Oram 44 C Cruising Catamaran Design Concept The Oram 44 C by Bob Oram Design is a mid-size cruising catamaran capable of ocean crossings. The boat has various layouts and configurations, including twin cockpit or aft cockpit, galley up or down, and up to 4 doubles. It had been Tom Honan's lifelong dream to own a cruising catamaran, it occurred to his wife Judy that if they made some landscaping alterations to their front yard, they could have room to build one themselves. Judy presented this thought to Tom. After 400 hours of internet research perusing many study plans, purchasing every multihull magazine they could get their hands on, and many long discussions, they decided that the Bob Oram catamarans would suit their needs. Construction The Oram 44 building system involves assembling CNC-routed DuFLEX panels in female frames with chine bilges. Judy and Tom purchased Techniglue R60 adhesive in dispensing cartridges to quickly deliver a pre-mixed structural adhesive to join the DuFLEX Z Joints. They also hired the DuFLEX Z-Press to reduce the curing time of the epoxy mixture and make the joining process more streamlined. "Bob gave us a micro-apprenticeship in boat building, helping us to join the DuFLEX panels, set up the frames, tab and tape the keel to the lower bilge panels and place all the other longitudinal panels to show us virtually half a boat, all in 6 days. Then we rested, when he left, and our version of boat building set in, i.e., SLOW! |
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