Construction

The Bañuls Catamarans are constructed entirely from the best composite materials, using premium cores (Corecell) and premium fibers (E-Glass and carbon) bound together with premium expoxy resin systems (as opposed to lower grade resin systems such as polyester or vinylester).

High-density cores are used in high-load areas. We do not use timber or plywood cores, which are too heavy and may be susceptible to rot nor do we use monolithic reinforcements that can be unnecessarily heavier. The entire structure is resin-infused and post-cured at an elevated temperature. Using the best premium materials available, proven manufacturing methods and world-class engineering provides the BAÑULS 60 with an extremely high quality structure.

Vacuum Bagged

100% of the lamination is vacuum bagged. It includes, hulls, bulkhead and all structural parts. We also vacuum bag all secondary lamination.The boat is post-cured at the end of the assembly process.

Post Curing

The Bañuls Catamarans are post-cured at elevated temperatures in custom-built ovens controlled and monitored by a computer. 

Effective post-curing increases the structural properties of the resin system, thus improving the long-term performance of the resin: an efficiently post-cured boat is structurally better, and has an improved surface finish quality.

Female Mould

By investing in female moulding, we are able to ensure the components are as light as possible.

Custom and semi-customs projects usually utilize male tooling, to cut the costs of associated to female tooling. The drawback is the extensive post-laminate fairing process which consumes a considerable amount of time and more importantly add weight to the final product. 

The Bañuls Catamarans are semi-custom build yet produced from female tooling, which reduces manufacturing time and saves weight as they can go straight into undercoat painting when released from the moulds.

Mulit-Axial fibres and Uni fibres use

We use a range of multi-axial and uni-directional fibers that allows optimal laminate layup to meet the design engineering requirements of the yacht. Detailed structural engineering analysis - including sophisticated FEA (Finite Element Analysis) ensures the placements of these fibers match the mapped load paths, reducing unnecessary fiber where it is not required. This ensures longevity of the final structure and weight optimization.

Why Corecell rather than other cores?

There are a number of core materials on the market including balsa, PVC and Corecell (SAN).

We have used Corecell on most of our high performance yachts as foams have the advantage of being more impact and rot-resistant than Balsa cores.

Corecell is a premium linear foam core with higher toughness and resistance to impact loads than other PVC cores. This makes Corecell a natural choice for slamming and high impact areas. Corecell also tends to be more stable at higher temperatures than linear PVC foams, with no out-gassing properties, which suits boats that will be cruising in hot climates.

Although Corecell is more expensive than other cores, we feel the extra cost of having the entire structure engineered in Corecell is justified on high performance catamarans like the Bañuls.

AMT Composites is a specialized composites material supplier to the South African aerospace, marine and manufacturing sectors. The diverse product range includes traditional ‘advanced materials’, such as epoxy resins and adhesives, carbon and aramid reinforcements, prepregs and sandwich core materials. As such, they supply many type of cores and describe Corecell M-Foam (used extensively on the Bañuls Catamarans) as "the performance leader whether your application is slamming area or superstructure, hull or deck, using hand lamination, infusion or prepreg". AMT Composites.

Advantages of Epoxy over Vinylester and Polyester. 

The Bañuls Catamarans are constructed exclusively using epoxy resins. Epoxies have a cost premium over Vinylester and even more so over Polyester. Generally, Epoxy resin is double the price of Vinylester - which is itself double the price of Polyester.

With the higher structural and durable properties of epoxies over other resin systems – and even though there is price premium to pay for a premium product - we believe this is the best option. For these reasons and those developed in the attached article published by SP Gurit, we consider that polyester resin is not suitable for high quality luxury performance catamarans.

PDF File SP Gurit Epoxy vs Vinylester vs Polyester

Combining the strength of carbon fiber with the advantages of E-glass fiber

Carbon fiber is used exclusively in most racing yachts so the question could be asked why we chose E-glass over carbon in a boat where weight saving is key. 

The Bañuls Catamarans feature carbon fiber on the beams, longeron, martingale, daggerboards, rudders, high load areas, longitudinal stringers, structural bulkheads, chainplates and of course the rig. This is where we gain most from the structural properties of carbon over E-glass and maximize the greatest weight savings. 

While Carbon is probably the best available fiber to achieve structural stiffness while reducing weight, it does not forgive localized impacts as well as E-glass. A dropped winch handle, the outboard engine from the dinghy, or the rough edge of a pontoon…. No matter how careful and a skilled sailor you are, your hull and deck will suffer from some form of impact. Therefore a minimum thickness of carbon would be necessary on the hulls and deck. The kg/m² of carbon used would be similar to that of E-glass - offering less weight savings than the structural properties of carbon fiber would suggest.

Carbon also has an issue with noise propagation. Because of its stiffness thin carbon laminates resonate more than E-glass. When a gennaker sheet under tons of load is eased on the winch drum, or when the hulls get hit by wave the level of noise and vibrations might be acceptable on a stripped out racing multihull but not on a luxury catamaran.

For these reasons, and also taking in consideration the fact that Carbon fiber is 5-7 times more expensive than the E-glass equivalent, we have opted for E-glass for our standard specifications for the hull and deck.

However, should you want a racing oriented Bañuls Catamaran, a full carbon option is available.