The first 25,000nm

on our Wharram

n hans Lammens

faces and taut lines, saved us from

the concrete wall. Isabelle is suddenly
beside me with wrinkled brows and
expects a report. Not now.

Our sailing experience with the

home-made James Wharram
catamaran Tiki 46 Wakataitea.

First manoeuvre getting

out of the slipway!

hesea trial, this test that one

undertakes before buying or
after completion of a boat is
according to me, often only
a half a day or a day trip on
the coastal waters or in the harbour.
Each yacht has its own characteristics,
we are new onboard, and it will probably
not be the best conditions to really learn
something about the boat. Motor, full
power, manoeuvres, right, left, straight,
head in the bilge and sails up and down.
In our heads, the stories of the owner
telling how many storms his ship went
through, etc ... After all this, how can
you know about the real behaviour of
the boat off shore?
Well, our first trip with Wakataitea was
similar.
After two years and six months of
boat building, I stood with wobbly knees
behind the wheel.

Now we have a channel 100m astern,

which is just 5m wider than the boat.
Our friend Andy sits in his dinghy with
the outboard ready and helps us pull the
boat backwards out of the channel.
First manoeuvre: 100m backwards
to get out of the slipways channel. On
the shore a dozen people hold the ropes
while talking with the neighbours. They
try to chat with us but we could not
hear them because of the noise of the
engine.

Almost out, now everything goes

according to plan as we reach the end
of the slipway to waving hands and
flashes of cameras.

The engine is warm now, the crews

bring up the mooring lines and we shoot
at 5kts down the river. Isabelle is back
beside me, holding my hand with a sigh
of relief. Bon Voyage, Cheri and a kiss is
our tradition when we go on a long sailing
trip.

main pic above left: One reef in the

main and in the jib.
above: Enjoying free space on
deck.

All systems run well and the steering

gear luckily is in the right direction. Full
turn and we go back up the river, stop
the boat and start again ... we do that
for half an hour. Isabelle takes the wheel
and I check the bilge to make sure there
is no water coming in.

I try to act cool, put backward

gear in, look over my shoulder to see
if everything is free. The water bubbles
around the propeller and Wakataitea
moves slowly ... forward, toward the
wall of the slipway. The crowds roar
still resounds in my ears. The gearbox is
connected the wrong way. Backward is
forward!
Oops, shit happens. I quickly put the
gear handle to the other direction, the
boat stops and goes back in the right
way. Emergency stop works fine!, I
shout to the crowd, looking with smiling

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M u lt i h u l l W o r l d 59
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15/01/14 2:24 PM

The sailmaker had not finished all the

sails yet so we leave it at that and throw
the anchor in front of the shipyard. The
engine is switched off. What a relief.
The tension is released slowly. Isabelle
and I climb into the dinghy and we drive
around the boat to see how it looks from
far away. She is well-balanced and looks
great in the suns reflection. The boat is
huge, says Isabelle.
The pop of a champagne bottle rips
us out of our daydream and we go back
on board. A large boarding platform
astern of the boat makes it easy to
board. The six crew members of the
day are scattered on the open deck and
champagne glasses go around, followed
by fine salmon sandwiches.
A short speech from the captain, The
Wakataitea project is finished, Cheers!
... Everybody is happy, laughing and
cheering.
Lets hoist the sails and go.
A week later we have all our sails
onboard. We install them at anchor and
lift them up and down several times.
Everything fits well. Lets go!
Whangarei Harbour sits in a round
and large river basin surrounded by little
mountains. So with little wind we drift
more than we sail with the flow down
the river but we are still able to tack.
Even at 3kts, the boat tacks through the
wind, for a catamaran, this is not bad.
We reach the river mouth and slowly
reach the waves. Our boat is still quiet
in the water, no squeaking or scratching
of the lashings which hold the boat
together. A fresh breeze is coming
up and we go forward. Twelve knots
apparent wind and we are sailing 50
upwind at 6-7kts. Super, for the first
time with our Wharram we are already
60 M u lt i h u l l W o r l d

