[carlnisbet]

I hope to start looking for a livable Newzealand Yacth in a couple of years. This site has truly inspired me. I've been facinated by the great contributions that have been posted, thanks. My question is gas onboard a vessel as it is heavier than air is the risks still the same, that is the hazard of fire or explosion due to colection in the hull? I prefer gas but am a bit fearful of it on a boat.

Also I notice that there is hardly a mention of the "Wavepiecers" by Newzealandyacths My lady suffers from sea sickness and tells me that the boats that used to take tourists out too the Great Barrier Ref had major problems until they changed the vessels to cats. Can anyony shed any light on why the WP's are not that popular???

[AMG]

Hi,

Since no real experts has replied yet, I´ll give my view. On gas, I like it too and have it onboard myself. There are remote control valves to shut after each time you used the gas. There are also alarm systems if gas should come to the bilges and if you are aware of the risks and have the system inspected every year I think you can feel safe.

On wavepiercers vs cats, I have less insight. Here we have bad experience with the fast ferry-cats that make people sick in rough seas?

[carlnisbet]

Thanks for your reply. Also read your stuff on DE pods. They must be the next step in the scheme of things to come. It makes so much sence to have the prop perfectly aligned and not offset at any slight angle. So much power must be wasted in the conventional method of propulsion. I belive that a balance of generators being the main scource of power with batteries there only for minor differences in demand, I've seen far to many batteries explode. I would love to see some of your work from a rear view of a 3 deck wavepiercer. I have an idea that the boat would be about 50~60 mtrs X 13~15 mts wide and around 500 ton. It would rarely come to a mooring.
Have you done any?

Another question for you: What height are the ceilings in yachts I need lots of height as I am 2.02mts tall. I also like the idea of a shadow boat for the reasons that you can give the crew there own space and you are not cluttering up the main vessel with toys. My Missus and I would spend our time between NZ in the summer and the east coast of Australia in the winter, that's the plan so far. We don't intend to live ashore for any reason other than maintenance and repairs. There are just the Two of us no kids thankfully. The yacht will be used for promoting our business with lots of short slow trips around the bays and islands with elegant dinners and mini confrences for our clients.

Regds Carl

[Garry Hartshorn]

Hi
Well I grew up on a yacht with gas and I am still here and I dont recall a single problem in 15 years or so, my parents still use gas 15 years later so thats a good 30 years now.
As far as to wave piercers and cats go early in my career I worked as 1st mate on Ocean Spirit a 104' sailing cat on a daily run out to the Great Barrier Reef, and several of the high speed cat ferries working in that part of the world. Bottom line is that initial stability of a multihull is very high sometimes so high that it is nearly impossible to stand up in rough conditions because the righting motion is so quick, this seemed to be not too bad ob the wave piercers however they seemed to develope a motion not unlike a train on an old track. The great thing about a wavepiercer is that a 130 ft WP can run at 25+ knots into a 10 ft head sea without a drama. Do that in a conventional monohull and you have scrambled kidneys!!!!

[AMG]

Originally Posted by carlnisbet

I would love to see some of your work from a rear view of a 3 deck wavepiercer. I have an idea that the boat would be about 50~60 mtrs X 13~15 mts wide and around 500 ton. It would rarely come to a mooring.
Have you done any?

Another question for you: What height are the ceilings in yachts I need lots of height as I am 2.02mts tall.
Regds Carl

Hi Carl,

I have only seen a handful of wavepiercer yachts built and have never tried to design one. But a wavepiercer accommodation is much more like a monohull than a cat is. Only a bit wider, especially towards the stern. So I guess that a monohull design can be used to determine the style and then be adjusted to a wavepiercer.

Ceilings in my smaller designs are 210 cm to grew up to 260. On very large and beamy yachts the main deck can be 3 to 4 meters high to let the light in to the center. But I think that most of the existing yachts around 150-180 feet has a ceiling height around 230 cm.

If your plan is to stay out of ports most of the time, maybe a SWATH yacht would be the most comfortable? Have a look at this website from one of the best shipyards in the world; www.abeking.de

Look under "SHIPS" and you will find some info on SWATH. There is also an example under "YACHTS".