plans upsized by a third, to build a three-masted Pahi 84'? I like the fact that these big cats are only roped-together. Very clever, being so simple. But are they mainly for the wide Pacific? Click to expand...

whipper_snapper

dancrane said: Are they of limited use outside tropical zones? Click to expand...

dancrane said: Have any examples made more than token use of the large bridgedeck area? Are they very payload-sensitive? Click to expand...

dancrane said: Is that modest half-formed gaff rig really as good (and as big) as the design could carry? Click to expand...

dancrane said: I like the fact that these big cats are only roped-together. Very clever, being so simple. But are they mainly for the wide Pacific? Click to expand...

Deleted member 36384

Wharram explains his design philosophy on his web site very well. http://wharram.com/site/ The lashings are strong but the resilience is not in the strength of the lashings but in the fact that the hulls will move on the lashings. Other designs have slight camber on the hull where the beam touches it to facilitate this, while some designs have pivots through the hull which the beam is connected too. There quite a few Wharrams sailing about in Northern latitudes. My old Tangarroa ended up in Denmark and being sailed around those waters. A friend has a Captain Cook on the West Coast of Scotland and I am aware of two more on the Firth of Clyde. There are many stories of Wharrams surviving tropical storms and managing inclement weather very well. I sailed a Phai in about a Force 7 beating up wind off the West Coast of Jura. It slammed occasionally and while we could achieve 45 degrees, I felt that freeing off about 5 degrees was far more comfortable and faster. They can be insulate very easily and be fitted with stoves. I would propose the concept that Wharram use is very suited to Northern Latitudes. The many compartments allows for easy living, with out different activities clashing with one another. For example a wet room can be established and sleeping areas kept very separate and dry. Wharram's boat design philosophy very much dove tails with sailing as a leisure activity to be enjoyed. I have never met the man but oldbilbos comments remind me of a friend who visited his premises to view a boat. He reported back that at lunch time they all took their clothes off and sat around in the sun eating lunch! A remarkable man and remarkable boat designs.  

A Brokerage That Specialises In Wharram Cats http://www.multihulls.uk.com/wharram/boats.htm Lots here to get some ideas.  

Blueboatman

Old Bilbo, that is a very good bit of writing. Wot, after all, is the point in sailing to deserted tropical islands and being unable to park right on the beach, bbq fish for the vegetarian lassies and sleep al fresco on a trampoline net, eh? Great concept, perhaps with a limited ( left field) kind of resale value down the line, but many people have enjoyed epic voyages at a far younger age than would be possible by buying conventionally and expensively.imo.  

PetiteFleur

Together with 5 other people we built an 'ORO' (46') in the late 60's, soon after he had returned from his initial transatlantic voyage and when he had set up house in Deganwy. One of our group had met James some time earlier so we all went down for a chat and came away fully fired up with the ORO plans and a RTW trip in mind. Yes, we did meet some of the 'wenches'! We built the boat and launched on the Orwell near Ipswich. Unfortunately we did take some of James's ideas too literally - we didn't have an engine so soon found all the Orwell mudbanks. Winches would also have been a good idea as well as a few home comforts, particularly for our Northern Hemispere. Our's was a spritsail rig which was OK but I probably wouldn't choose again. The group broke up a few months after launching so we never did any decent trips - the best one was a trip down the Stour with the potential new owner when we overtook all boats in sight, including some much larger ones. That trip sold the boat and the last we heard was that it was in Whitby but what happened after that I've no idea. Would I buy another one - probably not but it was a good experience at the time and if we had started our RTW trip we would probably all been drowned! One of the group a few years ago did have a Wharram built in Thailand which was a nice boat but that had to be sold in the end and unfortunately he died soon after.  

snowleopard

Active member.

oldbilbo said: One of the great benefits of large Wharram cats is that they come equipped not with Lewmar or Harken 2-speed winches, but a range of large and small wenches, to do the sail handling, trimming and deckwork. These uniquely-economic and renewable resources make for very pleasant sailing, clad as they usually are in simple blue lavalava/pareos and some flowers. ? Click to expand...

Bosun Higgs

oldbilbo said: Certainly, they're more suited to the sub-tropics than Svalbard - but isn't everything? Click to expand...

Friend of friend day chartered one (35ft?) out of the Turcs and Cacos (sp) Built it in Canada, sailed it down and had a good business. Decided (with local money) to build a bigger one to carry more PX. Well known multi designer was engaged and a 65ft design was produced. (google Rustic Schooner) At this stage I was asked if it could be be built in Portugal at a reasonable cost, I looked around at several multi builds and worked out some figures. Finaly it was built in Florida. Sadly, for Bill, the F of F, the money didn't stretch far enough and it is now in a big charter fleet. It was very like a big Warram, similar rig to the 'short gaff'. Little story told by a sailing friend: Manager of a big paint co. something like national paints but with wider scope. Visiting his local S.W rep. to see how it was on the ground. Rep says we are visiting a designer of catamarans to talk about antifoul. Knock on door, answered by wench in sarong. 'Please take your shoes off, it is our custom.' While waiting for the great man, they notice a wench at the drawing board. Clad only in nickers. Manager not too comfortable. After the man arrived and they started on the subject of antifoul, he said they needed to talk to the marine biologist. She turned up, wearing nothing at all. At this point the manager lost it. Probably just a story... DW Spirit of Gaia was parked in Ferraguda for a while, aquaintance steeled himself and called. Warram was very welcoming and gave him a copy of 'Two Boats, Two Women'. I admire him for filling in gap in the market/lifestyle. But I am not sure I would want one,.  

• 17 Mar 2012

Bajansailor

I first encountered some James Wharram designs in the mid 70's - I vividly remember one about 45' (perhaps an Oro?) called "If Dogs Run Free" arriving here from across the Atlantic. And James' personal boat then, the 51' Tehini also visited here about then, and I remember asking if I could have a look around on board (but I dont remember a crew of scantily clad wenches though.....). And I had a pal here with a sprit-sail ketch rigged Tangaroa called 'Taaroa' - both the main and mizzen were sprit-sails, like a Thames barge, and they could be brailed up immediately - very easy to handle. And I know some Bajan folk here who were living in Vancouver in the 70's, decided to sail home, so bought Wharram plans, and built a Narai in their back yard, and then sailed her home westabouts, with three little children, all of whom were ace sailors. . I think that Richard Woods ( www.sailingcatamarans.com ) worked for Wharram for a bit after he left college in Southampton - you can see some Wharram influence in the older Woods cats (eg re open bridge decks, and vee shaped hulls), but Richard's cats were all generally significantly faster (and dare I say it much more attractive).  

Bajansailor said: I think that Richard Woods ( www.sailingcatamarans.com ) worked for Wharram for a bit after he left college in Southampton - you can see some Wharram influence in the older Woods cats (eg re open bridge decks, and vee shaped hulls), but Richard's cats were all generally significantly faster (and dare I say it much more attractive). Click to expand...

Tiki 36 Our tiki 36 is a good fit for us, a family of three. The permanent mooring at the right price is obviously a key requirement, not sure you'd want to pay by the square metre in a Marina. Having a cat and the confidence to dry out keeps you closer to inland services and out of marinas. We were lucky to pick up a well built and looked after model. Life is too short to build one. For the money, a deck pod and now with a permanent sun canopy there is plenty of space and stability, the winches are smaller than on my previous gk29.  

Nice to see there are a few people like me who have a romantic attachement to Wharram cats. When I first wanted a real boat in the late 60s I bought the plans for Tane-a 28 footer as I recall-as I could just about afford to build it one hull at a time but reached 17 and a car took its place. I still have the plans and sometimes think maybe-the last time was after seeing several around about Paihia in the Bay of Islands NZ and thought I could really have fun with one in the Hokianga Harbour and out into the Tasman Sea with its shallow draft and beaching ability counteracting the shallow harbour bars of the NZ west coast. What I need now is a Kiwi telling me I must be mad!  

Back in 73, I shunted my car and was a few weeks short of the new one being delivered. My insurance guy had mentioned a Citroen 2CV for sale. Turned out to be a musician from Germany living on a farm and building a Wharram. I bought the car (£10) and then spent a couple of hours helping him with the plans. Not the easiest for a first timer (being polite here) He had built one hull, so was well on the way. But.... no sailing experience, and planned a RTW trip. No idea how it turned out, but doubt the RTW. The car did though. Spent another £6 on an exhaust and MOT. Rebushed the carb to get it running, used it till the new car was delivered, then sold it to a student for £50. 1959 425cc model. DW  

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Tiki 30 Catamaran: A Practical Sailor Boat Test

This wharram-designed coastal-cruising cat is a tempting diy boatbuilding project for those looking to get back to the basics..

Photos by Ralph Naranjo

Part of the catamaran designer James Wharrams success story lies in the lifestyle he has been marketing along with his boats. For decades, like fellow cat-cult heroes Arthur Piver and Jim Brown, he has launched people as well as boats on voyages of discovery. He pitches the case for Spartan simplicity and self-reliance and backs it up with a forthright and savvy boatbuilding syllabus. His is the anathema of the ferro-cement craze, more of a “do with less” rather than “load her up” mindset. He sells his ideas as effectively as any self-help telemarketer, and his elixir to cure a mundane life ashore makes much more sense.

Those who drop in on Wharrams website www.wharram.com are encouraged to buy a pithy, 72-page book thats an unabashed advertisement for Wharrams boats, the practicality of his approach, and the need to shrug off shoreside claptrap and clutter when going to sea. This diehard pitch in support of adventure is infectious, and Wharram spells out how a handy, but not professionally trained, do-it-yourselfer can succeed with his designs.

The semi-hooked can order “study plans” of one or more of the Wharram lines, and the subject of this review-the Tiki 30-is part of the Coastal Trek series. These study plans afford greater specific detail about Wharram designs and spell out the materials needed. They also lead you through a materials tally that includes details about epoxy resin, plywood types, sails, hardware, lines, an outboard auxiliary, and other bits and pieces.

Once you have figured out where you can come up with an average of 900 hours of free time-Wharrams DIY labor estimate-you may be close to plunking down $1,000 for detailed building plans. Those who take the leap and create their boat from scratch say it was worth the investment. Those who also complete the voyage they dreamed about have even more good things to say about the “Wharram Way.”

“Living on the sea” is one of Wharrams favorite phrases, and in many ways, hes as much a cruising enabler as he is a boat designer. Like Brown, and his lure of “Seasteading,” Wharram dangles a mostly realistic getaway plan in front of potential clients. The price point is attractive, at least as long as one views the labor commitment as part of the recreational experience. But when all the glue and paint has finally cured, the bottom line is that the Tiki 30, and most of the other Wharram cats, are best suited to cruisers willing to slip away without huge battery banks, large-volume water tanks, and with less mechanical propulsion reliance. Theres little sense in fitting granite countertops and aiming for a monohull-like interior in the limited space available aboard these catamarans.

One Particular Tiki

Occasionally, we take a close look at a non-mainstream vessel, believing that the old adage “one size fits all” has less merit among sailors. And near the top of our “cult following” list of sailboats are the Wharram-designed fleet of catamarans that are built by dedicated do-it-yourselfers as well as professionals. When we heard that voyager/boatbuilder Dave Martin had just finished a Wharram Tiki 30, we knew that the timing was right for a look at a unique vessel, its crew, and the designer.

A Rare breed

Dave and Jaja Martin and their three children are among the rarest breed of family cruisers, a couple who have sailed and savored the razor-thin edge between high risk and even higher reward. Twenty-plus years ago, when Dave sailed off in his completely restructured and highly modified Cal 25 Direction , he found that single-handing held little appeal. So, after an Atlantic crossing and a Caribbean wedding, he and Jaja followed the tradewind route around the world. The singlehander was now part of a family of five that had outgrown their pocket cruiser. So with a Cal 25 circumnavigation astern, thoughts of a next boat began to take shape.

The curtain lifted on the second act with the Martins rebuilding a 20-year-old, 33-foot steel sloop, literally tearing out the interior and starting from scratch. After an 18-month refit, there came an Arctic adventure that would carry Driver and its crew to Iceland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland, and the experience of living aboard during winters in which the rolling sea became as solid as granite. The Martins exemplify voyaging tenacity, but they earn even higher marks for their self-reliance. Theres no sponsorships for their adventures, or independent wealth to fuel a whim. They have taken very modest vessels and turned them into passage-making vehicles able to handle the task at hand. They worked their way around the world and met the locals as participants in their culture rather than as spectators.

