Catamaran Cosmos 1250

Hulls are built separately upside down on temporary building frames. After being planked, the hulls are sealed with epoxy resin and glass, then turned by hand for sealing inside.

Building the Cosmos range
Plans for the Cosmos range of performance cruising catamarans are available for home builders and professional boat yards. The boats are strip planked in either Durakore (manufactured compound planks with a balsa wood core) or Western Red Cedar. With this method of construction the compound curves of the hulls and decks can be relatively easily accurately formed and building requires only a moderate level of skill and no complex or expensive tools. The result is a sleek looking, strong and light boat. Western Red Cedar is cheaper and a little easier to use but Durakore planking is about 30% lighter because of the significant weight saving in the core. The construction with Durakore gives a very high strength to weight ratio and will produces a lighter boat allowing either a little more performance perhaps for club racing, or a better payload for cruising.

The Cosmos 1250 is a performance cruising catamaran designed mainly for charter and is available in two versions, the 1250S, that complies with the Australian Survey Standards, and the 1250 that does not. With commercial operation in mind, the 1250S an be operated in Austrailian waters with a Coxswains certificate, she has more beam than the 1250 and has a payload of 2.5 tons which is 0.7 tons more than the 1250. The standard Cosmos 1250 is suited to long-term ocean cruising or liveaboard. She carries an adequate cruising payload, though less than the 1250S, and with her slim hulls and light displacement, sails excellently.

Reflecting her original purpose as a charter boat, the 1250 has four double cabins (Schionnings of this length usually have three doubles), a large galley and extra seating in the cockpit. Other configurations below decks are possible, however.

The rig is moderately sized, with the emphasis on simplicity of handling, though it will drive the boat easily as long as she is not overloaded. Daggerboards are standard for good windward performance and a composite rotating mast can be substituted (at extra cost) to improve her sailing ability further.

Strip planked in Western Red Cedar (cheaper and easier), or Durakore (lighter