S3#7. Proiectăm catamaranul suprem! Sa inceapa distractia! Portofino 52.

34 thoughts on “S3#7. Proiectăm catamaranul suprem! Sa inceapa distractia! Portofino 52.”

1. Hi Folks, Erik Aanderaa has that oscar system installed on his boat, valuable for him as he is a solo sailor and as a couch based sailor can certainly see the safety benefits. Great video, ballooning looked fun.

2. Want to understand the sliding door location. Between the helm and weather deck not between the helm and cockpit? Sliding doors do not stow well for windage. On homes, french exterior doors can have the option to have a screen rolled vertically like a mast fuller. I wonder if rolling instead of sliding could work. Not sure, just an odd thought. I assume part of the storage under the helm would include a foot well for sheet/halyard tails. Protecting the instruments: I can not think of why like my quad controller you could not have a sun hood. More durable and made from aluminum with a black matte finish inside and a white gloss finish outside (rolled edges). It would help protect from water drops and make reading the instruments easier with fewer reflections (you could probably turn down the brightness lowing power consumption). 🙂

   Unrelated: I have been thinking of solar panel placement on a boat we are considering. The best location based on shadows on a cat would be aft of the main cockpit roof. This of course has been done many times but I have not seen it with bifacial panels. The new bifacial panels are more efficient because the bottom layer is glass not opaque. Solar power is generated from not only the sun hitting the top surface but also reflected/refracted light striking the bottom of the panel. I can not think of a better application than collecting light bouncing off the water! The bifacial panel's pattern is attractive giving a filtered almost pergola quality of light/shade. I am with you… shade is important. Sorry for the unrelated tangent but I know you guys are considering more than the content of your videos.

   As always no reply is expected. Know you are busy!!! Great progress guys.

3. Many long comments below from your viewers! Just keep in mind…

   Great design stirs the imagination and elicits ideas.

   You are on to something with this boat 😉

4. What a weird layout… that centreboard looks about the worse mechanism i have seen… how do you repair that in the water in remote locations ? Would be good if you stop mentioning performance as its simple not a performance CAT..

5. Rain water may fall along the stairs (from helm Station) to salon (?)

6. I have both an UV camera and a forward looking sonar. OSCAR uses Flir technology. I went with a Flir unit simply because of post-purchase serviceability anywhere. Sionyx is also good, I understand, but I have no experience with it. Forward looking sonar? I have B&G electronics so the B&G unit was an add-on. It seems to work well. However, the gold standard is Echopilot which is also somewhat expensive comparatively. But, you are spending USD1.5 million on a "dream" boat. Why would you not use the best?

7. Oh my goodness! 😮 The safety additions and construction of this catamaran will bring you both the added security of knowing you are in the safest boat on the ocean! There is no price you can put on your safety and I truly believe dollar for dollar you are spending wisely. When finished you both will have raised the bar on future catamarans built by other companies. They will need to “step up” their game to even compete with Portofino. She is so beautiful even if it’s just in the blueprint stage. I’m excited for you both and so grateful you are taking us along on this journey! Thank you so much 😊 I loved the balloon 🎈 ride and so happy Eli got to check this off her list. I’m sure this won’t be her last balloon 🎈 ride as she has now got a taste of a highly addictive adventure. Both of you at dinner were absolutely gorgeous! You both looked happy and healthy. 😊 Until next time, keep the wind to your back and stay safe!

8. Who says "money doesn't bring happiness"
   Congratulations 👏 can't wait for real yacht tour once you get it🤞🤞🤞 so exciting, I wish you both the very best of LUCK 🤞🤞🤞👌👌👌👍👍👏👏👏🤩🥰 ✌❤🍀

9. Great show today. Q, how do you plan to use the front stairs with the trampoline in the way?

10. Hallo from Greece. First and foremost, i see the welding is not complete, minute 15:00 and 17:00. The welding quality is wery important with aluminum. Are there shaft drives? The helm is a compromise always. Balance cats has implemented the pivoting wheel very well. When thinking about protecting the steering station, i see everyone is thinking of something to pull down. something to pull up is also an option. "Windows" made of glass laying flat ahead of the instruments and on the left and behind the steerind position could seal very well. The right side could benefit from something that can be lifted up which may go down fast if needed. As for the instruments shade, video monitors have add on shades for outdoor use. Another idea is if the hole bimini could go down like a tripod with 4 legs or like a table with tripod legs.