Having first met Dave in the Bahamas in 1984 and coaxed him to come work in a boatyard that Practical Sailor Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo was running on Long Island Sound, Naranjo had the good fortune of seeing how seafaring goals and a shipwrights set of skills can set the stage for special cruising opportunities.

except where noted

Act 3 in the Martin saga is like a symphony with a major change in cadence. This time, priorities such as heavy weather survivability, high-volume stowage capacity, and ice resistance were off the drawing board. In their place came priorities such as simplicity and sailing efficiency, along with the imperative that this will be a “from scratch” Dave-built boat. No mean feat in itself, this boat-building endeavor was all the more impressive because the top of the “honey-do list” was a cottage to live in, a shop to work from, and the building of Dave and Jajas dream house. For most of us, this would relegate the boat project to pipedream status, a project that would likely never be started. But for the Martins, in just over a half-dozen years, the trifecta was complete.

The tide has turned, and their family life proceeds with a shoreside cadence. Adolescents are becoming young adults, and the Maine woods rather than a blue horizon dominate the picture. But true to form, as soon as the house was finished, the table saw gathered no rust. Nor did the other tools in the woodshop, as Dave began cutting carefully scribed curves on Okume plywood. One-at-a-time the amas for a 30-foot Tiki filled the extended garage boat shop. The choice of a double- hulled canoe catamaran doesn’t surprise anyone who knows Dave and Jaja. As sailing adventurers, they have yet to sing the same song twice.

Gravitating toward a new mode of cruising, they embraced the theme of light displacement, efficiency under sail, and simplicity. Spartan minimalism is the common thread in this and the other boats of the Martins two exemplary voyages. The elegance in each of these vessels has little to do with opulence, and everything to do with how the boats have fit the job at hand. Simplicity, functionality, and cost effectiveness abound, defining the approach Dave brings to boatbuilding. He still alludes to a down-the-road, larger monohull project for more oceanic adventure, but for now, its all about quick getaways, coastal cruises, light-air sailing, and shoal-draft exploration.

Design Details

The Wharram Tiki design was a natural choice for Dave because the designer has always approached his work from a builder/sailor perspective, rather than as an independent exercise in naval architecture. Simplicity and practicality rule, and in many ways these boats are the extreme opposite of whats displayed at boat shows across the country. Instead of a living room afloat, the Tiki 30 offers wood-grained camp-style accommodations that are enough for a weekend outing, or two-week summer cruises for hardy souls, but will hold little appeal to those looking for a vacation home afloat.

The real genius in this boat comes more from whats not present than whats found on board. No lead, no liners, and no inboard engine adds up to, or more specifically diminishes down to, a displacement that is so light that a low-tech, no-boom small sail plan can provide enough drive to make way, even when the sea surface is mirror smooth. In light zephyrs, this agile cat will tack and make progress to windward. Behaving like a waterbug skittering across the water, the boat reminds the person handling the butter-smooth tiller bar how important efficiency under sail can be.

Like all multihulls, the issue of initial stability is handled by placing the source of buoyancy well away from the centerline of the vessel without creating the skin drag found in a monohull with massive beam. The combination of a high length-to-beam ratio associated with each ama, and ultralight displacement, the Tiki 30 is a thoroughbred when it comes to efficiency and agility.

Thanks to this ultralight displacement status, the Tiki doesn’t need a cloud of sail to deliver light-air efficiency, and Wharram further reduces the need for a tall spar by leveraging aspect ratio through the use of a simple gaff-rigged mainsail. On one hand, the complication of hoisting both a peak and throat halyard adds some extra complexity, but the result is a higher center of effort (CE) with a lower masthead height, and when it comes to building a simple timber spar, it all makes sense. Yes, a carbon spar and PBO rigging would do a better job, but the cost would be more than a DIY builder spends on all of the materials used to build the rest of the boat.

Every multihull designer is concerned about racking or twisting loads induced in a structure as the heeling force and righting moment interplay on rolling sea. Some use massive bridgedeck structures to transfer rig loads from ama to ama. The Tiki 30 incorporates three well-engineered triangular beam structures and a modern rendition of the Polynesian art of lashing canoe hulls together. Care must be taken during construction to make sure that each beam has a flush fit with a well-reinforced portion of the ama deck, and that the polyester double-braid line used for the lashing is tensioned to designer specifications. These rigidly held athwartship supports may creak in a rolling seaway, but the connection between hulls is rugged and long lasting.

Performance

Under sail, the Tiki is an agile and responsive performer. It balances well, and its V-shaped sections and long shallow keel plus outboard rudders provide good directional stability and responsive steering. The underbody configuration allows the cat to be safely beached, and the complexity of dagger boards is eliminated. The lack of daggerboards has its drawback: Theres less windward capability, but the V-shaped hulls and long run of shallow keel does pretty well to windward without them.

Perhaps the most rigid design characteristic that can’t be circumvented is the importance of keeping its payload in check. This is a boat designed to stay on its lines not bog down and suffer the consequences of excess drag. Its long, lean amas knife through the sea, but their ability to put up with excess weight is minimal. More weight necessitates additional buoyancy, and as the V-shaped sections are submerged, significant increases in skin drag occur along with a loss of vital freeboard. This runs contrary to the design attributes of the vessel and results in performance setbacks and poor sea-keeping ability.

These fast, nimble, cost-effective cats garner a following among do-it-yourself builders because they are efficient to build. Wharrams streamlined approach to construction is a comprehensive blend of materials and hull-shape development that results in a strong, light structure. The expedited build process is free of finicky labor-intensive work and costly esoteric materials. In essence, Wharrams approach uses a minimal strong back, a stitch-and-glue joining process, and lines that allow large scarf-joined panels of high-quality marine plywood to be bent into the shape of a double-canoe catamaran. Bulkheads act as the athwartship formers, and as Wharram puts it, the builder uses a thickened epoxy filleting compound to “weld” the wood together.

The Tiki 30 is well-tailored for Spartan coastal cruising but a bit gossamer for ocean passagemaking, despite the fact that many have done so. Its ability to tuck into tight places, to perform admirably under power with only a 9.9-horsepower long-shaft, four-stroke kicker and its ability under sail give it high marks in our book. For many, camper/cruiser comfort is enough, and with the easy unfurling of a full cockpit awning, the boat becomes spacious enough at anchor to fulfill the dreams of a vacation cruise.

The Tiki is indeed a versatile platform, a pleasure to sail, and a project worth tackling if youre not too worried about dollars and cents. Wharram boats backyard-built pedigrees and their fringe appeal make them a tough sell on the used boat market, so if you plan to build one, you had better plan to sail it.

• Interior Notes Tiki 30
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Hi and hope all is well!

In the attached pictures you can see what has been done and where I am at this point (60% complete)… I live in Connecticut and in a perfect world, I would like someone to take it over- either with me or partnered or to just buy me out outright… The boat is amazingly special and needs to be finished and/or needs the right home… Any suggestions? 860-573-1154 -Johnny

It’s Wharram Tiki 30 BTW – Johnny

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James Wharram: life and legacy of the iconic designer

• January 29, 2024

Julien Girardot meets Hanneke Boon in Cornwall to discover the legend and legacy of pioneering catamaran designer James Wharram

Falmouth, Cornwall, 1955: a legend is born along Customs House Quay. A smartly dressed young man with wild, curly hair has launched a 23ft catamaran, built in just a few months for the modest sum of £200 (the equivalent of around £6,500 today).

Rigged as a ketch with battened junk sails, the aptly named Tangaroa (meaning ‘God of the Sea’ in Polynesian) marked the beginning of the epic Wharram story.

At the time, catamarans were considered dangerous and eccentric, while yachting was a pastime largely reserved for high society. But sailing already has other visionaries. On the deck of Tangaroa, beside James, are two young women: Jutta Schulze-Rhonhof and Ruth Merseburger. In puritanical post-war England, setting off to cross the Atlantic with two young women – and German ones at that – was downright shocking! But these three young people care not a jot about conventional thinking. They dream of adventure and their enterprise is an act of defiance.

For years James Wharram has nurtured a passion for the history of sailing pioneers and the ethnic origins of the multihull. Devouring every book on the subject he could lay his hands on, he discovered the story of Joshua Slocum, the first solo circumnavigator (1895-1898), and the voyage of Kaimiloa by the Frenchman Eric de Bisschop. The tale, published in English in 1940, of de Bisschop’s attempt to prove the seaworthiness of double canoes by making a voyage from Hawaii to France on a catamaran he had built on the beach, became Wharram’s primary source of inspiration.

Riding out the storm: James Wharram at the helm of Tangaroa in Biscay in 1955. Photo: Julien Girardot

Wharram disagreed with many assumptions of the time, and his first Atlantic crossing was an opportunity to refute Thor Heyerdahl’s theory on the settlement of the Pacific islands. Wharram contested the assertion of the Danish anthropologist who, after his voyage aboard the Kon-Tiki in 1947, affirmed that the boats used were simple rafts. Wharram was convinced that the boats were more akin to double canoes with sails, capable of going upwind and holding a course. These early multihulls, consisting of two hollowed-out tree trunks, were connected by crossbeams bound together with plant fibre. The sails were probably made from what is known as ‘tapa’ in Polynesia, hammered tree bark, which was also used to make clothes.

The three young adventurers left Falmouth on 27 September 1955 on a boat loaded with books, basic foods, and very little else. Despite a fraught passage, encountering storms in the Bay of Biscay and being suspected of being spies by Franco’s Guardia Civil, the trio successfully crossed the Atlantic and reached the island of Trinidad on 2 February 1957.

Without a penny to their name, they adopted a simple island life, and Jutta gave birth to her and James’ first child, Hannes. The unconventional polyamorous family lived aboard a raft inspired by the floating dwellings of the Pacific, nicknamed ‘the paradise island of the South Seas’. Tangaroa, now tired, was abandoned, as Wharram decided to build a new catamaran. By chance, two solo sailors came to anchor in the bay where the Wharram tribe lived afloat, and the legendary Bernard Moitessier and Henry Wakelam helped Wharram build his new design, Rongo.

Wharram, Merseburger and Schulze-Rhonhof aboard Tangaroa in Falmouth, 1955, before their Atlantic crossing. Photo: Julien Girardot

Thanks to the experience of his first transatlantic voyage, as well as knowledge gathered from Wharram’s endless reading, Rongo was much more accomplished. While Tangaroa was flat-bottomed, Rongo has V-hulls. To prove the design’s seaworthy qualities, Wharram decided to tackle the North Atlantic, sailing from west to east with his two companions. This route was known to strike fear into the hearts of multihull sailors of the time, as the two previous attempts had tragically ended in two deaths.

The crew left La Martinique for New York on 16 April 1959, one year after Rongo’s construction began. The return voyage to Conwy in Wales took 50 days, but the gamble paid off, and Wharram’s new design was the first to achieve what many thought impossible. The curly-haired eccentric became something of a celebrity, and following his great Atlantic adventure, James published his first book, Two girls, Two Catamarans. The years that followed were Wharram’s golden age, with plans released to suit every budget and every dream. Soon there were Wharram designs all over the world, connected by a powerful community spirit.

Drawing a Wharram

My own journey to this remote corner of Cornwall began decades before. After 15 years of travelling the world, inventing and reinventing my life, including many years living in the Pacific islands, I felt the need to capture these experiences by creating the boat of my dreams.

Illustrations inspired by a visit to the Wharram design office in Cornwall. Image: Benjamin Flao

While living in Tuamotu, I was involved in several incredible projects to build traditional sailing canoes under the directive of talented local Tahitian boatbuilder, Alexandre Genton (now chief of operations at Blue Composite shipyard in Tahiti). At first we launched small single-seat sailing canoes with two outrigger floats. These are the simplest way to sail: a sheet in one hand, a paddle in the other, which you plunge over the side of the canoe into the water, and it makes a perfect rudder. Then we built a larger version, Va’a Motu, for a hotel in Bora Bora, of splendid stripped kauri planking. Finally, we worked with the local population to build an ambitious 30ft Va’a Motu with a single ama, on the atoll of Fakarava in the Tuamotu archipelago.

