Catamaran made of barrels. Inflatable PVC catamaran: DIY

With your own hands? For such a vessel you need two main elements: a frame and air tanks.

Frame. IN hiking conditions frame catamaran can be made from wooden poles, which saves weight and volume of equipment. In other cases, it is made of duralumin alloy. IN industrial production They use D16T aviation grade aluminum - this is a rather expensive material, it is difficult to obtain, especially in small quantities. Moreover, the pipes should have a diameter of 35-40 mm with a wall thickness of 1.5 mm.

As an alternative, a cheaper AD31T1 alloy is suitable, but this frame is better used for catamarans that will be used on simple rivers.

Cylinders. The production of cylinders is a complex process, since it requires certain experience. You will need a pattern, PVC fabric itself, glue, an additive for glue and tools (hair dryer, roller, special spatula). I can immediately assure you that the first cylinders, like pancakes, are lumpy :) Therefore, it is better to order production, or buy factory ones. If you still decide to self-production, then our recommendations are:

1. PVC fabric any, but only boat. Density from 750 g/sq.m. Very good fabric produced by Mirasol, it is used to prepare cylinders for Khatanga kayaks.
2. Glue. Better in terms of price-quality parameters, this is glue 900 I. There is detailed instructions by application. You will need 1 liter jar with a reserve
3. Additive. Desmodur ( Chinese equivalent cheaper). Needed to be added to glue, it gives thermoplasticity. Your balloons will not fall apart at a temperature of 70 degrees, but do not leave them inflated in the sun.
4. Patterns. You can take the pattern below and print it on a large format printer. Based on this model, the catamaran in the example above was made, 4 meters long, with a cylinder diameter of 45 cm.

5. High pressure valves - you can buy them at the market where they sell PVC boats.
6. You also need tools such as a hair dryer, a brush, a roller for smoothing the fabric and a spatula (can also be purchased at a market where they sell boats or repair them).
7. Sling, eyelets and fittings

In our online store you can purchase entire cylinders or catamarans.

A catamaran is a type of vessel that is made using two or more structurally integrated hulls. This type of watercraft is especially suitable for fishing, sports, tourism and entertainment purposes, gaining access to various hard-to-reach places. The sailing catamaran, reliable and safe thanks to its design features. Moreover, you can not only buy it, but also make it yourself.

Why make sailing catamarans with your own hands?

In addition to sailing ones, catamarans with a motor engine and with rowing pedal propulsors are common. They are also suitable for making on our own. Especially if you take into account the fact that buying a ready-made catamaran costs several times more than the cost of making it yourself. But many start building a catamaran on their own not so much out of savings Money, how much because of the desire to express in your brainchild original author’s ideas regarding form, design, constructive solutions, achieving certain qualities of the vessel that are not available in the proposed industrial or other designs available on the market.

In any case, no matter how difficult the work of building sailing catamarans with your own hands may seem at first glance, this is a very real and achievable task for a person who is more or less skilled and has skilled hands. Therefore, below we will look at the main stages of building a sailing catamaran. Precisely sailing because it does not have to be subject to mandatory registration with the State Inspectorate for Medical Information (GIMS), which is required for almost any small boat with a motor engine.

Choosing a catamaran design

The first thing you must decide when starting to build a catamaran is to choose its basic design, namely, what its hulls will be made of. They can be made of plywood, boards, water bottles, pipes, etc. A great advantage is the sailing inflatable catamaran, the float hulls of which are made of rubberized material. It is this design that allows you to get a collapsible sailing catamaran.

Design requirements

The design of a catamaran depends significantly on the purpose for which you are building it. It’s one thing to use it for recreation and fishing on a small quiet lake, quite another thing to raft it down a stormy mountain river. The requirements for the strength of the structure and its elements in these cases are radically different. The ratio of the weight of the vessel and its carrying capacity is also important. After all, the smaller it is, the easier it is to transport the vessel to the place where it is intended to be used. In terms of this indicator, there is no equal to an inflatable collapsible catamaran, for which the weight of the vessel per one crew member ranges from 4 to 10 kg, and for inflatable kayaks - 8-11 kg.

Catamaran project

Exist and available real projects, which can be implemented in conditions small apartment, using only hand tool, ensuring high mobility of the product (no parts longer than one and a half meters - can be transported for free in any public transport and on an airplane), its low weight, ease of assembly and disassembly of the structure, the necessary strength and reliability.

