Helia 44, Review after a charter week

[Go Wildcats]

Wow. The Dazcat 1495 (50') ways 2/3rds of an Outremer 4X, ~12,000 pounds and ~18,000 pounds respectively.

[ed91e]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Dazcat, Gunboat, HH, Broadblue, Outremer... plus there are others.

Isn’t Gunboat the definition of an extreme performance cat?
HH has built three boats and are for sure beautiful and comfortable, but not a production cat.
Outremer is probably top three of my favorite boats. But that’s a great example of a boat where you need to do some trade offs in comfort for speed - narrow hulls, weight bearing capacity., dagger boards taking up space.
Seawind 1600 is probably the boat boat that has managed the best compromise between performance and comfort. But with four boats built I consider that to be a performance cat.

[contrail]

Originally Posted by ed91e

Isn’t Gunboat the definition of an extreme performance cat?
HH has built three boats and are for sure beautiful and comfortable, but not a production cat.
Outremer is probably top three of my favorite boats. But that’s a great example of a boat where you need to do some trade offs in comfort for speed - narrow hulls, weight bearing capacity., dagger boards taking up space.
Seawind 1600 is probably the boat boat that has managed the best compromise between performance and comfort. But with four boats built I consider that to be a performance cat.

The Gunboat is certainly a performance cat, but, having sailed one, it's also the most comfortable cat I have ever been on, which I think is not often appreciated.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by ed91e

Lack of forward cleats was also strange. I saw so many FP’s at mooring balls, where the lines was wrapped around the bows. Quite bad engineering considering that these boats are made for water sailing">blue water sailing and mooring balls. Unnecessary wear and tear both for the hull and the lines.

Our 2011 FP Orana has cleats on the forward cross beam. I noticed while in a mooring field that no other modern cats had them. I was shocked! Just as you mention, their lines had to wrap around the outside of the boat from the forward deck cleats. Terrible! It was like that on FPs, Leopards, and Lagoons.

Our cross beam cleats are riveted to the beam and we have mooring lines that are essentially always attached. I'm sure adding them to a Helia would be a trivial issue.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by ed91e

Isn’t Gunboat the definition of an extreme performance cat?
HH has built three boats and are for sure beautiful and comfortable, but not a production cat.
Outremer is probably top three of my favorite boats. But that’s a great example of a boat where you need to do some trade offs in comfort for speed - narrow hulls, weight bearing capacity., dagger boards taking up space.
Seawind 1600 is probably the boat boat that has managed the best compromise between performance and comfort. But with four boats built I consider that to be a performance cat.

So the first few built of any cat are "performance cats"? How many have to be built before they stop being performance cats?

My idea of a production boat is a boat that is built speculatively, generally from moulds, with the plan to build as many as can be sold. Ie, Not a one-off, or custom build. (Some may even be semi custom builds, like St Francis among others.)

These can be performance boats like the ones I mentioned previously, charter type boats, off the beach racing boats like NACRAs hobies etc.

As for "best compromise", that's an entirely subjective matter.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by contrail

The Gunboat is certainly a performance cat, but, having sailed one, it's also the most comfortable cat I have ever been on, which I think is not often appreciated.

Agreed that they can be comfortable at speed (due to very narrow hulls and high bridgedeck clearance) but GB are not short-handed cruising boats. Speak to any crew on a GB or similar larger high performance catamarans and they’ll tell you they need an experienced full crew offshore to control them.

[fivecapes]

GB48 production cat porn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPf-IShSj0M&t=120s

Hull #4 of 6 back in 2015.

You're welcome.

[OldMan]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

Our 2011 FP Orana has cleats on the forward cross beam. I noticed while in a mooring field that no other modern cats had them. I was shocked! Just as you mention, their lines had to wrap around the outside of the boat from the forward deck cleats. Terrible! It was like that on FPs, Leopards, and Lagoons.

Our cross beam cleats are riveted to the beam and we have mooring lines that are essentially always attached. I'm sure adding them to a Helia would be a trivial issue.

The cross beam is not suppose to be twisted, cleats with mooring lines can cause twisting. Install a second bridle, problem solved.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Dazcat, Gunboat, HH, Broadblue, Outremer... plus there are others.

Don't forget Catanas. They're probably one of the best blends of performance and cruising. I suspect the lighter carbon infused ones are pretty peppy.


And Chris White boats of course. I don't think he ever designed or made a slow boat.

[Nils Gruttner]

Originally Posted by ed91e

Hi Nils,

I have seen your video and read your blog. Great job!

I am sure you will love your Helia.

Thanks. Will let you know how the first sail went in June [emoji2]

[rmomplet]

Originally Posted by OldMan

The cross beam is not suppose to be twisted, cleats with mooring lines can cause twisting. Install a second bridle, problem solved.

Hi, how do you set up that second bridle? I can't imagine how a second bridle can solve this.

Thanks

[Fransw]

Originally Posted by Go Wildcats

Wow. The Dazcat 1495 (50') ways 2/3rds of an Outremer 4X, ~12,000 pounds and ~18,000 pounds respectively.

Heard good things about the Dazcats! Mean machine...lovit!

[Fransw]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

GB48 production cat porn.

Hull #4 of 6 back in 2015.

You're welcome.

Beautiful video. Thanks for sharing! Sadly the GB48 is not in production anymore. They only have a 65ft now if I'm not mistaken..

[OldMan]

Originally Posted by rmomplet

Hi, how do you set up that second bridle? I can't imagine how a second bridle can solve this.

Thanks

A second bridle is connected exactly as the anchor bridle. For stowage, bring it over the front beam and either attach to the net or the gull striker.

[rmomplet]

Originally Posted by OldMan

A second bridle is connected exactly as the anchor bridle. For stowage, bring it over the front beam and either attach to the net or the gull striker.

Thanks OldMan.