PDQ Antares 44i

[sandy daugherty]

The Antares is by no means a stripped down, overpowered and thinly disguised racing machine. Nor is its attractiveness only skin deep. It is designed and built with a single minded dedication to a very clear concept almost indistinguishable from the Rolls Royce mind set: comfortable dependable safe cruising at comfortable, safe speeds with almost no expense spared to achieve those goals.

I think it even LOOKS like a Rolls!

[freetime]

Originally Posted by fastcat435

Just for curiosity , what boat is your number one right now and for what reason ?

Gideon

After 3-4 mounths my planning have changed many times, after 5 years without sailingboat at all. All time on a company!

1,5 years agoe i sailed a mono... elan impression 434 with a lovely masterbedroom. And a lovely kitchen....You understand. My girlfriend like it.

And after that we saw a lagoon 440 and 380, I don´t want to sit alone on the roof with the 440 in the middle of atlantic in rain. The 380 is ok and the 420 is even better. But.... Then i started to find out other brands.

And i have never sailed a cruisingcatamaran.

Boats i like is...

New or used is the first question, these are new.

Lagoon 420 diesel
Seawind 1160, looks nice, very nice
FP Mahe, Lavezzi and Orana
Nautitech, everyone say that i will fall of the boat because the steeringposition, i had to take a look.
Privilege looks like a quality cat
Antares 44i looks nice, but have some things i/you don´t like

All of these boats should work fine for me and they are probably all good enough and fun. But i have to go to a boatshow, maybe la rochelle if i can find time for it.

I am also curious to see these boats.

Outremer 42 and even the bigger one, fast and classic
Freydis 39, 46 and 49, the 49 looks very nice
But these are maybe to small inside, narrow hulls you say.

These boats are not the same size and price range, but these are the boats I like.

And i am very curious about fastcats but I think they are too expensive with all the equipment you want, but I can´t say yet.

The 455 looking better for each time i see it. The 435 looks cloose to good as the 455.
But i am new to electric...

My choise of boat also depends on what kind of sail i will do with her, i have ideas to sail to and in Great Lakes. So i don´t want a to big one.

And next question is how long time i want to keep the boat, should i buy new or used one. The smartest is probably to buy a used lavezzi or privilege or simular and sail a time and after that choose if i should keep the boat or buy a new one. But it´s not always so fun to sensible.

Anoyone know how to do with a non EU build boat, i don´t want to pay v.a.t two times. And i have to import a boat to another eu country first because of the high v.a.t in sweden. 25%!

[freetime]

Originally Posted by sandy daugherty

The Antares is by no means a stripped down, overpowered and thinly disguised racing machine. Nor is its attractiveness only skin deep. It is designed and built with a single minded dedication to a very clear concept almost indistinguishable from the Rolls Royce mind set: comfortable dependable safe cruising at comfortable, safe speeds with almost no expense spared to achieve those goals.

I think it even LOOKS like a Rolls!

I like the Antares very much, and it´s as all boats, you need to sail and liveaboard for a time. And then ask your questions...

[henryv]

Be forwarned - based on my experience if you take your wife to a boat show and let her spend any time on the Antares you will have trouble getting her to consider other boats. The Antares is exceptionally well finished and the layout / accomodations are extremely livable for a cruising couple. My wife has kept it on the top of her list for our next boat.

We presently have a PDQ32 that we sail on the great lakes and while it is small for extended cruising it is a terrific boat for weekends and vacations. It also sails very nicely doing 7.5 knots in 10 knots of wind and running up between 12 and 13 knots in 20 knots of wind. I have not sailed on an Antares so I don't know how well it performs but I recall the builder issued a race challenge to their major competitors at the Miami boat show a few years ago so he must have expected that it would do well. Unfortunately the race never happened.

As others have mentioned the original buider of the Antares closed last year however the new company is headed by the former PDQ sales / marketting manager so hopefully he will work to maintain their reputation for high quality.

[freetime]

I found this and for me it looks good.

With winds up to 12 knots, the first sailing lesson was ideal for flying a screecher. Even with the 13 people aboard, the Antares consistently topped 9 knots. The gentler winds the following day offered an excellent opportunity to fly the spinnaker with cruising speed of 6 knots in a 9-knot breeze.

The pricetag is the biggest problem with this boat right now.

[freetime]

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If you don´t know the boat.

[schoonerdog]

PDQ got killed because the exchange rate in canada went up vis a vis the US some 30% increasing the price of the boat and the US real estate market tanked, causing the vast majority of people who were counting on equity in their homes to buy their next boat to disappear. Traffic at the boat show dropped 50% in the last year and the boat repossession services increased their dockage 6 fold. Really their seem to be two buyers left now, those who were very, very smart with their finances or simply have a lot of finances, and those who are looking to charter their boats out first. To fight the exchange rate problem the buyers of the PDQ molds moved their factories out of Canada.

