A Better Way To Boat - World Cat

A Better Way To Boat

The Advantages Of A World Cat Catamaran. A Smoother Ride Is Only The Beginning

Take a sea trial on a World Cat catamaran and you’ll understand just how smooth, just how exhilarating, and just how much fun boating can be. But, a smoother ride is only one of the many advantages a power catamaran offers over a monohull. In fact, a World Cat offers you…

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Before You Buy Your Next Boat, Think Twice.
You’ll Discover That Two Hulls Are Better Than One.

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Compared to a monohull, a World Cat brings you greater stability and a smoother ride in virtually any type of sea.

Chances are, you own – or owned – a monohull boat. And that means you’ve endured pounding, slamming, and slapping. Monohull manufacturers employ deep V designs to try to lessen the abuse, but the result is often just more rocking and rolling whenever you stop or troll your boat. But a World Cat power catamaran offers you a better boating experience without all the exhausting physical abuse.

Why is a World Cat power catamaran superior to a monohull?

Smoothness. Stability. Speed.
World Cat Hulls Are Designed To Deliver All Of Them.

When it comes to choosing the ideal boat, World Cat gives you more and better choices. It all begins with the two key hull designs that we offer. While each design shares the same major advantages of a power catamaran – a smoother ride, better stability, and shallower draft – our different hull choices can help you “fine tune” a better boating experience.

Planing Hull

Planing Hull

(used in all World Cat boats) – if you’re looking for speed, you’ll find it with this design. By employing a flatter V-bottom surface, you get on plane quicker for maximum speed. This design delivers racecar like performance. And, while traditional monohull boats slam you hard when coming down, this action is greatly reduced in a World Cat power catamaran. Which means less abuse and more control for you.

Semi-Displacement Hull

Semi-Displacement Hull

(used in our Glacier Bay Edition boats) – this design offers a softer ride, and has unique handling characteristics, which its thousands of satisfied owners swear by. Its unique design provides outstanding seakeeping and a soft ride by keeping larger sections of the hull in the water for maximum stability while underway. Its balance of hull buoyancy and dynamic lift reduces drag and increases efficiency.

World Cat Intelligent Hull Design –
The Science Behind The Smoother Ride.

VectorFlo Hull

World Cat boats deliver a smoother, softer, faster and drier catamaran ride in even the roughest, toughest conditions. The secret – and science – behind this better boating experience is intelligent engineering – which incorporates our VectorFlo® hull design.

This unique hull innovation combines air and water at the scoop-shaped bow and channels the mixture into the tunnel between the twin hulls. As part of the design, a Vector Pod, forward in the hull, helps to break up incoming water, creating aeration and reducing friction. As the mixture passes through the narrowing tunnel channel, it increases velocity, while decreasing forward pressure and drawing the aerated water and spray aft through the tunnel.

The result?

  • The rapidly moving aerated mixture forms a water-cushioned suspension between the hulls and beneath the boat’s tunnel
  • You get a softer ride, improved stability, and enhanced fuel efficiency
  • Because the aeration increases in rough seas, the cushioning effect becomes more evident the worse conditions get

So, you get a better boating experience in all kinds of seas. But, don’t take our word for it, take a sea trial and experience the VectorFlo® advantage yourself.

How We Build The Perfect Hull.

The process of designing a catamaran hull is equal parts physics, experience and technology, and as it is a significant investment in time and resources, it needs to be done extremely well. Here we describe what goes into World Cat’s ‘secret ingredient’ – the hull:

  • Before any design work is initiated, a full exploration of the boat’s intended use and desired performance characteristics is charted out. Will it be primarily used for fishing or for cruising? What speed, fuel economy and handling are desired? What type of ride is optimal (like cars, performance vs. ride is a balancing act)? What key features are critical? How can this boat be priced to maximize appeal? All factors need to be simultaneously solved.
    • For example, a boat designed for fishing will have more livewell capacity, fish boxes and rod holders, and accessibility around the deck. A cruising boat will put a bigger priority on seating space, relaxing/refreshment areas and other creature comforts.
  • Then, a general layout of weight and balance factors begins – what are the biggest weight contributors on deck, and how can these be optimally balanced around a center of gravity? How does this shift as people are added or as fuel is depleted? What engines are appropriate and how does their weight and power impact performance? How can stability be ensured if, for example, several fishermen are fishing from the same side of the boat?
  • Once these basic priorities are identified, the hull design begins.
  • Consistency/predictability across conditions.
    • Amount of planing at certain speeds.
    • Speed to plane.
    • Angle at which hull reenters water after a wave (smooth reentry rather than pounding).

Catamarans generally have significantly greater planing characteristics than comparably sized monohulls.

  • Factors in design:
    • Distribution of deadrise (angle at which hull departs from centerline on hull): shifts from 35° in bow to 12° amidships, with the planing surface at transom.
    • Shape of chines (deflects water in front; lifting surface aft).
    • Required lift – defined by four core coefficients of form, boats have to have enough dynamic lift upward to overcome the weight of the boat and ultimately result in planing. This is accomplished by the number, location and shape of lifting chines and strakes.
    • Planing surface (“delta pad”) – the flat surface that the boat rides on while planing. Catamaran planing surfaces are much more efficient than those on a monohull, which relies on lifting strakes to lift the boat. Instead, catamarans’ planing pads act like a lifting strake, which allows planing at lower speeds. The key to a great planing surface is the perfect balance of size, proportions, distribution, and how far forward on the hull it extends from the transom.

The defining aspect of a World Cat catamaran and the key to its advantages is the tunnel – as a unique situation where air is available underneath the boat , the resulting aerated water ‘cushion’ softens the ride.

  • Key balancing act: a high tunnel accommodates more water but forces higher gunwale heights.
  • Tunnel shape is designed to eliminate vibration and avoid ‘tunnel slap’ created by water movement.
  • Critical to incorporate elements to aerate incoming water to reduce water friction. The Vector Pod, situated in the tunnel directly between the forward bows, is a key factor here.
  • Also important to minimize ‘sneeze’ (the occasional forward puffing of water due to too much incoming water) – this is mitigated by downward deflection at the top of the tunnel in the bow.
  • Importantly, need to design so that it can be built with sufficient durability to provide years of trouble-free enjoyment.

At WorldCat, we work to create the perfect balance between function and style:

  • All design work includes the incorporation of essential features like anchors, through-hulls, doors, and motors.
  • Functional factors, such as hull stiffness in critical areas and water deflection at the bow, are explored.
  • Aesthetics are always a top priority, including everything from rubrail location to the way hull lines accommodate different colors.

At World Cat, we believe we have the industry’s best-performing hulls. But as we design new hulls, we continue to strive to seek out new shapes and materials to further improve the catamaran experience.

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