Narrowing Cat Field

[bill48]

E have researched and have narrowed the field to 3. The problems I am having is we have not sailed any of the 3. 1 st choice is a privilege 49 next is a catana 47 or 50 and the 3 Rd is a st. Francis.we plan on east coast cruising then bvi and elsewhere. We need to be able to handle the boat with 2 people. We have chartered in the bvi,s and owned a 34 ft. Monohull in the Chesapeake bay. Do u recommend chartering the boat prior to selecting/choosing.? How long r sea trials? How can u fund a buyers broker.? In today's economy what percentage off is expected? I have been told list price and sold price r not always correct?

[colemj]

What model St. Francis? Is the Catana you are considering the 471? You will have a hard time chartering those three choices - particularly a Catana 471.

Sea trials are typically short - just go out and sail for a couple of hours.

I can't help you with funding a broker - that is a personal finance issue, but they typically aren't very expensive.

The price of a boat is exactly the price that the buyer is willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept. There is no standard "percentage off". The list prices and sold prices are always correct, but they may not correlate with each other.

Personally, I think the Catana 471 is one of the best production catamarans ever made. The 50, one of the worst.

All of these choices are large boats for a couple, but not unmanageable providing you both know what you are doing. The loads on all of them will be tremendous and you will need to think about, and understand, the mechanics of sailing these boats. We have met couples in all three of your choices out cruising.

Oh yeah - let me usurp Gord and welcome you to cruiser's forum bill48!

Mark

[Sand crab]

This Catana 471 has been chartered out of Malaysia. Maybe you could kick the tires and take it for a spin. BOB
Catamaran 1999 Catana 471 Catamaran For Sale

[deckofficer]

Hey Bob,

Someone from the forum just emailed me about his St. Francis 44. I had no idea that kind of luxury and interior was even in my price range. I was very impressed and am currently doing research on the St. Francis line. On other post I was getting info on what is light, fast, and uses dagger boards, but for the same price I would give all that fast stuff up for the comfort of the St. Francis. See what happens when good folk point you in the right direction. Since the OP mentioned St. Francis, do you have any thing you can add on its sailing attributes?

[maxingout]

When we were getting ready to purchase in 1992, there were only a few cats out there from which to choose. It was a toss up between a PDQ 36 and a Privilege 39. We chartered both of them, and we chose the Privilege 39 because it fit our family size better and seemed more robust for a circumnavigation.

I think chartering the catamarans is a great idea. You are going to spend a lot of money, and you need to spend some time on board so that you make the decision that is right for you.

[Jeannius]

Obviously I favour the Privilege but putting me aside, you'll not find many who have bad words about them (except for those people for whom speed is an absolute priority). The 495 is magnificent. Don't know about discounts but the way to find out is to ask about delivery time. If it is less than 6 months then there may be a discount available as it means the order book is not that full. Certainly if you are buying through an agent you should be able to get something off as the agents cut was 15% when I bought mine.

We did seriously consider a Catana but in the end decided against it because of the helm position. Way too exposed for me. Didn't want to fry or get soaked.

St Francis... Much smaller production. Variable quality perhaps. Much cheaper though.

[JJ77]

Originally Posted by colemj

Personally, I think the Catana 471 is one of the best production catamarans ever made. The 50, one of the worst.



Mark

Hello Mark,

Why do you think the 50 is one of the worst?

@Bill;welcome!and just to be clear;are you looking for a new boat or a used one?

Cheers,
JJ

[bill48]

It would be a used one, probably 2005 to 2009 age group.

[SVNeko]

You should consider the Switch 51 also (I am biased, of course). The Catana 50 is much heavier and not considered as good a performer as the older Catana 47. As for the St. Francis, go to cruisersforum.com and inquire about the moderator's boat. He loves it but had enormous difficulties with the builder. I think you should be able to charter each one if you look hard enough in the Caribbean. I see former charterboat Catanas on the market all the time. Also, talk to Phil at the Multihull Company. He will want you to hire him, and you should consider it, but he is also a wealth of information. Another good multi to consider is the new Outremer 49. Good luck.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by JJ77

Hello Mark,

Why do you think the 50 is one of the worst?

@Bill;welcome!and just to be clear;are you looking for a new boat or a used one?

Cheers,
JJ

Note: I haven't sailed one, just been on a few at boat shows.

They are extremely heavy boats. Extremely. They require video camera feeds to the helm just to see the corners of the boat when docking, etc. I found the ergonomics atrocious and access to most of the sailing systems abominable.

This is just my opinion, but compared to the 471, it is a dog. There was a new Catana 52 next to us a while back. I think this may be the successor to the 50, and it looked to be a much better designed boat. I also heard they shaved a lot of weight off of it.

Mark

[S/V Alchemy]

Narrow it too much and you're in a monohull.

[SeaKing]

Bill have you looked at Voyage cats, you can charter those in the BVI's, We have a 47' made in 1997, the 50's are newer. We just finished having a new owner's version 52' built, it is scheduled to leave Cape Town in a couple of days. If you are near Annapolis you are welcome to come have a look at our 47. It is winterized now or we could go for a sail.

[Mark424]

Originally Posted by bill48

Do u recommend chartering the boat prior to selecting/choosing.?

Absolutely!!

Forget all the little comments from the reviews, etc. When you actually live with the boat, you'll find all kinds of little details that make life better or worse. You just can't analyze it from arms length. Dream Yacht has the Catanas for charter, not sure who has the Privilege. I had a Catana 50 this past April. It's a big boat.

[bill48]

We looked for 4 yrs, my heart was set on a privilege, traveled to Florida to see one. Very disappointed. The front master u need to be 4 ft. Tall. Could not find chartering unless in iEurope, chartered in Bvi's thru moorings- fantastic- hear sunsail is great with the flotilla, best of luck it's all about compromise we bought a leopard for comfort, safety and reliability 46 in Florida now

[downunder]

Originally Posted by bill48

We looked for 4 yrs, my heart was set on a privilege, traveled to Florida to see one. Very disappointed. The front master u need to be 4 ft. Tall. Could not find chartering unless in iEurope, chartered in Bvi's thru moorings- fantastic- hear sunsail is great with the flotilla, best of luck it's all about compromise we bought a leopard for comfort, safety and reliability 46 in Florida now

Congratulations on your Leopard 46.