[freetime]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

PDQ got killed because the exchange rate in canada went up vis a vis the US some 30% increasing the price of the boat and the US real estate market tanked, causing the vast majority of people who were counting on equity in their homes to buy their next boat to disappear. Traffic at the boat show dropped 50% in the last year and the boat repossession services increased their dockage 6 fold. Really their seem to be two buyers left now, those who were very, very smart with their finances or simply have a lot of finances, and those who are looking to charter their boats out first. To fight the exchange rate problem the buyers of the PDQ molds moved their factories out of Canada.

Thanks, you say out of Canada, where?

[freetime]

Originally Posted by freetime

Thanks, you say out of Canada, where?

Argentina?

[Southern Star]

I understood the Anatares will now be built in China. As to some of the criticisms of the boat, I can suggest the following:
1. Galley down - keeps the heaviest area of the boat low, precisely where it should be for stability. Since this one is open to the saloon, it has that advantage and yet, as has been pointed out, does not isolate the chef.
2. Narrower beam- many naval architects suggest that a ratio of beam/lwl greater than 50% is detrimental as it increases the risk of pitchpoling. More beam reduces the risk of capsize, of course, but it also (all else being equal) increases the risk of a pitchpole - the real risk in a cat of this size. Furthermore, increased beam makes the boat harder to tack. If you look at the larger custom cruising cats, their beam is generally at (or below) the 50% ratio.

Obviously I can't speak to the build quality of the versions not produced by PDQ, but the design is absolutely offshore capable. Furthermore the rig is, in my opinion, far better suited to offshore cruising than the standard fractional rig with small foretriange and minimal standing rigging that is preferred in the French and South African boats.

Brad

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by freetime

Thanks, you say out of Canada, where?

PDQ's 44-foot sailing catamaran continues as the “Antares”, who will build the luxury cat in Whitby.
Antares Yachts
400 Dundas St. W., Suite 201
Whitby, ONTARIO L1N 2M7
PHONE: 905-668-6234
TOLL-FREE: 1-866-594-1779

Pearson Composites acquired the PDQ Power Catamaran molds & rights, and produces them on Narragansett Bay, in Warren, R.I. USA.

[freetime]

And they offer a taller rig for non ICW cruising costumers... I had to take a look at the one at La Rochelle boatshow... The boat is a couple of days from france right now.

And Galley down in this boat looks very nice.

The little narrower hull is my only ?? and the price offcause.

[Whimsical]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

2. Narrower beam- many naval architects suggest that a ratio of beam/lwl greater than 50% is detrimental as it increases the risk of pitchpoling. More beam reduces the risk of capsize, of course, but it also (all else being equal) increases the risk of a pitchpole - the real risk in a cat of this size. Furthermore, increased beam makes the boat harder to tack. If you look at the larger custom cruising cats, their beam is generally at (or below) the 50% ratio.

It is my understanding that increased beam only increases the risk of pitchpole IF the sail area is increased to utilise the greater righting moment. Thus greater beam in itself does not increase the risk. There is a ratio of beam to length where it is balanced, most of the currently active designers over here seem to suggest around 55%. There are other factors that contribute to pitchpole that need to be considered together and not in isolation. I have yet to read of an incident where a boat is just sailed into a pitchpole without somehow being tripped over by stuffing its bow under water, usually by surfing down a wave into the back of the next one. In this type of situation I would think there are other relevant characteristics that would be more influential such as a low sheer line, flat decks that dont shed water fast or verticle sides that dont give the same sort of reserve boyancy that a flared, or flamed for bigcat, side would.

I would prefer the greater beam with the greater sail area and then temper this with a measure of common sense to slow down in conditions that are conducive to a pitchpole. All things are a compromise

Mike

[sandy daugherty]

For cats with a beam under 20' having the galley on the bridgedeck compromises twp important areas: A galley down arrangement provides much more counter space (without having to move stuff off the reefer lid), better separation between the reefer and the stove or oven, and allows two people to prepare meals cooperatively, and two people to clean up easily. Having the Galley up in a "U" shaped arrangement takes a lot of room from the social area and reduces the number of people who can sit together for a meal, while spreading the galley along the aft bulkhead leaves you staring down 3 or 4 steps to the hull when you are checking the oven or opening the vertical reefer door. Either way, you end up with half the under-counter storage of a galley-down arrangement. The only worse arrangement would be a two-story galley, or having to dig pots and pans or pantry items from under the matress of one of the staterooms!

[Vasco]

[quote=GordMay;193283]PDQ's 44-foot sailing catamaran continues as the “Antares”, who will build the luxury cat in Whitby.
Antares Yachts
400 Dundas St. W., Suite 201
Whitby, ONTARIO L1N 2M7
PHONE: 905-668-6234
TOLL-FREE: 1-866-594-1779

Gord,

I heard they were being built in China and I think hull #1 was in Miami a little while ago, built on spec.