Chesapeake Light Craft has teamed up with James Wharram Designs to offer a kit for the stitch-and-glue Mana 24 catamaran. 

James Wharram and his partner Hanneke Boon have been selling plans for catamarans since the 1960's. Homebuilt Wharram catamarans are ubiquitous in ports around the world because they are thoughtful, straightforward, ocean-tested, and accessible to backyard boatbuilders. The Mana 24 is their first design offering intended from the outset to be a CNC-cut kit. 

In setting up this new collaboration, John Harris notes that the Mana 24 slots into a convenient size-class for multihulls. "Large enough for real voyaging, but small enough, at 24 feet, to be a realistic amateur boatbuilding project," he says. "And it's demountable, for trailering, also critical to the backyard boatbuilder."

"These aren't scaled-up Hobie Cats," Harris says."Nor are they 'condo-marans.' Wharram's catamaran designs are rooted in the tradition of classic Pacific 'double canoes.' They are practical sailing machines, not floating living rooms perched atop two hulls, like so many multihulls today." Like all of Wharram's designs, the Mana 24 has open decks with accommodations in the hulls, making the catamaran simpler, lighter, and ultimately more seaworthy. 



Harris has been a lifelong fan of James Wharram and Hanneke Boon, and still has a copy of the Wharram design catalog he ordered as a teenager. James Wharram's career as a blue water sailor and designer spanned more than 70 years. He was a member of the Royal Geographic Society, among other distinctions. James Wharram died in 2021 at age 93, but Wharram Designs continues to thrive under Hanneke Boon from their home base in Cornwall, UK.

Here's Wharram Designs' description of the Mana 24:

[The Mana 24] is a trailable family camping boat. Keep it at home, trailer it and sail it anywhere. MANA is the Polynesian word for ‘spirit’ given to an object by its maker or the person that uses it.

There is an economical way to enjoy sailing, by building your own small lightweight boat, keeping it at home, and trailering it to the waters you want to sail in, chasing the good weather. This gives the opportunity to explore many more sailing areas than if based on a permanent mooring and at a much lower cost.

In designing the MANA, we explored this idea and looked sideways into the world of camping and have combined the innovative CNC cut “flat pack” boat-building concept with the philosophy of outdoor living to create the unique MANA camper-sailer, specifically designed for trailer sailing.

The MANA kit is sold with all the plywood cut by CNC cutter, so building the boat at home will be a bit like assembling a flat-pack. All the parts slot together perfectly so a hull can take shape in a day.



The Mana 24 is available only as a CNC-cut plywood kit. Building from such a kit takes away the worry of measuring and cutting all the boat parts, which can be quite daunting to many first time builders and saves a lot of time in the early stages of building. The ply parts will have a first smooth coat of epoxy already applied, cutting down time in coating and sanding, so within a short time you will be able to assemble the hulls and see the boat you are building. As she is built from a pre-cut kit, we have been able to give the Mana more complex and beautiful shaping, giving her more interior volume than the Tiki designs. During construction all the kit parts slot together and are locked with wooden wedges, so no room for error. Even all the stitch holes (for fastening joints with cable ties) are drilled and lines scribed where to glue on bearers and stringers.

MANA’s 23’6” hull length has a special significance for James Wharram. In 1956 he made the first successful catamaran voyage across the Atlantic in his first catamaran, the ‘Tangaroa’, also 23’6” long.

In a trailer/sailer design every increase in length equals harder launching and recovery work. At 23’6” (7.15m) MANA 24 sits between our TIKI 21 and TIKI 26 designs (both very popular trailer sailers), with easier launching and handling like the smaller TIKI 21, but an interior space close to that of the Tiki 26. Her new chined hullshape gives more width for the bunks, which are placed aft where the hulls are widest, and where there is least motion.

For speedy assembly the hulls and beams of the MANA are connected with quick-fit webbing straps with over-centre buckles, which are very strong and much easier to fit than bolts.

With the main mast of the MANA placed well forward the platform gives ample flat space for a low cost dome tent or a custom-made pramhood tent, which can double as spray hood when sailing. Adapting camping habits to a sailing lifestyle gives wider sailing opportunities at minimum cost and lots more family fun!

MANA uses the well proven Wharram Wingsail rig in a new Catrig configuration. The Wingsail rig is a modern version of a high aspect Dutch style gaff rig, sleeved round the mast for maximum aerodynamic efficiency.

In this new Catrig configuration the mainsail gives the drive with a very clean leading edge. The small mizzen aids with balance, steering and tacking. Having no jib, there is no need for a very tight forestay. The standing rigging uses the latest Dyneema rope, which is light and easily set up. The mizzenmast can be used as sheer pole for single-handed assembly.