Do-it-yourself catamaran. Homemade catamaran

Engineering systems 26.06.2020

Engineering systems

PVC is a modern material with a lot of positive qualities. It is quite inexpensive, light, strong, durable, resistant to different climatic conditions and environments. In addition, plastic pipes are easily and quickly connected, ensuring absolute tightness of the joints.

Due to this, the use of plastic pipes has gained wide popularity not only in the installation of water pipes and sewer systems. Of these, "craftsmen" make many useful "things" with their own hands, ranging from racks and drinking bowls to sledges and boats.

In this article, we will tell you about how you can quickly and inexpensively make a catamaran from plastic (do it yourself.

Article content

Why a catamaran?

There are a lot of options for boats, as well as their purposes. For those who live near water bodies, and especially for those for whom overcoming a water barrier is a vital necessity, a catamaran is ideal. This type of vessel has many advantages. in front of kayaks, boats or yachts.

for the manufacture of catamarans from plastic pipes, a minimum amount of material is required. In addition, the remnants of a recent installation of a sewer or water supply may well be used;
the catamaran is light in weight, so it does not cause problems in matters of transportation;
due to the design features - two cylinders connected by a deck, such a craft has high seaworthiness, strength, reliability and sufficient speed;
the ability to accommodate the required number of seats;
any type of engine can be installed on a catamaran.

What is a catamaran made of?

The catamaran has a large number of design features, in comparison with other watercraft.

That's why you need to know in detail its components, before proceeding with the drawings and installation work.

The first and most important part of a catamaran is the floats. These are two chamber structures located on the sides of the craft. Their immediate task is to keep the ship afloat. Cylinders can be made of different materials, limiting the outer perimeter of the float. To do this, use a film from which inflatable balloons, polystyrene foam or PVC pipes are made.
Connecting frame. It can be made of any materials, ranging from the same plastic pipes to wood or metal. The lighter the frame of the catamaran, the smaller the floats can be.
Deck. This part is created to accommodate passengers, luggage and other things that will be transported by water.
Steering wheel. The rudder function of any watercraft is performed by an underwater blade, which is installed parallel to the movement for direct movement, and is bent in one direction or another with the help of a rotary handle brought to the deck to turn.
Oars, pedals, motor or any other device that sets the catamaran in motion.

Vessel size calculation

The diameter of the floats, as well as the width and length of the vessel, depend primarily on where and how it will be operated. The larger the crew is supposed to be and the more cargo will be transported, the larger the size of the craft and the diameter of the floats should be.

It is possible to increase the carrying capacity of the vessel by increasing the cross section of the cylinders or their length. The decisive factor in this situation is the volume of air inside the cylinders.

Optimal parameters for calculating floats, based on the crew and carrying capacity are as follows:

a single catamaran should have a length of 2-3 meters with a cylinder cross-section of 0.3-0.4 meters;
for the manufacture of a double vessel, cylinders 3.5-4 meters long with a diameter of 0.45-0.5 meters are used;
three and four-seater boats have a length of up to 6 meters with a float diameter of 0.5-0.6 meters.

A catamaran with a length of more than 6 meters is not recommended, since it will lose its maneuverability almost completely. Although, if you are going to swim mainly in a straight line, there are no restrictions on the size of such a “boat”.

The larger the size of the vessel, the greater its maneuverability and stability, but less maneuverability. This applies to both its length and width.

The width of the catamaran, first of all, is determined by its purpose and the method of actuation. If you are building a catamaran for river rafting using the kayak principle, its width should not exceed 1.2 meters. Otherwise, the capture of water by oars becomes impossible. If it is planned to board rowers on cylinders, the width of the vessel can be increased up to 2 meters.

If the catamaran will be fishing or recreational and it is planned to be equipped with a sail, motor or blades with pedals, its width can be increased even more.

The width of the catamaran must be at least one and a half times less than its length.

Manufacturing procedure

To make a catamaran with your own hands, you need to decide on its purpose and, based on from this, calculate the dimensions. We will consider two options for the vessel: the simplest single-seater and a tourist raft based on a catamaran.

Single catamaran

We begin the manufacture of the simplest single-seat catamaran with the manufacture of floats. We take two pipes of the same diameter and length (based on the calculations above, we need plastic pipes for external sewerage with a diameter of 0.4 meters and a length of 2 meters). We fasten on one side of both pipes. This will be the back of the catamaran.

The front part, for greater patency and maneuverability, needs to be raised. To do this, we use two plastic knees with a bend of 120 degrees. We fasten them to the second end of the pipes and also close them with plugs.

When assembling cylinders, pay special attention to the tightness of the joints. The slightest depressurization can lead to the sinking of the ship in the water.

The floats are ready. You can start assembling.

To connect the floats into one "whole" catamaran, you can use anything. Suitable plastic pipes of small diameter, wooden bars, metal corners and more.

We make cross-beams 1.2 meters wide from the material of your choice.
We install the cylinders strictly parallel to each other so that the bends look up and in the same direction.
We fix the transverse strips on top of the cylinders. For fastening, both clamps and self-tapping screws can be used, with which the transverse strips can be screwed to the floats for greater strength.
We install any comfortable seat on the transverse beams, take the oars in our hands and row where we want.

Do-it-yourself single-seat catamaran made of plastic pipes (video)

tourist raft

The basic principles for the manufacture of these two boats with their own hands do not have much difference. The only difference is that the pleasure raft will obviously not be designed for one person. And even better, if it also fits a load in the form of provisions, an umbrella from the sun, clothing, dishes and other things.

