Introduction: Tornado Catamaran Building Instructions From 1979

About: Tim Anderson is the author of the "Heirloom Technology" column in Make Magazine. He is co-founder of www.zcorp.com, manufacturers of "3D Printer" output devices. His detailed drawings of traditional Pacific I…

The Tornado is the catamaran raced in the olympics.
It was originally designed so that it could be home-built by individuals.
Each hull is made from two pieces of plywood glued together in a vee shape position,
then forced into a jig that bends them into a gracefully curved hull.
The technique is called "tortured plywood".

These are the detailed building instructions from Houlton Boat Company 1979
If you are Jerry Houlton I'd love to hear from you

Step 1: Tornado Catamaran Olympic Trials 1967 AYRS Report

Here's the 1967 AYRS (Amateur Yacht Research Society) report on how the Tornado, a "tortured plywood" boat, became the Olympic catamaran.
It was a major leap forward in performance, outsailing the other contenders by a wide margin.
After 40 years, many believe that the design is perfect for a two-man cat to be sailed in somewhat rough water.
The boats built today have a rig that's larger and lighter, and the hulls are usually made from carbon and honeycomb, but the shape of the hulls hasn't changed at all.
It's the standard by which 20 foot catamarans must be judged, and you can build your own from plywood.