How To Design A Catamaran Hull?

This page provides notes on boat hull design goals and mathematical formulas used in actual catamaran hull design. The first step of catamaran design is to decide the length of the boat and its purpose, then optimize other dimensions to give decent performance. In the first series on Catamaran design and build, a top naval architect discusses the elements of drag, hull shape, keel shape, and rig design that factor in whether a heavy, stiff cruising boat or a light, high-performance racing machine. Hull designs are carefully studied and optimized to carry the required load and reduce forward resistance.

Fine hulls demand little power to make the move, and hull design is a hugely complex subject. Different sailing conditions require different solutions, such as inshore boats having a flatter rocker while offshore boats having a flatter rocker. Hull design analysis for a large catamaran using multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is important, as 3mm is fine for the hulls.

The key to Catamaran design is a higher Cp (Cross-Polar Pressure) for fast sailing, so a multihull should be at least 0.61 and a heavy hull should be at least 0.61. The deep V is a simple to build hull shape that matches the human body, being narrow low down and wider high up. There are two major dimensions of a boat hull: the length of the hull LH and the length of the waterline LWL.