We make floats in the above way. But you should take a pipe with a diameter of 500-600 mm and a length of 6 meters. This will make it possible to make a stable and passable vessel, on which you can take a nap without worrying about the life of the crew.
We make a solid frame measuring 6 * 2 meters. Since the frame must not only hold the cylinders in the correct position, but also serve as a platform for the deck, it is better to make it from metal corners.
Clamps are tightened onto the pipes from which the floats are made, to which, in turn, the frame is attached with bolts.
On the frame, flooring is made of boards.

This design allows you to install any propulsion device on the catamaran, from pedal-driven blades to gasoline engines.

In addition, such a platform allows you to fully sunbathe in the sun, catch fish, in general, have fun and fruitfully relax in a narrow circle of best friends.

A catamaran is a type of vessel that is built using two or more structurally joined hulls. This type of watercraft is especially suitable for fishing, sports, tourism and entertainment purposes, gaining access to various hard-to-reach places. The sailing catamaran, reliable and safe due to its design features, is becoming more and more widespread. And you can not only buy it, but also make it yourself.

Why make sailing catamarans with your own hands?

In addition to sailing, catamarans with a motor engine and propeller pedal propulsion are common. They are also suitable for making on their own. Especially if we take into account the fact that the purchase of a finished catamaran costs several times more than the cost of its independent production. But many start building a catamaran on their own, not so much because of saving money, but because of the desire to express in their offspring the original author's ideas regarding the shape, design, constructive solutions, achieving certain qualities of the vessel that are not available in the proposed industrial or other designs available. on the market.

In any case, no matter how difficult it may seem at first glance to build sailing catamarans with your own hands, this is a very real and achievable task for a person who is more or less able and has skilled hands. Therefore, below we will consider the main stages of building a sailing catamaran. It is sailing because it does not have to be subject to mandatory registration with the GIMS, which is required for almost any small boats with a motor engine.

The choice of catamaran design

The first thing you should decide when starting to build a catamaran is to choose its main structure, namely: what will its hulls be made of. They can be made of plywood, boards, water bottles, pipes, etc. An inflatable sailing catamaran has a big advantage, the float hulls of which are made of rubberized material. It is this design that allows you to get a collapsible sailing catamaran.

Design requirements

The design of a catamaran essentially depends on the purpose for which you are building it. It is one thing to use it for recreation and fishing on a small quiet lake, it is quite another to raft on it along a stormy mountain river. The requirements for the strength of the structure and its elements in these cases are radically different. The ratio of the mass of the vessel and its carrying capacity is also important. After all, the smaller it is, the easier it is to transfer the vessel to the place of its intended use. According to this indicator, there is no equal to an inflatable collapsible catamaran, for which the weight of the vessel per one crew member is from 4 to 10 kg, and for inflatable kayaks - 8-11 kg.

catamaran project

There are real projects available that can be implemented in a small apartment, using only hand tools, providing high mobility of the product (there are no parts longer than one and a half meters - they can be transported free of charge in any public transport and on an airplane), its low weight, ease of assembly and disassembly design, the necessary strength and reliability.

So, if you finally decide to make a collapsible sailing type, then you should look in the special literature for drawings of sailing catamarans that match your choice. Believe me, it's not that difficult.

Consider a sailing catamaran based on two inflatable rubberized bags, forming two "cigars" with a diameter of 40 cm and a length of 280 cm when inflated, weighing 12 kg together with sails and oars, which easily withstands four crew members, providing them with sufficient comfort for work and rest and fishing. Each crew member accounts for only 3 kg of the boat's weight, and the unsinkability, convenience and excellent navigability of the vessel have been tested in practice by dozens of short and long trips along the rivers and lakes of the central part of the European territory of Russia. These trips have shown that the design of a catamaran based on "bag" type floats, which easily change their shape, overcomes obstacles and shallows much more safely, where kayak-type structures based on a rigid frame often damage the rubberized fabric, forcing repairs in the field.

Float balloons

The main thing is to make bag-shaped cigar-shaped (inflated) float cylinders. To do this, we take the fabric "500" - very strong, light and dense with the common name "silver", because it is equipped with a special aluminum coating. We cut out the details of the cylinders from two pieces of fabric measuring 300 x 64 cm (two per cylinder - the lower and upper parts) and glue them with ordinary rubber glue. If there is no source material of a suitable size, then first we glue such pieces from smaller cuts. We glue with an overlap with an overlap of at least 2 cm. In the future, we glue the resulting seams with additional strips of the same or less thin fabric with an overlap of 2-3 cm, first from the inside of the balloon, then from the outside. In advance, we glue tubes with flanges for inflation from the inside of the balloon so that the tube in the upper part is directed inside the catamaran structure, providing convenience when inflating. Lastly, we glue the rear wider part of the cylinders, following the example of a bag of flour.

A ready-made (not inflated) balloon made of such fabric weighs about one kilogram. For a more durable design, cylinders can be made from the so-called gas-holder fabric, which is used, for example, in metallurgical enterprises in tanks for storing oxygen reserves. Cylinders made from this fabric are twice as heavy, but also many times stronger than those made from silver.

