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Chris Cat Project
Hello all. I haven't written a thread before so please bare with me. Here's what I 'm doing. I purchased a 1985 Chris Cat with a trailer. it was actually in pretty good condition. I'm to take the deck off (which I have already done), cut it down the middle and make it a foot wider to a 9' 6" beam. I'm then adding 4ft to the length and 8 inches to the height. This is going to be a running plug to build a 35ft center console tournament fishing boat. I'll pull the hull mold from the plug. From this mold I can still build the original 30 and the eventually a 34ft sport cat. I'm going to run the 400R Mercs with jackplates. Many of you will think this is a huge project. I contract to build the fiberglass parts and assemble them on sportfishing boats ranging in size from 46 to 71. So for me this is small and easy to build. I specialize in Infusion so all the parts on the boats will be infused. the boats should run over a 100mph.
The ultimate goal is to build the 35 center console. But because its over 20 parts that have to be tooled and molds made, I'm going to build the 30 first.It only has 4 parts. The hull, deck, hatch and electronics console. I'll use the original deck and modify it for the outboards. It will have the classic look of the Chris Cat that I like, but a foot wider. Currently i have cut the deck off. The hull and deck are screwed and nuted together and glassed together. So removing the deck was going to be a pain. After much consideration, I decided to cut the hull just below the deck joint. So glad I did. i took a cutter and cut right through. i then went inside and cut the bulkheads with a sawzaw. Once the deck was up I could get to the fuel tanks. They are 110 gallons and foamed in. I've dug out most of the foam to get the tanks out. This took me 2 days, easy but slow. There was moisture in the foam. I probably wont be foaming new tanks in. In the forward cabin the deck was already removed. The putty on both sides as was the 2 3/4inch plywood glassed together for the center support. The putty was chiseled off and the plywood cut off. I then had to grind off everything. The tunnel down the center has been completely ground to remove all the grime and prep it to be cut in half and reglassed back together. The sides have been ground down about 9 inches to be able to glass it taller. its cored so I will be using balsa coring when I add the height. It took me about 40 hours to do all the grinding. Not fun. This is where I'm at so far. My goal by the end of January is to have the sides glassed, a jig built, and cut it in half to place it in the jig. I will post photos as soon as I can figure out how. if anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to keep up with this every week so you can see the progress. |
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I met jim 2 weeks ago and he knows what he is doing! Will follow progress for sure!
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Look forward to the build pics
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Here are some photos.
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Here are a few photos. The photo with the fan shows the fuel tanks. They are 110 gallons each. There was still a tag on the tanks .Over all the glass work was pretty good, with the exception of where they taped it together as you can see. The deck is balsa cored. The hull is cored also. Between the tunnels the core looks like its 3/8 plywood cut on edge and laminated in. You can see it through the glass. When I cut it in half I'll know for sure.
For those who are wondering how I can widen the hull this is my plan. I will build a jig out of sheets of plywood that will have the exact shape of the hull between the tunnels. But a foot wider. After I cut it down the middle, I'll pick up each side and set it in the jig. Keep in mind everything is shot with a laser so its exact. I've built jigs in the past and just finished a 71ft sport fish with a 22ft beam. So this one is pretty easy to build. If anyone is coming to south Florida, I'm in Stuart. You're more than welcome to come by my shop and see the progress. That's what Jeff did. |
Jim is a nice guy to speak with! Lots of knowledge and very patient, very passionnate about fiberglass dust ! Too bad he is not closer to me i would go there and be a spy! That would help me on my cat project! :)
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no affiliation with offshoreonly, just a member, that said, thanks for joining
if you find the time for updates, this will be a great build thread keep the pics coming |
Following, Keep up with the progress!
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I simply love the Christ Cat. Back in the APBA days with Freeze Frame video, these cats ran awesome with either I/O or outboards. With a widebody format, will be even better with 400R's. Very cool project! With a 35 foot cat, you'll be in the market with the best of them. FYI, DW builds fiberglass tanks impervious to ethanol. It's not a surface coating, the whole laminate schedule of the tanks use a special resin. Let me know if interested and I can post pics. . |
Hey Jim
instead of going private i figured i would ask you here for everybody to read the answer what is, or what are , the main reasons why you would infuse the fiberglass instead of handlaid? What is your biggest advantage of doing it this way? and how can multiple dry fiberglass layers stick to side of the hull before even being wetted by the infusion? They dont slip down or detach from the hull side while you install the peel layer and spiral tube so on and so forth? |
Welcome and thanks for posting your build thread. I look forward to your future posts as things progress.