Curiously, after many experimental trials at building and sailing canoes, my imagined ideal yacht turned out to be something very close to a Wharram design, which I learned as soon as I shared my first cautious sketches with friends. I realised I had to meet James Wharram.

In October 2021, I dialled the number of JW Designs. A woman answered; James’ long-term life and business partner Hanneke Boon. I tell her my ideas to build from one of their plans: the Islander 39. We began an email exchange and when I asked her what James thought of this model, in November 2021, less than a month before he died, she replied: “James is enthusiastic about your project. He’s now 93 years old and nearing the end of his life.

The Pahi 63 Spirit of Gaia which Wharram and Boon sailed around the world. Image: Benjamin Flao

“He has been looking at the Islander 39 design for several years and often says, ‘I wish I had one myself.’ It’s the only Wharram design that has never been built, so your project is a wish come true for him.”

On 14 December 2021, James Wharram passed away. Out of respect for the bereavement, and due to Covid-related travel restrictions, we decided to postpone our meeting. Some months later on a beautiful spring afternoon, I landed in Plymouth with my friend and artist Benjamin Flao, himself the owner of a Wharram-designed Tiki 28, and headed for Devoran near Truro in Cornwall, the stronghold of the Wharram family.

Hanneke welcomes us into her office. It is a beautiful wooden cabin, warm and bright, overlooking the changing lights of Cornwall. The place looks like a museum telling the story of a life of travel and passion through yacht models, photographs and unusual objects. James is there, you can feel it. A glance at the shelves of the library shows an impressive array of rare and precious books, mostly dealing with navigation and shipbuilding in Oceania, and demonstrates the seriousness with which Wharram and Boon studied the history and technicality of ‘double canoes’.

“I’d like our boats to be called double canoes and not catamarans, which I think is a mistake,” Hanneke explains. The word catamaran, originally pronounced ‘catamaron’, comes from the Tamil dialect of katta ‘to bind’ and maram ‘wood’, as they were actually one-man rafts used to work on the outer hull of ships. The English pirate and adventurer William Dampier, in the 1690s, was the first to describe a two-hulled vessel as a catamaran, but although catamarans might be the commonly accepted word nowadays, it’s actually a mistake.

oon unfolds the plans of the Islander 39, the only Wharram design that has never been built. Many plans were hand-drawn by Boon. Photo: Julien Girardot

Hanneke unfolds the Islander 39 plan on her drawing board. Like all Wharram plans for half a century, it has been marked with her signature. Despite this unique pencil stroke, she has remained in the shadow of Wharram’s mythology for 50 years. Since 1970, Boon has drawn the majority of the construction plans by hand. They’re works of art and the best way to imagine yourself aboard a Wharram. Without her, JW Designs would not be what it is.

Originally from the Netherlands, Boon grew up in a family of sailing enthusiasts. By the age of 14 she was already building small canoes and at the age of 20 she joined the Wharram team and quickly became his co-designer. They criss-crossed the Atlantic twice in quick succession aboard Tehini, the crab claw-rigged double canoe on which James and several women lived for 10 years. Since then, Hanneke has escaped from her office whenever she can to sail thousands of miles on all the seas of the world, always using a double canoe.

Those radical vessels included the Spirit of Gaia, also built on site, through a sliding door next to Hanneke’s office. It was aboard this 63ft Pahi, Wharram’s flagship, that the Wharrams sailed around the world from 1994 to 1998. James described Spirit of Gaia as “a beautifully shaped woman he was in love with”.

Boon’s design office is adjacent to the Wharram HQ in Devoran and looks out over one of the River Fal’s many creeks. Photo: Julien Girardot

In Wharram’s wake

James and Hanneke’s home is a former veterinary surgery. The furnishings are basic, with only the essentials, but the doors close by themselves, thanks to an ingenious system of weights, ropes and pulleys. Benjamin and I offer to shop and cook, and in the living room, we put the dishes down and eat on the floor, like on the deck of a Wharram.

Jamie, James and Hanneke’s son, joins us for the meal with his partner Liz. “James has remained the icon of the business, but it’s really Hanneke who has been doing the job for the last 10 years. She is JW Designs,” confides Liz.

Jamie is at first more subdued, but talking to him you soon discover a true character. Given the world he grew up in, it’s surprising to learn that sailing is not really his thing: “I get bored quickly at sea and I’m sick most of the time! I prefer to be underwater. Above the line is not my thing.

Evocative illustration of the Wharram workshop in Devoran, Cornwall. Image: Benjamin Flao

“I do like the calmness of the ocean though, that parenthesis effect, detached from our hectic lives on land. In fact, I think the best thing about sailing is remembering long voyages, not making them,” Jamie jokes.

But he is keen to preserve Wharram’s legacy and the couple are thinking ahead to when Hanneke can no longer hold the fort. “As long as Hanneke is alive, the business will be run in her own way. But it’s certain that something will be put in place to enable people to continue to acquire the building plans, at the very least, this service will remain guaranteed.”

Back in the office next door, Nicki John answers clients and sends plans around the world. She’s only been with JWD for a couple of years, but that’s long enough for her to fall in love with the company’s story.

“One of the things I loved about James was that he came in every day. He’d knock on the door and jokingly ask, ‘Do you have time for some gossip?’ And then he’d tell me all sorts of stories. His travels, the women he had shared his life with, it was fascinating. When he was 18, he hitchhiked to Europe, smuggling coffee on the black market to finance his adventures. James’ story is just phenomenal.

Mana 24 is available as a CNC-cut self-build kit boat. Photo: Julien Girardot

“One day James came in, took out a plan, unfolded it as he sat down, and said, ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ James was deeply convinced of Hanneke’s talent. He never stopped admiring her,” Nicki says fondly.

The community Wharram fosters is unique. Nicki shows us a photo that defines the ‘Wharram spirit’, of the hull of a Wharram being lifted out of the second floor window of a home in England. With no shed to build their Wharram design, they decided to use their living room as a boatyard. “This picture shows that if you really want to build a Wharram, you can do it anywhere,” says Nicki, “During Covid, we sold a lot more plans. Confined, people dreamed of freedom and took time to figure out how they wanted to live their lives.”

Now it’s Hanneke’s turn to shine as the head of JWD. In contrast to the technologically-led path that sailing often follows, James and Hanneke’s ‘low tech’ approach drives those who follow it to reconnect with past knowledge, practices, and philosophical approaches to our relationship with the world and the way we live in it.

Their love of minimalism is also at odds with many trends in modern yachting, but it brings its own luxury. The joy of not having too much of anything allows you to make room for the essentials, and for the beauty that surrounds you.

My dream of building Wharram’s unfulfilled plan, the Islander 39, remains. I’m in no hurry. Like the libertarian vision of James Wharram, it endures.

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

James Wharram: Eight bells for the multihull pioneer

• Katy Stickland
• January 7, 2022

Tributes have been paid to pioneering multihull designer and sailor James Wharram, who has died aged 93

James Wharram dedicated his life to to proving the Polynesian double canoe was an ocean worthy craft. Credit: James Wharram Designs

James Wharram, considered by many as the father of modern multihull cruising, has died, aged 93.

The free-spirited sailor and designer specialised in double-canoe style sailing catamarans, inspired by the Polynesian double canoe.

Born in Manchester in 1928, Wharram designed his first offshore cruising catamaran, Tangaroa in 1953 having read about Frenchman Éric de Bisschop’s 1937-1939 voyage from Hawaii to France in his double canoe.

Ruth Merseburger, later Ruth Wharram, was an early believer in James’s designs and theories and helped build his first multihull, Tangaroa . Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

Determined to prove the seagoing qualities of the double canoe, Wharram, accompanied by Ruth Merseburger, who later became Ruth Wharram, and Jutta Schultze-Rohnhof, sailed his 23ft 6 inch multihull from Falmouth across the Atlantic to Trinidad in 1956.

Wharram wrote about crossing the Bay of Biscay in Tangaroa for Yachting Monthly in 1956, going into details about the catamaran’s performance, easy motion and stability. This was in direct contrast to the then held opinion that a motion of a catamaran would be worse than on a keel yacht.

Three years later, having built the 40ft Rongo on a beach in Trinidad with the help of French sailor Bernard Moistessier, Wharram, Ruth and Jutta sailed to New York before crossing the North Atlantic – the first ever North Atlantic West-to-East crossing by multihull.

Onboard Rongo in the Atlantic with his son Hannes. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

James Wharram started designing for self-builders in 1965.

Along with his partners Ruth Wharram and Hanneke Boon, he created distinctive V-hull double-ended catamarans, from 13ft to over 60ft, selling more than 10,000 sets of plans.

Jutta Schultze-Rohnhof and Ruth Merseburger with James Wharram before they left Falmouth onboard Tangaroa. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

Wharram believed in a ‘less is more’ approach to boat building, and all of his boats are of simple construction, aimed at amateur boat builders, including the Tiki 21, Cooking Fat , which became the smallest catamaran to sail around the world when skippered by Rory McDougall from 1991-1997.

In May 1992, Wharram launched the 63ft Pahi, Spirit of Gaia , from his home on Restronguet Creek in Cornwall, sailing 32,000 miles around the world from England to Greece via the Pacific.

Spirit of Gaia. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

The catamaran, which has a low freeboard and trademark Wharram Wingsail Rig, was conceived as a base ship for studying whales and dolphins at sea, able to accommodate 16 people offshore.

Continues below…

Wharram cats launched to search for ancestors

Lapita voyage boats launched in Philippines

60th anniversary of first Wharram catamaran to set sail from Falmouth

60 years ago, on the 27th September 1955, James Wharram set sail from Falmouth aboard a self-built 23ft 6in flat-bottomed

In 2008, Wharram’s career came full circle, when 50 years after his pioneering voyages, he sailed 4,000 miles on one of two 38ft double canoes along the island chains of the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea and the Solomons.

Sailing Spirit of Gaia. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

Known as the Lapita Voyage , the canoes were based on an ancient Polynesian canoe hull-form, and were powered by sail alone, using traditional Polynesian crab claw sails and steering paddles.

Paying tribute to her life partner, Hanneke Boon wrote: ‘ James was a trailblazer, a fighter with great determination and vision. From a young age he followed his passions – to roam the hills – for fair politics – for intelligent women – to sail the seas – to prove the Polynesian double canoe an ocean worthy craft – to become a Man of the Sea.

With his life partners, Ruth Wharram, who died in 2013 aged 92 and Hanneke Boon. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

‘These passions made him into a pioneer of catamaran sailing and a world-renowned designer of unique double-canoe catamarans that now sail the oceans.

‘He designed for people who wanted to break out of mundane lives, gave them boats they could build at an affordable cost and gave them the opportunity to become People of the Sea like himself.’

James Wharram preferred sailing to building and tried to make all of his design as simple as possible to build. Courtesy: James Wharram Designs

In the last few years of Wharram’s life he developed Alzheimer’s. He died on 14 December.

‘He could not face the prospect of further disintegration and made the very hard call to end it himself. It was with great courage that he lived his life and with great courage he decided it was the time to finish,’ wrote Hanneke

‘In this moment of great loss we should all remember the good and glorious times of a life fulfilled. This is not the end, I, we, all the Wharram World will keep his work alive.’

James Wharram 1928-2021

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Wharrams to weather: How bad is it?

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by mental_boy , Feb 23, 2016 .

mental_boy Junior Member

Anyone here have any experience sailing on a Wharram? They have a poor reputation for windward ability, but how bad is it really? I'm curious about time to get from downwind point A to upwind point B, not how close to the wind one can sail or how difficult it is to tack. For example, would a Tangaroa 35 get shellacked by a Catalina 27? Or a cal 20? This is just an academic question, so please refrain from mentioning the cramped cabins, the apalling resale value, the inefficient use of timber or the propensity to rot. I've known three people who have undertaken 40+ ft catamaran construction. Two "yacht" type designs and one Pahi 42. The Pahi builder finished his boat in two years and spent ~10 years on and off cruising mexico and central America. One of the last posts on his blog says something about the mast step rotting, and then he doesn't mention the boat anymore. The other two guys spent 10+ years building, neither finished and both are now deceased.  

rapscallion Senior Member

I appreciate what you are saying. Wharram designs have many positive aspects, but I suspect that is you have to ask the question, then a wharram cat may not be the design you are looking for. Richard Woods has simple 40' cat designs which could be built in a time frame similar to a wharram, but would have superior upwind performance. Although a Wharram rig would most likely be cheaper to build.  

