Buying the right catamaran

[smj]

Originally Posted by Captdd

Yo Sailor,



In general Cats are Dogs for sailing! (No matter what Cruising World says)



Leopard is the only way to go!



The Leopard 40 is also a dog (needs 16 Knots to move anywhere)



However the newer Leopard 38,46,48, & 58 Kinda do what is promised! I have Skippered extensively on them all!



One sacrifices speed for comfort!



Enjoy your issue!



With Cheers,



Captd

In general most cats will outpace a similar sized mono, so if the cats a dog what does that make the mono?


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[smj]

Originally Posted by timbenner

Stay away from French boats and stay with Australia boats?? Spoken like an Australian boat manufacturer!! I say you are getting bad advise, since the most popular cats are French. However, if you just don't like the French - that's understandable - to each his own.



I love my Lagoon 380, along with the majority of all cat owners, who happen to own a Lagoon 380. I think it's still the #1 most popular cat and/or has the record for the most produced of any cat. Wouldn't that prove something? Like we all bought them because we like them, in spite of the fact that they are French??

Gemini used to have the record for most produced cat but maybe Lagoon overtook them. Mass produced doesn't always translate to quality but probably a lower price?


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[AussieCat]

My two bobs worth. We started with a older 1998 Aussie built 43' Tasman Elite. Great cat, very fast. solid as a rock and huge saloon living. Problem was very low bridge clearance so lots of slap. Don't let anyone tell you it's not a problem because it will drive you crazy especially on a longish voyage. We spent 18 mths looking around at everything out there. We had almost decided on a 42 or 43 Leopard in the 2003 - 2006 range. Really liked the layout and great vision. What stopped us was the still lack of bridge clearance ( about 58cm at the back) Likewise the Seawinds are even lower again. As fantastic a sea boat as they are we discarded the Perry 43 because of the price vrs features. Well we ended up with a PF Belize 43 & love it! Masses of living area, storage etc inside and out, very fast on the water and most important a bridge clearance of around 90cm. Purchased in Melb and sailed up to home port of Broken Bay was a real pleasure with the higher clearance. BTW where are you located and plan to mostly sail? That can impact a lot on what you end up with. Best advise you'll get is do lots of research, look at as many boats as you can to get a feel for what works best for you. Gold Coast is the best place in Aust to view cats with Multihull Solutions always having a good selection on the hard at Boat Works and there's not much Kelvin and the crew don't know about cats. There are always cats out on the hard there so a great opportunity to chat with the owners as well. Best of luck.

[mjcook]

One thing to consider is the problem of hauling out with a cat. My boat is a modified Cloud 9 at about 5 meters wide it is the biggest boat that fits on the small travel lift in my marina. Larger cats need a slip way or bigger lift or can be careened. If careening you may want to consider weather or not to have mini keels. Good luck with your shopping.
M J Cook
S/c Rainbow Dreaming

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by iliohale

Am I wrong or are the Seawind boats built in Vietnam? I saw a presentation on the new 1600 and this will be built in Vietnam. I have toured several French factories and you would be hard pressed to find better multihull build quality anywhere.

Yes, all the Seawinds for the past few years are built at the Corsair factory in HCM, I had a walk through of the 1600 earlier in the year, that's one very nice cat, and looks like a very fast design aspects the way the boat was setup

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Hi Peter , all the boats you have mentioned are good boats, the only point I would make is that lagoon , leopard vs the Grainger/ Seawind are very different boats with the lagoons holding the most volume. I went through a very similar decision last year , FP vs Lagoon vs Seawind. Lots of videos on the link below on my final choice.....just finished today installing the water maker so ready for a Longer trip in Indonesia in the coming months

https://youtu.be/mJUcbNaoCII

Cheers
Andrew

Andrew makes a good point. I have viewed several of his videos and understand why he likes his Seawind. On the other hand I know folks with FPs who are happy with them. The reason is both folks selected a boat based on what they were going to do with them.

I notice lots of folks buy a boat based on what they think they will do with a boat as opposed to what they actually do with the boat once they have it. I wanted a shoal draft boat I might well wind up hitting sand bottoms in skinny water. I had to be able to single hand it myself. I don't like to motor so I was fine getting two outboards in wells instead of more fuel efficient inboards that cost an arm and a leg to repair. If one of my outboards goes bad I just get a block and tackle, throw it over the boom, lift out the outboard, and drop a new one in. Of course I can't motor into heavy seas, wind, and current as well as you can with inboards. My Seawind hits all of these points. It is open and great for Florida and the Bahamas in hot weather. It is great for what I call short day sail cruising where the next harbor is normally less than 100nm and often less than 50nm. While the Seawinds have crossed oceans I probably would have selected a different boat if my goal was blue water cruising for weeks, or months, at a time.

