2 canoe catamaran

How to Make a Catamaran Out of Two Kayaks? Here’s What You Need to Know

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and simple way to make your own catamaran out of two kayaks, then you’ve come to the right place.

In this guide, we’ll provide the necessary steps to create a stable and secure catamaran from two kayaks.

You’ll learn the benefits of making a catamaran out of two kayaks, the supplies you’ll need, a step-by-step guide to tying the kayaks together, constructing the platform, and more.

Plus, we’ll provide tips for ensuring a safe and fun day on the water.

So, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Short Answer

Making a catamaran out of two kayaks is actually relatively simple and can be done in a few steps.

First, you’ll need to attach the two kayaks together using either rope or straps.

Make sure the kayaks are well secured together and evenly balanced.

Then, tie a cross beam between the two kayaks to make a platform for seating and storage.

Finally, add any additional gear, such as paddles and life jackets, that you may need for your journey.

With these steps, you’ll have your own DIY catamaran made out of two kayaks!

Benefits of Making a Catamaran Out of Two Kayaks

Making a catamaran out of two kayaks is a great way to enjoy the open waters with added stability and capacity compared to a single kayak.

Not only is it relatively easy and inexpensive to do, but it also allows you to explore further and carry more gear than you would with a single kayak.

One of the main benefits of making a catamaran out of two kayaks is that it provides added stability.

A catamaran is inherently more stable than a single kayak because the two hulls provide a wider base, which helps prevent tipping over.

This is especially beneficial for those who are new to kayaking, as it gives them additional confidence on the water.

Another benefit of making a catamaran out of two kayaks is that it gives you more capacity.

By combining two kayaks, you can carry more gear and supplies than you would with a single kayak.

This makes it perfect for overnight trips or long-distance paddles, as you can easily carry enough food, water, and other supplies to last the entire trip.

Finally, making a catamaran out of two kayaks is also relatively easy and inexpensive.

All that is needed are two kayaks, a few pieces of wood, and some basic tools.

With a few simple steps, you can have a great time on the water without breaking the bank.

In conclusion, making a catamaran out of two kayaks can be a great way to explore open waters with added stability and capacity.

So if youre looking for a fun and safe way to enjoy the water, making a catamaran out of two kayaks is definitely worth considering.

Necessary Supplies

When it comes to making a catamaran out of two kayaks, there are certain supplies that are necessary for the job.

The most important items needed are two kayaks, some pieces of wood, and basic tools.

Depending on the type of kayaks, rope or bungee cord may also be necessary.

The two kayaks should be tied together with rope or bungee cord.

This will provide the necessary stability and capacity that a catamaran needs.

The rope or bungee cord should be tied securely, but not too tightly, to ensure that the kayaks dont move apart when in use.

Using the pieces of wood, a platform should be constructed to attach the kayaks together.

This will provide the necessary support for the kayaks to be on the same level.

The platform should be made with durable wood that can withstand the elements and the weight of the kayaks.

Once the platform is in place, the kayaks should be secured together with more rope or bungee cord.

This will ensure that the kayaks stay together and remain secure.

With these supplies, youll be able to construct a catamaran out of two kayaks, providing a great way to explore open waters with added stability and capacity.

It is a relatively simple process to do, and with the right supplies, youll be able to enjoy a fun and safe day on the water.

Step-by-Step Guide for Tying the Kayaks Together

Tying two kayaks together to create a catamaran is a fairly straightforward process that can be completed with minimal supplies and basic tools.

To get started, select two kayaks that are similar in size and shape.

If the kayaks are not the same size, one may need to be secured higher than the other for balance.

Once the kayaks are selected, its time to start tying them together.

Begin by securing a rope or bungee cord around the kayaks, making sure to wrap the cord around both kayaks several times.

Its important to make sure the cord is tied tightly and securely; if the cord is too loose, the kayaks are likely to move while in the water, which could be dangerous.

After the rope or bungee cord is secured, a platform should be constructed out of wood and attached to the kayaks.

This platform should be large enough for the items being stored on the catamaran, such as coolers, fishing gear, and other supplies.

Once the platform is attached, its important to securely tie the kayaks together with additional rope or bungee cord.

This will help ensure that the kayaks stay together and dont move while in the water.

By following these simple steps, anyone can easily create a catamaran out of two kayaks.

With a little bit of planning and the right supplies, this project can be completed in just a few hours.

With the catamaran in place, its time to hit the open waters and enjoy a great day on the water.

Constructing the Platform

Constructing the platform for a catamaran out of two kayaks is the next step in the process.

The platform should be constructed out of wood, such as lumber or plywood.

The size of the platform will vary depending on the size of the kayaks and the desired capacity, but the general rule is that the platform should be at least twice the width of the kayaks.

The platform should also be long enough to span the distance between the two kayaks.

The platform should be constructed with two crossbeams for added stability.

These should be secured to the kayaks with bolts, screws, or rope.

The crossbeams should be evenly spaced along the length of the platform.

Once the platform is constructed, it should be secured to the kayaks with more rope or bungee cord.

It is important to make sure the platform is strong and secure.

Make sure that the crossbeams are securely attached to the kayaks and that the platform is securely attached to the crossbeams.

If the platform is not secure, it can cause an instability that could lead to an accident while out on the water.

Once the platform is secure, it’s time to enjoy your new catamaran!

Securing the Kayaks Together

Once the kayaks are tied together, it is time to secure them for a more stable and reliable ride.

This is done by looping additional rope or bungee cord around the kayaks and tying them together.

This creates a secure connection between the two kayaks and ensures that they will remain connected while out on the water.

Additionally, it is important to make sure that all knots are tightly tied and not loose.

This will help to ensure that the connection between the kayaks remains strong and secure.

Additionally, it is important to inspect the knots periodically throughout the day to ensure that they are still tight and secure.

This is especially important if the kayaks are being used in choppy or turbulent waters.

Tips for Ensuring a Safe and Fun Day on the Water

Making a catamaran out of two kayaks is a great way to explore open waters with added stability and capacity, and it can be done relatively easily and with minimal supplies.

However, its important to take the proper steps to ensure a safe and fun day on the water.

Before you begin, make sure you have all the necessary supplies.

This includes two kayaks, a few pieces of wood, rope or bungee cord, and basic tools.

Make sure you have enough of each material to complete the project.

Once you have all the supplies, its time to tie the kayaks together.

Make sure the rope or bungee cord is tied securely and tightly, as it will be responsible for keeping the kayaks together.

Its also important to make sure the kayaks are tied together in the correct way.

The best way to do this is to tie the sterns together and then tie the bows together.

Next, you will need to build a platform out of the wood.

Make sure the platform is the correct size and securely attached to the kayaks.

This will be the base for the catamaran.

Finally, to ensure the kayaks stay together, you should use additional rope or bungee cord to tie the kayaks together.

Once you have completed all these steps, youre ready to hit the open waters! Just remember to be safe and have fun.

And, if you ever have any doubts, seek out professional help to make sure your catamaran is constructed correctly.

Other Ways to Make a Catamaran Out of Two Kayaks

Making a catamaran out of two kayaks is a great way to explore open waters with added stability and capacity.

It can be done relatively easily and with minimal supplies, allowing you to save money and still have a great time.

In addition to the rope and wood mentioned above, there are a few other methods that can be used to make a catamaran out of two kayaks.

One option is to use a pair of inflatable air mattresses.

These mattresses can be used to create a platform between the two kayaks that will provide additional stability.

The mattresses should be connected with rope or bungee cord and then secured to the kayaks.

This is a great option for those who dont want to build a wooden platform or dont have the necessary tools.

Another option is to use two pieces of foam.

This method is similar to the inflatable mattress option, but instead of using air mattresses, two pieces of foam are used to form the platform.

The foam should be cut to shape and then connected to the kayaks with rope or bungee cord.

This is a great option if you dont have access to an air mattress, but it may not be as durable as a wooden platform.

Finally, another option is to use a piece of plywood.

This method is similar to the wooden platform option, but instead of using individual pieces of wood, a piece of plywood is used to form the platform.

The plywood should be cut to shape and then connected to the kayaks with rope or bungee cord.

This is a great option if you have the necessary tools and access to a sheet of plywood, but it may not be as strong as a wooden platform.

No matter which method you choose, making a catamaran out of two kayaks is a great way to explore open waters with added stability and capacity.

With the right supplies and tools, you can have a fun and safe day on the water.

Final Thoughts

With the right supplies and a bit of knowledge, you can easily construct your own catamaran.

So why not give it a try? You’ll be sure to have a great time out on the water with your new craft.

James Frami

At the age of 15, he and four other friends from his neighborhood constructed their first boat. He has been sailing for almost 30 years and has a wealth of knowledge that he wants to share with others.

About John P.

One Man's Blog

Specialization is for Insects.

CatamaYak: How to Build a Kayak Catamaran

August 14, 2013 By John P.

We happen to own four identical kayaks, we bought the Equinox 10.4 kayaks at Costco, and we started working on ways to hack them to make them even better! First, I hacked a motor onto my kayak , and then I thought I’d give it a shot and see if we could build a catamaran out of a couple of em.

The CatamaYak Concept

When we go out on the water there is usually a group of us. Some are faster than others, and some just enjoy a leisurely time on the lake. We wanted to be able to turn a couple of kayaks into a floating relaxation station and give it a motor so that a couple of people could simply sit back and relax while still being able to tag along.

The CatamaYak needed to have a few important characteristics:

be light and easy to assemble at the lake
be extremely waterproof and not get slippery
be durable enough to take a pounding from the waves
be rigid enough to deal with the forces encountered

Given the design considerations I took a few measurements and drew up a quick sketch of the components and how I imagined they would fit together.

If you are going to design your own there are a few important things to keep in mind.

The bow (nose) of the kayak is generally narrower than the stern (rear). So don’t just make the front and rear crossbeams the same length or it will look funny and not perform as well.
You could substitute wood 2x4s for PVC in my design, but its not going to last as long and its going to flex and expand as it takes on water. Its also going to be a LOT heavier.
If you intend to add a motor like I did you must make sure that the distance between the two kayaks in the center is sufficient for the motor to turn 360 degrees without the blades hitting the side of the watercraft.

The Kayak Catamaran Parts List

Everything I used for this experiment came from Lowe’s. I’m sure you could also find it at Home Depot or other home improvement stores.

3 – 10′ sections of 2″ PVC pipe
4 – 2″ PVC T sections
4 – 2″ PVC end caps
PVC cleaner and cement
1 – 18″ x 72″ wood board
4 – 2″ stainless steel U bolts with lock nuts and washers
4 – 5″ stainless steel eye bolts with lock nuts and washers
1 – 8′ 2×4 (or a couple of 8″ scraps)
2 – 8″ 5/8×16 bolts with lock nuts and washers
4 – Ratcheting straps

I also needed a rubber mallet, wrenches, a drill, a set of drill bits, and a table saw. You could do without the table saw by having the store cut the wood for you.

Building the Kayak Catamaran

The first thing I did was set the two kayaks beside one another and lay the crossbeam PVC pipes on top of it. This allowed me to take measurements and make sure my design was roughly accurate.

It turns out that the exact finished dimensions worked perfectly for my kayaks and particular brand of trolling motor (Minn Kota 30 pound unit). See the design sketch above if you have Equinox 10.4 kayaks and want to exactly duplicate this build.