a knot faster than the top speed of our

previous yacht. We feel as if we are
flying!
The wind turns a bit more, we sail
downwind and the waves are about 3ft
high. Everything is alright. I go inside the
hulls to see if the cups stand still in the
cupboard. Okay for the first stardboard
tack. We head up into the wind, and
then go through, keep the headsail back
and the boat turns around. Not many
differences from our monohull.
The catamaran accelerates again
and we set course for Auckland, 80nm
south.
The Louis Vuitton Race IS going on
out there and we would like to have a
look at it. The wind comes on the beam
and we sail at 7-8kts. We play with the
sails and experience different trims until
we find the best ones.

As the day comes to an end we head

for a place to anchor for the night. The
mainsail falls in the lazyjacks and we
drop the anchor. We sit on deck with
our sundowner drinks to enjoy the
beautiful surroundings and celebrate our
successful first sailing day.
An early morning start with 25nm
still to reach Auckland. The wind is like
the day before and it is blowing nicely.
Around noon we see many sails on
the horizon. Some of them are heeling
almost to the waterline.
It is Saturday and the Louis Vuitton
race is at its highlight. Here in the
Hauraki Gulf it always blows stronger
than outside. We now have 15kts
apparent wind on the deck and we sail
downwind with 8-9kts toward the sailing
boats. The race comes to meet us and
the racing yachts turn around the buoy
when they are almost within earshot.

New sails pop out, a spinnaker is torn

out shortly after. I am very excited and
try to rush behind the guys. Isabelle
reminds me sharply that we are not
allowed to do that! A security boat sees
us with our strange crab claw sail
and crosses our path closely. Okay, I
turn the wheel around and we sail on
a reach. The apparent wind is now up
to 22kts and the boat shoots at 11kts
through the water.
I get a small lump in my throat when I
see how the leeside shrouds are loose.
Isabelles eyes are worried, Im not so
proud anymore and my knees become
soft. I try to calm down thinking that
Wharrams are flexible boats and yes, this
is all perfectly normal. But we dont feel
really comfortable with it so we turn into
the wind and drop the mainsail into the
lazy jacks. The boat sails slowly under
jib with 3kts and we reef the mainsail.
The test! it takes us half an hour to
finish everything. The racers have long
disappeared over the horizon when we
have the sail up again but the gulf is
still full of weekend sailors. We shoot
off again, crossing the area at 7-8kts,
prepare to tack and then come down at
the same speed. Its going great, were
happy and passing sailing ships wave
at us. Wakataiteas type of sail is rarely
seen on the water.
The wind increases and we reef
the headsail. We now have 45sqm of
sailcloth up. The boat is going at the
same speed as before and the handling
is even better. We learn that we must
reef early and that the boat doesnt lose
much speed. The rig doesnt look so
stressed any more and we can trim the
boat so that she holds her course alone.
The evening comes and we are tired
with all this lifting sails up and down.

We head for a sheltered bay and half an

hour later we are anchored along with
about 50 other boats like ducks in a
pond.
Beer cans crack open and fish is on
the grill on the neighbouring vessels. A
rowing dinghy passes slowly and we
hear: Oh, a Wharram, nice boat ...

top from left: Inside Wakataitea; View

through galley to saloon; Saloon; View
from saloon; Wakataiteas bathroom.
below left: Lapita boat, given by James
Wharram to Tikopia Island in the
Solomons.
above: In New Zealand.

Small talk with the neighbours. The

first 100nm are behind us and we fall
into bed, tired.

Twenty five thousand

nautical miles later
James Wharram used the
Polynesians traditional canoes as the
basis for its design. They had no metal
M u lt i h u l l W o r l d 61

top left: No rigging screw to keep

the flexibility.
top right: Block lashed on the mast.
above: Deck view forward.

