Are Cats that Great?

[GMac]

OK then what about hybrids of sorts, Proas.

A Mono with a balance weight or a Cat drawn up by a bloke with one dodgy eye and/or a scaling issue?

Starting to see a few bigger and easily cruiseable Proas in places. Are they the best of both worlds maybe?

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

.....There is something that happens when you shut down the engine, all you hear is the water on the hull and the rigging responding to the elements; knowing and accepting one's insignificance in the big picture. The carefree laugh of the exhilarated spirits, all that goes with that experience. All the unnecessary stress falls away, the things that really matter come into the fore front. Dolphins play off the bow, beckoning us to come, join in the fun and let the rest of the world take care of itself.....

Amen brother

[Palarran]

I have to second Tropic's Amen to captain58sailin's post. That has to be one of the best I've read on this forum. Reminds me of a Buffett Ballad.

[Stillraining]

I'll third that........but I think I wrote it and he stole it from me...

[Talbot]

I will fourth it

I wish I had the eloquence to have written it, but the concept is deeply in my psyche

[downunder]

At the risk of kicking off this thread again.

As a keen diver photoghapher I need a shallow draft vessel to cruise the great diving destinations of GBR, Coral sea, PNG and the Pacific.

The room, the stable dive/living platform, the ease of direct access to the water and speed of deployment of RIB are some of the reasons (many others) I am looking at a catamaran. Few if any cruising monos get to the best anchorages and dive areas of the GBR and Coral Sea. Most sailors only seem to cruise the Great Barrier Reef islands only.

The only real negative of a cat from my perspective is the cost as most of the new designs of 45ft and above do overcome the load carrying issues of earlier vessels.
Meyermm
I read the article as you did and believe the couple with little knowledge of cats enjoyed their trip and found out that some cats had low bridge deck clearance an issue that can occur with certain individual designs.
If I were in the market for a mono one has to evaluate all the pros and cons of the various designs. A weekend coastal racer is not necessarily a good long distance cruiser such as that cat was even for its flaws.
I also got the impression on returning to their small mono the authors would not have attempt the same trip in their vessel, a trip they had the opportunity to enjoy. They were impressed by the cats beaching ability for maintenance by comparison with their vessel.
I for one found the article useful in researching a cruising vessel. In 2009/2010 there are plenty of cat designs available with adequate bridge deck clearance. Pretty much all new designs are OK there. When was the cat in the article designed? Probably in the 1990’s even if it was built later.
So much water has flowed under the bridgedeck since then. The authors not being in the market for a cat certainly had not researched cats before their trip.
They also implied in the article they simply had to be satisfied with what they had not necessarily what one might dream about. I found the article use in my search for a catamaran.

[meyermm]

Originally Posted by downunder

At the risk of kicking off this thread again.

As a keen diver photoghapher I need a shallow draft vessel to cruise the great diving destinations of GBR, Coral sea, PNG and the Pacific.

The room, the stable dive/living platform, the ease of direct access to the water and speed of deployment of RIB are some of the reasons (many others) I am looking at a catamaran. Few if any cruising monos get to the best anchorages and dive areas of the GBR and Coral Sea. Most sailors only seem to cruise the Great Barrier Reef islands only.

The only real negative of a cat from my perspective is the cost as most of the new designs of 45ft and above do overcome the load carrying issues of earlier vessels.
Meyermm
I read the article as you did and believe the couple with little knowledge of cats enjoyed their trip and found out that some cats had low bridge deck clearance an issue that can occur with certain individual designs.
If I were in the market for a mono one has to evaluate all the pros and cons of the various designs. A weekend coastal racer is not necessarily a good long distance cruiser such as that cat was even for its flaws.
I also got the impression on returning to their small mono the authors would not have attempt the same trip in their vessel, a trip they had the opportunity to enjoy. They were impressed by the cats beaching ability for maintenance by comparison with their vessel.
I for one found the article useful in researching a cruising vessel. In 2009/2010 there are plenty of cat designs available with adequate bridge deck clearance. Pretty much all new designs are OK there. When was the cat in the article designed? Probably in the 1990’s even if it was built later.
So much water has flowed under the bridgedeck since then. The authors not being in the market for a cat certainly had not researched cats before their trip.
They also implied in the article they simply had to be satisfied with what they had not necessarily what one might dream about. I found the article use in my search for a catamaran.

You have made a number of assumptions especially about the type and age of vessel which was not stated. You have already made your mind up regards the vessel you will purchase. I am sure you will enjoy that cat which ever one you choose.

[downunder]

I am not assuming too much about the vessel mentioned.

I have read the article and believe the cat in the article is one of the earlier Dean catamarans built in Cape Town which are known as well built vessels seaworthy but well know for their bridgedeck slamming. It may have been built as late as the early 1990's but is at latest a 1980 generation design.

The Dean website does not give details of its earlier vessels but the new model 498 just launched or about to be launched has corrected bridgedeck height (1100mm) whilst their other model the 441 the successor of the 37 ft and 42 ft Deans could be still considered marginal (530mm min at stern).

I qualify that comment about the Dean 441 not having read a review or specific knowledege of the 441.

[bigpuff]

i must admit iv had to change my jocks a few more times in a multy then a mono in heavy weather but they boih have there good points;space & leval sailing verses upwind sailing in light or heavy weather,noslaming or hobbyhorsing & sailing at angker

[Joli]

I've kind of wondered about that too? A new Lagoon 44 is $700k and a Jeaneau 50 is $337k. You can buy two Jeaneau 50's for less then the Lagoon 44. So pricing can't be material related.

That leaves tooling amoritization. They are both pan boats and I'm sure the tooling is CAD designed and CNC machined, certainly tool design and build are efficient.

It would be interesting to know how many tools are required for each boat and how many Jeaneau's are built versus Lagoons?

Originally Posted by downunder

The only real negative of a cat from my perspective is the cost as most of the new designs of 45ft and above do overcome the load carrying issues of earlier vessels.