Project Description


 

HISTORY OF THE CATARAFT:

The first catarafts were seen in the Grand Canyon in the late
1960's, they were made with 36 inch diameter bridge pontoons which were
22 feet in length.  With their metal frames and 14 foot oars, the early
catarafts were extremely heavy and hard to control but they were nearly
unstoppable in the rapids.  Chris Walker of the Argonaught company
designed the double tube design which allowed the boat to ride shallower
in the water while keeping a large surface area with the water.  As
different materials proved to hold up to white water conditions the
boats got lighter and there for more maneuverable.  Today catarafts are
used throughout Arizona, Idaho and Utah.  They are great for everything
from fishing to class 5 white water conditions.
 
 

Project Description:

The problem presented to us by Mark Alexander was to improve the current cataraft rowing system in order to improve stroke efficiency.  The current cataraft design uses traditional oars mounted to the aluminum frame, and only allows for one person to row at a time.  For long river trips fatigue becomes a serious factor.  Our job for this project is to design a mechanism for the rowing system that will help to reduce that fatigue.

 Requirements:

To achieve the goal of improving the stroke efficiency of the cataraft rowing system many factors must be taken into consideration.  These factors are taken into account in the requirements.  The cataraft rowing system must:

                     ·        Be able to operate on waters from still to whitewater class 5
                     ·        Be reliable and have low maintenance requirements while on
                              the water
                     ·        Reduce operator fatigue during extended periods of use
                     ·        Accommodate the forward, pulling, and counter-strokes.

    Improvement of the pulling stroke has been given top priority, although the other strokes cannot be compromised. An additional project requirement is the building of a prototype for testing purposes.
 
 


 
 

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