Many folks new to cruising often quickly change their goals once they have been on the boat a very short time. Nevertheless I suggest you make a list of the places you plan to sail, and how long you think you will spend sailing as opposed to being anchored, or on a ball, or at a dock. If the truth be known few folks sail for even a week straight with out anchoring. And most cruisers will spend a lot more time anchored than sailing. A common situation is to sail for a day, anchor for a few, or several days, and then sail for a day again and repeat. It is also not uncommon to wind up in a marina and stay there for a few days or even weeks. Of course there are folks that simply get on their boat and sail till they have to go in port for supplies and then head out again. Also there are folks who stay at the dock 99% of the time.

Nothing is wrong with any of these choices. You just need to figure out which kinda cruiser your, it will make boat selection a lot easier.

[timbenner]

Originally Posted by smj

Gemini used to have the record for most produced cat but maybe Lagoon overtook them. Mass produced doesn't always translate to quality but probably a lower price?


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I think you're right, that in the 34' size range Gemini has launched the most cats. In the 38'+ range, the Lagoon 380 is number 1.

You're right that Mass production doesn't always translate to quality, but it does translate to a KNOWN product, with the largest track record, tested by the most people, in the widest range of applications. I for one, take comfort in that, versus the other extreme, a one-off build, that's anyones guess.

[timbenner]

The best advise I can give is to buy the SMALLEST boat you can live with.

[2Wind]

Consider your list of important criteria.
For most, cost will always be at the top - so set your budget.
If I was going to live aboard, space, comfort and amenity would be next.
Also, if I was going to truly live aboard, I'd be thinking very seriously about how much "stuff" I "need" to take with me and how much stuff I "want" to take with me.
Ultimately, this then determines one's choices.
Forget performance, if you are going to take tons of "stuff". In fact, buying a performance boat that then becomes overloaded is not only a poor choice in achieving the right balance in criteria, but it can become a safety issue if weigh extends outside optimal design loads.
An overloaded performance boat is unlikely to perform better than a "slower" boat that more comfortably accommodates the weight by design.
Ultimately, the difference in "performance" between the common production load capable cats is minimal - less than 10% or under a knot at the most. For most living an unhurried life, this means very little and a sacrifice that is easy to live with once the other important criteria are met, like comfort underway, ease of sailing, comfort and amenity at anchor, and of course, having your "stuff" at hand.

[smj]

Originally Posted by timbenner

I think you're right, that in the 34' size range Gemini has launched the most cats. In the 38'+ range, the Lagoon 380 is number 1.



You're right that Mass production doesn't always translate to quality, but it does translate to a KNOWN product, with the largest track record, tested by the most people, in the widest range of applications. I for one, take comfort in that, versus the other extreme, a one-off build, that's anyones guess.

As long as the mass production cat has a good track record then I could understand taking comfort in it. My taste is more towards some of the limited production or one-off cats.


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[contrail]

Originally Posted by Captdd

Yo Sailor,

In general Cats are Dogs for sailing! (No matter what Cruising World says)

Leopard is the only way to go!

The Leopard 40 is also a dog (needs 16 Knots to move anywhere)

However the newer Leopard 38,46,48, & 58 Kinda do what is promised! I have Skippered extensively on them all!

One sacrifices speed for comfort!

Enjoy your issue!

With Cheers,

Captd

16 knots to get going? You are kidding! My L45 will be doing over 8 knots when it's blowing 16, or perhaps that's "not going"! Methinks you may be sailing like a dog, not the cat's fault! I do agree that leopards are a very good way to go, though.

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by contrail

16 knots to get going? You are kidding! My L45 will be doing over 8 knots when it's blowing 16, or perhaps that's "not going"! Methinks you may be sailing like a dog, not the cat's fault! I do agree that leopards are a very good way to go, though.

Fully agree, with 16 knots true going up wind I would already be reefing and trying to slow the boat, same can be said down wind as I would be pulling my Asy spinnaker down to slow the boat.

[gerson]

OUTREMER?
http://www.catamaran-outremer.com/en
the beat (or the cream of the cream)

[ausaviator]

I get the feeling that 90% of cat owners love their brand better than all the others. Funny that!

This means in the end that no matter what brand you buy, you will probably be happy with your choice.

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

I get the feeling that 90% of cat owners love their brand better than all the others. Funny that!

This means in the end that no matter what brand you buy, you will probably be happy with your choice.

"10% love their brand of boat they sold, and 90% love the brand they own"