I then cut all the PVC pipes and dry fit the pieces. I used my table saw to cut the PVC, but you could use a hacksaw and do it by hand, or you could use a reciprocating saw or basically anthing with a blade long enough to go through 2″ of PVC. Its a very soft material so its easy to cut – but keep your cut very straight as you go. The pieces won’t fit properly if the cuts are all crooked.

Catamaran Kayak parts cut and ready to attach (1)

Then it was time to attach the pieces. First, you must start with the rectangular center frame, and you have to be VERY careful when assembling this piece to make sure you get it extremely straight!

I carefully cleaned and cemented each fitting and lightly attached a T union to one end of the support frame. I then VERY QUICKLY laid it on the flat piece of wood to make sure the T’s were pointing straight. After a little adjusting I took a rubber mallet and pounded the T’s on as far as they would go.

Catamaran Kayak end pieces assembled first (1)

You’ll know when the pieces are fully inserted because there is a little ridge in each connector or end cap that won’t let the pipe go any farther. So you don’t need to worry that you put it in too far. In fact, if you follow my design its extremely important that all PVC is assembled as tightly as possible for proper fit and structural integrity.

If done right you can look inside the T fitting and see there are no gaps and some of the cement is pretty much sealing all the way around the tube where they meet.

Inside the PVC fitting for the Catamaran Kayak (1)

First glue up both end pieces, then attach the two long PVC supports to one end, and follow up by attaching the other end piece – which will require you to glue up two pipes at the same time. Work quickly as the PVC cement drys fast! And remember – HAMMER EVERYTHING TOGETHER WITH A RUBBER MALLET!

After that you’re in the home stretch. Time to glue on the cross beam pieces. These are the most critical joints so make sure they are very clean and you have plenty of cement. You don’t want these to break on the water! Also, notice again that in my design the front and rear are different lengths. Here is a photo showing just one side glued up.

Front and Rear different lengths on Catamaran Kayak (1)

Once you’ve finished connecting all the PVC joints and adding end caps, you can lay the frame back down on your kayaks and begin attaching the connecting hardware. First up, the wooden platform needs to be connected on top. This serves two purposes. First, it provides a lot of torsional rigidity. And secondly, it gives you a spot where you can put stuff!

I used 4 long eye bolts pointing upwards to connect the wood to my PVC frame by drilling down through the wood and directly through the center of each of the 4 T-connectors in the corners. By using the eye bolts it gives connection points in each of the 4 corners that can be used for lashing things to the top, or could even be used for lifting / hanging the platform.

You’re going to attach 4 eye bolts pointing downward from the end of each crossbeam. These are going to be used for connecting the ratcheting strap to hold the kayaks in place.

The other end of the strap mounting is a U bolt mounted directly on the platform. Make sure and leave enough room that the ratchet can be entirely on top when its mounted securely. This does a couple of things, but most importantly it allows you to ratchet it up a little while on the water if it loosens up, which it will do a bit when it gets wet. I’ve already proven out this point on the Lake, so don’t skip it.

You’re about done at this point! Now if you intend to mount a motor on it you need to add a wood block that will fit it. I accomplished this by cutting two 2×4″s down to 8″ wide. These were attached with several stainless steel screws and an L bracket (found near the fencing stuff in the lumber department) for some added rigidity. I wanted to make sure there was NO flex with the motor so all of the power translated to forward momentum instead of any wiggle in the mount.

At this point you should be done and ready to simply slip a ratcheting strap under each mounting point, front and rear, on both Kayaks and secure them tightly.

We took the double Kayak Catamaran out on the lake for the day and it performed FAR better than I ever expected! The little 30 pound Minn Kota trolling motor was able to EASILY push the watercraft! By the way, you need to really watch the video I did about the single Kayak motor mount in order to see how to wire it up and which battery to use, etc. But even with the little trolling motor battery I used we were out on the lake messing around with the motor in use for over an hour and only used 20% of the battery life.

Cali and John lounging on the Catamaran Kayak (1)

Not only was this rig able to easily push and steer the CatamaYak, but we were able to even TOW both of the other Kayaks without any issue! Amazing.

Catamaran Kayak towing two kayaks rear (1)

A couple of last little things. You’ll see in all of the photos that the wood panel in the middle is exposed untreated wood. That’s because we bought some special textured extremely waterproof paint to cover it with, but I didn’t do it before the first trip out to the lake. We’ll be painting it for long term durability soon.

Olympic Rescue It Paint for Kayak Catamaran (1)

Finally, if you do this, you’re technically changing your kayak into a home built motor boat. And in Texas, and probably most states, you’re going to have to register it as a watercraft. It costs like $30 in Texas to do it, but be warned that if the lake police come by you could be ticketed for taking this on the water without registration. So make sure you’re covered so you don’t worry about it.

Oh, and be prepared for a LOT of attention on the water! Because no one has ever seen anything like this before so they’ll all want to be checking it out!

So, that’s it! I hope you guys enjoy the hack / build. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and I’ll help as best I can. This is a project that you can build in just a couple of hours if you have the right tools, and the entire cost was around $100 including PVC, wood, bolts, paint, etc. So that’s a pretty good value!

John P. is a former CEO, former TV Show Host, and the Founder and Wizard behind Texas Metal Works . You can find him on Twitter , Facebook and LinkedIn . Feel free to send shoutouts, insults, and praise. Or Money. Money is good.

May 11, 2016 at 9:30 pm

This is awesome! I am with Robert on the straps..confused about the role of the U bolts. I thought the ratchet strap hooked back to the platform eye bolt. Please clarify. By the way John, why did you take yours apart?

May 12, 2016 at 10:32 am

I used the u-bolts on the platform so that the base of the ratchets could lay flat against the wood once everything was tightened up. This way when you’re on the water you can use one hand to ratchet it tighter if need be.

You may be able to use the same I look somewhere and put both ends of the ratchet on it. You just want to make sure that you have enough room for the straps to Route Around everything and still be accessible when you’re on the water. It could be fairly disastrous to have anything separate with your stuff on that Central platform. It would pretty much just think…

I disassembled mine because I wasn’t going to register it as a watercraft, and it takes up too much room in the garage for something I’m not using constantly. If we had a lake house I would have definitely left it hooked up. It was great! :-)

December 14, 2015 at 5:37 pm

This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Great instructions. One thing that isn’t clear to me is how the ratchet straps attach to the u-bolts. Could yo show a top view picture to make it easy to see? Thanks.

January 5, 2016 at 10:59 pm

Sorry Robert, I took it apart a while back so I can’t take a photo any more. But since the ratcheting straps have hooks on them, as long as you get them hooked into the eye bolt and just tighten them up, they’ll stay! :-)

April 10, 2015 at 10:53 am

Great modification! I have 2 identical Perception Sport Pescador 120 kayaks and this has definitely inspired me to build a similar setup. I also own a Hobie Adventure island and love the extra space gained from the trapoline sides between the kayak and the amas (just like your wooden platform has done). You could also add additional cargo space to the void formed between the wooden platform and the front of the two kayaks from a lightweight water repellent material. Great work, thanks for sharing!

July 14, 2014 at 9:27 am

I wanted to say thank you for posting this project. My son is handicapped and i had wanted to take him our on my kayaks and could not imagine how to make it safe for him to enjoy. This is perfect. We even got a thumbs up from the Vessel Assist Boat Crew on our Maiden Voyage. The stability is amazing even in Lake Washington with the chop and larger motorized vessels. Your measurements were spot on for our boats. High Five! Would love to share a pic. This has opened up a whole new world to a boy and his dog. Thank you!

July 23, 2014 at 11:30 pm

Yeah! I’m so happy to hear that this was helpful! :-)

August 15, 2013 at 8:33 am

That definitely seems easier than I thought.

August 14, 2013 at 2:40 pm

I was going to say if John built it a Catastrophe but it looks pretty good. Cali has large feet or John has small ones. :)

August 14, 2013 at 1:10 pm

Manu Kai: Hawaiian double canoe

08 March 2005 Editor 1 Comments.

GALLERY | Click images to enlarge

Manu Kai [Bird of the Sea] is a voyaging double canoe: a sailing catamaran for raids, beach cruising, and coastal sailing. It’s designed to be simple, tough, swift, safe, environmentally friendly, and economical to own and to manufacture. It is the sort of small cruiser that I wish were on the market—that Hobie Cat® would make.

LOA: 23’ Beam (sailing): 12’-0” Beam (trailer): 8’-6” Weight (approx): 750 lbs. Draft: 1’-11” SA: 205 sq. ft.

Inspired by the ocean voyaging canoes of ancient Hawaii, the identical hulls feature tall "wavecutter" bows and traditional canoe sterns for surfing large ocean swells. The boardless hulls take the stress out of beaching or accidental groundings, and the protected spade rudders will provide reliable steering control, smooth action and sensitive feel. The sharp keels provide a smooth and easy ride and good tracking, while the cutaway aft still permits tacking with a degree of alacrity.

The hulls have a slender waterline beam of 20” for low wave-making resistance, yet flare above the waterline to 32” for a bit more elbow room inside.

The simple yet efficient sliding gunter rig of 205 sq. ft. combined with the overall sailing beam of 12’ will provide plenty of power, and its low center of effort will be appreciated in a sudden squall. The short 18’ mast length greatly reduces the sweat required to step it, as well as suffering less windage and overturning moment of the more standard marconi rig when reefed.

Accommodations are spartan below, but the large deck area permits the pitching of a deck tent to convert the canoe from a fast sailboat to a stable camping dock. Cooking, eating, and lounging are done on deck, and a large double berth also fits under the tent. The hulls feature two single berths, plenty of stowage space (could we fit a bicycle?), and a private marine head.

Designed for simplicity in sailing, trailering, as well as manufacturing, the canoe employs sliding aluminum tube cross-beams to compact its sailing beam of 12’ to a trailer capable beam of 8’-6". Hull and deck are identical for both hulls, the central auxiliary engine pod give a total of 6 major molded parts from 4 molds for composite (wood core/cloth/epoxy) manufacturing. Though originally conceived for open-mold fiberglass production, this boat would make a very cool cedar stripper. The light weight of approx. 750 lbs. will allow the double canoe to be easily trailed behind even small cars, and encourages the boat to be dry moored, and stored at home during the off season.

Manu Kai is named in honor of the first modern Hawaiian beach sailing catamaran, the original 38’ Manu Kai designed and built by Woody Brown and Alfred Kumalae in 1947.

Please Note: The drawing above is a cartoon, a sketch, a doodle. No plans exist.

New Designs Catamarans

Make a Comment

Hello, just came around this page and found this Fantastic double canoe design. is there still no plans available? if yes, please let me know. thanks a lot. Mario from Brazil

E-Books by Russell Brown

Russell Brown's boat building series will soon become your favorite shop tool

Do you have news for us?

If what you're doing is like the things you read about here - please write and tell us what you're up to. We're easy to reach right here .

A Complete Catamaran Guide

Post Written By: Boater Jer
Published: January 26, 2020
Updated: November 27, 2020

Disclaimer: You might notice that we recommend products in some articles. We may earn a commission for referring you if you click the link and buy a product.

We only recommend products we’ve tried/tested/own (that’s why you won’t find thousands of affiliate links on my site). If you have experience with one of the products we’ve mentioned, please share your experiences in the comments at the end.

