Thread: What Catamaran is this? Cunningham Quickcat

Hi Gus

Sure looks like a Quickcat---16ft, single centreboard mounted on the centreline on the crossbeams and solid deck???

I bought one in bits in the early seventies in PNG and put it back together. It was lots of fun to sail but what boat isn't.

I believe it was designed by noted catamaran designer Lindsay Cunninghham, probably in the sixties (maybe earlier) who was also responsible for designing and racing (I think) C-class cats around that time. There may be some more info available from some of the older Victorian Beach sailing clubs.
Not a lot of help I know. The boat looks to be in reasonable condition from the one photo. I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from it.

Howdy!

Dave is right - it is a Quickcat (Quickie for short) and his information is perfectly correct. They were quite popular in the 60s and 70s but are rare beasties now.

They also had a leaning plank rather than a trapeze - which was quite novel for a cat. Singlehanded racing class. They have quite a nice rough water capability and are quite comfortable to sail - as you are always sitting down.

Most boats were in Victoria - but there were a fair few sailing on Pittwater and Botany Bay in Sydney as well - but that was 30 years ago.

Best wishes
Michael Storer

Looks like a Quickcat to me. My Dad built one and sailed it on Lake Wyangan near Griffith NSW in the 1960s.

There's a reference to it here:

http://boatdesign.net/forums/archive...5/t-12732.html

Gaz.

The Quickcat was a Cunningham design. He was famous for a number of boats such at the Gwen 12 skiff, the Yvonne cat (which had a spinaker) and I think there were many others also.

I used to sail at Lake Bonney in the 70's as a kid and it was a class at that club. As time when on some guys built themselves Dolphin class cats but the Quickies were still going when I left town and came to Adelaide in 84.

Studley

Originally Posted by Louch

Hi I just bought this Catamaran off eBay. I was told that it is a Quickcat. I have googled to my hearts content and I'm no further in findind and information on it. Does anyone know any more about these boats?

Cheers, Gus

Hi, The Quickcat that I know was designed by L Cunningham in 1957 ( Mornington Y/C Vic.) at the sme time as the Yvonne Cat. The Quickcat was 16ft, hulls cut out of one sheet of 3/16 ply some 20ft by 6ft. It just had one sail and a centre board supported by a trussed bridge deck . It had a sliding central plank for support when Tacking or Reaching.
I built one in 1957/8 ( Q1. WA )being one of the first of his plans and of the 3 original Cats in West Aust.for the 1958 season.
Interestingly I am desparatley seeking a copy of the Plans for Rolly Tasker of the Australian Yachting Museum so he can get a Model made for display in the Museum in WA.
This Museum will have a model of near every Yacht Class sailed in Australia and includes every Americas Cup Yacht Contender. Plus a long list of yachting Contender names right up to our Olympic Golden Girls of 2008
Bob W

Lindsay Cunningham is still around doing high speed sailing records with the Macquarie Innovations projects.

He might be contactable through their website
http://www.macquarie.com.au/speedsailing.htm

I used to race both the Yvonne and the Quickcat at Sorento and Philip Island in 1969/70. Both excellent catamarans. The Yvonne was a bit on the heavy side but could take a lot of sail including a huge 'kite'.............great fun!!!!

The popularity of the Quick-cat (and similar) seemed to die of fairly rapidly with the introduction of the lightweight GRP beach catamarans such is the Hobbie-cat.....the chap I sailed with sold both his Yvonne and Quickcat and brought a Hobbie-cat......I had a Hartley TS16 at the time which I stayed with as I also had a (very) young family!!

Used to sail Cadet dinghies out of RMYS at St Kilda and one very blowy day back in the late 60's a Quickie went past and buried the bow in the face of the next Port Phillip slop. Greatest cartwheel I've ever seen!!

There were lots of 'em around back then but as mentioned above GRP killed all those timber boats. Would reckon there must be someone with the old plans somewhere in Vic. From memory they were quite common round most of the sailing clubs around the bay. Perhaps an ask around old hands of the clubs might be able to help.

Just a thought FWIW.