Deck

The project of a sailing catamaran provides for the presence of two floats made of rubberized fabric, which are combined with rigid elements that are present only in the upper part of the structure. They are bolted to (to simplify assembly) a platform of four longitudinal rails or pipes (two per float) and four to six transverse beams. It is desirable to make longitudinal rails from the main part up to 150 cm long and the stackable part (up to a total length of the rail up to 220 cm) from an duralumin channel. Cross beams with a length of 110 to 150 cm are made from the material available to you, for example, from dural tubes with a diameter of up to 30 mm. The floats-cylinders are fastened to the platform with the help of strong tapes (corsage), three per cylinder, or with cables using special overlays with eyelets glued to the cylinders. On top of the resulting platform, three air-filled swimming mattresses are tightly fixed with cables - one in the bow and two (on top of each other) at the stern. On these mattresses are members of the rowing crew. They provide convenience for the crew and additional buoyancy of the vessel in the event (although this never happened) of damage to one of the floats. Under the mattresses, it is desirable to strengthen the diagonally located ties and a canvas made of durable fabric so as not to wet the cargo on the deck.

Steering

The catamaran is controlled by means of a feather rudder fixed on the aft transverse beam, made from a piece of duralumin plate measuring 23 x 48 cm. in small places). To prevent yaw when oaring, a small daggerboard is provided on the bow cross beam, which is not needed when sailing. Steering wheel - collapsible with a removable feather.

Mast, oars and sails

It is best to make a mast from three duralumin tubes inserted into each other. Although a variant of wooden rods with connecting strips is possible. When carrying the vessel, other elements of the spars are inserted into the long parts of the mast - a hafel and a composite boom, made from duralumin or tubes of the same diameter. The mast base is fastened in the middle of the second beam, as well as by four guys with tensioners from the upper end of the mast to the ends of the first and third cross beams.

The oars are also made composite, like a canoe.

The sailing catamaran is equipped with feather percale sails, they regularly consist of a mainsail and staysail, the total area is 7 sq. m. Such sails, mounted on a mast with a total height of 360 cm, complemented by a jib, allow the catamaran to gain speed up to 8 km / h with a favorable wind. If desired, the sailing armament of the catamaran can be increased by experimenting according to your navigation experience.

Having made all the elements of a catamaran, inflating floats and mattresses, assembling and adjusting the deck, mast, rudder and sailing rig, you will get the result: a sailing catamaran made by you, ready to use and eager to set sail to reward you and your companions for your labors.

A do-it-yourself catamaran is built quite simply. If you want to make a homemade catamaran for fishing, a foam catamaran, an inflatable catamaran, a catamaran for rafting or for any other purpose, then in this article we will try to briefly describe the main stages in the construction of such boats.
Such a means of water transportation is especially important for those who live in close proximity to the sea, lake, river or any other body of water. And sometimes the manufacture of a catamaran can become a vital necessity, so such a watercraft must have appropriate strength and reliability. And if you are not a billionaire who can order any ship in the design office, then we suggest you make a catamaran, which you can later use for various purposes: tourism, fishing, recreation or even travel.

Compared to a kayak, boat or yacht, a catamaran has many advantages. First of all, these are higher reliability, stability, light weight, comfort and the ability to overcome rapids when rafting from rivers.
On a sea catamaran, drawings and preliminary calculations are necessary so that it does not turn out that the ship has a high windage or rolls over, even on small waves.

Thanks to the detailed and well-designed drawings of a catamaran, you can independently and without expensive equipment make, for example, a sailing catamaran that will fully meet all your requirements.
Such a do-it-yourself swimming facility according to a pre-designed scheme or sketches will differ:

High seaworthiness, reliability and required speed,
Light weight, as a result, the ability to be transported to any distance,
Placement of the required number of seats,
If necessary, it is possible to provide for the installation of an additional engine.

On the drawing of the catamaran, all the details of our vessel should be drawn and the sequence of construction operations should be outlined. There should also be the dimensions we need.

Consider a few drawings for catamarans:

Catamaran for fishing

If you are interested in fishing catamarans that you can make yourself, then you do not need to have specialized production facilities or special technical skills at your disposal.
The construction of a catamaran should begin with the fact that you need to decide on the size of the future swimming facility. Based on the available dimensions, we purchase plywood and wood. In principle, any wood can be used, as long as it is not very expensive and floats well. For example, you can buy 1 cubic meter of pine, its average price is 3400 rubles. Also, we need plywood, 4 mm thick - about 8 square meters (it is better to take it with a margin), it will cost us about 700 rubles.
We begin the work on building a catamaran with our own hands by creating the hull of the future vessel. The first stage is the installation of the beam. To connect the components of our catamaran, you need to purchase high-quality screws of different sizes.

Fishing catamarans must have high strength hulls. The most optimal length is 6 meters. Be prepared for the fact that when creating a catamaran with your own hands, you will need to recalculate its dimensions several times. This is normal, because as construction progresses, new ideas will begin to appear to improve the strength or seaworthiness of your vessel.
When building a catamaran on your own, special attention should be paid to the mast beam. As practice shows, its measurements and calculation are done several times. When building such a sailing vessel with your own hands, you need to be extremely accurate and attentive.

We build a reliable foam catamaran

A self-made foam catamaran will be impossible to sink, it is durable and easy to use.
Let's look at the construction of this floating craft with our own hands with dimensions of 3750 x 1600 mm, plate thickness 40 to 150 mm, float height 200 mm and width 400 mm. The cutting of plates is carried out using a special device - nichrome wire heated to 200-250 ° C or on a special machine.
To make a walking foam catamaran, we need: 2 diaphragms in the bow, 4 bulkheads and 4 frames. All these parts are made of plywood with a thickness of 12 mm.