Bob |
Hello all. its been a while. Why infusion? Infusing hulls and decks offers a much better product over hand laying. The glass stays in place by using a glue that is made for infusion. The glue actually dissolves when the resin comes in contact with it. When hand laying or vacuum bagging, every laminate has a secondary bond. You have to grind between laminates. The bond is only as good as how much you scuffed the previous layer. its nasty work no one wants to do. We have all seen or heard of delamination. its because the layer was not prep properly. Lets face it, the guy doing the grinding is not the highest paid guy. Also when installing the core, you have to hot coat it and apply it with core bond. A 5 gallon pail weighs about 50 pounds. Its very easy to add hundreds of pounds of unneeded weight. Also it not always bagged in. So its very easy to have voids where the core is not in contact with the core bond.
With infusion, the entire part/hull is one laminate. I gel coat the mold and then skin it with 3 oz of matt. I do 3 oz. on the sides to help prevent print through and 1 1/2 on the bottom. I'm going to build my boats with a hybrid Kevlar/ carbon fiber. The Kevlar being on a 45 and the carbon fiber being on a 90. They are stitched together and very strong. the alternative would be a 1708 and 1808. So the laminate schedule will be 3 oz. skin, Kevlar/Carbon, balsa core, Kevlar/ carbon. This will be very strong and light. When you infuse it, you vacuum the air out until you reach 29 inches of vacuum. 30 inches is one atmosphere. heres the formula when vacuum bagging anything. For every inch of mercury the amount of pressure is half the number per square inch. So lets say you're bagging in core. you only need to pull 5 inches of mercury. That means that you have 2 1/2 pounds of pressure per square inch. There's 144 square inches in a square ft. So you have 360 pounds of equal pressure on the core. More than what you need. With infusion, you have 29 inches of mercury. that means you have 2,088 pounds of pressure on the laminate. It compresses the laminate. therefore you use less resin by about 30%, I think. There is no excess weight. Its also now one laminate. Why balsa? Everybody knows of rot problems with balsa. With infusion the balsa is completely encapsulated .Unless you drill a hole in it water cannot get into it. the primary reason though is because the resin soaks into the balsa more than any of the other core materials. We all know how wood soaks up resin. balsa is end grained so the resin penetrates it deeper. I work with core cell, divinylcell and balsa.I know from experience that the resin does not soak into the other core materials. At over 100 mph in rough seas, I don't want a problem. I will be using devinycell where ever there is a through hull. that just makes sense. There are other materials I'll use where the screws will be.it just takes planning. Here's where I am on the boat. I've built a jig for the boat to sit in. What I did was used door skin to make a template of the bottom 20 inches apart. I would then take the template, put on a sheet of plywood and screw it into place. I then cut it out with a jig saw close to the template. I then flipped it over and used a router to finish the part. I made 17 of them. they will all be locked together with other plywood. Now the boat sits perfect in the jig. I've precut the jig in half. Once I cut the boat in half, I remove the screws holding the jig together. I slide one side over a foot and screw it back together. Now its in the perfect position. This will be easier to understand when I post the photos. I'll do that this week for all to see. Thanks for reading. |
Chris cat Photos
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f01fe814b9.jpg
Bow station https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b835eff35a.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0246d35540.jpg How they are attached https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f750cbdc31.jpg transom station detail https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...268de9556c.jpg Transom station https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...5ce67ee6f7.jpg The stations |
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...044dfa6d6c.jpg
Shooting the bottom with a laser Here are the photos of the stations and how they will fit. I also shoot the bottom with a laser from underneath the boat. I have a control line on each station that I shoot with a laser. This way I can check to make sure every one is exactly the way that I want it. |
I realize i dont understand the difference between infusion and vacuum bagging! Pretty much the same when looking at a picture, right? |
No, it won't look the same. Vacuum bagging is primarily used to bag core into place. You'll be looking at the core through the bag. You won't see any resin feed lines. Also you won't see all the resin in the part. What I'll do is post the complete build process of building a 46 ft sport fish hull. I have all the photos of building it. I'll either post it here or somewhere else on the site where more people can see it. I'll let you know where it is.