HASYB Senior Member

No experience on sailing Wharrams but perhaps, if you consider buying or even building and eventually sailing one, your question, academically, justifies an addition of how windward ability can (simply) be improved and tuned?  

gonzo Senior Member

It depends on what you mean by "shellacked". In storm conditions a Wharram will happily make some headway, while the Catalina of Cal may not even survive. However, if you mean a race around the buoys in fair weather, it won't perform as a racer. I have sailed my old Tangaroa in really rough conditions and it handled well. The worst was a wave breaking over and completely covering the boat. I climbed the mizzen mast when the wave was coming and saw the boat disappear. That was about 25 years ago when I could shimmy up a mast.  

Jamie Kennedy Senior Member

This one has a centerboard and starts doing the 'wild thing' in a gust. The admiral imposes some caution on the part of the skipper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNPGJQDuNk  

gonzo said: ↑ It depends on what you mean by "shellacked". In storm conditions a Wharram will happily make some headway, while the Catalina of Cal may not even survive. However, if you mean a race around the buoys in fair weather, it won't perform as a racer. I have sailed my old Tangaroa in really rough conditions and it handled well. The worst was a wave breaking over and completely covering the boat. I climbed the mizzen mast when the wave was coming and saw the boat disappear. That was about 25 years ago when I could shimmy up a mast. Click to expand...

Jamie Kennedy said: ↑ This one has a centerboard and starts doing the 'wild thing' in a gust. The admiral imposes some caution on the part of the skipper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNPGJQDuNk Click to expand...

rapscallion said: ↑ I appreciate what you are saying. Wharram designs have many positive aspects, but I suspect that is you have to ask the question, then a wharram cat may not be the design you are looking for. Richard Woods has simple 40' cat designs which could be built in a time frame similar to a wharram, but would have superior upwind performance. Although a Wharram rig would most likely be cheaper to build. Click to expand...

I didn't race the Tangaroa around a triangle course, so pointing high was never a crucial issue. Long distance cruising is different. However, the overall VMG(velocity made good) was better than the average monohull.  

david@boatsmith Senior Member

Our Ariki 48 has daggerboards and a modern big roach full batten main. We have limited (as in almost none) boat on boat comparisons. It seems to go well to weather. We were inside the other day and were tacking up the lake with the boards up and were passing through the anchorage area. We were slipping at a brisk rate. We dropped a board partially and bam, we were slipping about 90% less. Maybe 20 degrees better made good. This was in light air with a slight negative tide. My Tiki 30 had the stock Wharram gaff wingsail rig. Very conservative low aspect main sail. In light air going to weather in waves it flat sucked. In flat water or with more wind it wasn't so bad. crack off and the boat was very fast. A boat with bunks, sub $100k, 2' draft topped out in high teens. https://youtu.be/m5-iNnEPFVk  

Gary Baigent Senior Member

Peter Nannested had a Wharram 22 foot Hina which he sailed many miles called Superb, Strong and Tough; he raced it to and in a Bay of Islands race period way back in the early 1980s and on a fresh day, SS&T cleaned up the smaller size division which included some high performing Quarter Tonners from Farr, Mull and co. The reaching legs allowed the Wharram to gain but SS&T hung in there very well to windward too - and won by 3 or 4 minutes.  

patzefran patzefran

Hobie cat 14 and 16 has no boards and hulls similar to Wharrams, using strong aft mast rake, they got enough weatherhelm to use rudders as very effective leeway preventer. Balancing the rudders helps to recover low helm loads.  

jamez Senior Member

I had a Hinemoa for a few years. Had a lot of fun in her. It had a bigger than standard rig - about 22 sq meters -. In a breeze over say 15 knots it would foot it to windward against similar size light disp keel boats. However in light breezes <10 knots, it was frustrating, particularly trying to sail against a current, without foils you go sideways a lot. I would have liked to try it with a dagger board but never got round to building one for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2YYOzfAfNA In the end I built a tri which solved the light weather/windward sailing issues.  

tdem Senior Member

I've attached a gps track from onboard a Tiki 26 with a conventional bermudan main/jib. This was tacking up quite a narrow channel in Whangarei Harbour in about 10 knots. We would basically sail right out to the edges, even hitting the sandy bottom a little at times. Try that on a keelboat! This harbour is the ideal setting for a boat like this, the day before we were blasting along in shallow water, almost flying a hull at times. Very reassuring to have a shallow draft strong boat.  

Attached Files:

Part track.png.

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Manie B Senior Member

tdem that's good thanks  

Proa Shunting in Heavy Weather

Weather helm on starboard, port OK

Pod cat square rigger cold weather cruiser project

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Boat Profile

A Wharram catamaran

From Issue   March 2018

J ames Wharram is a multihull pioneer who has been sailing and designing exceptionally seaworthy catamarans since the 1950s. For his first voyage, he built, TANGAROA, a 23’ catamaran and sailed her from the U.K. to the Caribbean with Jutta Schulze-Rhonhof and Ruth Merseburger, both from Germany. While in the Caribbean he became a father, and the boat mothered a growing colony of teredo worms. With a strong desire to sail home, Wharram built a 40-footer and did the first North Atlantic crossing by catamaran. His designs are based on firsthand experience, regularly updated and improved, and have a safety record that is hard to beat.

I built his Tiki 21, which is designed as an easily built, trailerable coastal cruiser for adventurous folks who don’t mind bearing a small amount of discomfort to be rewarded with a boat which is in harmony with the sea. The plans are highly detailed and provide illustrations for almost every step of the process. The plans include a materials list, down to the last fitting, and an epoxy technique manual depicting everything from laminating to fairing. The plans call for 18 sheets of 1/4″ marine plywood and one sheet of 3/4″. My Tiki 21, BETO, took around 10 or 12 gallons of epoxy and a good helping of mahogany and Douglas-fir.

While the Tiki’s main is designed to be sailed with a loose foot, the author finds an easily mounted, aluminum sprit boom provides improved performance in light air.

The hulls are built using the stitch-and-glue method, making it a fairly quick build, even for the first-time builder, though practicing with some scraps of plywood and epoxy is recommended for beginners.

Construction starts with forming the hull panels and stitching them together, then moves on to installing bulkheads and bunks and fitting the decks and cabintops. After the hulls are complete, just three beams, two tillers and rudders, and a wooden mast remain as the last major projects. For BETO, I chose an aluminum mast—a 22′ length of 4″ aluminum tubing with a 1/8″ wall thickness, as recommended in the plans. I chose aluminum over wood in hopes of a lighter mast that would require less maintenance and be easier to raise when rigging.

The Tiki 21’s most controversial feature is, perhaps, the use of lashings, rather than conventional marine hardware, to hold the amas and akas (hulls and cross beams) together. Wharram believes that the lashings allow for shock absorption and decrease shock loads at the joints. Each wrap of the five loops has a 2,800-lb breaking strength. The lashings are frapped so tightly that small movements between structural members are unnoticeable. The lashing system is proven by both Wharram cats and the well-traveled Polynesian voyaging canoes of the Pacific.

The Tiki 21 plans include a motor mount set within the perimeter of the deck. The pod added to this boat frees up deck space and includes a place for the gas tank. The cross beams, or akas, are stitch-and-glue I-beams.

The Tiki 21 was designed to be assembled on a beach at low tide and to float away when the sea returns. It has a 14″ draft, and each hull weighs in right under 200 lbs when completed. For our negligible tidal range and for freshwater sailing, I chose to build a trailer with telescoping sides that allow the hulls to be expanded outward for boat assembly before being backed down the ramp. We currently sail BETO on a small lake, so it rests on the trailer between outings.

When we want a taste of salt water, we unlash the beams and slide the hulls together for a package that is a little wider than my small Toyota truck. I can assemble the boat by myself in two hours and disassemble it in an hour. This is pretty fast to be on the water, and a helper could easily bring this time down as the lashings and frappings are the most time-consuming tasks. Some Tiki sailors have had good luck with ratchet straps and nylon webbing when trailering to daysail. I wouldn’t recommend ratchets in lieu of lashings for venturing offshore, however.

The Tiki 21 was designed with cruising accommodations for two, but there is room for more on deck. The catamaran has a carrying capacity of a half ton.

So how does the Tiki 21 sail? I’m a former racing catamaran sailor whose friends all sail go-fast boats, and I think it sails like a dream! The rig is a Wharram “Wing” sail that keeps the center of gravity low and the power high. The sail is modeled after a high-aspect Dutch gaff rig, using a short gaff at the peak and an elongated luff pocket that envelops the mast and minimizes turbulent airflow. This unique arrangement offers performance similar to modern rotating masts and square-top mainsails without all of the moving parts.

The mainsail is sewn with a luff sleeve for a smother flow of air around the mast. The jib and main halyards run along the mast inside the sleeve. This Tiki 21 was built by Rick Hueschen of North Carolina.

Unlike older Wharram designs, the Tiki 21 has a power-to-weight ratio that can get one in trouble if the wind pipes up. In light air, however, it is slightly undercanvased, and a drifter works wonders. The deep-V hulls have hardly any noticeable leeway if sails are trimmed correctly, and can tack in light and heavy air even sailing just the main.

The rudders are lashed to the sternposts and skegs and do not extend below beneath them, so the Tiki can’t turn on a dime in tight quarters. However, when sailing, it tracks like it is on rails. I sail upwind all the time in up to 20 knots with just a bungee crossed over the tiller. The Tiki is superbly well balanced and will sail along happily with proper trim. To windward we have seen 7 knots with the wind at 50 degrees true, falling down to around 5 knots at 40 degrees true. Off the wind, BETO has clocked 15 knots while power-reaching with no noticeable lifting of the windward hull (check my video ). For normal cruising, we reef the main and jib in 15 knots to keep dry on deck and fully in control while still making 8 to 10 knots on a reach. For sails, we carry a main with three reefs, a jib with one reef, a nylon drifter, an asymmetric spinnaker, and a storm jib. I have an outboard, but I learned to sail on a 22’ engineless racing sloop, so I have plenty of patience when the wind dies, preferring not to deal with a nasty outboard and volatile gasoline. Using a stand-up paddle, I can move the Tiki all day at 3 knots in flat water, and with a second paddler it’s even faster.

While each hull provides room for a narrow berth, the deck provides more spacious accommodations when equipped with a canopy or a free-standing tent.

For coastal cruising on a small catamaran, one can really not find a better-suited vessel than the Tiki 21. The accommodations inside each hull provide a 12′-long bunk that is 2′ wide; the hulls span 3-1/2′ at the sheer. Our sleeping accommodations are often a two-person tent set on deck, or my girlfriend and I can get cuddly and sleep in one hull if needed. All of the bunks are above the waterline, and under them are the bilges, which provide loads of storage. The load capacity is listed as 1,000 lbs. The bows and sterns all have watertight flotation chambers. The anchor locker doubles as another flotation chamber. The Tiki 21 has six bulkheads in each small hull, making it a strong little boat. Resting between the akas is a plywood deck measuring 6′ x 7′ that never moves far from level when under sail. For my own preference I built a slatted cedar deck instead of a solid plywood one, and it has since been approved by the Wharram Design team.

Rory McDougall sailed his modified Tiki 21, COOKING FAT, around the world in the early 1990s, and until just recently he held the record for sailing the smallest catamaran in a circumnavigation. He experienced gales pushing waves up to 30′, and his boat suffered little damage. In 2010, McDougall sailed in the Jester Challenge, a single-handed transatlantic race for boats between 20′ and 30′, and came in second after 34 days under way, just a few hours after a larger monohull. When in storms, McDougall goes on his sea anchor and reports that the Tiki rides very happily and calmly. In his first gale on sea anchor, he even felt so relaxed that he tied a jibsheet around himself and jumped overboard to swim the swells!

