Streamline 7000Design Concept When Wayne Jones, of Streamline Catamarans, approached Noah Thompson, East Cape Marine, to design the Streamline 7000, he wanted a vessel that had the internal volume and comfort level to match existing 8m cats on the market today, but it had to do 30 knots, and it had to be trailerable. At first this concept appeared to be rather difficult to obtain, as the construction weight in GRP or aluminium made the design too heavy to tow behind the average family car. The displacement of the design would also require twin 115 hp to obtain a speed of over 30 knots. Having worked with DuFLEX Composite Panels on previous projects, Wayne suggested to Noah that DuFLEX/epoxy construction could be a viable option. Theoretical performance results based on DuFLEX construction showed that a massive weight saving could be achieved in the overall design, and this brought the original design concept within reach. Construction To take full advantage of the DuFLEX system, Noah worked with ATL Composites to supply the design as a kit, including pre-routed temporary frames, to optimise the build time for Streamline. The design was 3D-modeled in Autoship and flattened into developed panels, these were computer-nested and supplied to ATL to CNC rout the DuFLEX panels.
|