Clamping pipes (duralumin) are used to hold the parts, but thin-walled steel pipes can also be used. On your own, on pipes with a diameter of half an inch, you need to make a thread using a die or ratchet screw.
Before assembling floats for a catamaran, epoxy glue or oil paint is applied to the wide surfaces of the plates, after which, by means of ties, they are pulled together with steel tubes. Now, thin calico or fiberglass is glued to a homemade catamaran in several layers using epoxy resin or oil paint.
The front part of the catamaran floats is also made by hand using corners, 25x25 mm in size (aluminum is used), after which it is sheathed with aluminum sheets, 0.5 mm thick.
The covers, made of plywood sheet duralumin 1-1.5 mm thick, are fastened with screws to the corners of the bow, which, in turn, is put on the ends of the tie-down pipes and fastened with nuts. The final stage in the manufacture of the bow is its filling with pieces of foam and closing the lid.
The construction of the deck is carried out from slats and wooden bars. The finished structure is independently attached to the frames using 8 bolts and nuts. If you want to move faster on a catamaran and even against the wind, then in its stern part you can install a motor or row.

DIY inflatable catamaran

An inflatable catamaran must have a drum-shaped or spindle-shaped float.
As a rule, floats have a two-layer type construction: internal inflatable chambers, as well as a protective outer shell. If you want to build an inflatable type catamaran so that it has high survivability, then for this you can use internal chambers that have two compartments. Such cameras cost about 10,000 rubles each, you also need to have oars - their average price is 3,000 rubles. for a couple. It will not be superfluous to have life jackets, which will cost you at least 1000 rubles. for every. In general, if you want to build such a catamaran with your own hands, then you need to have a budget of about 35,000 rubles.

One skin is designed to fit two short cameras. Therefore, you need to take into account that they have an overlap in length of at least 2 diameters, otherwise, you will not be able to avoid “constrictions” on the float.
Do-it-yourself insertion of an inflatable chamber into a catamaran boat is carried out in the skin of the float through the holes, which, as a rule, are located at the ends of the skin. All this is carried out in the following sequence:

We lay out the camera next to one of the holes,
We put the skin on the hand through another hole,
We pull the camera into the skin,
We bend the ends by about 10 cm. This is done in order to reduce the load from the end seam, as well as bring the bent ends of the chamber into the front and back of the skin.

An inflatable tourist catamaran with the simplest hatches does not have fasteners, because in the process of inflating the chambers, they will close on their own. When inserting two chambers into one skin, the chambers must be placed one on top of the other, after which the skins must be retracted simultaneously.
The tube that inflates the chambers comes out of the skin through one of the hatches. As a rule, the working pressure in the chambers is not more than 0.1 atm. When taking the catamaran ashore, it must be placed in the shade or the pressure in the chamber should be slightly reduced.
To inflate the chambers yourself, a variety of boat pumps can be used with an adapter that will fit the chamber hose. On average, pumping 1m3 of float takes 20 minutes. To pump up a float catamaran, it is better not to use hand pumps, otherwise after pumping up the chambers you will no longer want to sail anywhere, so it is best to grab a foot pump or an automatic pump.

Alloy catamaran

Rafting on a catamaran is always exciting. Therefore, if you want to quickly and without specialized equipment make a catamaran for rafting, then carefully read our step-by-step instructions for making this boat.
In addition to the catamaran itself, for the alloy we need:

Wetsuit (price from 10,000 rubles).
Life vest. Its cost is not less than 1000 rubles.
Helmet (from 1500 rubles).
Boots (from 2000 rubles).
Protective clothing. Its cost is from 5000 rubles.

Stage 1: Assemble the deck. Two gondolas, already inflated with air, are independently fastened together at a distance of about 90 cm, preferably with aluminum tubes.
It is important that sand or small stones do not get inside the already inflated cylinders. Otherwise, the camera may be pierced from the inside.
Stage 2: We inflate the nacelles. You don't need to fill them up completely. Just a little pumping so you can install the deck and then pull it up. Then, we carry out a full pumping of the nacelles, otherwise your catamaran will have poor stability.

Stage 3: We install the deck and fit it with ropes. The gondola should already have loops through which the rope goes. We wrap the rope around the deck once and put it through the loop.
Stage 4: A water catamaran for descents must have a bottom, which is a tarpaulin, which is attached to the edges of the deck with ties. It should be tightened in such a way that it does not turn out very tight, while everything is well kept.
That's all, as you can see, it is very easy to make a catamaran for descending from mountain rivers with your own hands!