Brad Ingram lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and enjoys sailing, running ultramarathons, and climbing. He spent eight years in 20th Special Forces Group on a small Intelligence team, and he’s now going to nursing school as a civilian. He plans to travel while working as a nurse, making it easy to spend a significant amount of the year traveling in the mountains or at sea. Among all of his recreational pursuits, sailing occupies the lion’s share of his enthusiasm and interest. He mostly enjoys small boat cruises and small, raid-type multihulls. He has a passion for simple, traditional vessels and enjoys sailing sport boats as well. 

Tiki 21 Particulars

Waterline length/18′6″

Weight/790 lbs

Load Capacity/1000 lbs

sail area/208 sq ft

Study plans (£19.00) and full sets of plans (£505.00) are available from James Wharram Designs .

Is there a boat you’d like to know more about? Have you built one that you think other Small Boats Monthly readers would enjoy? Please email us!

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Comments (9)

For anyone interested in seeing more Wharrams up close, there will be a Hui Wharram Sail-In in Fort Meyers on May 18 through 20th. I think SV BETO will be there as well. Details here .

Is the Hui sail-in still held in Ft Meyers? I live close to there and would love to see some homebuilt catamarans!

The book is also available as a Kindle edition . Editor

Merci pour toute ces informations sur Tiki 21.

(Thanks for all this information about the Tiki 21.)

Thank you for the article. Isn’t there a second pair of shrouds in the design? Why do you bother with an engine and all the paraphernalia attached to it, starting with the pod? Do you feel a stand-up paddle is faster than sculling a sweep? I am planning to use a sweep on my Tiki 26. I used to move my 35′ engineless steel cutter up to ¾ to 1 knot with a self-made 16′ oar. I never had an engine on my Shark 24. Do you think a ply platform might be structural and reduces the torsion leading to a slacker stay? I am planning to test the Tiki 26 without a platform, only netting, à la Cookie.

Sorry to just get back to you. The white boat is not mine. BETO is the green one with no motor. The platform is in no way structural, and I just like the SUP paddle as it goes right into action and I do a lot of paddling with the same motion for exercise.

I really like your engine mount. I’m almost finished building my Tiki 21 and don’t like the idea of stinking old engine sitting up in the middle of the deck and sleeping/lounging area. So I think I’ll copy you. Anything I need to be aware of? Could you send other photos that explain your system more clearly. Many thanks, Tom

How wide are the hulls ???

Does anyone know of a Tiki 21 in the NW US? Washington, Idaho, Oregon? I have built kayaks, sailed small boats, and really like what I see in the Tiki 21 but would like to sail one, or at least see one in person, before committing to a year of building. Thank you!

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Interview with Hanneke Boon of Wharram Catamarans

• Post author By Diane Selkirk
• Post date August 9, 2023
• 6 Comments on Interview with Hanneke Boon of Wharram Catamarans

Diane interviews Hanneke Boon who is a long time partner of James Wharram and designer of Wharram. She gives a historical recount since the 1938’s of catamaran design and sailing! She talks about her opinion of modern cruising catamarans and how Wharrams are different and really better for cruising.

She and the team at Wharram are still busy selling plans to people all over the world!

• Personal:  [email protected]
• Office: [email protected]
• Website:  www.wharram.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/JamesWharramDesigns
• Websites on canoe project for Tikopia and Anuta:  www.lapitavoyage.org   

Wharram’s book of memoirs ‘People of the Sea’: www.wharram.com/shop/books/people-of-the-sea

Please enjoy the recorded interview available below and the transcript with many photos.

Today, we’re really happy to be here speaking to Hanneke Boon, head of James Wharram Designs. Hanneke also co-designed the boats alongside the legendary multihull pioneer and designer, James Wharram. Hanneke, welcome. I’m wondering if you could tell us a little bit about yourself, and your role at Wharram.

I’ve spent most of my life with James, actually. I first met him when I was just 14. My father was interested in his boats, this was in the 60s, when James had fairly recently done his voyages. He’d started selling designs in North Wales and my father wanted to go and meet this unusual character he’d read about. We ended up on the beach where James was living on his catamaran “Rongo,” which he did his first crossings on.

We bought a set of plans for a 22-footer and then we built that in Holland. I’m originally from the Netherlands. We built that boat over about a year, and then we got to know James and Ruth very well during this period. We did further trips to England to help them build their previous boat. It was a 51-footer called “Tehini.” That was being built out in the open with hand trowels in North Wales. This was 1968-69. In fact, a lovely film on YouTube about it, people can find out on our channel.

Can you tell me the name of the film?

It’s called “The Building of Tehini.”

Okay, great!

“The Building and the Sailing of Tehini.” It’s on the James Wharram Designs YouTube channel.

So we’re up to ’69. Keep going with your story, it’s fascinating.

So we got to know James. I got to know him more, and a few years later, somehow I ended up sailing across the Atlantic on “Tehini.” It was James, Ruth, and several other girls that were part of the crew at the time, and that’s where it all started. I’ll keep trying to keep it brief.

From the beginning I started doing drawing work. [Didn’t] really like the way I was drawing. In fact the Hinemoa plans, which are 23-foot or whatever you’ve got, I drew when I was 19 or something. That was my first set of plans. From then, I’ve gone onwards drawing plans. Of course, more and more, we did a lot of design work together. We design, we work on, we have a sort of brainstorm between us. I would be sketching, and we would be having ideas, and then that evolved into a new design. That’s how it’s gone for years.

In the ’80s, we started building a new boat. We built this 63-foot “Spirit of Gaia,” and we sail that around the world. I still got this boat, and I’m still sailing it. It’s in the Mediterranean at the moment. Over all the years, we’ve done lots of different design projects, and different designs. We’ve sold over 10,000 sets of plans over all those years. There’s hundreds of these boats everywhere.

Now, with social media, there’s a huge following actually. Facebook groups, people talking about Wharram Catamarans quite a lot. Now they are being bought second-hand. There’s old ones, classics, 40-something, even 50-year-old boats that are being bought by people. Then they’re lovingly trying to restoring them back into life.

Oh, that sounds amazing! I think we should probably go back a little bit then, and learn Can you tell us a little bit about where the designs came from, and who James was?

James, back in the ’50s, he read a book called, “The Voyage of the Kaimiloa” about a Frenchman called Eric de Bisschop. Eric de Bisschop, just before the war, had been sailing in the Pacific on a Chinese junk, trying to work. He was very interested in Polynesian migrations, and he was studying the ocean currents and all sorts of things, making lots of notes. Unfortunately, he wrecked his junk in Hawaii, and they were starving on board because they had been held up in the Marshall Islands by the Japanese at the time. It was quite a story.

So he ended up there, and instead of building another junk, he built a double canoe on the beach in Hawaii. Then he sailed his boat together with his male companion, a Frenchman, all the way to France. Through the Pacific, Indian Oceans, went around the Cape of Good Hope, and all the way into the Med to Toulon, which was an incredible voyage. It showed how good a double canoe could sail. It wasn’t totally Polynesian, the hulls were inspired by Polynesian boats, but he put a junk sail on it, and those other junk elements because he was used to them.

Anyway, James read this book in his teens, ran out of the library, was very much inspired by it. Then Thor Heyerdahl came up with his Kon-Tiki voyage, who claimed that the Polynesians must have come from South America because of the ocean currents and the prevailing winds. But having read the Eric de Bisschop book, James was convinced that was not true, and the Eric de Bisschop theory is often coming out of Southeast Asia were correct, which they were of course. So he decided he wanted to go ocean sailing. The easiest for him to build was a double canoe. It’s a very small budget, he built a 23-foot, 6-inch double canoe.

Did the concept of catamaran even really exist at that point?

Not really, no. There had been a Frenchman that built a steel-heavy sort of catamaran and sailed across the Atlantic. It was all a bit of a disaster story. But there were the knowledge of the double canoes of the Pacific, the Polynesian boats. There was a book published called “Canoes of Oceania” by the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, [around] 1938-39, and that was in the library. James studied that quite deeply when he was trying to design his boat, also went to museums studied models.

Anyway, with that boat, they managed to sail from England to Trinidad. While the boat was too small, they suffered from Teredo worms (shipworms). It was built in softwoods, so they built a 40-foot plywood catamaran of “Rongo,” and then sailed that up to New York [in] 1959. From New York to England, that was the first west-to-east crossing by any multihull and that’s what they did. A few years later, they actually did a whole other Atlantic circuit. In fact, that was also still the only catamaran across the Atlantic that way. So that was all in ’61.

That’s remarkable!

But they want to sail around the world. Very sadly, James’s other partner, he was living with two German girls/women at the time, she died. It was a terrible shock to them, and it was one crew member missing, that decided not to sail into the Pacific.

He ended up settling down in Wales. At some point, people asked for a design, “can you design me a boat like yours?” That’s where it all took off, in 1965. He started designing different sized boats, and he developed some very good building techniques at that time. Because he wanted always simplicity, he was not in particular experienced or a woodworker, so he always looked for simple methods.

He was quite a bit inspired by an American book actually, “Boat Building in Your Backyard,” which he’d been given a long time ago by an American woman. Because in America, they built a lot of quite simple Dory-style boats and things. James developed a very interesting method, which was building the hulls upside down, and building a plywood backbone, and then slotting bulkheads onto it. That way, people could get the accurate shape of a boat without difficult lofting, or all this leveling and built. You didn’t have to build a heavy building base, and that makes a huge difference. In fact, all our designs are still built in that method. I mean, we’ve evolved it, and made it more sophisticated, but we still use that upside-down backbone and bulkhead methods, and it works extremely well.

Let’s talk a little bit about design. In many ways, I would assume James is considered sort of the father of modern catamarans.

He’s certainly considered that, and he is really, because I think in the early days, the majority of ocean-going catamarans were Wharram designs. Now the Lagoons have taken over.

It would be very interesting to have a coffee with you to see what you think of modern catamarans.

You’d be a great admirer of them, I’m afraid!

No! Wharrams are certainly beautiful! In many ways, compared to what’s happened, the Wharram designs have evolved quite slowly. Why is that?

Parallel, but very differently. We’ve always kept with the basic Polynesian principles of having separate hulls, having flexibility in the hull structure, and the general simplicity. The whole philosophy behind it is that you have a a sailing boat, not a motorboat. You can have motors, but the boat should be a good ocean sailing boat. That’s what the basis is behind the design.

But we always keep simple, and we try to avoid a lot of hardware and complications. All our designs now are basically ply-epoxy built, which is an easy way for self builders to build. But the plans are incredibly detailed, so we need to build the right step-by-step through the whole process of how to build it. They don’t have to have technical drawing knowledge, how to read them. It’s all illustrative. I’ve always been good at drawing, so I’m an illustrative artist as well as a technical drawer. Our plans all consist of some measurement drawings, big drawings with measurements which you need. Then a whole book, like a sketchbook of plans, instructions, and they’re all 3D drawings with one, two, three, four, follow the text around it.

I’ve seen a few photos they look like a work of art.

I don’t use a computer to draw. I draw by hand.

How have the designs evolved from the early ones?

With the introduction of epoxy. You see, epoxies came in around about 1980. The Gougeon’s were working on the middle-late ’70s, and we met them at the time. In fact they listened to one of their talks back in ’76, it was a big conference in Toronto. There’s all the multihull designers there, and the Gougeon’s were there. James was quite intrigued by it, but a little bit skeptical when they said it was wood epoxy’s saturation technique. The saturation bits. The question then, how deep does it saturate? In fact it’s more of a coating than a saturation, but that’s beside the point.

The whole system of using epoxy gave his whole new method by using epoxy fillets. The woodworking skills can be reduced. You don’t have to have absolute accurate jointing and everything, because the epoxy will take care of that. As long as you teach people how to use the epoxy correctly. The whole coating of all the wood and the glassing on the outside makes the boat much more durable than the earlier ones were, because your sealing seals up. It allowed us to to do a lot more sophisticated design work. It was all in plywood, cutting it and fitting together this epoxy.

We started in 1981 with stitching glue boats. We’ve got our whole Tiki range in stitch-and-glue was the small ones. Again, that really made us focus on how to make boat buildings really simple. Our smaller Tikis, the stitch-and-glue ones are really very simple to build and consistent in simplicity. The same technique is used throughout, and not at the end, suddenly gets complicated. It can happen.