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can you lay the stations down, slide them under the hull and stand them up and tap them around to where you want ?
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That's exactly what I'll do. Stations lock into the pieces running fore and aft. You can see them in the photos. The stations will be sitting on top of a frame that will be leveled with a laser. I already shot the floor and know it's not level. This also gives me a level platform to slide the hull over a foot. This way i know nothing will change, i hope.
Right now I'm in the process of building the frame and checking the stations. Keep in mind I figure this stuff out as I go. The actual building of the part is simple. As always, it's all in the prep work. I wrote a blog on the infusion process under fiberglass section in the forum. You will probably find it interesting. |
great thread :cool: . . . and actually the first one i have ever subscribed to. Its good to see someone utilize, compound and improve such a legendary hull and i have often wondered why no one built a larger center console tournament style fast cat. . . it just makes sense in this day and age. What is you plan for the tunnel feature (the small pod), the V'd part? Are you going to eliminate it or scale it accordingly?
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Originally Posted by glassdave
(Post 4623248)
great thread :cool: . . . and actually the first one i have ever subscribed to. Its good to see someone utilize, compound and improve such a legendary hull and i have often wondered why no one built a larger center console tournament style fast cat. . . it just makes sense in this day and age. What is you plan for the tunnel feature (the small pod), the V'd part? Are you going to eliminate it or scale it accordingly?
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Originally Posted by Wildman_grafix
(Post 4623258)
Doesn't Jaguar make or did make a 35 CC fast cat fish boat?
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Glassdave thank-you. I'm not changing any of the running surface. It was already very fast. I'm going to maintain the tunnel shape. its actually the easiest way to do it. The V will just extend a little bit deeper. But the tunnel is wider. I don't know if you ever looked down the tunnel but its a compression tunnel. At the 2 nd step the center drops about an inch and half in about 6 ft. As the air is rammed down the tunnel at a 100 mph, its compressed which gives the stern lift. I think the reason why the boat was so fast was because of the pad it runs on. I've shot the running surface with a laser. Its very close. When I flip it over, I'm going to fine tune the bottom. There are some imperfections that I'm going to correct. I should be able to get some more speed. Its all about the running surface, balance and weight.
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Jaguar did build a 35 center console. It had the merc 300. I don't know if they are continuing to build boats. I went on one and looked all over it. Nice boat. I think I have photos. I don't know anything else about them. I heard Jaguar was a good running offshore hull.
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c1bc3657a5.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...869666f47b.jpg Heres what I'm going to build first.This is much easier to build and has fewer parts. So I'm going to build a variation of this boat. It'll be a foot wider. The cockpit will be bigger.. The integrated platform will move the engines back 10 inches . The jack plates will add another 4 inches. This will move the engines back into cleaner water. With the jack plates I can fine tune the height of the motors. I want to change the look of the deck. I love the look of this boat, but it needs to be updated. The bow will remain the same. I think it needs a short windshield. I think the back of the deck needs to slope down. Keep in mind the deck will be 10 inches longer. None of the modern cats have a square deck. Let me know what you think. The reason why I'm building this boat first is because its easy to build and I need to put boats on the water. The center console has over 20 parts that have to be built to assemble the boat. For all of those parts you have to have molds. To make a mold you have to have a part. This boat has 5 parts. 3 are very small. This is a very simple boat for me to build. I'm going to build a very high end boat, using all the latest technologies. |
can't wait to see your final result!
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So glad to see you build and post this. I wonder if the bottom of this boat is a considered a maelstrom design? There have been a few production boats that were asym go fast cats, center console, I can think of a few, talon carrier 25, cobra predator 30 and 31, Jag 35, maximum thunder 32 fish cat (later Haan blue lightning), outlaw made one as well, and now hydra is making one. some of these get the “hop” above 55 and need a tunnel tab. From what I have heard , some of the newer designs have eliminated that issue with engineering (like the old 30 Spectre had it but supposedly the newer 32s do not). It would be nice at this stage to engineer that out. Maybe the criscat design never had that problem. I’m sure some here have first hand knowledge if so, so they can confirm whether it’s of any concern. Best of luck with your project and thx for posting |
OK I'm back. I know its been a while. I was very busy working in Miami for 6 months so finding time for my project was minimal. It is now cut in half, widened a foot and glassed back together. Here's how I did it. I built stations that matched the bottom of the boat that would sit on a base that was leveled with a laser. The stations were precut in half so I could slide one side over. They were pre-routered so that I could slide two pieces of melamine in to use as my mold.
