Robert B. Harris (born 1922 [1] - died 2014) was an American multihull sailboat designer.
Robert B. Harris (born 1922 [1] - died 2014) was an American multihull sailboat designer.
He first became interested in multihulls after seeing a 40-foot catamaran in Hawaii, built by Alfred Kumalai and Rudy Choyone. [2]
The first catamaran I saw was from Hawaii. Man, this thing was fast!
— Robert B. Harris [2]
Please note that this list is partial.
Harris has published three books.
A multihull is a ship or boat with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull.
A catamaran is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stabilized craft, deriving its stability from its wide beam, rather than from a ballasted keel as with a monohull boat. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.
The Tornado is a double handed multihull class recognised as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation. It was used for the Catamaran discipline at the Olympic Games from 1976 to 2008.
A trimaran is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreation or racing; others are ferries or warships. They originated from the traditional double-outrigger hulls of the Austronesian cultures of Maritime Southeast Asia; particularly in the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia, where it remains the dominant hull design of traditional fishing boats. Double-outriggers are derived from the older catamaran and single-outrigger boat designs.
A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like foils mounted under the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing wetted area, resulting in decreased drag and increased speed. A sailing hydrofoil can achieve speeds exceeding twice the wind speed.
The Dart 18 is a one-design 18-foot (5.5 m) long glassfibre sailing catamaran. It is designed to be sailed by two people and can achieve speeds of up to 20 knots. This is reflected in its Portsmouth Yardstick of 805 and D-PN of 76.3
Lagoon catamaran is a brand of twin-hulled boats that are designed and produced in Bordeaux, France. The company began in 1984 as a specialist multihull offshoot of Jeanneau, a volume monohull constructor. Jeanneau was subsequently purchased in 1995 by Beneteau, another French manufacturer whose output is one of the highest in the world.
The C-Class Catamaran is a high-performance developmental class sailing catamaran. They are very light boats which use rigid wing sails and can sail at twice the speed of the wind. They are used for match races known as the International Catamaran Challenge Trophy and its successor the International C-Class Catamaran Championship - both often referred to as the "Little America's Cup".
Nacra Sailing is a Dutch company that manufactures a line of small catamaran sailboats, or beachcats. NACRA was founded in 1975 to tap into the market created by Hobie Alter the founder of Hobie Cat, and several other companies offering small fiberglass catamarans designed to be sailed off the beach by a crew of one or two.
James Wharram was a British multihull pioneer and designer of catamarans.
The Nacra 17 is a performance catamaran used for sailing. It was designed in 2011, went into production in 2012 and has been the focus of multihull sailing at the Olympic Games since its conception.
Naramatac was a catamaran sailboat designed by Robert B. Harris in 1948 and launched in 1950. Its innovative use of asymmetric hulls later became a hallmark of the Hobie Cat.
Trine was a 32-foot trimaran sailboat designed by Dick Newick, one the earliest designs in his career, which contributed substantially to the revival of multihull vessels from the 1960s to the late 20th century.
Amaryllis was a catamaran sailboat designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and launched in 1876. It was notable for its significant victory in the 1876 New York Centennial Regatta, which resulted in multihull sailing vessels being banned from organized sailing competitions. Ironically, Herreshoff was later to become a celebrated monohull designer.
Tarantella was a 33 ft (10 m) sailing catamaran designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff. She was launched in 1877, a year after Herreshoff's smaller catamaran Amaryllis won the 1876 New York Centennial Regatta, which resulted in multihulls being banned from regattas. The Tarantella was 15 inches (38 cm) longer than her two patented sisterships Teaser and John Gilpin. She was eventually exported to the United Kingdom. The brother of her designer described these catamarans as outstanding upwind performers:
I can, with a good whole-sail breeze, beat to windward faster, by a mile an hour at least, than any other sailing vessel afloat.
The Nacra 15 is a performance catamaran used for racing. It went into production in 2015. It was designed as a smaller version of the Olympic multihull class, the Nacra 17.
The M32 is a class of sailing catamaran designed by Göran Marström and Kåre Ljung and first built in 2010 by Marstrom Composite AB. The design and production rights were sold in 2013 to Aston Harald Composite AB led by Håkan Svensson and run by Killian Bushe.
Polynesian multihull terminology, such as "ama", "aka" and "vaka" are multihull terms that have been widely adopted beyond the South Pacific where these terms originated. This Polynesian terminology is in common use in the Americas and the Pacific but is almost unknown in Europe, where the Anglo-Saxon terms "hull" and "outrigger" form normal parlance. Outriggers, catamarans, and outrigger boats are a common heritage of all Austronesian peoples and predate the Micronesian and Polynesian expansion into the Pacific. They are also the dominant forms of traditional ships in Island Southeast Asian and Malagasy Austronesian cultures, where local terms are used.
The DC‐14 Phantom is an American catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by MacLear & Harris and first built in 1964.
The G-Cat 5.7 is an American catamaran sailing dinghy that was designed by Hans Geissler as a one-design racer and first built in 1980.
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