62 M u lt i h u l l W o r l d

brackets, screws or nails but were

fastened with coconut fibre ropes.
These two hull canoes, today called
catamarans, were built to be flexible
and could handle the stress generated
by wind and swell. The hull to deck
connections could not break or tear. The
elasticity of the lashings takes the forces
of the movement. This flexibility means
that the rig had to be made accordingly,
so necessarily loose and not stiff.
Rigging screws were out of place.
Everything was braced with ropes in
order to provide the balance of flexibility.
For sure, it sounds like you are sailing
on a bundle of wood. The hulls shaken
by the waves and the mast swinging
back and forth!
But it is actually not like that!
Wakataitea is stiff, even with strong

waves. Only if one put his hand between

the hull and deck beams can one notice
slight movement. Each of the five large
wooden beams are firmly attached on
the hulls in four places. Six turns with
10mm rope at each joint guarantee a
breaking load of 12 tons. The ropes
are tight with a special knot technique
which allows the connection to work as
a shock absorber.
How long does something like
that last? After the first 500nm, we
retightened the ropes for the first time.
It was necessary because they had
just set and the ropes were a little bit
stretched. Then we checked them
all again after 5000nm, looked for
damages and stretch, but not much had
happened.
These ropes are exposed to sunlight
all the time. We noticed very little or no
damage at all on them for the last four
years. Nowadays, the quality of the rope
is so high and UV stable, that some
Wharram owners change their ropes
for safety only every 10 years. Im not
sure if a stainless steel fitting would last
as long. Rust and the constant minimal
movements would cause it to break
quickly.
Our rudders are attached with
ropes with a special knot technique
that function as a hinge. They move
completely without friction and there will
never be any rust or electrolysis.
The wooden mast is held by four
shrouds and two forestays. The
7/7 stainless steel wire is used in a
traditional style with loops around the
mast top. There is no rigging screws. At
the lower part, an 8mm rope passes six
times through the eye of the shroud to a
shackle attached on a chain plate. The
rope is then firmly tightened. Here, the
attachment system has to be the same
as for the hulls.
Our hulls have a V-shape and about
1m draft. For this reason we can sail
without daggerboards and the lateral
drift is within the normal range. The
overhanging bow and stern give a lot
of buoyancy when we hit the waves.
On our first real offshore trip from New
Zealand to Vanuatu (about 1000nm), we
were surprised by a low pressure area.
Under reefed headsail only Wakataitea
handled the 40kts and the rough sea

The eye catcher on Wakataitea is

probably the sail. As already mentioned,
we have a crabclaw sail or Pacific Latin
sail.
Two 10.5m long spars attached
at the mast base carry the sail. The
relatively short 10.5m mast is really just
there to pull up the upper spar. When
the sail is up you can see a triangle
standing on its top tip, we have the
largest sail area on the top aft part.
Tikopia dances.

safely. The bows never dived under

water. We sailed relatively comfortably
at 6-7kts for 20 hours.
With every additional mile I understand
more James Wharrams concept. The
flexibility, avoiding possible breaking
points, cracks due to stress, I find this
type of hull/deck connection absolutely
brilliant.

The sail is attached to the spars

with a pocket; this avoids turbulence.
The performances of this sail are very
different from the conventional Bermuda
sail. The crabclaw sail generates, from
its form, a vortex lift and thus generates
a large lift. Our mainsail is 45sqm and
the headsail is 15sqm. This is quite
sufficient for our Tiki 46 and her seven
tons, even a very little wind will make her
move.
From 15kts apparent wind we put the
first reef in, the second one with 10kts
more.

Reefing the sail is done in a classic

way, the bottom of the sail is attached
with reef lines on the lower spar. In its
full size the sail has an angle of 60.
With a reef, the angle is then 45 and
30 with the second reef in. If needed,
we can adjust the angle of the sail in
the height. With a strong wind, the sail
is lower and in little wind we pull it up
higher to catch the most wind. Until the
mid-construction phase of our boat I
had never heard of this sail. A friend who
had sailed for years on his catamaran
with this rig told me about it.
Over the years and miles of sailing
we made only a few small changes.
Since the first day our rig works without
problems. Tacking through the wind is
as easy as with a sailing dinghy. The
only disadvantage is that we need some
time to reef the sail. Twelve reef lines
have to be attached. We can lower
the sail even downwind, the weight of
the upper spar pushes it down without
problems. We have noticed that with
one reef and its 45 angle, the sail is

M u lt i h u l l W o r l d 63

actually performing at its best.