Sailing catamaran has some features

Before you make a catamaran on your own and sail with it, you must understand that this vessel has an outer shell that provides strength, including an inner chamber that is responsible for the tightness of the structure. The presence of contours reduces the resistance of water when sailing. The frame catamaran itself is made of duralumin tubes held on by bolts by means of shaped nuts.
The design of the catamaran described below has a rudder and provides for a sail. Almost all components can be made independently, only a small amount of turning work is required.
Before starting the construction of this swimming facility, you must definitely have a catamaran scheme, adhering to which you will get a quality thing.

floats

There will be two of them in our model, and each of them is filled with air. In cross section, these elements have the shape of a circle. The floats practically do not have cylindrical sections, but they differ in the stern and bow sections.
The float includes an inner chamber and an outer shell that is 15% smaller than the chamber. This is necessary so that the camera is always in a tense state and its safety is ensured. Making the camera yourself is one of the key operations, so it takes a lot of time. If this element is made of synthetic materials, then it will last for a rather long time, and if it is made of rubber, then its durability will be somewhat lower, but the price is more affordable.

cutting

If it is impossible to carve out a camera from a single piece of material, the panel must be glued from pieces, and this must be done with an overlap. The seam should be at least 3 cm wide, and strips of fabric should be additionally glued in its place. The back of the chamber, which resembles the shape of a sleeve, is twisted during assembly and tied with a rubber band.
Self-made design of the sleeve provides the possibility of its drying and repair. In addition, a special valve used for a boat should be glued into the chamber in front of the bow rowers. It can even be used to pump up this water vehicle on the go. Therefore, your cruising catamaran will always be afloat, a walk on it will be a great pleasure.
To make the bottom of a catamaran with your own hands, it should also be cut out of a single panel or its individual pieces, and then fastened together. Then, it is necessary to sew the lower and upper shell parts from the limbs to the middle. The redrawing of parts must be carried out with maximum accuracy - this must be done to ensure the correct form of avoiding wrinkles on the float.

Bridge

Usually it is aluminum, made from tubes of different sizes and diameters, along with fasteners, which are used as bolts and studs. The stringers are made of two elements connected with a sleeve, which is glued to the back of the catamaran and fixed with a pin. The ends of the stringers are fastened with a plug, which can be made of any material and securely fastened with shaped nuts.

Deck

This element of the catamaran has a rectangular shape, and it is made from a panel of dense varieties of nylon. The value of this element depends on what kind of frame we have assembled.
When making a deck with your own hands, along its perimeter, the edges of the panel should be tucked in by 30 mm, and then stitched. Now install the eyelets used to secure the bridge to the deck. Lacing should be done from the middle of the float to its end point.

Sails and mast

A do-it-yourself catamaran sail is best made from three duralumin tubes, each of which is inserted into each other. But you can also build wooden rods with connecting strips. When carrying a floating craft, spars elements are inserted into the long parts of the mast - gaff and composite, which are made from duralumin ski poles or tubes of the required diameter.
The lower part of the mast is attached to the middle of the second beam with four guys and tensioners from the upper end of the mast to the ends of the cross beams.
If necessary, the sail for the catamaran can be independently increased in size or reduced, depending on your experience in managing such watercraft.

Motor catamaran

How to make a catamaran with your own hands, which will be easy to walk on the water, on the waves and even against the wind? A homemade catamaran made of plywood is not suitable for this, because you need something more “serious”. Therefore, we suggest you make a motor catamaran, which is called “from improvised means”. The engine from a moped will be used as a motor.
To get a good motor boat, you need to install a moped on the catamaran frame in the center, which will be securely held by the transverse beams.
We recommend making the case from hardboard, 4 mm thick. By bending the workpiece, we drill holes at a distance of 50 mm. Now we sew the body using copper wire, gluing a transom board and two frames there. After everything is dry, glue the joints and remove the wire. Then, we coat the seams with glue and fix them with strips of fabric in three layers.
Fiberglass should be glued into the hull, and the deck made of hardboard, and then glued to the hull using copper wire and epoxy glue. On the inside, the body is covered with parquet varnish, and on the outside, how well we glue everything with fiberglass.
Now we begin to use pine blocks as cross-sectional beams, attaching them with epoxy glue to the frames. Using clamps, we fix the bearings at the ends of the housing, which we previously bent from three-millimeter metal strips.
The control of a motor catamaran is carried out with the help of steering feathers. They are cut out of plywood, 12 mm thick, after which they are hung and fixed with hinges and homemade loops.
Now, we independently remove the wheel from the moped and fix it with the help of the stud axles in the front and rear attachment points. Next, we replace the chain with a longer one so that we have the opportunity to pass it through the engine, which is located on the paddle wheel.
The design of the catamaran can use a diesel, gasoline engine or electric motor of any manufacturer. The main thing is that it weighs a little.
You must have a diagram of how to make a catamaran, this will avoid miscalculations and speed up its construction.

Marine catamaran

Do you want to learn how to make a good catamaran with your own hands, which will take only a few days to make? Then read this article carefully.
First you need to prepare the slats. Four of them should be three meters long, and two 1.9 meters long. We also need four segments of 570-600 millimeters. Obviously, a pair of upper rails placed below will give the frames the opportunity to sit firmly in place. Using screws, we fix the crossbars, after which we lay the keel rail, screwing it to the 1, 5 and 6 frames. Now the frame is strong enough and the future marine catamaran can be turned on its side so that the top rails can be attached to the frames.
Do not forget to buy a board 50 millimeters thick, which we will later use to cut out the front and back bosses, but here it should be borne in mind that they must be cone-shaped.

sheathing

The central part has a width of 823 millimeters, which is very easy to cut with your own hands. It can be easily bent according to the shape of the frame, because we pre-impregnated it with drying oil. However, this matter cannot be rushed. To simplify our work, we tighten the blanks with wire or ropes, leaving them in this position for several days. Also keep in mind that plywood will be attached with nails, but you need to coat the bonding points (rails and frames) with oil-based paint in advance. Also, special attention should be paid to the joints on the frames.