We didn’t want to make it suddenly complicated when they came to masts and other things. That’s all been part of it and it was very much James was behind it. That’s what he wanted. He wanted it consistently simple techniques and throughout. Then these stickies just evolved bigger and bigger, and every time you go big and you have to work out different ways of doing it. So you get the correct strength, the right balance. That’s what we worked on. I did a lot of work on that kind of thing with working out techniques of how to achieve it easy and simple.

We encountered many Wharram catamarans in harbors around the world, and we saw them in the harbors and they’re always very beautiful to look at, but I always wondered what they were like to sail?

Well, they slipped through the water very easy actually, because we’ve always had slim hulls. All our hulls are at least 11or 12-to-1 beam:length ratio on the water line. Actually, a lot of these modern catamarans say about 8-to-1, they’re much fatter. If you want them to go fast, you’ve got to put a lot of sail on it. Whereas our boats will sail, and it’s very little sail, actually. They’re weak sails. Imagine you’ve got the force forward on our boat we can reduce the sail here to nearly half of it and not lose much speed.

We never aim for some of these really high speeds, but our 63-footer will sail happy at 9-10 knots. The moment you’ve got more wind, it will sail down to half the sail area. It’s a lovely passage-making boat. Because they flex, they go with the waves, and they’re fairly low freeboard, so you’re much more connected to the ocean through the boat. They’re more simple. Some people say they’re spartan, which they may be, but it’s that simplicity that attracts a lot of our builders actually.

Just seeing all this kind of complication and people having everything they have at home on their boats, and we say “I don’t want that, I want to sail, I wanted to be simple, I don’t want things to go wrong.” They choose the Wharram catamarans for that reason.

Tell me a little bit more about the people who choose the cats. I know you talked about that, there’s a real resurgence and interest, and it sounds like it’s the people looking for simplicity.

Yes, definitely. It’s a kind of way of life as well as a type of boat. Of course our boats have a kind of timeless look. We’ve not gone with fashion of boat fashions. Now, fashions every year, you need a new model, like cars. We haven’t gone that way. We stick because the boats are based on a traditional craft from the past. The historic craft, we stayed natural, it was in traditional lines. Sheer lines, overhangs, and things like that, which we feel work.

Our boats still have overhangs of the bows now, all the other cutting ones. Up and down, straight bows, or even retro bows, that’s now the fashion. That’s what you’ve got to have. Whereas, we don’t believe in them.

The other thing of course, we’ve always stuck with V-towers, V cross-section, slide carefully. I still feel that it’s got canoe stern, so even if you load them, you’ll never drag a transom wave behind the boat. They slip really through the water well actually, because they kind of slice the ocean open, there’s a V. Whereas if you’ve got a big round, you kind of push it downwards, and I think that has a different effect on the water.

Of course a V, the lower you go below the water, the slimmer the hull gets. If you have a beam-length ratio of 12-to-1 on the actual sea level water line every time you go down, say six inches, the water line is slimmer, and slimmer, and slimmer. So at the bottom, you’re cutting it with a knife. We don’t need any keels or daggerboards as a result. All the people that sail our boats swear by them, others not.

Right! It’s a matter of sailing them. You’ve talked about new builders who are finding the old boats and redoing them. What kind of people are doing them? Is it a cross-section?

I don’t know, there are all sorts of people that are rebuilding boats. Actually, one interesting thing that’s been happening, there’s been a number of women buying old Wharram catamarans and doing them up. In fact there’s a very large following on Instagram for a woman called Kiana, and her Instagram account is “Women in the Wind.” She got a 50-year old Wharram catamaran and has now sailed it four times across the Atlantic, three of them mostly single-handed, and once with two other women. They report on that a lot and, and they do some beautiful romantic reporting actually. I mean, the boat is simple and it leaks, and it’s rigged with natural spars made from trees, because it was all helped with a friend.

It’s a fascinating Swiss chap called Hans Clark who built a really genuine ethnic double canoe in West Africa. He’s been sailing around the Atlantic now for many years with it. This woman met him and he’s helped her turn this boat into a a new-style boat, very simple. A rig that’s kind of just a rebuilt rig from from older sails, with trees at spars. It’s beautiful, and everything’s lashed. There’s been now a number of women that have been doing that too.

It must be very gratifying to see these 50-year old boats still having such a beautiful life.

It’s also a lifestyle people just love, that basic connection with the ocean. None of this trying to bring your hotel room on the sea. Really connecting with it in a basic way, like people used to sail many years ago.

Then there’s other people. There’s a young Englishman at the moment who’s found a 42-footer by 42 in Holland, which he managed to buy. Somebody built it beautifully actually, but never finished it. It was in the water, it was two hulls, and beams, and some windows that weren’t really fitted on. They’d been lying there for, seven or eight years, nine years, filling with water. It looked a mess. It was filthy, and horrible, and he and I had to look at it over WhatsApp. I said to him, that boat looks well built, buy it. He bought it, for 2000 Euros only, which is the price for a plan.

Everybody was sort of like, “Bob, what’s he buying?” Because then he started cleaning, with all the cleaning, and as the dirt came off, a rather beautiful boat came out from underneath the filth. The bilges had been full of water, but because they were so well sealed with epoxy, which shows again, no rot down there at all. There’s only rough patches because these windows weren’t put in properly, and the hulls were draught. Otherwise, the boat is in very good order.

It sounds like the office is still very active with you there. Is it mainly people getting in touch with you for information about boats, or are people still buying new plans?

Buying plans and building new boats. I’ve got some really good people working in the office here. I’ve got a woman who sends out all the plans. I’ve got a man who does a website, who lives on site here. I’ve got now a lovely young woman called Tori who’s now taking on the Instagram and more social media aspects of it. So it works really well. I’ve actually been going off sailing quite a bit.

Oh! Good for you!

James died 18 months ago about. After, I was offered to sail across the Atlantic with some German friends who’ve got a sister ship to my own, and I took that offer up. That was spring last year. [In] August, sailing the Atlantic. Then in the autumn we got our “Spirit of Gaia” and sailed it from Greece to Sicily. This springtime, I sailed it from Sicily to Ibiza, in the Mediterranean. In September, I want to carry on the voyage to Portugal, which is why I’m aiming for. I want to do an all-woman sail myself, so I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve already got probably two or three, they’re not quite certain yet.

Sounds remarkable! Well, thank you Hanneke, I’ve really enjoyed speaking with you, and it sounds like James has a beautiful legacy. Can you let me know how people can reach you?

First of all, our website is Wharram.com . W-H-A-R-R-A-M.com. We have a YouTube channel as well, called James Wharram Designs. That can all be found via the website. James and I wrote a book autobiography not so long ago, which was published two years ago, three years ago. That gives our whole life story and everything about boat designs that we built, and how we sailed around the world, etc. There’s a lot of YouTube videos can be found through our website, again. Once you’re in the website, you can read there for hours. It’s not just a selling of designs, it gives all the philosophy, and ideas, and articles about things.

Thank you so much Hanneke, I really appreciate you taking the time today to speak to us at CatamaranSite.

• Tags Catamaran Designers , Catamaran Interviews

By Diane Selkirk

I love to travel and have spent the past seven years sailing with my family aboard our 40 Woods Meander catamaran - traveling from B.C.'s north coast, to the west coast of the US, Mexico, the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, across the Indian Ocean to South Africa and on to St Helena, South America, the Caribbean and Central America.

6 replies on “Interview with Hanneke Boon of Wharram Catamarans”

It’s easy to tell a story and write a book when the major person involved has passed on. Also she doesn’t understand modern engineering or anything. She simply could draw what’s James told her to and now that he’s gone she’s a major part of the story. Lastly this design is nothing that the islanders haven’t been doing for a very long time and James gave them all the credit along with Americans because of our ability to live out our dreams and build boats in our backyards and take chances with sailing or whatever the dream is yet hanneke doesn’t like the Americans being given credit and in older interviews where James is obviously up there in age she’s stopping him and guiding the story she wants told. James Wharram was charging very little for plans unless it was a custom new design and hanneke is detailed to make a nice living from selling James Wharram work with her as the brains behind it all.

What an impolite, ignorant, sexist comment.

Been, from what fantasy did you distill this drivel? What basis do you have to be so mean spirited, when James Wharram frequently called her his partner and collaborator.

I’m a lifelong sailor from a family of software, electrical, mechanical, and aeronautical engineers. I’ve seen nothing in Hanneke Boon’s comments or writing that indicates that she does not understand sailing or the design and construction of multihulls.

I have always loved the aesthetic of these designs and the imagery of the Wharram catalogue. Certainly, Hanneke’s drawings are in large part responsible for the romantic perception of Wharram designs today.

Regarding the comment by “been davis,” who’s to say Wharram was the brains of the operation? Hanneke joined Wharram not long after he started selling plans and has been there for 50 years. Neither of them have any formal education in yacht design and have been known to hire trained naval architects to help with their designs. The Tiki 21, which is probably the most popular Wharram design of all time, says “designed by James Wharram & Hanneke Boon” very clearly on every page of the plans, and that was over 40 years ago. If anything, she seems to be a staunch defender of his legacy.

Been Davis, is obviously lacking in knowledge, Hanneke was maybe more than 50% of Wharram designs over 50 years. Actually Benn Davis your an uneducated mouthpiece, which nobody appreciates.

Vor 37 Jahren habe ich mir die Tiki 21 gebaut. Auch heute segle ich noch im Alter von 74 Jahren auf dem Lipno-Stausee in Tschechien. Vor 25 Jahren bin ich zweimal auf der Spirit of Gaia mitgesegelt; auf der Narai IV von befreudeten Deutschen habe ich in der Ägäis das Segeln sehr oft genossen. Das Segeln auf meiner Tiki 21 ist zur Zeit mein liebstes Hobby. Rückblickend finde ich es, dass die Wharram-Katamarane faszinierende Segelfahrzeuge sind. Sie sind problemlos. Auch einige Stürme habe ich auf meinem Katamaran ohne Komplikationen überstanden.