So, if you have finally decided to make a collapsible sailing type, then you should look in the specialized literature for drawings of sailing catamarans that correspond to your choice. Believe me, it's not that difficult.

Let's consider a sailing catamaran based on two inflatable rubberized bags, which when inflated form two “cigars” with a diameter of 40 cm and a length of 280 cm, weighing 12 kg with sails and oars, which can easily support four crew members, providing them with sufficient comfort for work and rest and fishing. Each crew member accounts for only 3 kg of boat weight, and the ship’s unsinkability, convenience and excellent navigability have been tested in practice by dozens of short and long trips along the rivers and lakes of the central part of European Russia. These trips have shown that a catamaran design based on bag-type floats, which easily change their shape, overcomes obstacles and shallows much more safely, where kayak-type structures based on a rigid frame often damage the rubberized fabric, forcing repairs in the field.

Float cylinders

The main thing is to make bag-shaped cigar-shaped (inflated) float cylinders. To do this, we take fabric “500” - very durable, light and dense, with the common name “silver”, since it is equipped with a special aluminum coating. We cut out the parts of the cylinders from two pieces of fabric measuring 300 x 64 cm (two per cylinder - the lower and upper parts) and glue them together using the usual rubber glue. If there is no source material of a suitable size, then first we glue together such pieces from smaller pieces. We glue them together with an overlap of at least 2 cm. Subsequently, we additionally glue the resulting seams with strips of the same or less thin fabric with an overlap of 2-3 cm, first from the inside of the cylinder, then from the outside. In advance, we glue tubes with flanges for inflation from the inside of the cylinder so that the tube in the upper part is directed inside the structure of the catamaran, ensuring convenience when inflating. Lastly, glue the rear, wider part of the cylinders together, following the example of a bag of flour.

A finished balloon (not inflated) made of such fabric weighs about one kilogram. For a more durable design, cylinders can be made from so-called gas holder fabric, which is used, for example, at metallurgical enterprises in containers for storing oxygen reserves. Cylinders made of this fabric are twice as heavy, but also many times stronger than those made of silver.

Deck

The design of the sailing catamaran provides for the presence of two float cylinders made of rubberized fabric, which are combined by rigid elements available only in the upper part of the structure. They are a bolted platform (to simplify assembly) of four longitudinal slats or pipes (two per float) and four to six transverse beams. It is advisable to make longitudinal slats from the main part up to 150 cm long and the extendable part (up to total length slats up to 220 cm) made of duralumin channel. Cross beams with a length of 110 to 150 cm are made from material available to you, for example, from duralumin tubes with a diameter of up to 30 mm. The float cylinders are fastened to the platform using strong tapes (gross straps), three per cylinder, or with cables using special linings with eyelet holes glued to the cylinders. On top of the resulting platform, three air-filled swimming mattresses are tightly secured with cables - one in the bow and two (on top of each other) in the stern. The rowing crew members sit on these mattresses. They provide convenient accommodation for the crew and additional buoyancy of the vessel in the event (although this never happened) one of the floats is damaged. Under the mattresses, it is advisable to strengthen diagonally located ties and a sheet of durable fabric so as not to get the cargo on the deck wet.

Steering

The catamaran is controlled using a rudder mounted on the aft transverse beam, made from a piece of duralumin plate measuring 23 x 48 cm. The fastening is carried out with a bolt and a wing nut, limiting the movement when raising and lowering the rudder with screws, a tiller and a line (a cable for raising the rudder in small places). To prevent yaw when oaring, there is a small centerboard on the bow crossbeam, which is not needed when sailing. The steering wheel is collapsible with a removable feather.

Mast, oars and sails

It is best to make a mast from three duralumin tubes inserted into each other. Although a possible option is made of wooden rods with connecting strips. When carrying a vessel, other elements of the spar are inserted into the long parts of the mast - a gaff and a composite boom, made from duralumin or tubes of the same diameter. The mast base is fastened in the middle of the second beam, as well as by four cables with tensioning devices from the upper end of the mast to the ends of the first and third transverse beams.

The oars are also made composite, like those of a canoe.

The sailing catamaran is equipped with sails made of feather percale; they normally consist of a mainsail and a staysail, with a total area of ​​7 square meters. m. Such sails, installed on a mast with a total height of 360 cm, complemented by a jib, allow the catamaran to pick up speed up to 8 km/h in favorable winds. If desired, the sailing rig of the catamaran can be increased by experimenting with your own navigation experience.

