Build The build was straightforward with two identical hulls pulled from one male hull tool. Building over a male tool may not be the lightest raceboat build technique, but for other builds this offers economy of dollars while still allowing fully high-tech materials to be used. The deck house including side decks
was built in an almost square female mould. All major tools were straightfor- ward classic wood-skinned glass-covered moulds built on CNC-cut framing. The most complex tool was the CNC-
cut foam tool for the complex mast support no1 crossbeam. This was designed as an I-beam engineered with a varying thickness flange based on local loading. The spar partner area was built up into
micky mouse ears of solid carbon 15mm thick. Precise planing and cutting were required as this and other structural mem- bers were bonded in place. Only in very high load areas is secondary taping used. During construction various methods of
Non Destructive Testing (NDT) were employed to ensure that any potential problems would be identified and corrected well before delivery. Visual inspection of laminated surfaces, drilled samples, stan- dard percussion (tapping out), ultrasound and thermal imaging were all employed for assurance. Any suspect areas were cut out and repaired with engineering input under the supervision of Goetz quality-control personnel. Laminating and cooking sequences were fully controlled with the first cooks for the major hull and deck parts being ‘bending cooks’ to precisely contour the solid unscored foam core. Assembly was carried out with the two
hulls being set up upside down, parallel and in register fore and aft. Major struc- ture [four cross beams, bulkheads, dagger- board trunks] was offered up to the hulls and bonded in place. Interior joinery for the hulls was bonded in after the structure. Rollover day was a fully choreographed
event, with four cranes and one moving truck required to move the still upside- down catamaran out of the building and then back inside once it was right side up. Final assembly, including installing the
deck/deckhouse sub-assembly outfit, with mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, plumbing and duplicate port and starboard deck hardware systems for both rigs plus final paint, completed the in-shop work. Trans- port to the water was another event as shop to beach is a three-mile journey. This was done pre-dawn to allow the police, who love a parade, time to shut down the route to traffic and prepare the way for us!
Lessons (re)learnt It takes a large team to conceive, design, plan, engineer, build and outfit a modern cruising yacht. This team needs to be led by strong project management that is able to co-ordinate all members of the team from the owner, through the designers, engineers, suppliers and builder. Without
58 SEAHORSE
Clockwise from above: removing and replacing street furniture and lamp posts is not cheap – fortunately Saphira could be launched ‘just’ three miles from the Goetz yard; 70ft of cat, even quite a slender one, gives copious room for family cruising with the occasional race thrown in; all the cores for the hull and deck were carefully pre-curved then cooked before any laminating took place; uncontroversial tooling – wood/glass moulds on CNC-cut frames; the bulk of assembly, including beams, took place with the hull inverted; a separate deck sub-assembly includes most of the sail-handling systems
this full-time management details across disciplines can be lost, misinterpreted or overlooked completely. Of course, these details do surface eventually, especially in the final push to the finish, and they can be painful to reintegrate so late in a project. Concerted effort spent upfront defining
the build, completing full design and writing detailed specifications means a smoother, shorter build cycle. It may seem interminable to wade through details, but the reality is that these slogs help the effi- ciency of the physical build and lead to a smoother project. Use all the tools that are available. The ability to visualise on the screen with 3D
renderings and now even in virtual reality can speed up the design spiral. Placement of equipment, layout of living spaces, styl- istic changes can all be rendered, changed and approved more easily digitally than in the physical form.
And finally After a summer of learning, finishing and tweaking, and an autumn of shaking down, Saphira is being readied to embark on long-distance cruising from its year end stop in Florida. You may see her in the Caribbean this spring or in Europe during summer. I hope you are impressed. Eric Goetz, Rhode Island
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