I was born in '65. By the time I was 3 months old, I had many hours under my belt in an open outrigger. And by the time I was 5, I was an old salt at scrambling out on the ama to avoid going over in the puffs.
In 1968 - 1969, my parents were flying to California on occassion to meet with Rudy Choy to discuss designing and building a catamaran. My parents were in love with Dr. John Purcell's 'Patty Cat II', a 44' ocean racing cat that was built in 1964. A 44-footer was a little beyond their budget, so they went with a 38' version, which was also a stretched out 'Imua', Jack and Dot Swart's first of three C/S/K catamarans. Recently, I have discovered that 'Ipo Kai', the 38' Rudy designed for my parents, was taken from line drawings of the 36' 'Hiolani'. Having spoken to my father about this, he does recall the conversation going from an 'Imua' design to an 'Imi Loa' design. 'Imua' was just a little too small and did not have access to the hulls through the central cabin and 'Imi Loa' was just too big. Besides, my parents were still crazy about the racy look of 'Patty Cat II'! I guess, 'Hiolani', with a slightly wider hull than 'Imua', and elongated would give the proper proportions for 'Ipo Kai' that C/S/K used for their 'racing' hull, as opposed to their 'cruising' hull.
Follow Mike Brown's blog on "The Adventures of Ipo Kai' for a detailed description of the revitalization in progress.
http://ipokai.blogspot.com/
Marina Del Rey, ca. 1966
Was a clean up jig on "Patty Cat II aa young boy, in the BYC anchorage.
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