Deck

In order for a pleasure catamaran to sail on the sea, it must have a reliable deck, which is made of plywood. To improve the strength of this element, we nail the rails every 300-350 mm. If you are not sure about the strength of plywood, then it can be laid in 2 layers - on top of each other. At the place where the pedals are installed, the distance between the rails should not interfere with their rotation.

mover

Our cruising catamaran for sea travel will have a propeller drive made by hand from parts from a bicycle. We will use two frames with pedals and bottom brackets. We flatten the cut ends of the frames, after which we attach them to the deck rail with screws, and install distance bushings between the pedals, ranging in size from 120 to 130 mm, and connect the pedals themselves with long studs.
Now, we install paddle wheels on the catamaran, which we make from bicycle wheels. The blades are cut out of rubber, 4-6 mm thick, after which we wind them with wire to the knitting needles. One wheel should have 5-6 blades.

functional area

The seat of a do-it-yourself catamaran is made of slats and plywood, and their cross section should be 25x25 millimeters. It is attached to the deck after the propeller drive is installed, so that the slats from below do not touch the tensioned chain. All elements should be fixed with screws so that, if necessary, their position can be adjusted.
Now we proceed to the manufacture of the steering, which will be made of plywood and racks. The size of our steering wheel will be 200x320 millimeters. To the right handlebar, with the help of rails, we nail a plywood bracket, each side of which is 200 millimeters. After that, from it to the lever we start up the thrust - it should be installed on the side, next to the seat. As axes of transverse and longitudinal rods, you can use thick nails with holes drilled through them, otherwise the rods will simply burst.
To make a motor marine catamaran with your own hands, you will definitely need drawings, because this is the only way to guarantee the accuracy of calculations and the correctness of the geometric shapes of the watercraft. And after its construction, you can safely go on a cruise.

Pleasure catamaran

We will build a pleasure catamaran from foam, with dimensions of 3950x1800 mm. The float has a height of 250 mm and a width of 450 mm, the thickness of its plates is from 40 to 150 mm.
For the manufacture of this vessel, we need approximately 2 m3 of foam and about 5 square meters. meters of plywood. Styrofoam costs about 2000 rubles. per square meter, and plywood is about 250 rubles. per sheet, 4 mm thick.
Before you start assembling the floats, you need to cover the wide surfaces of the plates with epoxy glue, and then tighten them with pipes using nuts. Now, the outer surfaces need to be pasted over with fiberglass or thin calico folded in several layers.
We make the front part of the catamaran with our own hands separately, using corners made of aluminum or stainless steel, 30x30 mm in size, then, the resulting structure is sheathed with aluminum sheet, 0.5 mm thick. Our Styrofoam Pleasure Catamaran has a metal structure that is bolted and angled together.
Further, the construction of a catamaran independently consists in attaching plywood or duralumin covers to the corners of the bow using screws. The front part of our watercraft is mounted on the ends of the tie-down pipes, after which they are fixed with nuts. The cavity is filled with pieces of foam and closed.
The deck is assembled using bars and rails, and the resulting structure is attached to the frames with eight bolts and nuts. In order to move around the water with great comfort, you can install a small motor with a power of up to 5 hp. or rowing.

Sail for a catamaran

An inflatable sailing catamaran must have a mast and appropriate mounts, the manufacturing process of which we will now consider. Before you make a catamaran on your own, you must first decide what height your mast will be, as well as where the shrouds and half shrouds will be attached.
Having all the dimensions of your future sail, you can order its tailoring at the appropriate studio, but in order to avoid manufacturing defects and if you have the appropriate equipment, you can sew the sails yourself.
But before sewing the sail, let's make a mast. The best option is to make it from three duralumin tubes that will be inserted into each other. But, there are also methods for manufacturing masts from rods with connecting strips.
If you want to move a sailing catamaran, then other elements are inserted into the long parts of the mast, which are made from duralumin ski poles or tubes of the appropriate diameter. The base of the mast is attached to the middle of the second beam and four guys having tension devices from the top of the mast to the ends of the first and third cross beams.
A do-it-yourself inflatable sailing catamaran is equipped with feather percale sails, which should consist of a mainsail and a staysail, and their area is 7 square meters. m. These sails, which are mounted on the mast, have a height of 3600 mm, plus there is a jib. All this equipment makes it possible to develop a catamaran speed of up to 10 km/h with a fair wind.

Do-it-yourself plywood catamaran

In order for the frame and other power elements of this water vehicle to be as strong as possible, we will use pine slats with bars, the cross section of which ranges from 25x40 to 60x100 mm, and their cost is approximately 7000 rubles. per cube meter - just as much as we need such material.
The floats are sheathed with waterproof plywood, the thickness of which is 6 mm. The cost of such plywood is 300 rubles. per sheet, and its size is 1525 × 1525 mm. We need about 4 sheets. For the manufacture of frames, we will use plywood, 9 mm thick, its price is about 400 rubles. per sheet. You also need to buy 4 sheets.
External waterproofing is carried out using reinforcing layers of fiberglass, which are pre-impregnated with polyester or epoxy resin. Such fiberglass costs about 80 rubles. for 1 sq. m., it will need about 20 squares, since we will overlap. The price of epoxy resin is about 7000 rubles. for a 3 liter jar.
The wooden elements of the body are fastened together with bolts and self-tapping screws with a flush head.
A do-it-yourself homemade plywood catamaran is much easier than a boat, because it is assembled on a simple slipway, which is a flat base of boards with racks fixed vertically.

