{"id":25722,"date":"2026-03-03T10:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=25722"},"modified":"2026-03-03T10:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T10:02:08","slug":"custom-catamaran-pushes-boatbuilding-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=25722","title":{"rendered":"Custom Catamaran Pushes Boatbuilding Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Custom Catamaran Pushes Boatbuilding Limits<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"Aluminum Park Shark catamaran with gyro\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-2.jpg 2000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">The aluminum <i>Park Shark<\/i> catamaran was built and equipped to make the 140-mile round trip from Key West to the Dry Tortugas National Park with comfort and speed, thanks to quad Suzuki 350 outboards.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Dometic<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><iframe id=\"wxuzj5efbz\" src=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.dragonforms.com\/wxuzj5efbz\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If boats had personalities, Capt. Robert Trosset\u2019s 35-foot custom aluminum catamaran, Park Shark, would be a problem child.\u00a0 Whether tied up in Oceans Edge Marina in Key West, Florida, or making one of its routine 140-mile-roundtrip diving excursions to Dry Tortugas National Park, this boat was literally built to break the rules of hull design, stabilization, and providing electrical power.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest rules this boat ignores is the conventional wisdom that you can\u2019t install a gyroscopic stabilizer off-center. Trosset, who runs Finz Dive &amp; Tackle in Key West, decided to ignore all this, and worked with a custom boatbuilder, Razorhead, in Iberia, Louisiana, to design a new flagship for his growing fleet. When I asked Trosset why he chose such a big, custom aluminum catamaran, he didn\u2019t sugarcoat the answer. \u201cI wanted what I wanted, and this was the only builder who didn\u2019t call me crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, he wanted a huge interior cabin to accommodate six passengers in air-conditioned comfort, a full-stand up head, rack storage for 28 SCUBA tanks and a \u201clanding craft\u201d front ramp for storming the beaches of Forida\u2019s Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson in D-Day style. He also wanted to provide customers with a new level of speed and comfort in all kinds of weather, making the 70-plus-mile run to Dry Tortugas National Park, doing multiple dives, spending time ashore exploring Fort Jefferson, and getting back to Key West the same evening. Lastly, the longtime captain wanted to do it all without the maintenance, weight, noise and carbon-monoxide hazard of an onboard generator.<\/p>\n<p>Fortuitously, as Trosset was planning <em>Park Shark<\/em>, Dometic was getting ready to launch its DG3 Gyrostabilizer at the 2025 Miami International Boat Show. Dometic won a NMMA Innovation Award at the show and later won a DAME award at METS for its\u00a0 high performance and efficiency. By reaching full operating rpm in 16 minutes (versus an industry average 50 minutes), generating some of its own electrical power to slash energy consumption by 40 percent, eliminating hydraulics in favor of a proprietary Inverted roller screw design for precise dynamic control of the flywheel, and spinning down in less than 20 minutes rather than eight hours, Dometic eliminated many of the potential obstacles to installing and using a gyro aboard a boat like <em>Park Shark<\/em>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Dometic DG3 gyrostabilizer\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-1.jpg 2000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Dometic\u2019s DG3 gyrostabilizer fits in a relatively compact footprint and generates some of its own power to reduce onboard electrical consumption.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Dometic<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p>Trosset, a longtime field tester for Dometic, decided to make the DG3 gyro integral to his custom cat. \u201cWe talked a lot before the boat \u2018went into the mold,\u2019\u201d Trosset said. Engineers from Dometic told Razorhead what was needed for the hull to support the gyro and meet the stress loads, and Razorhead built it to the provided specs. Because of <em>Park Shark<\/em>\u2019s layout, the DG3 was installed in the starboard hull, well outboard of the vessel\u2019s center line.<\/p>\n<p>This off-center location raised questions. Because it was essentially installed at deck level and running inside an enclosed cabin with the passengers, more sound-deadening was added. Trosset balanced the DG3\u2019s roughly 600 pounds by installing the batteries, power management system, and holding and water tanks on the opposite side, on the port side.<\/p>\n<p>The eccentric installation defied the perception that a gyro must be installed on a boat\u2019s center line to deliver effective roll stabilization\u2014particularly for a boat as heavy and beamy as Park Shark. \u201cThe ride difference is even better than I expected,\u201d Trosset said, whose fleet includes other catamarans. \u201cOver 70-plus trips so far, our gyro has been a lifesaver when I\u2019m drifting or anchoring in a beam sea, where the \u201csnap roll\u201d motion associated with twin hulls can make life miserable.\u00a0 It can be particularly bad when the space between the waves and the distance between the sponsons are roughly the same. I turn it on when I arrive at the boat, and it\u2019s ready to go by the time I leave the channel. On the long run out there, it helps us land flat when coming off waves, making the whole ride softer, more comfortable and more fuel efficient. I never turn it off,\u201d Trosset added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/maintenance-and-storage-advice-for-lifepo4-systems\/\">Maintenance and Storage Advice for LiFePO4 Systems<\/a><\/p>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-3-1024x622.jpg?resize=800%2C486&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"Interface for LiFePO4 battery system\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-3-1024x622.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-3-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-3-768x467.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTG226-SPL-Gyros-3.jpg 1509w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Park Shark uses a robust LiFePO4 battery system versus a generator to power its gyro, air conditioning, refrigeration and more.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Dometic<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p>Dometic engineers are equally excited about the system\u2019s performance and potential in this market. \u201cEven though Robert\u2019s boat is 23,000 pounds (finished weight) and we\u2019re installed off to one side, our long-term testing shows he\u2019s getting 85 to 87 percent roll reduction\u2014in an application that\u2019s way beyond the DG3\u2019s specifications,\u201d said Dometic Product Manager, Steve Watson.<\/p>\n<p>Existing power-cat owners with boats up to about 34 feet could also improve their ride with a single DG3, according to Watson, and much larger cats can be accommodated with two units. \u201cIt requires two things to retrofit our gyro onto existing catamarans: installation space and support structure. The typical retrofit route includes replacing the leaning post and making modifications to support the floor structure beneath it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And if you\u2019re not willing to sacrifice the leaning post to make room for a gyroscopic stabilizer aboard, you may still have options. <em>Park Shark<\/em> has proven there is more than one way to skin a cat.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/custom-catamaran-pushes-boatbuilding-limits\/\">Custom Catamaran Pushes Boatbuilding Limits<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/\">Boating Mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    Ron Ballanti<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/custom-catamaran-pushes-boatbuilding-limits\/\">Go to boatingmag<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Custom Catamaran Pushes Boatbuilding Limits The aluminum Park Shark catamaran was built and equipped to make the 140-mile round trip from Key West to the Dry Tortugas National Park with comfort and speed, thanks to quad Suzuki 350 outboards. Courtesy Dometic If boats had personalities, Capt. Robert Trosset\u2019s 35-foot custom aluminum catamaran, Park Shark, would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4641,126,148,7947],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-25722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boat-building","category-boatingmag","category-boats","category-march-2026","tag-boatingmag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25722"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}