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The Eagle 24 is my first open deck trailable catamaran design for many years. I have delayed drawing a new boat until now because I still believe that the Janus/Strider/Merlin are great boats. However many people find that the Janus and Acorn are just too small, while others want a boat that is simpler to build than a Wizard or even a Strider. 

 

Some builders, as the photo below shows, have built extended 26ft (8m) hulls by increasing the spacing between the bunks. And others have added a central cuddy, see the Plan Updates pages for more

 

So I decided the Eagle 24 design would put more emphasis on interior space while still keeping a simple build. The photo above shows a slightly modified Eagle just after launching. Modified by extending the hulls to 8m (26ft) and adding a small central cuddy. See more photos below.

Accordingly it has more freeboard and a longer cabin than my earlier designs, resulting in 1.7m (5ft6in) headroom and bunks over 750mm (2ft6in) wide with sitting headroom. The high freeboard has the added advantage that the boat is much drier when underway. The extra windage from the bigger hulls never seems to cause the problems some people expect.

The flat bottomed chined hulls offer more space than any other shape, yet are easy to build in sheet plywood.This builder is building his Eagle outside

 

 

The photo sequence below starts by showing the bulkheads set up ready to add stringers. And yes! The builder is building his boat in his house! So these builders prove that "I haven't got a workshop" is no excuse not to build!

 

 

 

 

And now ready to plank, amazing that the floor is still clean!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then painted!

 

 

Fully painted and turned on its side to simplify painting the interior

 

 

Interior being fitted out - lots of room!

 

 

Its a big boat compared to Strider and Merlin!

 

 

This is the first catamaran Peet, the builder, has built, as always the second hull goes faster! Peet reported "Work on the second hull is going well.  I covered the last piece of hull with glass cloth yesterday, 7 weeks after starting to set up the bulkheads of the second hull."

 

Photos of the black hulled Eagle are shown below. You can see the central cuddy, similar to the one used on the Merlin/Strider and that the interior is much roomier than a Strider.

 

 

 

The rig and deck layout have been drawn based on the experience gained from over 50 years of small boat sailing and personally owning eight trailable catamarans in which I have sailed thousands of miles

The deep mastbeam coupled with a solid cockpit floor instead of a trampoline offers security and a dry ride for families. Side opening hatches into the hulls mean the crew can safely get below without going near the gunwales. So a small child can be fitted with a harness and be able to roam freely round the 100sqft cockpit and get into the hulls, yet never reach the side of the boat.

The simple, no rotating fractional rig is efficient and easy to raise, even singlehanded. See HERE for the basic method. An optional racing rig is available for experienced sailors who want more speed or who sail in a lightwind area.

Design options include LAR keels and a removable central cuddy. However keels are not recommended if you trail frequently as it makes the boat higher on the trailer, requiring deeper water to launch, and a less stable load. The basic cuddy drawings you can see HERE scroll down to see one fitted to a Merlin and a Strider.

The hulls are Veed forwards to prevent slamming into a seaway, but are otherwise flat bottomed. This means they stay upright by themselves, which makes building a LOT easier as you don't need to fit and move chocks and of course no chocks are needed for the telescopic trailer. Such a trailer means that it is possible to assemble and rig the boat singlehanded.

Stock 150mm (6in) aluminium cross beams are used to save weight and build time. However there is a wood beam option for those who don't have easy access to tubes. The main crossbeams are attached to hulls with metal straps, the most reliable way of attaching beams - no squeaking, no chafe and no flexing. The mastbeam sits on simple brackets and does not intrude into the hull.

The Eagle is seaworthy enough for coastal passage making and offshore trips in good weather, so there would be no problem sailing one across the English Channel or from Florida to the Bahamas. However, remember that, in common with all small boats, it is the crew that will fail before the boat. So I don't suggest sailing more than 70 miles or so non stop, nor cruising overnight with more than 2 adults and 2 children on board. But please see an owners report!

Having said that I've lost count of the number of times I've sailed from Plymouth to the Solent non stop in our various Striders, Wizard and Gwahir. That's 130 miles, and it's usually to windward on the return trip.  

So, to sum up. The Eagle is a safe, comfortable boat that will be fast, fun and yet predictable to sail. Easily built with lots of room

 

To help you compare different, yet similar, designs here are the cross sections for Sango, Eagle, Saturn and Salish 28