FEATURED PROJECTS

Design Concept
With those goals in mind, it was clear to Roger that a semi-displacement hull form would meet the type of boating and performance the clients were looking for. Live aboard ability was critical so fuel capacity, water-making ability, power generation, and storage were priorities in the design.

Launched December 14 2015, the 18.7 metre Bajaca designed by Roger Hill Yacht Design, New Zealand, was commissioned by a Sunshine Coast businessman with a brief for up-to-date styling above the waterline, self-contained facilities for extended cruising in remote areas, and the ability to run at 25 knots if required.

Construction
Because of previous project experience and construction successes, Roger based the design for construction with ATL Composites DuFLEX composite panels with structural DIAB Divinycell foam cores.

The hull bottoms, lower topsides, chines and engine bearers were cored with 30mm Divinycell H130 and laminated with 2 layers of 850grm E-fibreglass quadraxial. Divinycell H has a proven track record, and its unique IPN chemical structure, yields impressive mechanical performance making it ideal for applications subject to fatigue, slamming or impact loads.

DuFLEX panels, cored with Divinycell H80 and laminated with a variety of fibreglass orientations, were manufactured for all other structural areas, predominantly in flat panel form, but in some cases, with unidirectional laminates for strip planking curved sections, to optimise the engineering and performance in specific areas.

ATL’s Featherlight panels have been supplied for the non-structural interior parts, and are cored with lower density Divinycell H60 and H35 cores laminated with a 600grm quadraxial E-Fibreglass to ensure uniform stiffness, stability and lightweight. The interior panels will be finished with a combination of timber veneers, decorative fabrics and some painted sections.

Roger commented “Construction with DuFLEX will ensure the required weight, stiffness and stability is achieved to optimise the performance and fuel consumption without sacrificing comfort or performance. Using the DIAB foam- cored DuFLEX option has saved approximately 2,000 kgs over more conventional building methods”

To take full advantage of the DuFLEX Building System, Roger worked with ATL engineers to supply the design as a CNC-routed kit to reduce labour and keep wastage to a minimum, and a DuFLEX Z-Press was supplied to Noosa Marine to join the panels and further speed up the build process.

The design layout was developed closely with the owners keeping the cabins as large as possible with full head room. The main cabin/saloon area is open plan with the doors and windows sliding away to allow entry to the cockpit with no step-over sills, and the large dining space is easily served from the galley or the BBQ on the aft platform.

The owner’s cabin is forward, featuring a large ensuite bathroom, and takes the full width of the starboard hull. The prime guest cabin also has its own ensuite and the other two secondary guest cabins share a large, mid-ship bathroom that includes a full-size domestic washing machine and separate dryer.

The design does not have a conventional flybridge, but does have a sun-bathing area on the cabin top where the tender is stored with a davit crane and a surfboard/paddleboard rack. This cabin top area is also fitted with large sliding hatches to maximise ventilations and light into the forward area of the saloon.

The boat will comfortably house family and friends, and the modern design, extensive entertaining both inside and out, luxurious interior, and a cruising speed of 16 knots will make it perfect for long range cruising and living.

Design Concept
The G-Force Series from Schionning Designs has continued to grow from the very first G-Force 1400 over ten years ago. Now, in 2017, another bigger sister joins the ranks.

Commissioned by an experienced G-Force owner Tony Longhurst, the 2000 Speciale is a specialised version that has some small changes and added waterline length. Overall measures are being taken to reduce weight and produce one of the lightest and fastest cruising multihulls on the water and 2000 Speciale is sure to make a splash!

Construction
With a 19.50 metre waterline length, the 2000 Speciale is the largest in the Schionning Designs G-Force range. The goal was to keep KATO as light as possible, to produce one of the lightest and fastest cruising multihulls on the water. Schionning Designs specified all structural sections of the boat in a combination of DuraKore Strip Planks and DuFLEX Composite Panels, manufactured by ATL Composites in Queensland.

Hull construction was planked with DuraKore Strip Planks, which has been the standard choice for the G-Force designs since they were first designed, however, the hulls have been reinforced with double bias carbon-fibre , rather than standard E-fibreglass, to provide extra stiffness and a reduction in weight for increased performance. All other structural components for the catamaran were supplied as CNC-routed DuFLEX Component Packs with various core thicknesses and carbon- fibre laminate specifications to meet design and engineering requirements.

Both the DuraKore Planks and the DuFLEX Composite Panels were cored with ProBalsa 150kg/m3 end grain balsa, produced by the DIAB Group, which is used extensively in the marine industry worldwide to provide exceptional compressive strength, high thermal and sound insulation and low FST (Fire, Smoke & Toxicity) properties.

The interior fit-out on KATO was also supplied as a CNC-routed Component Pack in FEATHERLIGHT Marine Grade panels from ATL. Cored with 15mm Divinycell H60, a low density unique combination of polyuren and pvc core, the Featherlight panels will provide good thermal/acoustic insulation, and being laminated with carbon fibre reinforcements, these custom panels will provide superior stiffness and ultra-lightweight in the G-Force 2000.

By specifying Components Packs for the project, weight consistency of parts was ensured, and the computer generated nesting allowed for maximum efficiency in positioning of the parts on the panels. The majority of parts were supplied with complete reinforcements applied, so the labour savings normally associated with standard wet-laminate construction, was also significant.