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Beam:  16'    Draft:  2'     Beam:  21'    Draft:  3.5'     Beam:  20'    Draft:  3'     Beam:  22.5'    Draft:  3'     Beam:  12'    Draft:  1.5'     Beam:  15'    Draft:  2'     Beam:  20'    Draft:  3'2'     Beam:  20'    Draft:  3'     Beam:  21'    Draft:  3'     Beam:  13'    Draft:  1.5' © 2001-2024 ./)   . . ./)   . . James Wharram Designs Search Our Site Visual accounts of what Wharram owners are doing with their boats. Includes professionally made films about long voyages and ocean passages, ongoing video blogs of liveaboard adventurers, home made footage of sailing, documentaries of building, and instructional videos. Video Index Featured Videos Instructional Miscellaneous From the archives, tiki designs, pahi designs, ethnic designs. Tahiti Wayfarer Classic Designs Hitia designs, islander designs, islander 55. 2 Dogs, 1 Catamaran! A voyage through the Caribbean on Tiki 30 Zig Zag. Our journey from St. John to St. Martin was a very hard upwind sail of 165 nautical miles. ZigZag Sailing Welcome aboard Zig Zag, a Wharram Tiki 30. Join us on the incredible journey that began four years ago on my parent's driveway - a dream to build a vessel for global exploration. Anchored on Spirit of Gaia When Hanneke Boon invited us to Portugal to experience living on Spirit of Gaia, how could we refuse? We hopped aboard Gaia to learn all we can about this minimalist traditional boat. Wharram Women - Then And Now By Kiana Weltzien. Shows James Wharram building Tehini in 1969 with adventurous women and then her own adventures on an old Narai across the Caribbean and later the Atlantic. Solo Atlantic Crossing By Kiana Weltzien. This is a scenic video of my solo West to East Atlantic Crossing in 2020, escaping from Spanish lockdown to be closer to my family near the Caribbean. Sailing the Mediterranean This Trip was made on Pilgrim, a home built Tiki 38. From Marseilles, France, to Cyclades, Greece, and back. Includes stunning drone footage. The Atlantic Crossing Of Pilgrim After Building his boat for 5 years, Jacques and his crew take on the Atlantic ocean, and everything it throws at them. Essential viewing! Sailing the South Coast of Australia Port Lincoln in SA to Cactus. Sailed through some horrible weather but also had some beautiful times around the rugged coast and islands of the west coast. Build Or Buy My Dream Catamaran? Mark of Wildlings Sailing visits James Wharram Designs in Cornwall, and speaks to Hanneke Boon about his plans to build or buy his dream boat for sailing around the world. 30 Months On A 26 Foot Sailing Boat All about my journey on Wayan, a Tiki 26 sailing catamaran. This video is a recording of slightly adapted powerpoint I presented in several sailing clubs in Luzern, Switzerland. Spirit of Gaia 30th Birthday A personal tribute to Gaia and her creators. This video was shot in Greece September 2021. It was James Wharram's last sail on Gaia. He tells us what Gaia meant to him. Parade of Sail: Wharram Hui 2022 A Parade of Sail for James & Ruth Wharram at the Wharram Hui 2022. Falmouth, Saturday 23rd July. DIY Solar Powered Sailboat Simon has transformed this derelict sailboat into an epic off-grid solar-powered and fossil-fuel free cruising catamaran. He's been living aboard and renovating the boat for the past 3.5 years. Glassing With Epoxy Sheathing a hull of the Wharram Mana 24 with glass and epoxy, by Hanneke Boon of James Wharram Designs. Useful for anyone starting, to avoid the many possible errors and mishaps. Instructional/Informative Videos Mana 24 - Assembling Lower Hull Step by step informative record of assembling the lower hull of the CNC kit Mana 24 catamaran. Making Perfect Epoxy Fillets Real time demonstration of making a perfect epoxy fillet using WEST epoxy and Microspheres Blend filler. The boat featured in this video is the CNC kit Mana 24. Hands Free Across the Atlantic This video gives an introduction to the Wharram Self Steering Windvane, a low tech, low cost, reliable self steering system allowing endless hands free sailing. Canoes of Anuta There are 70 canoes on the island of Anuta, which have a history going back at least 2-300 years, probably much longer. They are a unique V shaped hull design. The Lapita Voyage Two double canoes, based on the ancient canoe form of Anuta and Tikopia, set out on a 4,000Nm voyage to recreate the migration route of the ancient Polynesians. The Building And Sailing Of Tehini Filmed by Ruth Wharram in the early days. Tehini was one of the largest cats of her time, built in less than 2 years with mainly hand tools. Her first voyages were to North Spain and Holland. Wharram Hui Cornwall 2018 A second Hui gathering in Cornwall, July 2018. Attended by 10 boats and 60 people at the BBQ party. Sadly the weather was not great, but a lot of fun was had. Wharram Hui Cornwall 2017 Micro Adventure Sailing Hui in the Fal Estuary on 4-6th August 2017. Eleven Wharram catamarans gathered in Devoran and sailed on a short Adventure. 60th Anniversary of Wharram Tangaroa A celebration of the 60th anniversary of James' maiden voyage on Tangaroa. Centre stage is the new Mana 24, the same length as the original Tangaroa. Hanneke's Pecha Kucha Presentation An illustrated 6 minute poem of Hanneke, from a young girl sailing with her father, ending up as a boatbuilder, ocean sailor and designer. Presented in Amsterdam. Lapita Voyage, Arrival In Anuta This video shows the final stage of the voyage on the double canoe 'Lapita Anuta' featuring her arrival at the 1Nm long island of Anuta to an exuberant welcome by the island's population. Hui Wharram Rendezvous, Florida Wharram Rendezvous in Islamorada, Florida Keys, May 2012. A meeting of Wharram catamarans attended by James Wharram and Hanneke Boon. Amatasi at Brest and Douarnenez Festivals The Wharram 27ft Amatasi prototype took part in Les Tonnerres de Brest and Temps Fetes Douarnenez in July 2012. The Launching Of Amatasi 85 people gathered at Wharram HQ to celebrate the award winning eco fishing boat Amatasi entering the water, including old friends, press and television. Golden Oldies Gathering James and Hanneke visit the gathering of classic multihulls 'The Golden Oldies' in the South of France. Here they met American designer Dick Newick. Art On Water Slideshow collection of Wharram catamarans from around the world. Crossing of the "Straw Sea" (Mar da Palha) in Portugal, in a home built Hitia 14. Fast sailing action. Construction Timelapse Hitia 14 'Sem Classe' being constructed picture by picture, and showing off her sailing abilities. Building Wharram Sailboats Numerous (70 and counting) and very detailed videos documenting the meticulous construction of a Hitia 14, in Bangkok, Thailand. Melanesia 16 Sailing a Melanesia in Croatia GoPro footage of a newly built Melanesia slicing through the waves in a force 3, Croatia. Sailing a Melanesia in France Watch the boat being assembled on the beach and then sailed in the sunshine. The Smaller The Ship, The Bigger The Fun Melanesia being assembled and rigged, followed by a gentle sail on a river in Holland. Melanesia, Paddling Version The paddling only version of the Melanesia as demonstrated in Hawaii. Coastal Trekking Another great trip to Beaucport Bay aboard Ophelia. The winds were stronger than last time despite some quirks at the start of the trip! Sailing a Hitia 17 in Canada Filmed during a sailing trip to the Beauport Bay of Quebec. Building a Tiki 21 From cutting out the pieces, assembling and fiberglassing the hull. Florida, USA. Vienna To Venice Voyage Newly built Tiki 21 "Saus und Braus" takes on a coastal trekking voyage around the Balkans. 3000 miles from Vienna to Venice, in 98 days. Coastal Cruising Cruising a Tiki 21 on the south coast of Devon, UK, June 2016. Exmouth to Brixham, Noss Mayo (River Yealm), Dartmouth and back. Beto at 14.6 knots Well, we surpassed the 14 knot goal and probably got over 15 after I had to put the phone away. The leeward hull was spraying like hell! Across The Atlantic Tiki 21 'Cookie' goes all the way across the North Atlantic riding the tops of just two high pressure zones. What a gift from the gods! Moving Hulls.. A partially completed Tiki 21 moves downstairs through a hatch after its hull construction work was completed in an upstairs workshop. Tahiti Wayfarer 21 Tahiti Wayfarer In Action Sailing the Wharram Ethnic 'Tahiti Wayfarer' design in Restronguet Creek and sailing together with the Wharram 'Mana 24' in Carrick Roads in Cornwall. Wharram Ethnic Designs Fast sailing of the Tahiti Wayfarer with three crew members, also featured is the Melanesia outrigger and Amatasi Racing a Tahiti Wayfarer Fun footage of Tahiti Wayfarer 'Taïo Taïo' racing against a lateen rigged Optimist. Harriet At The Helm Young Harriet helms the Wharram Hinemoa 23 'Isis' at speed. The dog keeps watch on the port bow! Sailing a Hinemoa Some nice shots of Hinemoa 23 'Isis' under sail power in the sunshine. Prairie Mermaid The boat was built over the winter of 2018/19 and has been sailing for three seasons on Lake Diefenbaker, on Treaty 6 Territory in the country known as Canada. Boat In A Box The story of a boat in a box - how a kit of plywood pieces and components transformed into a beautiful vessel. Follows the construction until its launch in June 2018. Assembling The Lower Hull Hull Assembly Timelapse The assembly of the Mana 24's lower hulls condensed into 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The work took 2 hours to complete. Art On The Water See beautifully constructed Tiki 26 'Ariki' spreading her wings in the sunshine. Building a Tiki 26 in 180 Days Slideshow with more than 500 photos showing the entire process of building the Tiki 26 catamaran. We built it under the Slovenian mountains in just half a year. 1000 Miles Across the Adriatic Sea 1000 miles: Slovenia - Italy - Croatia, no autopilot. I sailed like they used to sail in the old days. Hours and hours on a bench with the tiller in my hand. Tiki 26 'Wayan' On Cruise Lovely footage of Tiki 26 'Wayan' on a holiday cruise, Autumn 2013. Castor & Pollux Walkaround A tour of the two hulls of Tiki 26 'Castor & Pollux' under construction. She was built in the Netherlands. Catamaran Ariki Many beautiful videos all about the building, sailing and lifestyle on a Wharram catamaran, as well as answers to many practical questions. Essential viewing. Tiki 26 Winter Passage: Kos To Kefalonia Sailing across Greece in a self built wooden catamaran, including crossing the Corinth isthmus on a truck. NāhōkūhoʻOkelewaʻa A nice YouTube short of a newly built Pahi 26 being launched and sailed. Sailing On Lake Union Pahi 26 powered by a malibu outrigger Hawaiian spritsail, sailing on a lake in Seattle. Sailing The Australian Coast A nice day sailing up the Queensland coast from North Stradbroke island to Noosa. French Bohème Sailing The World A family, a small catamaran designed by James Wharram for a great trip on the oceans of the world. Islamorada to West Palm Beach Leigh Calvert and the Greif brothers (Benjamin and Brendon) sail the Tiki 8m back to West Palm Beach from Islamorada. Amatasi sailing to Helford River The prototype of Amatasi, 27ft Wharram Ethnic Design, sails from Falmouth to the Helford river in Cornwall. Launch Of Amatasi Prototype Sailing On The River Fal Amatasi goes for a sunny daysail on the river Fal, Cornwall. A Personal Tour of our Seafaring Dreams Welcome to our Wharram Tiki 30, Zig Zag! Join us as we take you through the basics of our newly built double canoe. We have been working for four years to make this dream a reality. Lisbon To Spain Coastal trekking on a Tiki 30 catamaran along the Portuguese coast from Lisbon to Spain. Some beautiful footage of Dolphins swimming with the boat! Coastal Trekking In Brazil Sailing Rogerio Martin's 'TikiRio' along the coast from Urca to Itacuruçá, Rio De Janeiro. From The Air Beautiful aerial footage of charter boat 'Taboo' in North Moorea. Busket In Action Tiki 30 'Busket' on a brisk day sail. Footage taken from another boat. Jersey Dolphins Tiki 30 "Moku" joined by bottlenose dolphins off Jersey's east coast. Building Buldur A slide show of Tiki 30 'Buldur' being built from the ground up, from ply hull cutouts to a beautiful finished boat. Sailing Baldur Our maiden voyage on Baldur, from Newhaven UK to Porto Santos. We've got so many happy and positive reactions wherever we've been sailing! Tangaroa 36 Sailing The Great Australian Bight We sailed across the Great Australian Bight on our Wharram catamaran! We are a young couple from South Australia, adventuring via the Western Australian coast. Sailing Tangaroa We (Hannah and James) live on our 37ft Wharram catamaran, sailing around Australia, Indonesia & the South Pacific. Humble gypsies frothing on the simple life! Tama Moana 38 Accelerated footage of a Tama Moana ('Child Of The Sea') under construction in a workshop in Vũng Tàu, Vietnam. Life In The Pacific Glenn has built his own Tama Moana and lives a humble life sailing between the islands of the Pacific. Sailing In Rugged Weather One of the Lapita Voyage boats gets into a storm with up to 50 knots of wind. Venture In The South Seas A German made film about the Lapita Voyage. Contains nice shots of the boat in her element. Chasing The Sunrise (Documentary) This is a full documentary with crew commentary about Tiki 38 Pilgrim's first Atlantic crossing. Good times, hardships, and everything in between. Storms, Speed Records, Freediving Visual documentary of 'Pilgrim' sailing the Tyrrhenian Sea. Smashing