11. this is looking like a dream I had of the ideal catamaran…only changes i would want would be the helm station mounted forward and inside a la Windela 54 /kinetic 54/62/Gunboat 68/ Chris White 72.,and with manual tillers as a backup .. (the idea of being soaked from an exposed helm station is not appealing at my age ) and a deck located master suite like the JFA 85 .. do like the swing away centreboard type daggerboards ..genius idea ….those underwater cameras are a great idea ..entirely doable …tempered or laminated glass..all great practical solutions …you may want to look into the tesla lighting protection system..one outfit is CMCE… it is a 100 year old patent but indications seem to be that it may work..it is expensive but probably better to have it that not

12. Epic! Really going to enjoy this one. You guys have certainly thought of everything. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

13. Very good one, thanks 👍

14. I love the vibes of both of you, this will be amazing and you deserve all the good things. About the steering system, I like the design from Balance, maybe ti could work for your boat too. Cheers from Cancún.

15. I’m really excited for this build! Safety, safety, safety. Those options for safety will be worth it to protect your investment. Not to mention, the piece of mind!

    I have to say, Balance catamaran’s Versahelm is truly a wonderful solution that you may want to consider with your Portofino 52. I don’t think it’s patented, as there have been many tilting steering columns.
    All the best to you two!

16. Love it. If they made a power cat I'd buy one

17. Have a look at the design of the cockpit cover protection from the Xquisite X5 and Sixty

18. A thought for the steering station, from memory I believe the Hylas yacht has Polycarbonate screens that slide up into the roof, out of the way when not required. The slides are comparably light, don’t scratch or go milky in time, giving clarity of sight line.

    Anyhow just a thought for fouling weather.

19. Thank you for another great video. Congratulations on ordering your new boat.
    Some thoughts about your boat and previous comments.
    Folding keels and rudders are great but please verify that they will function after an angled strike. Few impacts will be aligned directly with the direction in which they fold.
    Cockpit daybed: Adding sunbed style backrest brackets to lift part of the mattress to a backrest may facilitate common seat width.
    Sealed air voids made in Dubai should have little moisture for condensation to occur unside. Please ensure you know how the builder verifies sealing of these voids. Pin holes in welds are common. Holing a sealed void would be most likely low in the void and water intake would be limited to just above the hole by the air above the water. Many pontoon tanks have holes in the base to adjust the pontoon standing height. If needed compressed air is blown into the holes to raise the pontoon.
    Lightning protection: I've designed lightning and earthing systems for a few hundred Australian installations including for areas exceeding 180 thunder-days per annum. Having seen severe damage to a building fitted with a proprietary system, I suggest you avoid such systems. I suggest you ensure your system conform to Australian Standard: AS1768-Lightning protection.
    An aluminium vessel with an aluminium mast is an ideal situation. I suspect your masthead will be more than 45m above the sea. Thus in addition to top strikes, the mast and its stay wires may be exposed to side strikes. The mast surface may be damaged by such a strike but that should be all. I assume the stays will exceed 10mm dia. but if they don't I suggest you ensure they are at least 10mm dia. but preferably 12mm or more. Adding a 10mm dia. 600mm to 1.5m 316SS or al rod above your masthead would minimize direct strikes to your masthead. I assume the builder will conductively mount suitable 316SS plates submerged below water level on the inside of each hull. The shorter the distance from any lightning strike to the sea the better. Should you desire more info. please comment accordingly and i will email you.
    All the best for your boat build and for your journeys during the build. Enjoy life and keep smiling.

20. So happy for you guys!!!!!!

21. Starting to like this boat more and more…. it ticks a hell of a lot of boxes. Congrats with your choice. As far as the cockpit windows: you might want to look into the solution the Amel Super Maramu has: a solution where the windows are split horizontally and slightly overlapping. The bottom part is fixed and the top part can swing open. For the OSCAR: Don't doubt, do it. I have sailed over 2.,500 miles with it and it picked up things I was not able to see. From small dark fishing buoys to unlit boats at night. I'm having an EchoPilot 3D installed for safety as well, no experience yet but looks promising. Underwatercamera's I have looked at them but nobody could convince me the lenses would stay clean over time. Best of luck and fun with the build of this beauty.

