production Strider 24
plywood Romany 34
lightweight 14ft Zeta mainhull
Strike 15 trimaran at speed
28ft Skoota in British Columbia
10ft 2 sheet ply Duo dinghy
24ft Strider sailing fast
36ft Mirage open deck catamaran
Blog Posts
New production Vardo project
Way back in the mid 1980s we designed two very similar 35ft catamarans. The performance cruiser Banshee and the family cruiser Flica. It was then many years before I drew the 34ft Vardo, which is a compromise between those two earlier designs.
The Vardo has the performance rig of the Banshee coupled with the standing headroom throughout and all round vision from the saloon of the Flica. It has a big galley and heads compartment yet is still able to sleep 8 in 4 double cabins.
A number have been built in the last 10 years.
One of the first home builds was launched in St Augustine, Florida and which was then sailed through the Caribbean, Panama Canal, across the Pacific to New Zealand and finally to Australia - all with a young family on board. The owners are delighted with the boat, for example:
"Arrived Georgetown, Bahamas yesterday. A front had come through resulting in 5-6 foot seas straight down the rhumb line, but with wind at about 30 degrees off the seas. Sustained high twenty knots with some gusts to near 35.
With a double reefed main and 80% jib we hit 16.5 knots. More would have been possible with someone trimming the sails when the apparent moved forward and could have at least handled one less reef and the full jib. The kids were happily playing in the saloon looking out the windows."
The build blog is here: https://sailingcatamarans.blogspot.com/ and FB page for details of their trip after leaving the Bahamas is here: https://www.facebook.com/MoJoCatamaran
A Philippines owner wrote "Thanks for designing a great Catamaran. I would recommend your designs to anyone and appreciate your support! She is a great compromise between performance, comfort and design safety."
Another Vardo was built in the UK, very quickly, despite being built entirely in the open. See here https://www.facebook.com/Steves.catamaran/
A Dutch couple recently launched their somewhat modified Vardo, although they are just motoring it around at the moment. See the photo of their boat dried out. Their FB page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2190959041134633
And then the project that prompted this post. A grp Vardo is being professionally built in Poland, the hull and some deck moulds were made. The builder is currently looking for new customers. Please contact me in the first instance and I will forward your contact details to the builder. See photos and the very impressive 3D sketches.
