Gemini 3400 sailing characteristics

[massnspace]

My wife and I are considering an offer on a mid-90s Gemini 3400. Seems to be in great shape.

As far as sailing goes….we are experienced monohull sailors. Can and have pushed boats to good speeds. Understand when and how to reef quickly.

I have searched the web and found very little on how this cat actually sails. Not much video evidence either.

Does anyone have any actual knowledge of this? We would also be putting in brand new sails, and think that a more modern approach could benefit performance.

David
Seattle

[donradcliffe]

Some previous discussion

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...es-161305.html

[Spartanacus]

Had a 3000 and loved it. With shallow draft you can go places canoes fear to tread. Once at Elliot and Sand key (FL) there was a high 65MPH west wind alert for that night.
We pulled the rudders and drifted thru the tiny cut between the two islands and anchored on the ocean side, protected from the blast. You will always be able to anchor out of the swells somewhere close to shore, far closer than anyone else.
Can be beached, there is a huge tide swing near Jekyll Island GA, we anchored near shore and painted the bottom at low tide.
Got to watch your anchoring in close company, as every boat follows current. The Gemini however follows the wind. The deep center board lets you point better than most cats by far.
Get it if it's in such nice shape, you'll love it.

[Kettlewell]

We owned a 32-foot French cat for quite a few years and sailed her from Maine to the Caribbean and out to Bermuda, and we carefully observed Geminis sailing near us. They sail well for their size, particularly when not overloaded. The main problem, as with all small cruising cats, is everyone overloads them and that does hurt performance under sail. Compared to a similar sized mono you will note a much quicker and jerkier motion underway. Obviously, they don't heel as much, but heading into the wind you go up and over the waves, bouncing along. Downwind is often very comfortable. When in doubt, reef early--you don't want to be overcanvased. We found that it is best to reef the sails the first time you think, "I wonder when I should reef."

[Chotu]

I had a pretty similar boat to this. They are very comfortable, but they are slow for a multihull.

They have most of the advantages of a catamaran, other than the shorter passage making.

They are easy to beach/ground

They are very forgiving to sail. Easy stuff. They provide a nice ride in chop.

They do slam in the right conditions, but you just need to alter your course a few degrees off the wind to smooth things out.

They are very comfortable motoring.

The galley down design is fantastic. Gives an absolutely huge galley space while keeping the whole bridge deck for the salon table. The forward staterooms are bigger than it would seem looking at the boat from the exterior.

A good boat. A great first cat. However, owning this type of boat and being blasted by every other catamaran and a good percentage of monohulls is what drove me to build mine. Don’t expect speed.

[smj]

Had a 3200 and sailed well unloaded, loaded for cruising not so much. Pounded often and badly, even at anchor.

[maybe so]

Hi David. If you and your wife enjoy the sailing experience, this cat is not the best. Did a two day sail (mostly motoring) on one near you; that was enough. Only sailed briefly one of those days when a stiff breeze popped up. We maxed at 8 knots in a puff but mostly a 5 knot pace. The owner had visited the factory and said the laminate up where flotsam hits was laid up thin. We slowed way down at every sight of floaters. He thought just a four inch diameter branch would be enough to hole. A Gemini of approximately that vintage flipped near Seattle; is this the one? Your power cat looks awesome (would love to see pics). Have you considered adding a sail? It wouldn't take much to beat the Gemini.

[DougM]

hi Massnspace. I owned a Gemini 105MC for 5 years before buying my present cat, and i beileve the 105MC is fairly similar to the 3400, so I'll add some comments for you to consider. Your profile says you have a 28 ft power cat so you have a sense of how a smaller cat feels at sea. you also have some great feedback on how the boat sails. you can probably filter out about the comment that says the boat will sink if you hit driftwood and flip over in a sea breeze.

My $.02: I really enjoyed the way my 105MC sailed. its a small, and therefore low bridgedeck, cat and it will slam somewhat going directly into short chop. But putting this into perspective, my previous monohull pitched, and slammed into waves, almost stopping dead. Bear off a little in the gemini, and it felt like it dance across the waves.

With respect to 'slow', that is highly subjective in that it depends on what you compare it to, and how you sail. Personally, I like squeezing the most i can out of the boat I'm sailing, and i have to say, i enjoyed sailing my Gemini. I did casual phrf racing against monohulls only (no multis in the fleet). We'd do poorly in under 8 knots, became competitive in 8 - 12, and kicked butt in 15+. I could get good VMG upwind if I avoided pinching (the boards would stall). Witht the screecher (didnt have a spin) we could perform decently downwind. We kicked butt reaching. The low vs high wind performance i believe is characteristic of cats ... friction drag dominates at low speed so they do poorly in a drift-fest, but form drag dominates at high speed so they kick ass in heavier air.

speed wrt. other cats: this is a 34 ft cat. the outremers, customs, gunboats will smoke by you so if that is your comparitive, they and most other sailboats are dead slow. But i chartered a lagoon 42 in the BVIs during my time as a gemini owner. my crew quickly nicknamed it 'big fat pig'. wouldnt point, reaching at 9 knots where i could do double digits with my Gemini. Beautiful comfortable boat but couldn't point nor move like the gemini, even in the trades. I love all boats and enjoyed the charter, and the lagoon was 'as advertised'. I loved spending the week on the lagoon, but i'd take the Gemini's sailing characteristics any day.

But if you really want to sail, build a custom lightweight carbon fiber cat, extra tall rig with wing sail, try to get 50 ft at waterline, and you can probably make 98 percent of boats look slow.