22. Wow… I'll say it backwards woW…. very exciting times… Gr8 to see you both happier and I reckon your 2 (or so) years will go fast eh Enjoy.

23. That's the Burj Al Arab in the picture but the details of Burj Khalifa. You're both looking well & happy, imagine moving forward with the 52 is a big part of that.Ergonomics of the winches and line/sheet management on the cabin top at the helm will be very important and looks like you're moving in a good direction. The Dubai ballon ride is an early start but worth it. Loving the videos, thanks for sharing. Best wishes, Jason Yvette & Jack.

24. Great to see the 47 coming together. Regarding instruments, direct sunlight onto a graphic screen will overheat the device and make reading the information more difficult. In the movie industry, this problem is ever present for screens large and small. The solution is a detachable hood. Commercial versions may be available, but custom hoods will fit perfectly. They are cheaper and easily replaceable. Use velcro, coroplast and tape. Attach the hood whenever needed.

25. Just a thought, but why not have the “roof” over the helm station be the “hatch” that closes over the steering position. Would require hinging supports rather than the fixed stainless tubing/carbon struts?

26. Hi! Having never been on anything other than a ferry….. Can i suggest you check out car dashboards. Some (Audi, Rangerover) have tiny hydrolics that drop their dashboards out of sight when required. I will expect a mention when you adopt this genius idea. Can't understand why i love watching your channel. I can't even swim.🤦🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️😭😭😭

27. They probably use tiny electric motors to move the car dashboards..

28. I am not adventurous enough to take flight using a gianormous balloon. However, I would not mind taking a tour of Dubai. Amazing does not seem to cover it.

29. St Francis catamarans have tramp ladders, I know Anton du Toit have designed some custom aluminum cats with the tramp ladder too and I've have seen them on a number of day charter cats throughout the Caribbean as well. Such a neat thing to have

30. For the Cockpit, why not have a carbon fibre canopy roof and supports (for lightweight and strength), combined with a near full width sun roof and then rigid toughened glass or UV stabilished polcarbonate screen and sides? (using glass for the front screen would offer the possibility of having forward screen wipers for better visibility in spray conditions). An enclosed cockpit would offer full protection from the weather providing a sealed helm, but at least offer you a semblence of out door sailing when you opened the sun roof. It might be possible to make the side glass panels slide to open to maybe offer an even closer to open experience so you could have top and sides open. Obviously the lines channels wouldn't be sealed but there maybe ways of managing water ingress through these spaces to ensure it doesn't reach the cockpit through eg right angled turns around other pulleys and drain channels. The sun roof could be fabric but a better solution for water tightness might be to have it solid and simply extend backwards over the cockpit when open. I'm guessing it might need to manually operated for weight pruposes but this is something a naval architect could explore.

    One solution I think for controllling line water ingress as above would be to have the lines come through small holes in the screen or channels under the screen, round a pulley making a right angled turn to 90 degrees along the screen, boxed in from the rest of the screen, another pulley turn 90 degrees back into the cockpit to the winch. This would mean any water that surged in around the lines would hit the polycarbonate box behind the pulley and be deflected left or right. The use of a gradient to drain this out of the area and away from the pulley leading back to the winch on each side, would hopefully stop ingress around the lines and any water that came in on the lines would of course drain in and out of the line box as per usual.

31. Not sure if someone earlier suggested this but could the hard Bimini over the upper nav station be hydraulically lowered to provide a sealable cap in inclement Weather. It would also reduce windage and (if lockable) make it harder for someone to steal the boat.

    I think your choice of aluminium and boatbuilders will give you many years of safe and comfortable sailing

32. This is a great looking boat. Lots of unique innovative features. I am interested in how the centreboards will be reinforced. The ill -ated Gunboat 55 had centreboards and there were problems with the centreboard boxes flexing because the boards were a long lever supported in a relatively low profile centreboard box. I suspect that they can be made robust with aluminum and I am interested in seeing the design of the supporting structure.

33. Love & Respect!……btw; perhaps a "cacoooning" curved safetyglass/lexan could be designed for upper steering position… small concentric tracks for each piece attached to overhead and partially on roof. Or how about mini winshield centered on steering position with wing sidea track mounted that could be parked behind min windshield…..

34. This is fantastic. Thank you for sharing this great build. Does anyone do a retractable glass windshield?

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