Having made all the elements of the catamaran, inflated the floats and mattresses, assembled and adjusted the deck, mast, rudder and sailing equipment, you will get the result: a sailing catamaran made by your own hands is ready for use and is eager to set sail to reward you and your companions with dignity for your efforts.

PVC – modern material, having mass positive qualities. It is quite inexpensive, lightweight, strong, durable, resistant to various climatic conditions and Wednesdays. In addition, plastic pipes are easily and quickly connected, ensuring absolute tightness of the joints.

Thanks to this, the use plastic pipes has gained wide popularity not only in the installation of water pipelines and sewer systems. From these, “traditional craftsmen” use their own hands to make many useful “gimmicks”, ranging from racks and drinking bowls to sleighs and watercraft.

In this article we will tell you how you can quickly and inexpensively make a catamaran from plastic (with your own hands.

Contents of the article

Why a catamaran?

There are a lot of options for watercraft, as well as their purposes. For those who live near bodies of water, and especially for those for whom overcoming a water obstacle is a vital necessity, a catamaran is ideal. This type of vessel has many advantages. in front of kayaks, boats or yachts.

• To make catamarans from plastic pipes, a minimum amount of material is required. In addition, remnants from the recent installation of a sewer or water supply system may well be used;
• the catamaran is light in weight, so it does not cause problems in terms of transportation;
• due to the design features - two cylinders connected by a deck, such a craft has high seaworthiness, strength, reliability and sufficient speed;
• possibility of accommodation required quantity seating areas;
• Any type of engine can be installed on a catamaran.

What does a catamaran consist of?

The catamaran has a large number of design features compared to other watercraft.

That is why you need to know its components in detail, before starting drawings and installation work.

1. The first, and most important, part of the catamaran is the floats. These are two chamber structures located on the sides of the craft. Their immediate task is to keep the ship afloat. Cylinders can be made from different materials, limiting the outer perimeter of the float. To do this, use the film from which inflatable cylinders, foam plastic or PVC pipes are made.
2. Connecting frame. It can be made of any materials, from the same plastic pipes to wood or metal. The lighter the catamaran frame, the smaller the floats can be.
3. Deck. This part is created to accommodate passengers, luggage and other things that will be transported by water.
4. Steering wheel. The function of the rudder of any watercraft is performed by an underwater blade, which for movement is directly installed parallel to the movement, and for turning it is bent in one direction or another using a rotary handle brought to the deck.
5. Oars, pedals, motor or any other device that propels the catamaran.

Vessel size calculation

The diameter of the floats, as well as the width and length of the vessel, depend primarily on where and how it will be used. The larger the crew expected and the more cargo will be transported, the larger the size of the craft and the diameter of the floats should be.

The carrying capacity of a vessel can be increased by increasing the cross-section of the cylinders or their length. The decisive factor in this situation is the volume of air inside the cylinders.

Optimal parameters for calculating floats, Based on the crew and carrying capacity the following:

• a single-seat catamaran should have a length of 2-3 meters with a cylinder cross-section of 0.3-0.4 meters;
• for the manufacture of a two-seater vessel, cylinders with a length of 3.5-4 meters and a diameter of 0.45-0.5 meters are used;
• three and four-seater watercraft have a length of up to 6 meters with a float diameter of 0.5-0.6 meters.

It is not recommended to make a catamaran longer than 6 meters, since it will almost completely lose its maneuverability. Although, if you are going to sail mainly in a straight line, there are no restrictions on the size of such a “ship”.

How larger size the vessel, the greater its maneuverability and stability, but the less maneuverability. This applies to both its length and width.

The width of a catamaran is primarily determined by its purpose and method of propulsion. If you are making a catamaran for river rafting using the kayak principle, its width should not exceed 1.2 meters. Otherwise, capturing water with oars becomes impossible. If it is planned to board rowers on cylinders, the width of the vessel can be increased to 2 meters.

If the catamaran is a fishing or pleasure boat and it is planned to be equipped with a sail, motor or blades with pedals, its width can be increased further.

The width of the catamaran should be at least one and a half times less than its length.

Manufacturing procedure

To make a catamaran with your own hands, you need to decide on its purpose and, based on from this, calculate the dimensions. We will consider two options for the vessel: the simplest single-seater and a tourist raft based on a catamaran.

