Welcome to The Blueprint!

Welcome to my blog detailing the current product development projects of The PowerCat Group called The Blueprint. I've consolidated the product development blogs across our various brands... World Cat, Glacier Bay, Carolina Cat, and Livingston Catamarans to create a blog dedicated to catamarans.

At The PowerCat Group, our goal is to educate customers on the benefits of the catamaran design. This blog will describe current product development projects that we are working on, and provide information on new products in our pipeline as well as R&D projects we are working on.

Hopefully you'll find this new consolidated blog interesting, be sure to drop me an email on topics you'd like me to discuss. I look forward to hearing from you, and to growing the catamaran market in the USA.

320CC Offshore Testing

We finished initial testing and seatrials yesterday on the brand new World Cat 320CC Center Console in Beaufort, NC... all went well! Once this boat gets to the Miami Boat Show we will perform official prop testing with Suzuki and release the final performance numbers.

Here's some video of running in Beaufort Inlet:



We reduced the weight of this boat approx 20% using new processes and technologies. As a result, this boat weighs slightly more than a 290CC Center Console, which means more power and speed, and less time and money spent at the pump!

As a result, handling and performance for this boat was phenomenal, the only info I will release at this time is that she was able to get on plane and run at 30mph on only one engine...

Next week we will release final performance #'s from Suzuki.

320CC Hull Infusion Video

This is a little late coming, however, better late than never :) The 320CC Center Console is complete and has been enduring extensive testing offshore Eastern North Carolina prior to shipping to the Miami Boat Show for it's debut.

Here's the video of actually infusing the 320 hull in October 2009. The video has been increased approx 5x normal speed, thus decreasing the total time of the video (and the infusion process) from approx 55 minutes to less than ten minutes.



I will be posting video of the boat running, and the initial performance data... this boat has succeeded in accomplishing our goal of reducing weight of the finished product by approximately 20% while increasing structural integrity. This reduced weight has resulted in a product with improved cruise and WOT speeds, improved handling, and increased fuel economy.

We are excited about this new technology and the possibilities it provides us for future development. Stay tuned!

1st Vacuum Infused Hull - 320CC

At World Cat we are always trying to improve our products and build the best possible boat on the market. In designing the 320CC Center Console we went back to the drawing board to design a product from the hull up... this boat builds on our popular 290CC while giving the customer increased beam and length, as well as additional features.

Additionally, the hull for this boat is built using the best possible methods of boat production, vacuum infusion. As a company we are using this boat as our first foray into vacuum infusion... this will result in a product that is bulletproof, while reducing weight of the finished product. No other production catamaran builder is able to boast this advanced technology.

This technology allows us to meet our requirements of strength, rigidity, and low weight. Additionally, this boat will include a two-piece fiberglass stringer grid. This combination will result in product with superior strength for offshore use, while providing higher cruise and top-end speeds, and increased fuel economy.

By utilizing vacuum infusion we can ensure precise resin to glass ratios, and ensure perfect core and laminate bonds. The hull is infused with 100% vinyl ester resin which offer superior cosmetic and structural benefits.

We will continue to update our progress on the 320CC, and of integrating vacuum infusion into the production of our boats.

Vacuum Infusion Overview

Although building fiberglass parts via vacuum infusion isn't a new process, it is typically reserved for high-end and high-performance products such as aircraft, supercars, and race boats. Once the basic concepts are understood, the process can be repeated consistently to produce high-quality laminates not possibly via hand lay-up techniques.

Key Equipment:

• Vacuum Pump - The star of the show! The pump provides the pressure differential necessary to draw the resin through the dry laminates and optimally wet-out the materials.
• Vacuum Bag - The bag completely encloses the part and applies constant, consistent vacuum equally across the part.
• Resin Traps - Pressure pots are used between the vacuum bag and the vacuum pump to test the initial vacuum of the bag, and to protect the pump from ingesting excess resin from the part.
• Sealant Tape - Used to seal the bag to the outer edge of the mold and provide an airtight bond between the mold bag and the vacuum bag. Additionally, the tape is used to repair leaks in the bag.
• Vacuum and Feed Lines - Semi-rigid tubing connecting the various vacuum components (the pump, the pressure pots, and the vacuum bag) to one-another. Spiral wrap tubing is also used to direct the vacuum or feed lines as necessary.
• Spray Glue - Used to secure the dry laminates to the mold or to previous laid layers of materials.

The Setup:

• Install the dry laminates and coring, using the spray glue as necessary to hold in place.
• Install the vacuum and feed lines per the manifold setup using a flow modeling tool such as RTM-Worx.
• Apply sealant tape to the mold flange and carefully install the bag over the part and secure completely to the sealant tape.
• Connect the resin traps to the vacuum pump.
• Connect the resin traps to the vacuum lines of the bag.
• Turn on the vacuum pump and apply full vacuum of 29.7HG to the part.
• Shutoff the resin traps and perform a drop test to ensure that there are no leaks.
• Once the part passes the drop test for leaks, clamp lines completely shut.
• Connect feed lines and route to the resin source, clamp lines completely shut.
• Catalyze necessary resin and place in resin source.
• Unclamp the vacuum lines and feed lines as necessary to completely wet out the part.
• Once the part is completely wet-out clamp all feeder lines except one.
• Continue to apply vacuum to all lines until the part has reached peak exotherm and returned to ambient temperature.
• Remove bag, lines, and peel ply and dispose.

This process once learned is easily repeatable, the quality of the laminated parts is ensured and far superior to any hand built parts due to the high glass to resin ratio. Additionally, the parts weigh less because only the required amount of resin is actually in the part.

We will detail the results of our first resin infused hull in the next update, stay tuned...

2010 Model Year Boats Shipping

We've been hard at work since July getting the Glacier Bay 26' product line ready for production restart. Lots of hard work went into getting the products documented and defined in our systems to ensure consistent high quality. However, we believe it was worth the wait. The 2010 model year products are now shipping with quality and component improvements, while retaining the signature smooth ride that Glacier Bay made famous.

We look forward to feedback from dealers and customers at upcoming boat shows on the current products and improvements, and especially look forward to feedback and product requests for future products. We will be developing our long-term product development strategy during the fall boat show season so any feedback you have will be carefully reviewed by our staff. We follow the feedback on the Glacier Bay Owner Forum closely and look forward to developing the next generation of Glacier Bay's with your help.

I've included a photo of the first 2640 Renegade completed at our factory in Tarboro, feel free to contact us if you're interested in a factory visit. Be sure to follow this blog to read the latest Glacier Bay news.

320CC Center Console

Although the economy has been tough and boat builders have been hit particularly hard, we’ve battled through these tough times and are emerging stronger than ever. During tough times the first thing that often gets cut is R&D… not at World Cat. We have continued to work diligently on new products and new production technologies. Currently we are working on the next great product addition to the World Cat line, the 320CC Center Console that will be released at the 2010 Miami Boat Show.

This boat builds upon our hugely popular 290CC Center Console. We have designed this product from the bottom up, with an eye toward the future. Using advanced lamination techniques, we are building a boat with increased strength and rigidity, while reducing the finished weight of the product. This is accomplished by using vacuum infusion to build the hull and other components, and by stiffening the boat using an advanced fiberglass superstructure.

The result will be a boat with exquisite handling, higher cruise and top-end speeds, as well as improved fuel economy. Superior materials and processes will result in a superior product.

We will continue to provide updates and behind the scene information of the development process and the new technologies that will make this possible. As always, we look forward to your feedback.