through the waves at 19 knots, beautiful underwater and aerial footage. Inspirational viewing. Luckyfish Boat Tour (Interior) We check out all the space below decks - the parts you often don't get to see in our other videos. We are excited to show you aboard our amazing catamaran! Luckyfish Boat Tour (Deck) In Part 1 we checked out the cabins. In this video we take a walk through the features above deck and explain much of the gear you have seen in previous videos. Living On A Catamaran An interview with Brett, a liveaboard Tiki 38 sailor who spends his days sailing the Australian waters. Includes a tour below decks. Building a Tiki 38 Highly detailed video blogs about the construction of a Tiki 38 in Thailand, from the YouTube channel 'Building Wharram Sailboats'. Pilgrim Sailing Fantastic collection of well produced, inspiring footage from home made Tiki 38 catamaran 'Pilgrim' and her various ocean and coastal voyages. Luckyfish Gets Away We are sailing a beautiful catamaran that didn't cost the earth. We crossed the Atlantic. We are now cruising the Caribbean before crossing the Pacific. Sailing in the Philippines. Wharram cats are fast! Seen here sailing at 7-8 knots in 10-15 knots of wind, with one reef in, and towing a dinghy. Tiki 38 Marabu in action. Panarai Sailing - Construction of Hulls See the hulls come together in this time lapse video of the construction of a beautiful Tiki 38 built in Poland. Nice shots of Narai MK IV 'Indigo', a Wharram Classic Design, gracing Croatian waters. Narai MK II 'Chehili' dancing over the water at 8 knots in the Ionian sea. Pahi 42 'Anuanua' Sets its 'crab' main and heads for the Med and south west. Sailing a Pahi 42 'Toccata' from Alderney - Channel Islands to Dielette. Fun aerial/GoPro footage. Sailing through the first Gulf war This is the video we made during the building in Bahrain and also of our sailing through the first Gulf War in 1988. We were the only yacht sailing in the Gulf at that time! Grazia Boat Tour Meet the owners of Tiki 46 'Grazia', learn about their liveaboard sailing lifestyle and take a virtual tour of the boat. From the Mountains To The Boatyard Part of an excellent series documenting a Tiki 46 build. This video looks at attaching the upper hull panels, before moving her to the other side of the continent. Crossing The Atlantic Atmospheric short home made film about day to day life crossing the Atlantic ocean on a Tiki 46. From Tenerife to Tobago in three weeks. Promo shots for the Wharram Tiki 46 catamaran, showing deck and interior. Building Ma’tiki Ongoing video documentary about the building of Tiki 46 Ma'tiki in the USA. Well produced and inspiring footage. Viewing highly recommended. Cruising On Las Sirenas Take a look around the 'Las Sirenas' - an Oro 46 charter dive boat. An exploration of the many nooks, crannies and cosy spaces on this large blue water cat! Enlarged Pahi 53 Expedition Boat Adventure seeker Matt Knight gives a tour of his enlarged Pahi 52 and of the simple, practical solutions inherent in the design. The Journey World renowned big wave surfer Andrew Cotton searches for the next big swell in remote pockets of the world. The Pahi 52 makes the perfect expedition ship. Calagorm Sets Sail For Greece Pahi 52 'Calagorm' motors out of harbour, hoists her striking red sails and makes her way to Greece. Life On An Epic Sailboat In Japan Daniel and his family of 5 travel the world on their stunning 55ft Islander but for the last couple of years have called the inland sea of Japan home. Sailing Japan Tour Video and photo montage showing Islander 55 'Tiare' cruising through some of the many islands that make up Japan's inland sea. Largyalo In Action Cinematic footage of boat and crew in action in the Ionian sea. The boat featured is an enlarged Pahi 63 (extended to 65'). Largyalo In A Gale Pahi 63 'Largyalo' rides 5 metre waves at 14 knots in a force 8-9 while passing Isola di Levanzo, Sardinia, Italy. Largyalo In A Thunderstorm Atmospheric footage of enlarged Pahi 63 'Largyalo' navigating a thunder storm in the Ionian sea. Daysail In Greece We sailed the Wharram flagship 'Spirit of Gaia' (Pahi 63) from Trizonia to Messolonghi marina, so she could be lifted out for a major refit. Tangaroa Prepares For Atlantic Crossing This fantastic clip captures the beginning of James' career. From Falmouth the little 23' Tangaroa sailed across the Bay of Biscay and crossed the Atlantic. World Voyagers Arrive In Dublin James and crew arrive home in the UK in 1960 after two successful Atlantic crossings, the latter of which was the first successful crossing of its kind by catamaran. To Tell The Truth James Wharram appears alongside Sir Edmund Hillary on the American gameshow 'To Tell The Truth' in 1959, after his first successful Atlantic crossing. Tehini And Anuanua The 51' Tehini was James Wharram's home for 12 years. In this video she is seen sailing alongside 'Anuanua' in North Wales, 1969. 258 COMMENTS Catamaran Stability By James Wharram and Hanneke Boon 1991 Foreword (James Wharram, 2004) It is 50 years since I designed my (and Britain's) first offshore Sailing Catamaran. The accepted opinion at the time, expressed in Yacht Magazines, was that the offshore catamaran would break up in high sea waves, that their motion on the high seas would be so violent as to render the crew helpless and that Why Choose the Wharram Design? An adventure family begins their journey with their first major decision—to build a Wharram design Polynesian-style wood catamaran. Activate My Web Access; My Account; Reset Password; Customer Service; Log in; Sign in ... Aimed at avid racers or speed junkies making the transition to cruising, the Dufour 44 slides neatly into the niche ... Review of a Wharram Catamaran Posts: 41. Review of a Wharram Catamaran. Dear Forum: I have looked at a Wharram Catamaran, namely the tiki 38, that I have thought about building and then living on it in retirement. This way I can do what really brings me inner peace, sailing, and live on the boat too. I have looked at the wharram site and their builders as well. WHARRAM PAHI 42: A Polynesian Catamaran The catamaran designs that British multihull pioneer James Wharram first created for amateur boatbuilders in the mid-1960s were influenced by the boats he built and voyaged upon during the 1950s. These "Classic" designs, as Wharram termed them, feature slab-sided, double-ended, V-bottomed plywood hulls with very flat sheerlines and simple triangular sections. Wharram Catamarans , discussion required Re: Wharram Catamarans , discussion required ! Another thing Wharram cats have is hobbyhorsing and that way a lot of energy or speed is wasted. Other designers could solve this by moving the centre of bouancy and centre of gravity apart.( this is a bit speculative and I am not an N.A.) Wharram's catamarans: tropical dream, nightmare at 50ºN, 2ºW? I sailed on the prototype's first offshore trip, between Falmouth and Camaret, and kept a log of inter alia course made good, wind strength and direction, course steered, speed, etc. which JW Designs insisted I kept to myself. One of the great benefits of large Wharram cats is that they come equipped not with Lewmar or Harken 2-speed winches, but a range of large and small wenches, to do the ... Tiki 30 Catamaran: A Practical Sailor Boat Test The Wharram Tiki design was a natural choice for Dave because the designer has always approached his work from a builder/sailor perspective, rather than as an independent exercise in naval architecture. Simplicity and practicality rule, and in many ways these boats are the extreme opposite of whats displayed at boat shows across the country. James Wharram Designs Affordable. Building your own boat with Wharram Designs is the easiest and most cost effective way to fulfil your sailing dreams. Wharram Self-build boat plans start from only £120. Wharram designs are based on years of practical, hands-on experience of building and ocean sailing catamarans. They are renowned for their seaworthiness, stability ... James Wharram: life and legacy of the iconic designer Falmouth, Cornwall, 1955: a legend is born along Customs House Quay. A smartly dressed young man with wild, curly hair has launched a 23ft catamaran, built in just a few months for the modest sum ... Catamaran Man: James Wharram In an effort to show how settlers could have reached the Pacific islands from southeast Asia, an 80-year-old James and Hanneke recreated the voyage on an ethnic catamaran. "We learned that a simple double canoe with crab-claw sails can make such a voyage and sail to windward," Hanneke says. James Wharram This was the first west-to-east crossing of the Atlantic by catamaran or multihull. The story was told by Wharram in the 1969 book Two Girls Two Catamarans. [7] From 1973 Wharram was assisted by his co-designer Hanneke Boon. [8] In 1987-92 James and his partners built a new flagship, the 63-foot catamaran Spirit of Gaia, which they sailed into ... James Wharram: Eight bells for the multihull pioneer Wharram believed in a 'less is more' approach to boat building, and all of his boats are of simple construction, aimed at amateur boat builders, including the Tiki 21, Cooking Fat, which became the smallest catamaran to sail around the world when skippered by Rory McDougall from 1991-1997. In May 1992, Wharram launched the 63ft Pahi, Spirit of Gaia, from his home on Restronguet Creek in ... Wharrams to weather: How bad is it? My Tiki 30 had the stock Wharram gaff wingsail rig. Very conservative low aspect main sail. In light air going to weather in waves it flat sucked. In flat water or with more wind it wasn't so bad. crack off and the boat was very fast. A boat with bunks, sub $100k, 2' draft topped out in high teens. James Wharram's First Catamaran Build James Wharram's First Catamaran Build. James Wharram. Jul 2, 2021. Ruth aboard Tangaroa shortly after the boat's initial launch. More than just a sailor and designer, James Wharram, originally of Manchester, England, is also both a free-thinker and an individual clearly dedicated to getting as much out of this life as possible. Tiki 21 A Wharram catamaran. Written by Brad Ingram. From Issue March 2018. J ames Wharram is a multihull pioneer who has been sailing and designing exceptionally seaworthy catamarans since the 1950s. For his first voyage, he built, TANGAROA, a 23' catamaran and sailed her from the U.K. to the Caribbean with Jutta Schulze-Rhonhof and Ruth Merseburger ... Tiki Designs The Tiki 21 was designed in 1981 as an easy to build Coastal Trek catamaran, using new epoxy/glass stitch & glue techniques. In 1982 the new and then quite radical Tiki 21 was given first prize by Cruising World magazine (USA) in their design competition for a 'Trailable Gunkholer'. Since then nearly 1000 Tiki 21 Plans have been sold (2015). Interview with Hanneke Boon of Wharram Catamarans Diane interviews Hanneke Boon who is a long time partner of James Wharram and designer of Wharram. She gives a historical recount since the 1938's of catamaran design and sailing! She talks about her opinion of modern cruising catamarans and how Wharrams are different and really better for cruising. She and the team at Wharram are still busy ... 45' Catamaran Wharram Tiki 46 Vasco Pyjama Catamaran: Model: Wharram Tiki 46: Type: Catamaran: Cruising Speed: 6 Knots: Max Speed: 10 Knots: Engine Information: Engine Make: Yamaha Engine Model: FT25; Engine Year: 2015; ... Sat Phone - Starlink Maritime world wide High Speed Dish . Notes - Personal EPIRB, Starlink Marine Internet, Canon printer plus spares, electronic charts for Pacific ... Frequently Asked Questions Do also check the Wharram Catamaran Facebook group. ... The hulls of a catamaran are very slim in order to get the advantage of more speed than a monohull. Slim hulls have a limited buoyancy and in practice it is found that hulls less than 14ft long tend to lack the buoyancy to carry the occupants. We did once build a 10ft catamaran which ... Tiki 38 Tested February 2001 By James Wharram I must thank Lee Shipley, Ben Mullet, Colin Flynn for their recent discussion on aspects of Wharram Catamarans on our Web Forum between 16 January and 4 February (under headings NARAI Mk IV and Tiki 46 Rig). Lee Shipley for writing about the advantages on open decks, i.e. no or minimum deck cabins, Ben Mullet on the advantages of the Wharram Soft Wharram sailboats for sale by owner. Wharram preowned sailboats for sale by owner. Wharram used sailboats for sale by owner. Home. Register & Post. View All Sailboats. Search. Avoid Fraud. ... 43' CSK Catamarans Polycon Cabrillo way Marina, California Asking $115,000. 26' Hinterhoeller Yachts Nonsuch 26 Classic New York City, New York Asking $35,000. Self Build Boats Everything you need to build your own sea-going catamaran: 3 steps. Familiarise yourself with our range of designs and their unique qualities. For more detailed information read the Wharram Design Book which reviews each self-build boat model and offers a detailed introduction and understanding of the world of self-build catamarans.; Order one or more sets of our Study Plans and immerse ... Videos Wharram Rendezvous in Islamorada, Florida Keys, May 2012. A meeting of Wharram catamarans attended by James Wharram and Hanneke Boon. Amatasi at Brest and Douarnenez Festivals. ... Storms, Speed Records, Freediving. Visual documentary of 'Pilgrim' sailing the Tyrrhenian Sea. Smashing through the waves at 19 knots, beautiful underwater and ... catamaran gulet motorboat powerboat riverboat sailboat trimaran yacht