Jamie

Howdy Barnesy,

Yes .. kinda ... that first generation of cats, sheet ply, chines were superseded with the second generation stitch and glue Plywood boats which were lighter and simpler - Tornado, Stingray, GB2, QB3, Rhapsody A class, Mosquito, Cobra. Also some sheet ply boats that were very effective like the Paper Tiger and generation 1 boats that were able to adapt like the Arrow.

The glass boats were generally a bit heavier and had shorter racing lives .. until the various classes allowed foam sandwich - which pushed up the construction cost.

Same problem with racing dinghies...

Classes move to 'glass to "reduce labour cost", they find it cannot compete with wood, so they allow foam sandwich that increases the labour cost and also supersedes all the wooden boats ... so now everyone has to get manufactured glass boats.

Love the Generation 1 and Generation 2 boats.

Not impressed by teh foam/glass version of the plywood generation 2 boats.

That is where evolution has stopped by the way. The measure of that is the Tornado ... designed in 1967 has the legs of anything else.

After that it went to solid glass .. but hte glass boats were not able to compete

Originally Posted by bobmarg

Interestingly I am desparatley seeking a copy of the Plans for Rolly Tasker of the Australian Yachting Museum so he can get a Model made for display in the Museum in WA.
This Museum will have a model of near every Yacht Class sailed in Australia and includes every Americas Cup Yacht Contender. Plus a long list of yachting Contender names right up to our Olympic Golden Girls of 2008
Bob W

The Rolly Tasker! Impressed talk about name dropping. The Museum sounds really great, good luck with that. The description of the Quickie was bang on too with it's single centre board and "Hiking Plank". I think they had that on some skiffs like the Vaucluse Junior as well at some time before it was replaced with Trapezes.

Studley

I sailed a Skate for a while - had twin planks

My old man sailed a quickie out of Warrnambool, there were quite a few there. My Aunt also had one and left it at my grandparents to die, I wasn't old enough to save it back then.

I still have the mast at the farm somwhere, I'm not sure of its condition, I will check it out when I'm there next.. A 'Quickcat' owner wants it or is interested, they are welcome to it. I'd rather it go to a Quickcat than be cut down for something else as to help someone bring one back to life.

But let me check it out first, it could be completely buggered by now.

[quote=bobmarg;820022]Hi, The Quickcat that I know was designed by L Cunningham in 1957 ( Mornington Y/C Vic.) at the sme time as the Yvonne Cat. The Quickcat was 16ft, hulls cut out of one sheet of 3/16 ply some 20ft by 6ft. It just had one sail and a centre board supported by a trussed bridge deck . It had a sliding central plank for support when Tacking or Reaching.
I built one in 1957/8 ( Q1. WA )being one of the first of his plans and of the 3 original Cats in West Aust.for the 1958 season.
Interestingly I am desparatley seeking a copy of the Plans for Rolly Tasker of the Australian Yachting Museum so he can get a Model made for display in the Museum in WA.
This Museum will have a model of near every Yacht Class sailed in Australia and includes every Americas Cup Yacht Contender. Plus a long list of yachting Contender names right up to our Olympic Golden Girls of 2008


Hi, Have you located your Quick Cat Plans as yet? Regards

[quote=Quickcat;875012]

Originally Posted by bobmarg

Hi, The Quickcat that I know was designed by L Cunningham in 1957 ( Mornington Y/C Vic.) at the sme time as the Yvonne Cat. The Quickcat was 16ft, hulls cut out of one sheet of 3/16 ply some 20ft by 6ft. It just had one sail and a centre board supported by a trussed bridge deck . It had a sliding central plank for support when Tacking or Reaching.
I built one in 1957/8 ( Q1. WA )being one of the first of his plans and of the 3 original Cats in West Aust.for the 1958 season.
Interestingly I am desparatley seeking a copy of the Plans for Rolly Tasker of the Australian Yachting Museum so he can get a Model made for display in the Museum in WA.
This Museum will have a model of near every Yacht Class sailed in Australia and includes every Americas Cup Yacht Contender. Plus a long list of yachting Contender names right up to our Olympic Golden Girls of 2008


Hi, Have you located your Quick Cat Plans as yet? Regards

Have you located Quickcat Plans as yet ? Regards