DIY Homemade Catamaran Sailboat You Will Love

My first sailboat, and it changed my life - it might change yours (RebelCat.com). Ever wish you could find an easy way to go sailing? This little catamaran might be the answer. You can make one in a few days for very little money, even free if you can scrounge the materials. Here's the story of my first 'cat', made in the bush in Brazil. My latest - RebelCat 5 - can be seen sailing FAST on my channel at this link: http://youtu.be/uvw8t0TTLPs. Correction on the size of the sail: 3 by 2 meters, not 4 by 3. Sail on! [This size cat is intended for kids and may not float all adults safely. Notice I'm sitting between the pontoons, not over one. But fun anyway. See my RebelCat 5 videos for adult/cruising cats.] More info at RebelCat.com.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• sailing
• sailboat
• catamaran
• pontoon
• PVC
• cat
• lake
• DIY
• homemade
• ocean
• sail
• boat
• pond
• watercraft
• water
• multihull

[TheParkour907]

hi, i'm planning on making one of these and i was wondering what is the best way to mount the sail poles? and i only weigh 130 pounds so how long/wide would the PVC pipe need to be? thnxs

[marjamada]

@TheParkour907 - Good questions, and I wish you success with your cat. You will find information about size and length of pipe at my web site RebelCat.com, under Flotation Chart. It is not possible for me to explain here how to mount the mast or to build your cat - for that I created a DVD which shows and tell everything.

[wjionieis]

You won't believe it but I just got 4 free cones also how many tie downs do I need 2 or 4?

[marjamada]

@wjionieis - I believe it. I don';t know what your cat looks like. Mine uses 8: 4 for the deck, 2 for the front and back spreaders. If you're making a cat like the small one here, you may not need any. I used 4 ropes to attach the deck, as you see in the video. Spreaders were tied through holes in the pontoons - a bad idea, because water got in. Ties would be better, so that still makes 8 places to attach the pontoons to what's on them.

[wjionieis]

Okay sweet also for the cones should I just overlap it and then calk it or something

[marjamada]

@wjionieis - You can also use large pipe clamps made from stainless steel, 1/2" wide, with a screw to tighten it around the cone slipped over the pipe. Keep the screw out of the water to avoid drag. I found these clamps in a store selling wood stoves - I think they are used on the chimney. You can also use screws with flat heads every 3 inches or so. Leather-punch the cone and drill a pilot hole in the pipe, then put in the screw. To reduce drag, calk the trailing edge of the cone.

[Spencerh1279]

This is so cool. I live in southern California next to a bay, I'm definitely going to look for some pipes Tommorow haha. Thanks

[marjamada]

@wjionieis - Excellent. Be aware that Sch 40 is heavy, so pick cones as long as you can find, like 30", to add flotation front and back. On RebelCat 1 above, I just taped them on with clear packing tape - you will probably want something more durable. No space here to describe the method I used on RebelCat 5 - it's on my DVD.

[wjionieis]

I just got 18 feet of free schulde 40 pipe also how do you put on the cone I did not under stand it in your video

[marjamada]

@wjionieis - For me or anyone to find your pic, we will need a domain name (google sketch up isn't one). I searched and found nothing. Help us out.