14'11" Wittholz Catboat

[Alan Peck]

Has anyone built or sailed the 14'11" Charles Wittholz Catboat "Corvus"?

Reality is hitting and realizing that I would not finish the boat until my mid-sixties, I need a boat that would accommodate less physical abilities on my part. Therefore, I am looking for a day sailer that has the following attributes at a minimum. Trailerable and not too hard to launch and rig. Must have seats with some semblance of a back. Finally, while no small boat is immune to capsize, I am thinking that a catboat of this type would be pretty hard to capsize. Again with age considerations coming up that would be an important attritbute. Am I on the right track here? Any thoughts welcome.

[ 12-02-2005, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: Alan Peck ]

[PVanderwaart]

Many boats have been built to this design, and they are said to have a "little ship" feel. I do wonder about stepping the mast when launching....

[Alan Peck]

I have also wondered about the stepping the mast. I would think that some type of "hinge" would make it a lot easier.

[merlinron]

alan, do a search using "catboats". you will find some pics of the boat. i have "corvus" plans and intend to start construction this spring. i have a few furniture projects in my shop right now that i have to finish up and then i am going to start making frames so i can set them up outside to build. i have a freind that wants a sail boat also, saw the plans and we might build 2 side by side. i plan on building a tabernacle to facilitate stepping because i am land locked and sailing will be local lakes on weekends and evenings so the rig has to be quick and easy to put up on the trailer. my idea is to use a 6-8 ft. jib pole mounted in a close fitting socket for stability at the very bottom end of the mast well below the pivot point and start the mast up with the trailer winch strap attatched to the end of the jib pole. the jib pole's length and angle off the mast has to be figured out so that forestay length meets the end of the jibpole and is clevised to it. once the mast is about half way up with the winch, it should go up the rest of the way by hand, pulling on the winch strap. the idea of the jib pole mounted below the pivot point, is that the you get compound effort from the forestay pulling on the tip of the mast and the jib pole pushing on the bottom of the mast as you start to raise it. i think you need the extra leverage( jib pole pushing on bottom of mast) because of the close relationship between the winch and the pivot point,i.e., mast right up at the bow, which puts the winch pulling almost straight down on the jib pole,which, because of the way the jib pole is mounted in the mast,is also the initial direction of travel the jib pole makes as it starts to move. with the boat on the trailer.even with the jib pole, the forces will be pretty high to get the mast tip moving up by just pulling on the mast tip as usually done with a jib pole, unless you could pull from an elevated position, like 8 or ten feet above the ground. with the jib poll mounted as described, it also pushes down on the opposite end of the mast to help get the tip off the cradle. the only area of caution here is that the pivot/mast at pivot area/tabernacle, should be built fairly heavy to deal with the slightly increased stresses,having the whinch so close to the pivot point. once the mast is up, the jib pole comes off and a bolt goes through the it's socket in the mast and threads into a heavy "tee-nut" type fitting mounted to the back side of the tabernacle to lock the mast up.

[Alan Peck]

merlinron: Thanks for your thoghts. Keep us posted on your progress. Meanwhile, I am going to look into some tabernacle and see if I can come up with something.. I used to have a 17' Daysailer and it was fairly easy to raise the mast on it's tabernacle. That boat had a mast considerably higher than that of the Corvis.

[Frank Wentzel]

Alan & Merlinron

I am very interested in any ideas you have on hinged masts. Specifically the design of a hinge that can take the inevitable accidental side loading during lifting. I have an Egret variant with a chinese lug (junk) rig on unstayed masts. I want to hinge the mast high enough above the deck so that when I want to take the masts down I can drop the sail below the hinge. That is, the boat will be fully rigged with the mast in the stowed position. Launching would entail simply raising the masts, locking the hinge and hoisting the sail. My masts are about 22' above the deck (26' overall). In order to minimize weight I intend to make new masts of the birdsmouth type. I estimate my current masts are about 90 lb each. They are solid wood, Douglas fir I believe. Since the DF mast tapers from about 5.5” to 2.5” at the masthead I will have to taper the strips in both width and thickness – should be an interesting project. Note that, per Skene’s, the new mast would be about 10% larger in diameter,

/// Frank ///

[Jon Zerndt]

merlinron

That system of raising and lowering the mast sounds exactly what the Wagner's used on their Grey Seal. It is documented in WB130 (if memory serves) with pictures of it in operation. It looks like a good solution for raising/lowering a mast single-handed.