You need to assemble your future vessel with your own hands in the following sequence:

We install our platform on the ground in a horizontal position, and put the racks to which we will attach the frames at a right angle.
With the help of pre-made drawings of the catamaran, it is necessary to independently cut out two sets of frames with two identical transom boards.

Using self-tapping screws, in the technological cutout of all transverse bulkheads, we install and fix wooden stringers made of bars, 40x40 mm in size, after which we make zygomatic stringers from slats with a section of 25x40 mm.
Now, according to the same principle, we install a figured stem with a section of 50x90 mm.
After the frame is assembled, we check all its dimensions so that they correspond to the drawings.

In order not to get confused in the sequence of all operations, you can take a photo of them. Now you know how to make a plywood catamaran, the only thing to keep in mind before starting work is that the budget for such a vessel is about 20,000 rubles. But with such a catamaran, good fishing is guaranteed!

Tourist catamaran

Our cruise ship will be made of foam. A frame for a catamaran of this type is not needed. Before assembling the float, its constituent elements should be coated with epoxy glue, previously painted with oil paint. Then, we tighten all these parts with the help of nuts and steel tubes. After that, we paste over each outer surface with a thin material, for example, coarse calico or fiberglass, previously folded in 2-3 layers.
If you want to build a catamaran with a high degree of reliability, then its bow should be made separately, using aluminum corners for this, 25x25 mm in size. After that, we begin to sheathe it with sheet aluminum, the thickness of which is 0.5 mm. By the way, one sheet of aluminum costs about 1,500 rubles, and we need 3 of them.
Under sheet aluminum, there must be a plywood diaphragm, which is fastened with corners and bolts. The aluminum sheathing that connects the metal parts is held in place with rivets.
Now we make the bow with our own hands. We attach covers made of plywood or thin-sheet duralumin to the corners of the floats with screws. After that, the bow is connected to the main one, then it is put on the ends of the tie pipes. All this is now tightly connected with nuts. For the manufacture of the deck of our water vehicle, we use bars and wooden slats, fastening them together in increments of 10-15 cm.
Now you know how to make a catamaran on your own and go on a boat trip along the body of water closest to your home. The construction of such a vessel, on average, takes 2-3 days.

Pipe catamaran

The basis of such a water vehicle are aluminum pipes interconnected so that a frame is obtained. We will attach balloons inflated with air to it.
But first we need to buy all this. Therefore, keep in mind that 1 meter of the pipe we need, with a diameter of 16 mm, costs about 26 rubles, and we need 30 meters of such pipes - no less. Inflatable balloons cost at least 25,000 rubles. for a couple.
Such cylinders should have a two-layer structure, where the outer layer is a cover made of tarpaulin or some other durable fabric, it is on it that the main load falls. Cylinders are placed inside such a cover. By the way, if you don’t know how to make a homemade catamaran from pipes so that its cost is lower, then instead of buying inflatable balloons, you can use plastic sleeves. After all, their main purpose is air retention and strength, so their configuration is not fundamental to us. The only thing is that the dimensions of the sleeves must be larger than the durable outer cover. For greater safety, the inner cylinders must be made of several sections, so that when one is pierced, the catamaran remains confidently afloat.
In the process of building a catamaran boat with your own hands, it is best to use stainless materials. Particular attention should be paid to the fastening of the cylinders - it is necessary to exclude their contact with metal parts in order to prevent excessive friction. Also, when you erase a catamaran from pipes with your own hands, we do not recommend saving on the materials used. Do not forget about the crew, you need to make sure that it is convenient for them to walk, even if there is a place to sit on a small deck.

Aluminum catamaran

Homemade aluminum catamaran is not as easy to make as it seems. For this, it is recommended to use metal, grades AMg5, AMg6, etc. Taking into account the dimensions of a beach catamaran familiar to many of us, we can conclude that aluminum sheets with a thickness of 2 mm are suitable for its manufacture. The price of one such sheet is on average 6,000 rubles, and we need 4 of them. For the deck, we recommend using aluminum sheets, 4 mm thick - their price is approximately 12,000 rubles. - One such sheet is enough for us.
Making a catamaran out of aluminum with your own hands is quite difficult due to the fact that you need to have equipment for welding aluminum sheets and the appropriate skills. Therefore, this business is best entrusted to professionals or by providing a detailed description of how to make a catamaran and a diagram of a future vessel for some kind of production.
The aluminum case is very practical and will serve you for many years, while it practically does not need maintenance. Such an aluminum water vehicle can be stored even in the open air, this will not make it worse.

Making a frame for a catamaran with your own hands

A reliable frame for a catamaran is made by connecting longitudinal and transverse pipes. They are fastened with a special knitting. Pipes that are laid in the longitudinal direction are specially made collapsible to make them more convenient to transport. But the frame can be made not only from metal, but also from wood.
If you want to build a water catamaran with your own hands, on which you can raft from category 3 rivers or walk on lakes, then the frame is best made from D16T grade aluminum alloy.
The tying of pipes is carried out as follows: the knitting is wrapped around the pipes, then the collar is threaded, after which it is wrapped 2 times, then the collar is put on the collar. Bindings should be used from synthetic lines that stretch, do not rot and do not dry out after a while.
A standard frame kit for a catamaran consists of:

Aluminum pipes with a diameter of 20 mm (you will need 4 longitudinal and 5 transverse). Such a pipe costs about 80 rubles. per meter, and we need about 30 meters of these pipes.
20 twists, 20 collars and 20 collars. All this will cost about 3000 rubles.