There you are, out on the water when a strange craft approaches. Is it a sailboat? It sure looks like one until it turns to face you. That’s when you notice this boat doesn’t have just one hull. It has two hulls and it’s called a catamaran.

Catamarans are unique, and highly stable watercraft. We’ll explore all the ins and outs of sailing the waters in one of these weird, and awesome multi-hulled craft. Join me as we explore the wild world of sailing catamarans.

A small sailing catamaran sits on a beach.

A History Of The Catamaran

It is believed that the first people to use a catamaran design were those living in Australasia.

A map showing the region where the catamaran originated.

The succession of boat design in this region was actually very interesting. The beginning of boats in the area was simple, albeit conventional rafts. These were fashioned from logs strewn together with plant fiber lashings such as those formed using bamboo fiber.

Catamaran Evolution

An info graphic showing the progression of the evolution of the catamaran.

The conventional raft gave way to a minimal raft. This design was basically a conventional raft with two cross beams added in the form of logs. These would be eventually hollowed out to improve buoyancy.

The next step in the evolution of boats in the Australasian region was the double canoe. This proved to be the first real catamarans.

After some time, the form evolved further into the asymmetrical double canoe design. In this design, one canoe was large and the other attached canoe was smaller.

The asymmetrical design quickly evolved into the single-outrigger boat like the one shown in the photo below.

A monohull canoe with an attached exterior outrigger is shown in this file photo.

The final stage of the evolution of the catamaran in the region was to gain a second outrigger. This in effect created the trimaran with the single central hull and dual outriggers.

Eye Witness Accounts Of Catamarans

In 1697, William Dampier wrote of witnessing a type of seafaring vessel off the coast of Coromandel. He noted how the locals called the type of boat a catamaran. He also noted that it had multiple hulls (logs) and that they were small vessels that the person operating would have to hang partway into the water, straddling the hull (log).

The name catamaran came from the Tamil. And yet, it was easily applied by the European visitors to the two hulled sailing vessels that sped across the water in the region.

Although Dampier may have described the catamaran in the 1690s, the type of boat was actually used as early as the 5th century by the Tamil Chola dynasty. They used boats to move their troops from one island to another. Using this design of boat allowed them to travel heavy, travel quickly and was partially responsible for the conquering of neighboring Burma, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Building A Boat – Basics Of Catamaran Construction

A boat is usually thought of as being a single-hulled vessel that travels along the surface of the water. It can have multiple types, shapes, and designs of the hull. However, it is often only thought of as having a single hull. But, what if it had two hulls? Would that be like taking two separate boats, and making a raft over both of them? In essence, that is exactly what a catamaran is: two boats made into one.

Advantages Of Multiple Hulls

More stability than a monohull
Wide supporting base allows for larger sails than monohull craft of the same length
Hull does not require the deep-running keel of a standard monohull sailboat
Less hull drag in the water than a monohull
Less power required to drive a catamaran forward than a monohull boat

Disadvantages Of Multiple Hulls

Due to multiple hulls, construction is more expensive than a monohull design
Catamaran speed relies on lightweight materials to make a lightweight craft. This also drives up the cost of construction.
Extra engineering requirements for multi-hull craft also increase the cost of construction.

Conclusion? Well, it looks to me like everything about catamarans points towards superiority over monohulls in nearly every way. But, you get what you pay for. I think the same thing likely applies to cars too. For instance, I have a performance car that cost me about 10k more than the equivalent non-sports car within the same class.

Yet to drive the vehicle, it performs so much better than the normal version of the car, it really speaks volumes to the difference between a common vehicle, and a performance one.

Speaking of performance vehicles, let’s take a look now at the different kinds and uses of a catamaran.

Catamaran Types

Commercial catamarans – ferries.

Catamarans are often used as a ferry to transport people and vehicles across bodies of water as shown in this photo.

One of the most common uses for a catamaran is the commercial use of the vehicle design when it comes to ferries. This is likely due to the wide, flat deck possibilities of a catamaran versus a monohulled boat. Not only that, but the catamaran is also a much more stable bodied vessel. This again makes it a superior design for transporting larger land vessels like trucks and so forth. They can easily drive on the ferry without fear of the ferry tipping over.

Some ferries are designed for taking vehicles, like the one you might find in the city of Toronto. Where it transports cars from the mainland to Toronto Island. Others are designed specifically with the sole purpose of transporting people. I took a look at one such ferry that operates in Germany. Take a look at the following case study.

Commercial Use Case Study – The Ferry

The FRS Helgoline is a ferry catamaran operating out of Flensburg, Germany, close to the Danish border.

A map showing Northern Germany, Denmark and Poland.

According to the ferry company’s website, the ferry runs using four main engines which are run to a capacity of 12,182 hp combined. This blasts this ferry at a speed of 35 knots or 65 km/hour. This is equivalent to 40 miles per hour. That’s pretty good considering the size and weight of the ship body this catamaran can carry.

Speaking of capacity, the ship can carry 680 passengers. At 56.4 meters long (185 feet) by 14 meters wide (45.9 feet), that’s a decent passenger capacity.

Catamaran Passenger Capacity Versus Monohull Boat Passenger Capacity

The general rule for calculating passenger capacity for a boat is as follows.

Length x Width / 15 = Passenger Capacity

Therefore, the FRS Helgoline should have a calculated capacity calculated as follows.

185 x 45.9 / 15 = 566

But it actually has a capacity of 680 which is a 20% increase in capacity over a standard monohull.

For comparison, let’s look at a superyacht. A 48.5m (159 feet) long by 10.7m (35 feet) beam (width of the boat) Palmer Johnson Supersport 48 (valued at about $28.5 million dollars) should have a capacity calculated as follows.

159 x 35 / 15 = 371

In short, 26 feet of difference in length equates to 309 fewer passengers. It is almost half of the capacity of the catamaran at 26 feet longer length.

A super yacht sits like a golden blade floating in the water.

Photo courtesy of https://sysyachtsales.com/

Commercial Catamarans – Service Vehicles

In port in Australia, a service catamaran sits docked in this photo.

Although Catamarans are typically used as ferries due to their stability and ability to carry wide loads on their flat decks, there are many different service catamarans out there as well. From a support vessel to a crew transfer or search and rescue, catamarans are a solid and stable platform to build a ship on.

This is the Ardea which is a 20 meter (65.6 feet) catamaran to be used for crew transport and as a support ship. This ship was built by the Echo Marine Group and delivered to Western Australia in early 2019. This particular vessel is in the service of the Cape Preston Sino Iron Project.

Catamarans are used all around the world, for a variety of tasks, not just ferries or support craft.

Commercial Catamarans – Cruise Lines

A large red and white catamaran cruise ship sits idle in the waters in front of a bustling metropolis in this photo.

Now these are the catamarans we all want to be aboard, aren’t they? Due to the wide stance, these ships can feature massive halls and wide-open interior areas. These ships are stable, and some would say even more stable and safer than monohull design ships.

There are many cruise ship catamarans in use today around the world. Some of the more ‘famous’ catamaran cruises are those which investigate the Galapagos Islands. There are several high-end, small fleet, cruise lines operating to the Galapagos which utilize catamaran design vessels as their primary ship type.

These ships can be extremely comfortable and stable and often offer some reprieve to those who may otherwise feel seasick. It won’t stop the feeling, but the more stable the hull, the less the boat rocks around.

Military Catamarans

The USNS Spearhead races forward along the water in this file photo.

Catamarans make excellent military transport vessels. They are stable and the potential to have a large, flat and wide deck for transporting land craft, troops or acting as a landing pad for vertical take-off aerial craft. The stability of the two hulls makes the vessel an excellent candidate for military use, and thus it is used for said purpose.

A photo of the rear of the USNS Spearhead - a military catamaran.

As you can clearly see in the image of the USNS Spearhead, the rear of the vessel has a moveable ramp that can be used for loading and unloading land vehicles. The interior bay of the craft is visible in the image as well, a large area for storage of vehicles, supplies and more. The crane arm on the back of the ship also shows how it is a versatile craft, set up to act as an excellent support craft with a helicopter landing pad and ample storage and freight capacity.

Recreational Catamarans

Siting on a beach, a small catamaran sail is set against the wind swept clouds and blue sky.

Catamaran Personal WatercraftThe wind is in your hair, the warm spray from the hull cutting over the edge of each wave as you skip over the water. That is life, let me tell you. Personal watercraft have come a long way over the years and the small one, two, three and four-person catamarans have come a long way as well.

Depending on the options, you can get a small one or two-person catamaran for as little as $1500 new. That might be an inflatable though. There are some very nice, rigid hull designed catamarans for 1-4 people that range from $3500 to $15000. And these are basically open, personal watercraft like that shown in the image below.

Using a small catamaran can be quite challenging to learn at first. Sailing is not for the faint of heart. It requires skill, technique, knowledge of the wind and sea, and a bit of hard work. But it can be fun, rewarding and a great way to catch some sun and fresh air out on the water. It’s a relatively GREEN sport as well. Given the use of sails over gas-powered motors that is.

‘Sailing Cats’ – Sailing Catamarans – Yacht & Luxury Class

This photo shows a luxury sailing catamaran yacht.

Here’s where we get into the dreamy boats of the rich and famous. I priced out a small 43’ luxury Leopard 40 sailing catamaran. Even before I added any extras at all, the base price was $399,000 USD. I imagine if I added a few of the multiple extras available, and some tax, freight and that sort of thing, I’m easily in half a million dollars. And that’s the smallest base model.

There are all kinds of luxury catamaran shipbuilders across the world. From Asia to Europe and The Americas, it seems any major boating country has at least one company building luxury catamarans. It’s weird that you don’t see more of them on the water though, don’t you think?

Being sailing vessels, these luxury cats require some training in sailing before you get behind the wheel. And considering the price point, I would definitely want to be at least a semi-decent sailor with some good few years experience under my belt before I would comfortable at the helm of a half-million-dollar sailing cat. It’s all relative I suppose. I imagine a billionaire might bat an eye at the prospect of wrecking a half-million-dollar boat. But to me, and most of you reading this, that’s likely a lot of money.

‘Power Cats’ – Powered Catamarans

A powered catamaran is shown in this file photo.

The powered catamaran is one of my favorite boats. They have sort of a muscle car appearance with the wide and often tall front end of the boats. I find it to be reminiscent of a large air intake on the front hood of a rally race car like the Subaru WRX, for instance. These boats are fast, they are stable and handle very well. Catamarans are often considered the boat of choice for long sea voyages due to their stability.

A powered catamaran will definitely cost more than a powered monohull boat of the same length. Why? Well, the powered catamaran has one crucial downside. That is, it needs two engines. One for each of the two hulls. Otherwise, it’s off balance for propulsion. These two engines or motors have to be in sync with each other or again, the propulsion will be off-balance. Because they have two motors, they have double the maintenance when it comes to maintaining the propulsion system.

More components also means a greater chance of things breaking down. In essence, it doubles the chances of the ship having a motor break down. The saving grace is that should one motor break, they have a backup, even if it does mean very unbalanced propulsion. In contrast, a monohull vessel of the same length may only have half the chance of motor failure due to only having one motor, but if that one motor breaks, then what? Call for help, that’s what. A cat would have a struggling chance to get itself back to port. A monohull would be dead in the water unless it was carrying spare parts or another motor onboard somewhere.