I have the plans for the Corvus also. Not sure I'll ever build her though. I chose a smaller design for the last project and am going to go with a larger design with my next project. It is a nice little catboat and seems like it would be a relatively easy build. And, it's all relative.

Jon (no h) smile.gif

[merlinron]

i've always loved cats, but a decent sized one is a whole bunch of boat to trailer. corvys seems to be a good comprimise. i first thought it might be a bit small, but as catboats are, you get allot of boat in a short package.i might lengthen the cabin a bit and give it proper coaming around the stern, try to make it as "cape cod" looking as i can.

[nw3z]

I bought Corvus plans..... but now I'm starting to realize that with a 19-month old at home, even a 15ft catboat is beyond possible for some time (I originally was planning to do a 25ft Brewer design!).

Agree with extending the coaming around the stern... though the same myself.

Anyone interested in the plans?

[Dave Gray]

Here is a tabernacle mast on a modified Corvus. Look at them while you can, soon Imagestation is going away.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291337379

[Alan Peck]

Dave: Is that your Corvus? If so, would you mind if I sent you some questions about her?

Thanks

[paladin]

I have drawings for a tabernacle that will fit that boat and works quite well.....but someone bug me in a week to 10 days and I will be sitting next to them to scan and send....

[Dave Gray]

Alan, that Corvus was built by Tom Kamila who no longer appears to post here. You can probably find his old posts under the user name of tkamila. Paladin aka Chuck knows much more about all of this than I do, you might want to take him up on his offer.

[tim_r]

nw3z,
Do you still have the plans? What are you asking for them?
Tim

[Paul Fitzgerald]

I built on years ago, its a big little boat.
Technically it was OK, but there is a lot of twist in the forefoot.
There are probably easier boats to build and launch out there. You should really consider leaving it on a mooring for the summer, like Joe COSH does with his catboat, which is a similar size and weight to Corvus.

[TAK]

Alan, Tom Kamila here. I come back and lurk every once in a while. Questions, fire away.

[Alan Peck]

Tom: Thanks very much. When I get home tonight, I'll send you a few questions I am curious about.

Alan

[Alan Peck]

Tom: I really enjoyed the photos you posted on imagestation. You did a really fine job building her. I am curious about the construction method you used. The shape looks too smooth to be constructed of plywood? It appears that you extended the cabin somewhat from the original design. Is that correct and does that give you space for a couple of berths?

How does she sail in general terms? Is this design suitable for single handling in your opinion?

Stepping the mast is one of my main concerns. Does the tabernacle you made, make the job fairly easy?



I built the Little Moby runabout by Charles Wittholz and was very pleased with the detail of the plans. I assume the Corvus plans were also well detailed?

Thanks, in advance, for any thoughts you would care to share about the Corvus.

[TAK]

Hi Alan , I hope I can answer your questions.

" I am curious about the construction method you used. The shape looks too smooth to be constructed of plywood? It appears that you extended the cabin somewhat from the original design. Is that correct and does that give you space for a couple of berths?"

I re-lofted the boat to round bilge. I then strip planked it with western red cedar. Yes I moved the cabin aft a bit. The idea being I could have a berth below and also I left enough room to sleep out in the cockpit. I just daysail it so I don"t know how this would work out.

"How does she sail in general terms? Is this design suitable for single handling in your opinion?"

She sails as she should for a catboat. I have raced her against the Arey's Pond Lynx and she holds he own. I don"t sail single handed and I don"t have a lot of experience sailing so others might be able to give better advice about sailing this boat single handed.

"Stepping the mast is one of my main concerns. Does the tabernacle you made, make the job fairly easy?"

Yes very easy. The mast hinge is the key to the enjoyable use of the boat off a trailer. The mast is sitka spruce and is easily lifted into position. I set this up all last summer prior to major surgery to both my rotator cuffs that also involved bone spurs and disconnecting both my bicept tendons that were cut two thirds through. The biggest problem is keeping the lines from tangeling on anything and everything.

I made a lot of changes to this design above the water line. Below the water line this boat is the same as the plywood Corvus. I would imagine they would sail about the same.

Tom

[Alan Peck]

Tom: Thanks very much for your reply.As I get older I have to think more about physical limitations!

[Alan Peck]

Paladin: If you have some info on a tabernacle that would be suitable for Corvus, I would appreciate it very much if you could share it when you have a chance.

Thanks