Selway-Fisher Surf Cat 16
Description
The Selway-Fisher Surf Cat (full name 16' Simple Surf Cat) is a simple, lightweight plywood catamaran dayboat designed by Paul Fisher of Selway Fisher Design (UK-based naval architects specializing in accessible home-build plans). Introduced as part of their small catamaran series, it's intended as an affordable, fun, sporty beach cat—described as a "poor man's Hobie cat" for casual single-handed or 2–3 person sailing, with easy demountability (everything bolted for disassembly and trailering/storage). The design prioritizes minimalism and low cost: built from just 7 sheets of plywood using simple V-section hulls (no centerboards), plywood aerofoil mast/boom, and stitch-and-tape or ply-over-frame methods. It's demountable for easy transport, with a focus on beach use, light-wind fun, and some competitive single-handed sailing. Plans remain available from Selway Fisher or retailers like Duckworks (cost ~£72 / $81 USD for full package: 2 A1 drawings + 4 A4 instructions, including additions/alterations).
Construction Details
| Designer | Selway Fisher Design |
|---|---|
| Builder | Home Built |
| Length | 16.000 ft |
| LOA | 16.000 ft |
| Beam | 7.000 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Selway-Fisher Surf Cat 16 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | 19.125 ft - (5829 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 6 ft - (1829 mm) |
| Leech | * 19.82 ft - (6041 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 89.56 ° |
| Diagonal | 20 ft - (6096 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 4 in - (102 mm) |
| Area | * 60.16 ft² |
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Selway-Fisher Surf Cat 16 - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 14.458 ft - (4407 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 5.229 ft - (1594 mm) |
| Leech | 12.75 ft - (3886 mm) |
| Area | * 32.99 ft² |
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Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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