Catamaran Frequently Asked Questions

What is a catamaran cruise.

A catamaran cruise is simply a cruise on a dual hull design boat. Often used for river cruises, the catamaran which is used as cruise ships are often considerably smaller than their giant monohulled counterparts.

What is the purpose of a catamaran?

A catamaran is a design for a boat that utilizes two hulls. Due to the flat, platform-like-potential for the deck of the boat, the catamaran is often purposed with transporting materials, vehicles, and people. For instance, catamarans are quite often used as ferries.

Is catamaran safe?

Catamaran are very safe water craft. The design of riding on two hulls separated by a gap in between, in essence is like giving a car a double-wide wheel base. The wider the stance, the more stable the craft, from side to side anyway. And if the length of the boat is proportional to the width, then it becomes an extremely stable craft. That is why catamarans are often considered the best to be used for long voyages. Yes, catamaran are safe.

What is the difference between a catamaran and a sailboat?

A traditional sailboat is a deep, monohull vessel that has at least one mast extending high into the air above the deck to hold sails. A catamaran refers to the design of a dual-hull boat and really has nothing to do with sails. Although, catamaran do make excellent sailing boats as well, they are quite capable of acting as power boats and do not require sails if they have the correct amount of powered motors to propel them. Sailboats, although also able to be powered if a motor is provided, are traditionally monohull and wind-powered exclusively.

Do catamarans have small interiors?

The size of an interior cabin on a boat is typically proportional to the size of the boat itself. If a catamaran has above-deck cabins, they will likely be able to be of a larger design than those you would find on deck of a monohull boat. This is because a catamaran has a much wider footprint than a monohull boat of the same length. This extra width would allow for larger on deck cabins.

How much does a catamaran cost?

A personal watercraft (1-2 person) inflatable catamaran will run you anywhere from $1500-$12000 USD, depending on the quality and features. The rigid hull catamarans of the same size start at about $4500 USD.

A small cabin cruiser type of catamaran will typically start at about $60000 for a small base model and the price just goes up and up depending on size and features.

For Instance, a 40’, 3 cabin with 1 washroom cat will cost you about $500,000 USD for the base model. They are considerably more expensive that a monohull of the same length. However, the trade-off is greater stability and a smoother, more comfortable ride.

Is a catamaran more work to maintain?

Technically yes. Due to having two hulls and if powered, two motors and likely also water jets, this means you have double the oil changes of a boat that would have a single motor. Once you get past the basic engine and hull maintenance, a catamaran is not that much more work than a monohull ship of the same length.

The trouble with catamarans in terms of maintenance, is that once they reach a certain length, the width becomes more than a standard lane on the road. That being said, if you ever need to transport the boat via land, it can be quite the challenge. Especially if you need to pay to have a police escort for an extra-wide trailer. And special licensing might be involved as well.

What is the difference between a catamaran and a trimaran?

A catamaran is a dual hull boat. In other words, it has two hulls. A trimaran has three hulls.

Is a catamaran considered a yacht?

According to Oxford dictionary, a yacht is a medium-sized sailboat equipped for cruising or racing. A catamaran, on the other hand, is a boat with two hulls. Therefore, a catamaran can most certainly also be a yacht. And likewise, if a yacht has two hulls, then it is a catamaran as well.

Can you get seasick on a catamaran?

Seasickness occurs when a person feels nauseous from the swaying motion of a rocking ship. These feelings may be lessened on a catamaran, due to their extra stability. However, a catamaran may be slightly more stable than a monohull of the same length, but it is still a boat. And it will still make someone who experiences seasickness continue to feel the ill effects.

Are catamarans more stable in rough seas?

Catamarans are known to be more stable than monohull ships of the same length. This is why catamarans are often the ship type of choice for long sea voyages due to their stability.

Why do catamarans capsize?

Catamarans are not known for capsizing. The larger vessels that is anyway. But, it does happen from time to time. Catamarans are known for their stability, so typically if a capsize event should occur, it is typical for them to be extreme circumstances.

Personal watercraft catamarans are a different story though. These are in fact known for tipping over. Not because they are less stable than their monohull counterparts of the same length. But instead, because they are able to go considerably faster than monohull personal watercraft of the same length (not including powered craft though). This is due to the sailing cats being able to have a larger sail than a small monohull sailboat of the same length.

Due to the extra sail, they are able to travel faster than monohull sailboats of the same length. This allows them to whip around on the water and at higher speeds, whipping your cat about quick can easily send it over sideways. Extra speed means fast turns carry momentum in the direction of travel and that extra speed equates to tipping over if turned too fast. To sum up, they capsize due to user error or extreme events.

Which is safer, a catamaran or a monohull?

Due to the extra stability of having a wider footprint than a monohull, a catamaran of the same length is the safer vessel.

Are catamarans safer than sailboats?

The same rule applies to stability versus the length of the hull. A cat will always be the more stable length for length. However, due to their ability to go much faster than a monohull sailboat, this kind of cancels out some of the added safety due to stability. With that in mind, they may just be about the same but there is one generalization we can make when comparing the safety of catamarans vs sailboats: At the same speed, and of equal length, sailing or power catamaran will be safer than a monohull sailboat.

How fast can catamarans go?

The speed a catamaran can go is entirely dependent upon the hull design, weight of the vessel, the strength of propulsion (be it wind or powered) and so on. The general rule is that in terms of sailing cats vs monohull sailboats, a cat of equal length can typically go faster than a sailboat.

In terms of powered cats vs powerboats, a powered catamaran will typically require less energy to move forward than a monohull of the same sort of hull design (but monohull of course) and thus a cat should, in theory, be able to go faster than a monohull when both are using propulsion that is equal in power.

Bibliography

Wikipedia – Catamarans
Mahdi, Waruno (1999). “The Dispersal of Austronesian boat forms in the Indian Ocean”. In Blench, Roger; Spriggs, Matthew (eds.). Archaeology and Language III: Artefacts languages, and texts . One World Archaeology. 34 . Routledge. pp. 144–179. ISBN 0415100542 .
Wikipedia – Spearhead -class expeditionary fast transport
https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/169516/Origin-of-the-catamaran/#vars!panel=1620923!
https://www.austal.com/ships/passenger-express-56
https://www.adventure-life.com/galapagos/galapagos-catamaran-cruises

Boating Gear

Take a look at our Recommended page for a variety of items. Here are some of the things you can expect:

GPS And Fish Trackers
Hitch And Trailer Supplies
Lifejackets And Specialty Clothing
Boating Books And More!

4 Common Types Of Propulsion For Boats

Return To Home * About Boating Guide * About The Author

fakewatches.is

Share this post with your friends.

Tags: boat type , catamaran , catamaran basics , catamaran essentials , sailing

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Join us in our love for all things water. And Adventure.

Comparison Between Trawler Vs Catamaran Boats

Looking for answers about trawler vs catamaran boats? You’re in the right place. Trawlers and catamarans are ideal sailing vessels for various use in terms of commercial transport, fisheries, sea patrols, research, and more. The distinct feature between the two boats is the hull composition. Trawlers consist of a single hull or monohull, while catamarans

The Amazing Rise Of Catamaran Sailboats (3 Points You Didn’t Expect)

Let’s talk catamaran sailboats. Many people ask me about them, and I’ve even had some ask what a catamaran is. So I wrote this article to dispel some of the myths and get all of us on the same page regarding what is one of my favorite boat designs, the catamaran sailboat. Rather than having

Boats seem simple, they float and move you’re across the water, right? Well, it can be just a little more complicated than just that. Let’s take a look at those 4 common types Of propulsion for boats. I’ll review the Pros and Cons for each type to give you a good idea about each.

Do Kayaks Tip Easily?

Do kayaks tip easily? I wondered this myself when I first started kayaking years ago. Learning to kayak is like learning to ride a bicycle. It would be best to learn how to balance a position that may not be part of everyday life. It is a learned sense of balance that only comes with

A painting of rough seas is shown in this file photo.

Are Catamarans Safe In Rough Seas?

Catamarans are known to be reliable and fun to operate. From the personal watercraft sized cats to the massive superyacht class of catamaran, all are great ships of the seas. But are catamarans safe in rough seas?

Gladius Mini Underwater Drone by Chasing

Chasing Gladius Mini Underwater Drone Review

Drones have opened up a new dimension to photography and videography. Whether you are a hobby enthusiast or a professional, drones might seem to be the right sidekick to your adventures to get worthwhile shots. And the Gladius Mini Underwater Drone by Chasing is no exception. With underwater drones coming ashore in the commercial market, the

Boat Information By Type

Privacy Overview

Canoe Sailing
Kayak Sailing
Dinghy Sailing
Snark Car-Topping Sailboats
Canoe Stabilizers (Outriggers)
Rowboat & Porta-Bote Sailing
Parts and Accessories
Boats (without sail rigs)
Motor Mounts
Portage Carts
Small Outboards
Specialty Boats
Shopping Guide
Testimonials

Kayakamaran

One sail rig for two kayaks makes a catamaran!

See Item 6008 for the basic kit. For Deluxe and Super Deluxe packages see item 6010 and item 6011 .

Customer Feedback

"Hello,I just want to tell you that I had a great weekend of sailing my kayakamaran!" Ellen (June 2014)

"Hi Jim & Betty,

We took our new Kayakamaran out for a nice sail at a local lake which was totally not suitable for sail boats! But the large Lateen sail still had us trolling right along at over a knot!! And the few spots where the wind got down to us we really took off!! :)

Thanks again, Smitty!! " (August 2022)

"Subject: Fun, Fun, Fun!

My wife and I are enjoying sailing with the kayakamaran sail kit. It is a lot of fun. - Dave L." (June 2010)

See the Many Configurations You Can Create With The Kayakamaran Sail Kit

Two different hard-shell kayaks.

Two identical hardshell kayaks.

Two different inflatable kayaks.

See Kayakamarans in action with these video links:

Click Here for another video clip of the above kayakamaran in action..

And Here for a whole folder of video clips you can watch.

More Photos

Why is this better than the sail rig on one kayak? (a) More room. (b) More stable, which also means it's faster because the mast stays more upright, presenting more sail area to the wind. Consider getting the Super Deluxe Package that makes a Kayakamaran or a sail kit for just one kayak -- use it as a kayakamaran in the morning and a single-kayak sail kit in the afternoon, for example.

Questions? Email: [email protected]

Log in or Sign up

You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser .

Canoe Catamaran

Discussion in ' Boat Design ' started by kmeastman , Dec 11, 2007 .

kmeastman Junior Member

I am a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For my senior design semester project I would like to design a catamaran that is sail powered and uses two canoes as its two hulls. I have never designed a boat so I was hoping that more experienced people could help me out. The purpose of using canoes is mostly because the cargo/people capacity would be much greater than with most catamarans. I realize that this would make the boat slower than the average catamaran but I am ok with that. I was thinking along the lines of using 17' aluminum canoes, which usually come with two seats (each canoe), but a third would likely be added. It would likely be built to the maximum trailerable width of 8'6". I was thinking of having only one mainsail and probably adding a captain's seat between the two canoes toward the rear. I have done some preliminary research and here are the problems I forsee: 1. Since I am going to buy the canoes instead of building them, I can't get very good estimates of factors like wetted area and lateral plane area. I think I could figure them out if I had a canoe to take measurements on and then model it in a 3D CAD program. The problem is that I don't want to buy one and then find out that I need a larger or smaller one to make this work. 2. The major difference between a canoe hull and a catamaran hull is its width at the water level. Since the canoe is much flatter, it will have a large wetted area compared to its lateral plane area. I'm not sure how big of a problem this could be. I could increase the lateral plane area with the use of a center board but I would definitely have more overall wetted area and drag than an average catamaran. Again, I am not overly concerned about the speed I can get out of it, but it will hardly be worth putting a sail on it if its going to be too slow. 3. Catamarans that I have seen have similar L/B ratios to what I am talking about here. However, because a canoe is much wider than a catamaran hull, the center to center distance between the canoes would be much smaller than the center to center distance on a catamaran given the same L/B ratio. Is this a problem? 4. I was thinking that the boom of the sail would be mounted high enough that it would clear the head of the person in the middle seat (much lower than the other two seats) and the boom would not be long enough to reach the person in the back seat. In order for it not to hit the person in the front seat the rotation of the sail would have to be limited. Since the pivot of the sail and the front seat will likely be at about the longitudinal placement, this is about 180 degrees of rotation. From sailing books I have read, you should never need your sail to be rotated more than this but is there any reason why limiting its travel would be a problem? Any help is appriciated. If you have any advice on these problems or can think of any other possible problems I would love to hear what you think. Thanks Kevin

masalai masalai

Research on polynesian ocean voyaging and Melanesian ocean voyaging and some of the catamaran threads.

Pericles Senior Member

I concur. http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ http://www.pbs.org/wayfinders/polynesian2.html http://www.janeresture.com/voyaging/main.htm http://www.moolelo.com/hokulea.html http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/18/news/story04.html Masalai, Two minds with but a single thought. Pericles

Seasons greetings to you Pericles (God of ? remind me. I was endeavouring to maintain a "grumpy old *******" attitude and make him look for himself. Good exercise for the young wipper-snapper. eh eh eh

Village_Idiot Senior Member

A coupla things I would consider: 1) Canoes generally aren't used for catamaran hulls because they can take on waves/water and list/sink/capsize. If you're going to sail this thing in anything with over foot-high waves, you need to make the hulls shed water. Maybe try the FRP solid (sit-on-top) kayaks that have no interior. However, you will lose your room/capacity that you are trying to gain with the open hulls. 2) You can get around the 8.5' beam limitation by making the hulls movable under their scaffolding - once the boat is launched, move the hulls outboard to gain your stability. Depending on how wide you want the scaffold (deck), you can even go narrower than 8.5' to make trailering easier. 3) For truly innovative engineering design, use flat-transom canoes (that you can put an outboard on if you wanted), then design a configuration where you can swing one of the 17-foot canoes around backward so you can join the two canoes at the transoms and make a nice 34-foot canoe (remember, longer displacement hulls are faster and more efficient). This would give you a l/b ratio of around 11:1-12:1. You can add an outrigger for stability. Properly designed, you can turn the sailing cat into a fast outrigger canoe for when the wind isn't blowing. Maybe you could even design the mast, and/or the deck, to do double-duty as an outrigger. Or maybe just have an efficient fast-sailing canoe with a proper outrigger and sail combination...

Thanks for your suggestions, I have seen the polynesian sailing canoes that you are talking about, which is what convinced me that my idea would work. I have checked out some of the other threads on catamarans and have gotten some valuable info from them. I'll check out the specific websites that you reccomended. As for the canoes taking on water, I do not intend this to go on real rough water. It will probably always be used on inland lakes and probably not on water rougher than you would normally take a single manually powered canoe on. If the water became an issue, do you think you could put some kind of water deflector on the top edge of the canoe that would make splashing waves bounce away from the hull? As for the trailering, I have already thought about making the boat wider by sliding the hulls out after it gets trailered. I would like to avoid this but I haven't done enough calculations yet to make sure it would be stable without any extra width. I really like your idea idea about the 2 flat transom canoes. I had anticipated using the double ended ones but one of the whole purposes of this project is to have a very versatile boat. One of the design requirements is that it needs to be dissassembled to portage between two lakes. This way the canoes could still be used individually too. I like this idea of having an extra long canoe as another option. It could be used maunually powered or if I decided to add an outrigger could be sail powered. Also, I didn't really want it to have an outboard motor on it, but if I had the flat transom style canoe I would have that option in the future.

rwatson Senior Member

James Wharram designs sailing catamarans that are canoes - with a kyak like covered in seat in each hull

Petros Senior Member

Sounds like a fun project. How about one really large cargo carrying canoe (better l/w ratio), with a kayak outrigger (or even two kayaks to make a trimaran). The kayaks can be attached to the outrigger booms with quick and simple bungee cord mounts. That way you do not have to unpack the canoe to take one of the kayaks out to scout ahead or find a campsite, etc. You would have more flexibility as to the use of the hulls together or apart too. Under sail the passengers and cargo are all together, where your single rudder is located on the center hull. The sea kayak outriggers could also store cargo was well, or an extra passenger. It would also be easy and light to attach the outriggers after trailering so you can go much wider which is much better. You can carry more sail this way too. There is less drag with a larger distance between the hulls, so not only can you carry more sail, but lower drag too due to interference effect from closely spaced hulls. the rotation molded sea kayaks (called "Tupperware" kayaks) are cheap, get them used from craigslist. Or better yet, build skin-on-frame kayaks, quick, light and inexpensive. I've built seven, they have cost me $30 to $50 each to build (using salvaged lumber), even buying all the materials new would still only cost about $100 or so each. Mine weight only about 20 lbs complete (attaching something this light after trailering would be an easy task). The canoe can be built skin-on-frame as well, a lot less expensive and lighter than aluminum. BTW it is common to use fabric splash covers on river canoes to keep the water out, no reason that could be done on your canoes as well. Good luck.

Well, the project has been approved and is underway. My group was able to model the canoes and get some measurements like lateral plane area, Longintudinal center of buoyancy, LWL, and wetted area for different weights. I have done some estimates on D/L and SA/D ratios and they seem within reason for the kind of boat I would like to build. Most of the reccomendations for these ratios that I have seen are for monohulls. Would they be any different for a catamaran? Is there any books or websites that anyone can reccomend that give calculations or reccomendations that are specific to catamarans? What I would like some help with is how to determine if the lateral resistance area that I calculated is enough or if I need to add a centerboard. Also, what calculations can I make with the wetted area? Thanks for the help, Kevin

"Also, what calculations can I make with the wetted area?" You can calculate how wet the wetted area is ? Years ago, an old yacht designer told us kids about how to determine the centre or resistance without any math. He cut out a profile of the underwater hull from a piece of cardboard, balanced the shape on the edge of a ruler, and where it balanced, marked it as the centre of lateral resistance. It seemed to work back then. I always wondered if the profile he cut should have been the profile of the heeled yacht (would have had a curved top edge and a shorter keel), but that would not apply to catamarans. Does anyone else still use this or a similar technique these days?

FAST FRED Senior Member

There are plastic pontoons made that can be put together to most any length to build your basic boat.. The shape of the weted surface would be better than the canoe , and might even be cheaper. FF

The wetted area is used to calculate the drag. The less the wetted area the better, but in a canoe or monohull the smallest wetted area is a semi-circular cross section, which means no resistance to heeling moments. On a cat this matters little, so many cat hulls are semi-circular in cross section (for least drag) but if you use the hull as a canoe it will simply roll over. You need a flatter bottom so it has some inherent stablity,

There are very few cat hull that are semi circular in cross section! They are either bell shaped or sharp edged. The sides are flattened to resist leeway, and avoid the necessity of big daggerboards. Certainly the forward part of the hulls are almost knife shaped, for easy entry to waves and wind. Examples, Hobie Cat, Tornado (which has a semi circle for a small section of the stern), Nacra etc These features to enhance sailing ability will be far bigger considerations than a bit of friction on a small 16ft hull. due to wetted area.

Guest625101138 Previous Member

Kevin Get hold of a hull surface rendering program called Delftship. You can get a free version of it. Look at the hulls you are thinking of buying and draw approximate models in Delftship. This should take all of 10 minutes if you are a slow learner. If you are having trouble then post a couple of photos and I will spend the 5 minutes to do them for you. Delftship will provide you all the hydrostatic information. It will give you crap hydrodynamic data. However you can export the hull into Michlet format and then use Michlet to get accurate drag information - within 5% for a canoe type hull. With a sailing cat you can design for many cases. The two extremes is where you have both hulls equaly loaded on say a beam reach. The other extreme is where the entire weight is carried on a single hull when you are pushing hard to windward. There are obviously a whole series of load cases in between but looking at resolving the forces under these two extremes will give you a good understanding. If you want help on the detail after you get started, just post specific questions that are giving you difficulty. Rick W.

rwatson said: ↑ There are very few cat hull that are semi circular in cross section! They are either bell shaped or sharp edged. The sides are flattened to resist leeway, and avoid the necessity of big daggerboards. Certainly the forward part of the hulls are almost knife shaped, for easy entry to waves and wind. Examples, Hobie Cat, Tornado (which has a semi circle for a small section of the stern), Nacra etc Click to expand...

2 person Small Solar powered catamaran. Pedal board. Wood canoe

Do homebuilt kayaks & canoes need hull identification numbers in the U.S.?

Solo Canoe Camper concept: one or two outriggers?

Nesting canoe

Canoemaran, catcanoe

Child size kayak/canoe.

Modular canoe

can a boat be a canoe, kayak and sliding seat rower?

10m, 10 passenger canoe for use on Amazon River

Exofish!....a WIG canoe

No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?

Your Guide to Catamaran Kayaks

11th Jun 2024

A catamaran kayak, like the Flip-Kat®, has two hulls. This design has been around in boats for over 3000 years. Beginning with Polynesians, they were made for long voyages across the sea. Catamaran kayaks are now increasing in popularity. People enjoy the stability and comfort that these kayaks offer. There is more storage space and much more capabilities that catamaran kayaks offer than traditional kayaks.

There are a couple of key features to look for in a catamaran kayak, one being the dual hull. The hull provides much more stability than traditional kayaks .. Also, be sure to look for the propulsion system in these kayaks. Some kayaks are paddle-powered, while others can use a pedal power system.

Catamarans are known for being large, stable, and typically more safe than other hull styles. The hull construction has tons of benefits. Typically, catamaran hulls allow for faster travel, can navigate better in shallow waters, and create a more stable vessel than any monohull design. The key feature that stands out with a catamaran hull is its stability. Most concerns with traditional kayak hulls are the lack of stability while standing or in rough seas. Catamaran-style hulls provide more stability and comfort while kayaking.

Fishing & Hunting Catamaran Kayaks

These are designed for anglers and hunters. Stability is one of the most essential factors while hunting and fishing, and the catamaran hull provides this stability. This stability allows standing up to cast a line or take a shot without tipping over easily. These kayaks often have features like rod holders, gear storage, and even mount points for trolling motors or anchor systems. They are ideal for those who are searching for the ideal kayak for fishing or hunting .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Noisy River Outdoors (@noisyriveroutdoors)

Recreational Catamaran Kayaks

Catering for general leisure, recreational catamaran kayaks are great for day trips, casual paddling, and exploration. They are typically more comfortable and easy to maneuver. The dual hulls provide a stable base, making them a good choice for beginners or those who prefer a relaxed kayaking experience. These kayaks offer a pleasant and safe way to enjoy the water, whether on a lake, river, or coastal area.