High performance KINETIX R246TX epoxy resin, manufactured by ATL, was specified to provide outstanding mechanical properties and stiffness when combined with the carbon fibre reinforcements in all additional laminating and taping on the cat, which will reduce fatigue and increase the overall durability and performance of the vessel. All structural bonding, filleting and fairing on the boat was completed with WEST SYSTEM 105 epoxy Resin and 206 Slow Hardener, and combined with the appropriate WEST SYSTEM powder modifier.

Design Concept
The name Barcoo Drift describes the quiet, laid back way of fishing on the Barcoo River in the North Queensland interior where the owners live and farm, many kilometers from the nearest salt water. With fishing being very high on the preferred activity, the back of the boat and cockpiit is specifically set up to optimise that activity.

Construction
The custom designed 14m sports fishing catamaran was constructed with a combination of DuFLEX Composite Panels cored with DIAB’s Divinycell H80 and HM100 structural foam cores with some panels laminated with unidirectional laminates so they could be strip-planked to conform to the more compound sections of the outer topsides and wing-deck areas.  ATL Composites engineered the HM100 into the hull bottoms and lower topsides to provide extra toughness to absorb high dynamic impacts and slamming loads while ensuring a light, yet strong structure.

Designed to keep weight to a minimum and to provide a very comfortable stylish vessel for cruising the North Queensland coastline, all other structural sections including bulkheads, hull soles, cabin sides, side decks, etc, were supplied in CNC-routed Component Packs cored with Divinycell H80 in a variety of thicknesses and E-fibreglass reinforcements to meet design and engineering requirements. Divinycell H has been widely used worldwide and has a proven track record in marine sandwich composite construction.

The interior fit-out on Barcoo Drift was also supplied as a CNC-routed Component Pack in FEATHERLIGHT FF1015X6 Marine Grade panels from ATL. Cored with 15mm Divinycell H60, a low density unique combination of polyuren and PVC core, the Featherlight panels will provide good thermal/acoustic insulation and will provide superior stiffness and ultra-light weight to increase overall performance.

Noosa Marine used Techniglue R60 adhesive, in conjunction with the proprietary DuFLEX Z-Press, for the panel joining.  Packed in convenient, self-mixing cartidge packs, the R60 makes mixing and application quick and mess free. A thin bead of epoxy can be applied quickly to the scarf joins on the panels and using the heated Z-Press allows the joint to be cured in approximately 12 minutes.

KINETIX R246TX / H160 epoxy systems are being used throughout the vessel for bonding, taping and additional laminating of the strip planked sections. WEST SYSTEM epoxy and powder modifiers were used fo bonding, filleting and fairing.

DuFLEX and Featherlight Component packs ensure weight consistency and build time is highly efficient.  To compiment the system, ATL’s FRP Bonding Angles provide a quick and effective means for making right angle joints between the panels.  These pre-cured angles reduce wet lay-up in tight corners and over-head applications, and also assist to speed up assembly.

Design Concept
A project that explores the boundaries between a high performance cruiser and a lightweight racer, the R42 deploys a fine main hull with just enough concession to creature comforts below decks to ensure that planning a long term cruise, is as equally realistic as mixing with the action at the front end of the fleet in a major race series.

The R42 is custom designed to a well thought through design brief from an experienced Australian trimaran owner.

Construction
Engineered by Composites Consulting Group (CCG) to Category A Offshore, the R42 designed by Tony Grainger, is the latest high performance trimaran under construction at Australian Custom Multihull Yachts at The Boatworks on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The mould frames and strongbacks are made from 16mm MDF that were CNC machined by ATL Composites from electronic cutting files. The cutting files provide slots for fast assembly and the building forms are stabilised by locking the joints with epoxy fillets. The beams are symmetrical about the athwartships axis, so one set of female tools can be used to build all of the beams. The primary beam is a box structure that sits inside the fairings. The fairings are non-structural, so the laminates are quite light.

The main hull planking material is made with DuFLEX Composite Panels with a 15mm Divinycell H80 structural IPN foam core with 200grm carbon unidirectional laminate on each face.  The DuFLEX panels are manufactured under heat and positive pressure by ATL Composites to ensure a consistent laminate with a high fibre ratio. The panels were supplied in 1200mm x  2400mm sheets with the proprietary DuFLEX Z-joint on each 1200mm end.

The panels are bonded with Techniglue R60 structural adhesive, supplied in cartridge packs, using ATL’s  Z-Press which applies pressure and heat to the join, allowing the epoxy to cure in just a few minutes.  The panels are progressively moved along until a panel of the full length of the hull is created. The full length panels were then ripped into strips of varying widths and planked over the temporary frames to make the hull shell.

The planking has been reinforced with a combination of carbon fibre double bias reinforcements laminated with the high performance KINETIX R246TX Thixotropic Laminating epoxy under vacuum to achieve a high fibre to resin content to optimise the construction for weight and stiffness.

In the more compound sections of the main hull, Divinycell H80 foam in a variety of thicknesses has been used to create the shapes, while H100 and H200 was used intermittently in specific high load areas,  and then laminated in-situ with R246TX and a combination of KINETIX H160 Medium and H126 Super Fast Laminating hardeners

The hull has been faired with Technifill XP R1160, a lightweight, pre-thickened compound that is easy to sand with no shrinkage.

More photos of this project can be viewed on  https://www.graingerdesigns.net/trimaran-designs/r42-trimaran/r42-build-gallery/