Before you start making a frame, you must have a diagram of a catamaran.

Frame on clamps

This method of assembling frames consists in using knees made of a special material - caprolon. It is highly durable and reliable. Using such tools, the frame can be assembled in 20-30 minutes.

Frame on knits

To make the deck flat, longitudinal elements (1 or 2 pieces) are installed in the middle part of the frame. The frame is attached to the gondolas by lacing the longitudinal elements to two rows of opposite loops. This allows you to make a wooden frame instead of aluminum.
Now you know how to make a good do-it-yourself aluminum catamaran. We wish you a pleasant stay!

Making floats for a catamaran with your own hands

Floats for a catamaran are elongated cylinders inflated with air. To make such floats with your own hands, you need to take a durable and lightweight fabric that does not allow air to pass through, it is best to use rubberized one.
We take the fabric, cut out pieces from it, 300 x 64 cm in size - these will be our blanks for the cylinders, for each of them you need 2 identical pieces of fabric. If you do not have the material of the right size, then you can glue the pieces of fabric we need from cuts of small sizes. Gluing must be done with an overlap so that there is an overlap of at least 2 cm. After the seams have hardened, they must be additionally glued with strips of a similar or even thinner fabric so that there is an overlap of at least 2-3 cm. First, we glue from the inside of the balloon and then outside.
In total, for the manufacture of balloons with our own hands, we need about 20 square meters of fabric. Such a piece will cost you about 9,000 rubles, plus other consumables, it turns out that the construction of this swimming facility will cost us about 15,000 rubles.
You also need to remember to pre-glue the parts of the tube cylinder with flanges so that you can fill them with air so that the tube is directed from above into the inside of the catamaran, so it will be more convenient to fill with air.
The weight of one cylinder without air, made from such a fabric, is only 1 kg. If you want a higher strength design, the cylinders can be made from the gas tank fabric used in metallurgical plants to store oxygen under pressure.

Making a frame for a catamaran

The frame of a catamaran is its foundation, so it is important that it is strong and reliable. Its transverse elements must be spaced, depending on how many people are planned to be transported on this do-it-yourself catamaran.
In the manufacture of the frame, we recommend using duralumin tubes with an outer diameter of 22 mm and a wall thickness of 1 mm. It is especially good to use them for installing cross members, because they must have high rigidity. For example, a pvc catamaran frame includes 4 longitudinal elements and up to 10 cross members. The attachment of the valleys is carried out to the floats, at a distance of a part of the circumference of the float from each other. Some install only 2 valleys (one for each float) - this can significantly reduce the weight of the craft. However, even in this situation, the fixing of the floats should be carried out in parallel and separated from each other by 1/6 of the outer diameter of the float.
One meter of the dural pipe we need costs 250 rubles, and in total we need about 25 meters of such pipes, which will cost 6250 rubles.
Attachment of the longitudinal elements is carried out to the outer marking line with respect to the longitudinal axis of the catamaran, and is attached to the crossbars along the inner line. Thanks to this, it is possible to achieve stabilization of the float on the frame. As a rule, when making a frame with your own hands, the longitudinal elements are made shorter than the floats by 0.5-1.5 m, this makes it easier for them to go on the wave, making the meeting with it softer.

Plastic pipe catamaran

Do you want to learn how to make a homemade catamaran from plastic pipes with your own hands? Then read this article carefully.
We will use plastic sewer pipes with a diameter of 110-116 mm and 3 meters each. For each of the floats - 5 pipes, three pipes go to the top, and two to the bottom. These pipes are connected to each other using angles or tees, in general, there are many mounting options. Between themselves, the floats are connected by transitions from pipes with a diameter of 50 mm.
The cost of a meter of a plastic pipe with a diameter of 110 mm is on average 350 rubles. And the same pipe, but with a diameter of 50 mm, will cost you about 100 rubles. meter. Therefore, on average, before building such a catamaran, you need to have a budget of 10,000 rubles.

For small walks or trips on the water, a catamaran has a number of advantages over a boat or kayak. This is convenience during disembarkation and landing, reliability, greater stability and maneuverability, as well as increased cross-country ability of various rapids.

Also, this vehicle on water also has disadvantages, for example, increased hull windage and low speed when moving with oars. But these shortcomings pay off with the advantages of a catamaran.

There are many designs of catamarans, in the manufacture of which the available materials are used. With the help of a detailed description and drawings, everyone can assemble the model he needs with his own hands and at virtually no cost.

The catamaran is an easy to operate and build vessel, versatile in use and viable in extreme situations. According to the type of movement, these vessels are rowing, sailing and motor, as well as mixed designs. These devices consist of a frame and floats. The frame is made from a number of longitudinal elements, and the floats from an airtight inner cylinder. Next, we will tell you how to make a catamaran with your own hands.

The floats of this vessel have a certain chamber design, that is, an outer shell that provides strength and an inner chamber that is responsible for tightness. This feature simplifies the manufacture of this model and increases its reliability. Contours on the floats contribute to the achievement of low water resistance when moving. The frame is constructed from duralumin tubes bolted with shaped nuts.

The catamaran is equipped with a rudder to facilitate steering and rest. Also, this design provides for the presence of sailing weapons. Almost all components are made independently, only a small amount of turning work is needed.

The cost of this product is low. A sailing catamaran is used on rapids and flat rivers, and on lakes. With calm water, speed is ensured, overcoming thresholds.