Portable Catamaran Kayaks

These kayaks are designed for convenience and ease of transport. They are usually lighter and collapsible, allowing them to be easily packed and carried to remote locations or stored away. Portable catamaran kayaks maintain the stability characteristic of the catamaran design, but prioritize portability and ease of assembly. They are ideal for those with limited storage space, who want to kayak while traveling, or who need to hike to access water bodies.

The Flip-Kat® is the first of its kind, offering a custom-designed catamaran-style hull while being completely portable. It folds up to be a portable solution to storage and transport issues that arise with other designs. The Flip-Kat® design is quick and easy to set up, transforming from a compact cube into a full-sized kayak in minutes. The Flip-Kat® has adjustable seating and a pedal drive system, ensuring the best ergonomic comfort on the water. It is also made with super durable materials perfect for various water conditions while maintaining a lightweight design for easy handling.

The Flip-Kat® has many different customization and accessory options, allowing you to create a kayak that fits your needs. If you plan on mostly fishing, you can add rod holders, fish finders, and even a Bipxy motor to get around faster. The Flip-Kat® was designed for the user to make it their own. The Flip-Kat® can be customized to your desires, from leisure to serious outdoor activities.

Benefits for Different User Groups

There are tons of different outdoor enthusiasts who pursue joy in their own way. The Flip-Kat® fits every single passion perfectly. For example, for photographers looking to capture scenic wildlife, the catamaran hull proverbs the needed stability to get that perfect shot. The safest option for seniors who want to enjoy life on the water is the Flip-Kat®. The catamaran hull gives an ease of mind to elders looking for a stable kayak. The pedal drive system also provides more power and maneuverability for all users. For leisure kayakers looking for exercise and fun, the Flip-Kat® is the perfect all-around kayak for any day out on the water.

Portability and Storage

The Flip-Kat® kayak excels remarkably in storage and portability, distinguishing itself as a top choice for enthusiasts and casual paddlers. Its ingeniously designed collapsible structure allows it to be easily folded to a compact size, making it incredibly convenient to store in tight spaces, such as apartment closets, car trunks, or aboard boats. This feature is a game-changer for those with limited storage options. The catamaran hull design creates a space for storing any gear or safety equipment. Whether traveling to a nearby lake or embarking on a distant adventure, the Flip-Kat® simplifies the process, making it effortless to bring your kayak along.

Advanced Features of Catamaran Kayaks

There are a couple of features that make catamaran kayaks much better than other options. On the Flip-Kat®, the pedal-drive propulsion system creates an efficient form of transportation. While pedaling, you will sit in the wholly adjustable and ergonomically designed seat. This is amazing. It lasts for long days and adventures out on the water. The Flip-Kat® is also completely customizable. You can add compatible accessories to enhance your kayaking experience.

Choosing the Right Catamaran Kayak

When deciding what catamaran kayak you want to buy, make sure you consider different factors. These could include the cost, the design, and materials for the kayak brand. There are a few other options, so be sure to do research before purchasing your kayak .

Safety and preparation are paramount in catamaran kayaking: always wear a life jacket, check weather and water conditions, and understand your kayak's features. Carry essential safety gear, inform someone of your plans, and be equipped for emergencies. When navigating, adapt to the environment; in calm waters, focus on technique and balance while in rougher conditions, be mindful of waves and tides, and kayak within your skill level. Training and respecting the water's dynamics are critical to a safe and enjoyable kayaking experience .

Eco-Tourism & Environmental Impact

Embracing eco-tourism in kayaking means choosing sustainable materials, adhering to 'leave no trace' principles, and opting for human-powered kayaking to reduce environmental impact. Responsible exploration requires awareness of the local wildlife and ecosystems, maintaining a safe distance from wildlife, avoiding disrupting natural habitats, and following designated routes to minimize your footprint. Educating oneself about the environment enhances conservation efforts, ensuring a sustainable interaction with nature during your kayaking adventures.

Future Trends and Innovation

Innovations are always coming into the kayaking and outdoor scene. Tons of technological advancements can enhance your experience out on the water, whether that be combining a solar charger with an electric motor or just having advanced fish finders. There are tons of new things that make kayaking more fun.

In summary, the evolution of catamaran kayaks, epitomized by the Flip-Kat® , represents a perfect blend of traditional stability and modern convenience. These kayaks cater to various needs, from fishing and photography to leisurely exploration, while offering remarkable stability and comfort. The Flip-Kat® particularly shines with its portability, ease of storage, and customization options, making kayaking accessible and enjoyable for all enthusiasts. This kayak encourages responsible enjoyment of nature's waterways. With ongoing innovations, the future of kayaking looks promising, ensuring a sustainable and exciting experience for all. The catamaran kayak, especially the Flip-Kat®, symbolizes the seamless integration of human innovation with respect to the natural environment. Order your Flip-Kat® today!

You Found Our Blog! Enter to Win a Flip-Kat™

To celebrate our pre-launch we are giving one lucky individual their very own Flip-Kat™. Enter below!

I Want to Win a Flip-Kat™!

Item Successfully added to comparison list.

Item Successfully removed from comparison list.

At least 2 products are needed to make a valid comparison.

FastCat12™ Catamaran

Inflatable boat, about the fastcat12™ catamaran inflatable boat.

Now LIGHTER, STRONGER, and EVEN MORE PACKABLE - Welcome to the future! Due to the latest technological advancement in double-layer, high-pressure, all-drop-stitch, fusion technology, the current generation FastCat12™ is 19 lbs. lighter than its predecessor. Weighing in at just 94 lbs. versus the previous 113 lbs. It's also incredibly stronger due to the fusion welding process and much easier to fold and pack up. The future is here - order yours today!

The FastCat12™ is a rugged, dependable, rigid, high-pressure, all-drop stitch constructed, rapid self-bailing, two-person, inflatable, FastCat12™ Catamaran Boat that provides incredible deck space and "The Smoothest Ride On The Water!"

About the FastCat™ Series

Don't purchase or consider another boat without checking out the new and incredible Sea Eagle Inflatable FastCat™ Catamaran Boat for the smoothest ride on the water and sale prices!

Tired of being bruised up and bounced around by waves, back jarring rough rides, added fuel cost, and lack of cockpit room? The new Sea Eagle Inflatable FastCat™ Catamaran Boat is the solution to all these problems and more!

This catamaran-style, rigid, high-pressure, all-drop stitch constructed, easy to set up hull is the most innovative boat to hit the market! The catamaran hull design lifts the boat up and on top of the water as if you're riding on pillowy clouds with hydro foiling shock absorbers preventing the slapping of traditional hulls. Friction is reduced, increasing fuel economy, and with four independent high-pressure safety air chambers, you're guaranteed added safety.

The Sea Eagle FastCat™ inflatable catamaran series will entirely change the way you view inflatable boats!

Specifications

Person Capacity	2
Hull Weight	43 kg. (37 kg. with Hull only)
Length	391 cm
Beam	142 cm
Interior	318cm x 102cm
Load Capacity	2 Person or 544kg
Deflated	Approx 145cm x 66cm x 41cm
Chambers	4 (bow, floor, port, starboard)
Air Valves	4 Recessed One-way
Inflation time	15 mins w/ BTP Two Stage Electric Turbo Pump
Seam	Quadruple Overlapped Superior Glued Seams
Material	Double layer 1000 Denier Reinforced
Engine Capacity	6 hp (38cm shaft, 34kg max weight)
Tube Dimensions	Gunwales: 20cm thick drop stitch. Floor: 15cm thick drop stitch
Speed Estimates	5 hp (up to 24 kph)
Inflation Pressure	10-15 psi
Transom Weight	6kg

Certifications

Deflated hull size, when deflated and packed well, this hull will fit in:.

check_circle Backpack

check_circle Car Trunk

check_circle SUV

check_circle Truck/Large SUV

Standard Features

NMMA & CE Certified
All rugged, high-pressure, reinforced, drop-stitch construction
Completely self-bailing
4 Independent safety air chambers
7 Conveniently located grab handles
Dual EZ-attachment seating system
Removable transom for easy storage
High-strength bow ring
Non-slip EVA foam covered deck
Canopy attachment grommets and D-rings
Dual Universal Scotty Pads for use with optional Scotty accessories
Bottom and side protective bumper guard rubbing strakes

Top, Front & Side Views

FastCat12™ Catamaran Reviews

I did a ton of research before I pulled the trigger on this boat and it paid off. My first trip was in San Diego in mission bay and the boat was perfect. My self and father-in-law fished the bay for a week with no issues and were blown away how stable the boat was and received a ton of compliments. The 5hp mercury outboard compliments the boat.

I love my Seaeagle 12 Fast Cat. Use it almost everyday in Florida. Customer service is great. Had a valve leak and they sent me a box and had it back in a couple of weeks with shipping time. Just the right size if I need to deflate it and store it. Great ride and just a solid built boat.

Boat is really great. I got all the extras with electric pump, seats, bimini etc. Sets up pretty quick and easy. I went with an electric 83lbs thrust motor and batteries ( 24 volt). I can run for hours! Great to take on vacation with us. We have an RV and like to bring the golf cart and the boat once deflated takes up no room at all.

The unit fits all of our needs. It is very stable with two passengers. Plenty of room to carry a cooler. The sun shade does act like a sail in the wind but you just make the best of it. The electric motor allows one to do some fishing and not have to stay in one spot for any time. Overall, good quality, came in a timely manner and was fairly easy to assemble. It definitely takes two people to move around when inflated.

Key Features

Catamaran design.

The Sea Eagle catamaran-style hull design provides the smoothest ride on the water. Side chambers create lift and reduce friction - increasing fuel economy, handling, and performance while providing an incredible cloud cushioned ride.

Protective Rubbing Strake & Bumper Guard

Protective full-length underside rubbing strakes and side bumper guards provide added protection against bumps and abrasions where it counts most.

Multiple Grab Handles

Seven conveniently located heavy-duty grab handles for ease of carrying and water re-entry.

Universal Scotty Pads & Attachment Locations

Two rear Universal Scotty Pads and dual side pre-drill bench seats Scotty attachment locations allow for the attachment of a vast array of optional Scotty accessories including but not limited to rod holders, triple rod holder, anchor lock, bait board, camera mount, transducer mount, and more!

*Scotty accessories are additional optional purchases. See https://www.seaeagle.com/Accessories/fishing-gear

EZ-Attach Bench Seats

The EZ-Attach Bench Seats are quickly and securely attached by four easy to screw on and off knobs. Attaching your bench seats has never been easier.

Removable Transom

The removable transom makes the FastCat12™ lighter and easier to pack down smaller and check as luggage. Attach the transom and you're ready for up to a 6 hp outboard.

Canopy Attachment System

Protecting yourself from the sun and elements has never been more important. The FastCat12™ is equipped with a Canopy Attachment System for use with the optional Wide Sun & Rain Canopy.

*Wide Sun & Rain Canopy is an additional optional accessory. See https://www.seaeagle.com/Accessories/covers-canopies/wide-canopy

4 Separate Independent Safety Air Chambers

4 Separate Independent Safety Air Chambers for added safety: Starboard Side, Bow, Floor, and Portside. Providing an added level of security and peace of mind.