It is not so important to have
fine trimming to sail with a
crabclaw rig because of its
shape it does not create any
turbulence.
I once read that the
aeroplane Concorde flew with
the same wing shape and it
didnt have flaps.
Wakataitea, is for Isabelle
and me, our first catamaran.
We both owned a monohull
before and had never sailed
on a catamaran bigger than a
Hobie cat.
After 25,000nm we are still
very confident that we have
made the right choice. On a
passage, we cover an average
of 150nm/24h, without
touching the rudder. The cat
sails like it is on rails and the
autopilot doesnt have much
to do. It becomes bumpy only
when the waves come exactly
from the side. These are the
moments where Im worried
about the cups on the shelves. In Tonga Islands.
The cats motion cant be
compared with a monohulls.
The concept of James Wharram
There is no boat movement downwind
has kept its promise. Over 50 years of
but high upwind it can be quite rough.
design the Wharram design team have
We can sail up to 40 to the apparent
sold more than 7,000 boat plans from
wind, but we lose speed, 50 is actually
17-65ft. Of course not all of them have
the maximum on high seas. The angle is
been built but it is said that Wharram
better and we do not drift sideways. We
catamarans are the most numerous
really take off when the wind is coming
designs in the world and that is quite
from 70 and more. This rig is designed
something.
to sail in the trade winds. In a regatta
with a triangular course we would have
We have a good relationship with
no chance.
James Wharram and Hanneke Boom,
through our repeated visits to Tikpoia
Wakataitea is our home and cruising
and Anuta in the Solomons islands,
boat. Shes almost fully loaded and we
where they have sailed with Klaus
like to sail stress free so we quickly put
a reef in the main and maintain a speed
Hympendahl and donated the Lapita
of 6-8kts. We have already sailed at a
canoes a few years ago.
speed of 10kts plus for hours, but this
To be a Wharram sailor is nothing
means that we dont sit with a cup of
special but for sure something different.
coffee in the cockpit anymore.
We feel safe on our yacht at all times.
It
is
very comfortable and has plenty of
Conclusion
space
on my last birthday 35 people
Knock, knock, knock, on a piece of
gathered on the deck. Guests on board
wood! Since we launched her weve
enjoy the romantic appearance of sailing
actually had no problems. We do the
and the free space on deck. Everyone
same service and cleaning as any other
has their own cabin with private access
boat owner.
64 M u lt i h u l l W o r l d

and privacy. All is simple

and functional. On top,
manoeuvring and handling
the sails works simply and
doesnt require much effort.
Okay, that sounds almost
boring, however, we have
some time to relax and
enjoy and this is what we
want.
The feedback we get
from sailors on the way is
positive and Im amazed
at how many of them had
a Wharram as their first
yacht or know someone
who owns one. Our outfit
is different and even the
Islanders in the Pacific
come over to us and
admire our boat. The
sail reminds older men
especially of a former time
when they also sailed.
Today they are pushed by
a 20hp Yamaha outboard
motor.

ocean solutions
new editorial to
come

Meanwhile as I write
this we are at anchor in
Madagascar. Well soon
leave for South Africa and then keep
going to the Atlantic Ocean.
We use our boat to carry out research
and help associations in their work on
the marine environment. In Vanuatu
we had two marine biologists on board
for six weeks who were diving on the
reefs to gather statistics about the flora
and fauna close to villages, and help
the people in their decisions to set up
marine reserves. In the Solomon Islands
we delivered some goods given by
private donors on a remote island. After
a tsunami in Tonga we sailed to Nui
Topu Tapu to deliver bags and bags
of clothes, bed linen and blankets for
the villagers who had lost everything. In
remote places we often sailed with local
people to take them to neighbouring
islands, allowing them to see a doctor,
visit their familly or be part of an
important meeting etc.
Do not be afraid of building your
own boat!
M u lt i h u l l W o r l d 65