Once I slid one hull over, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I checked for level with a laser. I checked the deadrise with a digital level. This proved to be difficult also. I spent a lot of time and never could get it perfect. But its really close. Within an 1/8 inch and a half of degree. When I flip it over I'll fine tune the bottom with the laser and make it perfect. Glassing it was easy. I rolled gel coat and skinned it with and 1 1/2 oz mat. Next I used a 1708 which overlapped each side of the original hull 6 inches. Next I used an 1800 carbon fiber quad that had both a 45 and 90 degree weave. On top of that was a 3/4 inch H60 core and then a 1708 across everything and onto the original hull. It'll never come apart. Here are some photos. I'll have to post them later, they're having an issue. |
Chris Cat photos of build project
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...35e4cde13d.jpg
1800 carbon fiber https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...9435709e24.jpg Hull cut in half https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0c8e3e34f1.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1a36cd8073.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...ee6f7b2dab.jpg H60 core https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...5f77860400.jpg Filling the center mold https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...bd40af197d.jpg Jig boat sat in https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1e6f07b8da.jpg Jig https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f0610839ae.jpg All glassed together with 1708 https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...8eb150b787.jpg another photo of it glassed together |
The photos are not in the right order but I'm sure you get the picture.
Next I'm going to add 4 inches to the hull sides and a flange. I'll be pulling a mold to manufacture the boat. The reason for the 4 inches is so that I can raise the cabin height a few inches if I want to. Also when I build the center console boat it helps with having 25 inches of gunnel height in the stern for fishing. For me it brings the gunnel to about mid thigh. I'm also going to add and integrated transom of 12 inches to get the motors into cleaner water. It'll also have a 4 inch jackplate that will move the engines back a little further. After this the next part will be to flip the boat, tune up the running surfaces to make them perfect and prep it to pull a mold. |
Wow. Pls keep posting. Nice work |
That's some top notch work
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We need some updates Jim!
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Pretty smart way to keep everything straight with eachother! Good luck with the build keep the pics coming |
Any updates on this ?
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Yes. It's ready to pull a mold. I'll write more later.
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...71b6364bec.jpg
bottom after widening it. Next is to finish the bottom Its been a little while since I last posted. I tried but could never download the photo. I think I finally have it figured out. Before I finished the bottom of the boat I needed to add a flange to it so I could pull a mold. I also had to add to the hull sides because I lost an inch when I cut the deck off. So I decided to add 3 inches back onto the boat. It was rather simple to do but time consuming. I just cut Masonite, waxed it and attached it to the boat. I added the flange. This was my mold for the flange. Of course I prepped the inside by grinding it. then I just glassed it together. After this was done I flipped the boat upside down and put it back on the trailer. Flipping it by myself was a challenge and took me about 4 hours. To say I was a little nervous is an understatement. I didn't want it to fall on me. But I got it done with 4 chain falls. The trick was to get it past the center point so it would come over. |
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...8fd713f999.jpg
Attaching the flange mold https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...c5471b3bfd.jpg I attached the plywood to add a piece on top for the flange More photos I hope of the flange and flipping it |
hey Jim, what are the pros/cons of the V'ed tunnel vs a flat tunnel? just curious really. . . . . Keep the pics coming and thanks for sharing
I've flipped a few hulls on my own a time or two, yeah its a challenge to get them to go over the hump to say the least :D |
the rest of the photos, I hopehttps://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e1ef86b491.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3ba276e300.jpg Ready for glass https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...97ca479a63.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e8b226a5f6.jpg I have to pull it over https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...16b7e8f83a.jpg almost over https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...9344d0c27a.jpg over and on the traile to start finishing the bottom and sides |
From what I've been told the v in the tunnel helps to reduce wave slap. You have to remember this boat was built for offshore racing in big seas.
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