FastCat12™ Catamaran Discount Packages

Deluxe package.

A great package for those who already have their own motors. Featuring two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one Quick Release Seatmount, a paddle, manual pump, repair kit, and boat bag.

Component	Value
Total:	$2,369
FastCat12 Deluxe Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_D)	$1,699
Your Savings:	$670
Hull	$1,999
	$119
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$49
	$29
	$15

In Stock Freight Quote to Russia

Swivel Seat Canopy Package

This Swivel Seat Canopy Package provides protection from the elements. Featuring two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one passenger swivel seat, two Quick Release Seatmounts, paddle, manual pump, repair kit, boat bag, and canopy.

Component	Value
Total:	$2,766
FastCat12 Swivel Seat Canopy Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_SWC)	$1,999
Your Savings:	$767
Hull	$1,999
	$249
	$238
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$49
	$15

Watersnake Motor Canopy Package

An excellent electric motor package providing quiet speeds of up to 5 mph. Featuring a canopy, two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one passenger swivel seat, two Quick Release Seatmounts, two Scotty rod holders, paddle, manual pump, repair kit, boat bag, and the infinitely variable forward and reverse speeds Watersnake Venom 34 lb. thrust dual-purpose (salt/freshwater) electric motor.

Component	Value
Total:	$3,073
FastCat12 Watersnake Motor Canopy Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_WSMC)	$2,199
Your Savings:	$874
Hull	$1,999
	$249
	$249
	$238
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

50w Solar Boat Package

An excellent electric motor package providing quiet speeds of up to 5 mph. Featuring a canopy with a self-charging solar panel, two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one passenger swivel seat, two Quick Release Seatmounts, two Scotty rod holders, paddle, manual pump, repair kit, boat bag, and the infinitely variable forward and reverse speeds Watersnake Venom 34 lb. thrust dual-purpose (salt/freshwater) electric motor.

Component	Value
Total:	$3,641
FastCat12 50w Solar Boat Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_S50)	$2,749
Your Savings:	$892
Hull	$1,999
	$449
	$269
	$249
	$238
	$99
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

110w Solar Boat Package

Component	Value
Total:	$3,991
FastCat12 110w Solar Boat Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_S110)	$3,299
Your Savings:	$692
Hull	$1,999
	$799
	$269
	$249
	$238
	$99
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

Honda Motor Package

An excellent package providing speeds of up to 15 mph and over 30 mpg. Featuring two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one passenger swivel seat, two Quick Release Seatmounts, two Scotty rod holders, manual pump, repair kit, boat bag, and the reliable Honda 5 hp four-stroke outboard motor.

Component	Value
Total:	$4,574
FastCat12 Honda Motor Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_HM)	$3,649
Your Savings:	$925
Hull	$1,999
	$1,999
	$238
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

Ultimate Package

Featuring two bench seats, one driver's locking swivel seat, one passenger swivel seat, two Quick Release Seatmounts, two Scotty rod holders, manual pump, repair kit, boat bag, and the powerful Torqeedo 903L electric motor.

Component	Value
Total:	$5,174
FastCat12 Ultimate Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_U)	$4,499
Your Savings:	$675
Hull	$1,999
	$2,599
	$238
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

Torqeedo Solar Package

Component	Value
Total:	$5,742
FastCat12 Torqeedo Solar Package Price:(Item# FASTCAT12K_S138)	$4,599
Your Savings:	$1,143
Hull	$1,999
	$2,599
	$299
	$269
	$238
	$99
FC12 Boat Carry Bag	$59
	$58
	$58
	$49
	$15

Instructions

Sea Eagle Used Boats

have never been damaged, punctured or patched
have been test inflated for 48 hours
might have very minimal wear (no barnacles or algae)
are covered by our regular 120 day money back guarantee
and three year bow-to-stern warranty , just like our new boats.
might contain prior-generation components

Delivery Estimate

Gray locking swivel seat.

Locking Gray Swivel Seat

Canoe/ SUP Paddle

Adjustable Aluminum Paddle

FC12 Boat Carry Bag

Boat Carry Bag for FastCat12™

SUP Pump w/ Pressure Gauge

Quick Release Seatmount

Wide Canopy

Wide Sun & Rain Canopy

Watersnake Venom 34

Watersnake Venom SX 34lb Thrust Electric Motor (Fresh & Saltwater)

Covered by the Watersnake 1 Year Warranty

All Sales are final. This item is not covered by the Sea Eagle 120 Day Trial.

Scotty Rod Holder

50W Solar Panel

50W Semi-Flexible Solar Panel w/ Charge Controller

Covered by the PowerFilm Solar Panel Warranty

Wide Solar 50 Canopy

Wide Sun & Rain Solar 50 Canopy (For use with 50W

Trolling Motor Power Center

Minn Kota Trolling Motor Power Center

Covered by the Minn Kota Manufacturer Warranty

110w Solar Panel

110 Watt Semi-Flexible Solar Panel w/ Charge Controller

Wide Solar 110 Canopy

Wide Sun & Rain Solar 110 Canopy (For use with 110W solar panel)

Honda 5S (Short Shaft)

Covered by the Honda Marine Warranty

Torqeedo 903L

Travel 903 Long Shaft w/915 Wh Battery

Covered by the Torqeedo Factory Warranty

138w Solar Panel for Torqeedo

138 Watt Semi-Flexible Solar Panel for use with Torqeedo

Covered by the Sol Go

Wide Solar 138 Canopy

Wide Sun/Rain 138 Solar Canopy (For use with 138 solar panel)

Catamaran Canoe

A Canoe for the Whole Family

Since the inception of the rule in 1999 that eliminated boat and motor access to 60% of Seagull Lake, many people have not been able to visit their favorite spots on the lake. Some folks don’t have the coordination to keep a canoe steady in the water. Some families have small children that can’t paddle for themselves. And still others may be perfectly capable of paddling a normal canoe, but they want to enjoy the trip with friends. So to help reunite many folks with the areas of Seagull Lake that they have not seen in years due to the motor restrictions, we’ve developed the double canoe raft.

As we remember the days of old when Seagull Lake was entirely accessible by motor boat, we think of great fishing holes and beautiful scenery. But with the new motor restrictions on Seagull, we’ve been forced to get creative in order to fish those holes with the ease of years past. And we’ve come up with the double canoe raft. A craft that is more than twice as stable as a regular canoe because it is actually two canoes braced together for extra stability and support.

Paddling is an ease and it is very relaxing because you can sit in more comfortable positions without the worry of swamping the canoe. The craft is virtually “un-swampable” because of the design, and you can even stand up in the canoe to stretch or to land that big fish.

Advantages of the Catamaran Canoe

Catamaran Canoe loaded with a family and gear.

Much more stable than a regular canoe
Fishing in general becomes so much easier from this watercraft. Fishing in the wind from a canoe is downright brutal and impossible at times. With an anchor and this steady craft, you’ll be able to sit over your favorite fishing holes with ease
Perfect for family trips with smaller children
Makes fishing trips to the “special fishing holes” by the Palisades, Alpine Rapids, etc. much easier and more comfortable
Base camping on the big part of Seagull Lake is easier when the wind blows with the canoe raft
Fly fishing the shorelines becomes easier with the option to stand and fly cast
Cabin guests not fond of canoeing now have more of a hybrid option
It’s the next best thing to a boat and motor (and since they aren’t allowed inside the BWCA, we’ve got the best thing out there) if you’re looking for stability and comfort while still enjoying what the BWCA has to offer

Day Trip Ideas

Lunch atop the Seagull Palisades (see photo at right)
Blueberry picking on Miles Island
Fishing at: Alpine Rapids, Hoover Island, Palisades, Shirttail Point, Seagull Rock, etc.
Swimming at the sandy beach campsite on the north Seagull shore
Photograph the countless wildlife and scenic opportunities found throughout one of Minnesota’s most prized lakes
Hike the 1.6 mile Jap portage and look for juneberries and blueberries
Have lunch at Picnic Point by the Alpine Lake portage
View the huge eagle’s nest on Eagle’s Nest Island
And More…

Rental Rate

$130.00 per day – Call and reserve this canoe today!

Makeup of the Canoe Raft

Built with two 17 foot, 61 pound Grumman canoes offering 4 seats or two 18 1/2′ Alumacraft canoes offering 6 seats.
Engineered and held together with 2 heavy duty aluminum poles
Reinforced stability
Solid, sturdy construction

For information or reservations call: 218-388-2216

What our customers say....

Dear Deb and team, Our family has canoed Quetico since early 1960s from Ely to Atikokan to the Gunflint Trail. A big family trip again this year and your accommodations and outfitting were both wonderful. Thank you for your support and advice. We will be back! October 10, 2019

STABLE KAYAKS AND MICROSKIFFS MADE BY WAVEWALK

microskiff, stable kayak, portable boat

The Stablest Kayaks and Microskiffs

Wavewalk’s patented catamaran S4 cartop microskiff and W720 kayak-skiff are unrivaled in the stability, comfort, seaworthiness, performance, versatility and value they provide:

1. S4 Microskiff

Portable, seaworthy and versatile car-topper boat, s4 key features & benefits.

Vessel Type: Patented, Multihull Boat (Catamaran) delivers utmost stability
L = 13 ft, W = 38″, H = 17″. Weight = 100 lbs (net).
Portable car-topper boat.
Personal watercraft (PWC) saddle seat for best balance and no back pain .
Payload: Up to 600 lbs. Capacity: Up to 3 full-size adult passengers plus gear.
Rated for a 6 HP outboard gas motor.
Very shallow draft.
Most seaworthy in rough water.
Internal, built-in flotation.
Fish, paddle, and drive standing, and push-pole too, if you want.
Skiff’s front deck for stand up fishing. Fishing standing for all crew, up to three anglers.
Stabler than any kayak. Stabler than bigger boats, skiffs, and Jon boats.
One person can car-top.
Zero maintenance.
Spacious and comfortable cockpit with high free board to keep you and your gear dry.
260 gallons (34.7 cubic feet) of onboard storage space, comparable to a 16 ft Jon boat or skiff
Roto-molded High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) hull, for resilience and durability.
Colors (2024): White, Gator Green (Khaki)
The S4 comes with a mounting plate for an outboard motor up to 6 HP
Price: $2,600 + shipping. Includes: mounting plate for 6 HP motor and paddling kit

S4 Microskiff Full Specs and Shipping Rates »

S4 microskiff video playlist.

S4 Owners Reviews »

Do you have any questions about the S4 microskiff?

2. W720 Kayak Skiff

Super Stable Catamaran Kayak

W720 Key Features & Benefits

L = 12’10”, W = 31″, H = 17″, Weight = 85 lbs total.
Patented twin-hull (catamaran) offers utmost stability for its size.
Personal watercraft (PWC) saddle seat for optimal balancing capability, true comfort, and zero back pain.
Payload: Up to 400 lbs.
Rated for outboard motors up to 3 HP.
Paddle seated and standing, and push-pole if you want.
Stabler than any other kayak. Less stable than the S4.
Two anglers can fish standing or sitting in it.
Shallow draft.
Maintenance free.
Portable and easy for one person to cartop.
Dry, spacious and comfortable cockpit.
Very large onboard storage, suitable for long touring, camping and hunting expeditions.
Roto-molded High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) built, for resilience and durability.
Color (2024): Gator Green, White
Price: $2,200 + shipping. The W720 comes with a mounting plate for a 3 HP motor.