Single catamaran

We start making the simplest single-seat catamaran by making floats. We take two pipes of the same diameter and length (based on the calculations given above, we will need plastic pipes for external sewerage with a diameter of 0.4 meters and a length of 2 meters). We fix it on one side of both pipes. This will be the back of the catamaran.

The front part needs to be raised for greater cross-country ability and maneuverability. To do this, we use two plastic elbows with a 120 degree bend. We attach them to the other end of the pipes and also close them with plugs.

When assembling cylinders, pay special attention to the tightness of the joints. The slightest depressurization can lead to the sinking of a ship on the water.

The floats are ready. You can start assembling.

To connect the floats into one “whole” catamaran, you can use anything. Plastic pipes of small diameter are suitable, wooden blocks, metal corners and so on.

1. From the material you choose, we make crossbars 1.2 meters wide.
2. We install the cylinders strictly parallel to each other so that the bends point up and in the same direction.
3. We fix the transverse strips on top of the cylinders. For fastening, both clamps and self-tapping screws can be used, with which the transverse strips can be screwed to the floats for greater strength.
4. We install any comfortable seat on the cross beams, take the oars in our hands and row where we want.

Do-it-yourself single-seat catamaran made of plastic pipes (video)

Tourist raft

The basic principles of making these two watercraft with your own hands are not particularly different. The only difference is that the pleasure raft will obviously not be designed for one person. And it’s even better if it can also accommodate cargo in the form of provisions, a sun umbrella, clothes, dishes, and other things.

1. We make floats using the above method. But you should take a pipe with a diameter of 500-600 mm and a length of 6 meters. This will make it possible to create a stable and passable vessel on which you can take a nap without worrying about the life of the crew.
2. We make a strong frame measuring 6*2 meters. Since the frame not only must hold the cylinders in correct position, but also serve as a platform for the deck; it is better to make it from metal corners.
3. Clamps are tightened onto the pipes from which the floats are made, to which, in turn, the frame is attached using bolts.
4. Flooring is made from boards on the frame.

This design allows you to install any driving device on the catamaran, from blades driven by pedals to gasoline engines.

In addition, such a platform allows you to fully sunbathe in the sun, catch fish, and, in general, have a fun and fruitful relaxation in a narrow circle of best friends.

First you need to decide what tasks your catamaran will solve. It’s one thing if you need it on mountain rivers, and quite another if you’re going to sail it on large bodies of water. The features of using a catamaran most directly affect its design.

Selecting a prototype for construction

Most correct option When building a catamaran, the idea is to choose as a prototype an existing self-built catamaran that is most suitable for you in size and purpose. Drawings of such catamarans are easy to find on the Internet.

You can modify the selected prototype in the way you need, but the design of the main load-bearing elements should not be changed. Usually catamarans offered to self-construction, have already been reproduced in sufficient detail large quantities copies, the design is well developed and it is not worth changing it unless necessary.

Building a catamaran

The basis of the catamaran is the frame of aluminum pipes to which the cylinders are attached. Inflatable cylinders have a two-layer design: on the outside there is a cover made of tarpaulin or other durable fabric, it bears the main load. Cylinders are placed inside; in the simplest case, they can be made of a polyethylene sleeve. Their job is to hold air, so the internal configuration is not that important. They must be larger in size than the outer durable cover. For safety, it is better to make internal cylinders from several separate sections, in this case, in case of an accidental puncture, the catamaran will stay afloat.

To assemble a catamaran, use only stainless steel fasteners; this will save you from many problems. Pay special attention to the fastening of the cylinders - they should not rub against metal parts. If the cylinder rubs somewhere, then on the waves it will wear out very quickly, with all the unpleasant consequences that arise from this.

If the catamaran is equipped with a mast, it is advisable to provide safety mechanisms that automatically release the sheets when a certain force is reached. This is due to the fact that an overturned catamaran is almost impossible to turn back, and in strong sudden squalls it is not always possible to set the sheets in time - a few seconds are enough for the catamaran to capsize or be left with a broken mast. Therefore, you should worry about safety in advance.

Don't skimp on materials. Use quality aluminum pipes, good materials for cylinders and fastening belts. Also worry about convenience for the crew - it should be comfortable and safe to move around on the catamaran, so make at least a small deck; the space between the cylinders in the bow and stern should be covered with a strong mesh that can support the weight of a person.

Remember that on an inflatable catamaran, punctures of the cylinders are the main problem. Therefore, take care that a single puncture does not become fatal for your building, and the design of the catamaran allows for the most short time make any necessary repairs.