W720 Kayak-Skiff Full Specs and Shipping Rates »

Wavewalk 720 video playlist.

W720 Owners Reviews »

Do you have any questions about the W720 kayak-skiff?

Unrivaled Stability and Comfort, No Back Pain or Leg Numbness

Enjoy the natural, ergonomic and super-stable Riding Position . Wavewalk microskiffs and kayaks feature a saddle seat that’s similar to the saddle of a personal watercraft (PWC) a.k.a. jet ski. When your legs straddle the high saddle seat, they support your balancing, control, paddling and fishing efforts, and you can switch anytime between several natural ergonomic positions.

Roomiest for Passengers, and Largest Onboard Storage

Wavewalk’s kayaks and cartop microskiffs are the world’s roomiest, and offer unmatched onboard storage

large onboard storage in S4 microskiff cockpit

Wavewalk’s unique high saddle seat provides comfort for everyone, including toddlers, adults, big and heavy people, people with back problems and disabilities, and elderly people. Anyone can stand up in full confidence in a Wavewalk.

Do you have any questions about the S4 or the W720?

Customer Reviews

Interested to read client testimonials about our Wavewalk® kayaks, micro skiffs and cartop boats? Our website offers hundreds of full-featured customer reviews that include the author’s full name and state, and pictures they contributed. Some reviews even have videos in them.

S4 OWNERS REVIEWS »

More About Our Kayaks and Boats

The world’s most stable fishing kayaks and cartop microskiffs
Totally back pain free , offering you the riding position and various additional positions, so you can avoid leg and back pain and fatigue.
Easiest to paddle, offering best tracking in strong wind , and require no rudder, ever.
The only kayaks and cartop microskiffs that offer real-world, true stand-up paddling and fishing in safety and confidence , plus a high saddle to help you regain your balance in case you lose balance.
You can easily launch, paddle, fish and beach anywhere.
The roomiest kayaks and microkiffs, offering many times more storage space than any other kayak or small skiff, and room for a second and even third adult passenger on board, or several children.
The driest and most versatile, for any weather and water condition, including cold water, shallow water, and offshore in the chop.
The most effective and easiest kayaks to motorize , and the only ones that work as true personal, portable, cartop, high-performance and seaworthy microskiffs.

Just email us to or call:
Let us know what type of boat you’re interested in (S4 or W720), what color, your name, address, and phone number, and if you have any questions.
We’ll reply immediately, and we’ll send your order to production as soon as all the details are clear.

We ship every boat in a custom heavy duty cardboard box, and the carrier will call you to set the date and time for the delivery. Our boats are made in Latta SC, and if you can pick up your order at the factory, you’d save the shipping cost.

We accept all types of checks, including personal checks.
Please make your check payable to and mail it to our address –

Regular mail is fine, and there is no need to send us your check by special delivery.

We also accept direct payment (ACH). If this is the method of payment that you prefer, please let us know, and we’ll email you the info that you’d need to perform this transaction.

Order Cancellation, Product Warranty, and Service Policy »

Do you have any questions for us?

Login
Sign Up!
Messageboard

Social Login

Forgot your password? Don't have an account yet? Sign up

Boundary Waters Trip Planning Info

Basic Rules & Information

BWCA Permit & Information

Checklist & Trip Planning

Gear Rental & Outfitters

Resorts, Cabins & Camping

Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Follow
Messageboard

(0 Chatting) | |

* BWCA is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

quote Savage Voyageur: "We also put a tarp up between two poles and sailed across Pine lake. That was before I knew about the No sail boat rule. Not sure if that qualifies as a sailboat. "

quote Bannock: " quote Savage Voyageur: "We also put a tarp up between two poles and sailed across Pine lake. That was before I knew about the No sail boat rule. Not sure if that qualifies as a sailboat. "

Subscribe to Thread

Community links.

Recent Trip Reports

One, Two, Three, Pow, Wow!
Kopka River
Toy Soldiers at Fish Stake Narrows
Daytrip: Moose to Wind to Washte
Threading The Weather Needle On Little Indian Sioux

Help keep support this community and website with the many resources it provides and maintains. Learn more

We use cookies to enhance your experience, for analytics, and to support 3rd party content and advertising providers. If you continue using this website, you agree to our privacy and legal agreement . Ok

IMAGES

Two Canoe's made into a Catamaran with a bolt on frame
Build a catamaran with two kayaks.
Our version of a sturdy catamaran with two kayaks , powered by electric
CatamaYak: How to Build a Kayak Catamaran
Catamaran Kit For Kayak ~ pontoon boat plans aluminum
I+have+plans+to+build+one+of+these+for+myself+when+I+can+afford+it.Two

VIDEO

MINDSHIFT: Overcoming Abortive Mindset & Positioning For Productivity
Power Boats
Extreme Catamaran Sailing (Stars & Stripes) Just another day
Wooden Boat Building Step 2: Scarf Joint
6.4 Knots In A Catalina 22 Sailboat!
Grumman 17' flat back canoe with Suzuki 2.5 4 stroke motor

COMMENTS

canoemaran
homemade canoe's connected to make very stable fishing/cruising/swimming platform. Canoe's are 16.5' long and 2' apart at center. Nissan 2.5 hp outboard at r...
How to Make a Catamaran Out of Two Kayaks? Here's What You Need to Know
A catamaran is inherently more stable than a single kayak because the two hulls provide a wider base, which helps prevent tipping over. This is especially beneficial for those who are new to kayaking, as it gives them additional confidence on the water. Another benefit of making a catamaran out of two kayaks is that it gives you more capacity.
How To Rig a Canoe Catamaran
WhiskeyBeerRecipesCocktails & SpiritsHealthy FoodWine. Windbound with a big lake crossing ahead, the crew decide to rig a canoe catamaran.
CatamaYak: How to Build a Kayak Catamaran
4 - 2″ stainless steel U bolts with lock nuts and washers. 4 - 5″ stainless steel eye bolts with lock nuts and washers. 1 - 8′ 2×4 (or a couple of 8″ scraps) 2 - 8″ 5/8×16 bolts with lock nuts and washers. 4 - Ratcheting straps. I also needed a rubber mallet, wrenches, a drill, a set of drill bits, and a table saw.
Marrying two sized kayaks into an awesome catamaran-Part 1/2
A Hobie tied knot with a Pelican: giving birth to "The Calf" - an awesome three person catamaran. We made it in such a way that one can easily assemble or di...
Ocean Kaycat, catamaran project
Ocean Kayak Malibu 2xl Catamaran Kayak, Loch Ard in the Trossachs. This is a wee hobby project to ultimately design a modular system that will link two kayak...
Canoe Lashing Bars, join two canoes to make a catacanoe
Product Description. Join two canoes together (they may be different) to create a super stable platform to fish, motor or sail on big waters. System consists of 2 telescoping tubes in sections less than 4 feet each and 8 clamps. System joins the canoes in 2 separate places, with adjustable amount of space between them.
Proa File
The light weight of approx. 750 lbs. will allow the double canoe to be easily trailed behind even small cars, and encourages the boat to be dry moored, and stored at home during the off season. Manu Kai is named in honor of the first modern Hawaiian beach sailing catamaran, the original 38' Manu Kai designed and built by Woody Brown and ...
A Complete Catamaran Guide
The next step in the evolution of boats in the Australasian region was the double canoe. This proved to be the first real catamarans. After some time, the form evolved further into the asymmetrical double canoe design. ... (1-2 person) inflatable catamaran will run you anywhere from $1500-$12000 USD, depending on the quality and features. The ...
Sailboats To Go » Katamayak
Kayakamaran. One sail rig for two kayaks makes a catamaran! See Item 6008 for the basic kit. For Deluxe and Super Deluxe packages see item 6010 and item 6011. Customer Feedback. "Hello,I just want to tell you that I had a great weekend of sailing my kayakamaran!" Ellen (June 2014) ==========. "Hi Jim & Betty,
Canoe Catamaran
1) Canoes generally aren't used for catamaran hulls because they can take on waves/water and list/sink/capsize. If you're going to sail this thing in anything with over foot-high waves, you need to make the hulls shed water. Maybe try the FRP solid (sit-on-top) kayaks that have no interior.
Your Guide to Catamaran Kayaks
A catamaran kayak, like the Flip-Kat®, has two hulls. This design has been around in boats for over 3000 years. Beginning with Polynesians, they were made for long voyages across the sea. Catamaran kayaks are now increasing in popularity. People enjoy the stability and comfort that these kayaks offer. There is more storage space and much more ...
Marrying two different sized kayaks into an awesome catamaran ...
This Part2/2 features the custom designed SS fixture for the shorter Pelican kayak to address the kayak height differences. The SS pipe catamaran frame is al...
Outrigger boat
Outrigger fishing canoes are also used among certain non-Austronesian groups, such as the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, where they are known as oruwa, as well as among some groups in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They can also be found in East Africa (e.g., the ungalawa of Tanzania).. The acquisition of the catamaran and outrigger boat technology by the non-Austronesian peoples in Sri Lanka and ...
Sea Eagle FastCat12 2 person Inflatable Boat. Package Prices starting
The Sea Eagle Inflatable FastCat12™ Catamaran Boat is a rugged, dependable, rigid, high-pressure, all-drop stitch constructed, two-person, inflatable, runabout boat that fits into a bag and provides the Smoothest Ride On The Water! No need for a trailer, storage fees, maintenance fees, or heavy fuel prices. Accompanied by a 3yr Warranty, Free Shipping, 120 Day Money Back Guarantee Trial Period.
Catamaran Canoe Rental
$130.00 per day - Call and reserve this canoe today! Makeup of the Canoe Raft. Built with two 17 foot, 61 pound Grumman canoes offering 4 seats or two 18 1/2′ Alumacraft canoes offering 6 seats. Engineered and held together with 2 heavy duty aluminum poles; Reinforced stability; Solid, sturdy construction
2 kayaks = catamaran?
08-06-2009, 04:25 PM. Re: 2 kayaks = catamaran? Really wrong wavemaking shape, not to mention no grip on the water. Also you'd be fooling about to properly support the decks in the way of the connecting beams. Really interesting rudder problems. It would go to weather very poorly, so you'd paddle that way anyhow.
The Stablest Kayaks and Microskiffs
2. W720 Kayak Skiff. Super Stable Catamaran Kayak. W720 Key Features & Benefits. L = 12'10", W = 31″, H = 17″, Weight = 85 lbs total. Patented twin-hull (catamaran) offers utmost stability for its size. Personal watercraft (PWC) saddle seat for optimal balancing capability, true comfort, and zero back pain.
Catamaran
The catamaran vessels of today are the direct descendants of the highly evolved Polynesian sailing canoes. Double-hulled canoes had two essential qualities: good buoyancy and stability, and these two qualities led to the development of the modern catamaran. Early attempts at building catamarans started in 1662 when Sir William Petty built his ...
BWCA Canoe Catamaran suggestions? Boundary Waters Listening Point
They would make a "catamaran" to ease travel on big lakes as there wasnt alot of paddle power. A long spruce tied across the front thwart of each canoe and another on the rear thwarts spacing the canoes 3-5' apart worked well. I remember we would sometimes hop in the water and hang on to the spruce and go for a ride in between the canoes.