Seaquest 46 Performance Cruising Catamaran

[Ratel]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

That makes more sense than the video. I also noted that the rear step design seems to vary in the various views, and didn't look like the mold. I'm sure all these details will be finalized in the first build.

Yes, we have made some changes to the original design in collaboration with the builder and designer. Being a semi custom boat we have also opted for an owner's version with 3 queen sized berths.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Ratel

"Is the spec'd displacement WL displacement and what is the anticipated payload?"

Yes, the spec'd displacement is WL of 46'
The anticipated payload is 2 tons.

2 ton (assuming 2,000 kg) is not very much if you are planning to live aboard, but I assume you knew that already when selecting this kind of design. Find out the displacement per centimetre of immersion so that you can accurately track your waterlines and loading once you’re cruising.

Regarding light wind polars, close and beam reaching is easy and fast in light winds, but with anything deeper than 80* TWA the apparent wind drops with speed. Keeping speed up requires huge sail areas and light weight - not generally feasible for a live aboard cruising boat. The problem with light winds is going downwind at a reasonable speed - sometimes motoring makes more sense than 2-3 knots of boat speed and the sails slopping around in the swell. Electric drive is certainly a more pleasant way of motor sailing in light winds - an extra 2 or 3 knots of applied speed makes a huge difference in light winds.

Do you really want all the people on board to fill 3 queen size beds? Most cruising couples we’ve met turn excess sleeping cabins into work rooms, laundries and storage areas - guests can sleep in the salon or the cockpit if there’s more than one bed’s worth of guests.

Definitely looking forward to your first hand reports once you’ve launched. Thanks for all the info.

[Ratel]

Originally Posted by fxykty

2 ton (assuming 2,000 kg) is not very much if you are planning to live aboard, but I assume you knew that already when selecting this kind of design. Find out the displacement per centimetre of immersion so that you can accurately track your waterlines and loading once you’re cruising.

Regarding light wind polars, close and beam reaching is easy and fast in light winds, but with anything deeper than 80* TWA the apparent wind drops with speed. Keeping speed up requires huge sail areas and light weight - not generally feasible for a live aboard cruising boat. The problem with light winds is going downwind at a reasonable speed - sometimes motoring makes more sense than 2-3 knots of boat speed and the sails slopping around in the swell. Electric drive is certainly a more pleasant way of motor sailing in light winds - an extra 2 or 3 knots of applied speed makes a huge difference in light winds.

Do you really want all the people on board to fill 3 queen size beds? Most cruising couples we’ve met turn excess sleeping cabins into work rooms, laundries and storage areas - guests can sleep in the salon or the cockpit if there’s more than one bed’s worth of guests.

Definitely looking forward to your first hand reports once you’ve launched. Thanks for all the info.

We are doing everything we can to keep the boat as light as possible. Horses for courses, we anticipate that 2000kg payload is enough for our needs and desire to have a performance Catamaran. Can't get around physics unfortunately...Having said that, the 4 meter carbon fiber, curved daggerboards are shaped with a specific camber to increase lift as speed goes up. Less drag in the water, more performance. Keeps the fine bows in the best position.

We will avoid dead downwind sailing as much as possible. Far better to keep the true wind at 150 degrees or less and gybing to destination for max VMG. Sail inventory for now is the large main, self tacking jib and a Code 0. Might add an assymetric spinnaker. Definitely no Dacron on this boat!

For the most part it will be only us two onboard so the front guest cabin will double as a workshop and storage area for (light) items.

The SQ46 will not work for everyone but for the cruising sailor looking for performance it is the best value on the market. My humble opinion.

[Apollo19.5]

Agree that all boats are a compromise and key items/aspect for one buyer/owner may not make the top 10 for another. Plenty of cruisers take everything aboard and others live a more minimalist existence. Coming from a racing background does lend to the second type of cruiser I have found. I have friends who came from a motor boat background and their boat does sit a bit lower in the water, but they still are having fun. Each to their own. I look forward to the ongoing reports and review of the SQ46.

[JustMurph]

Definitely add the asymmetric spin. It's gotta be my favourite sail and really isn't hard to handle with a sock (155m^2).

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by JustMurph

Definitely add the asymmetric spin. It's gotta be my favourite sail and really isn't hard to handle with a sock (155m^2).

We’ll, if you’re going to add a new asymmetric spinnaker or should go on a top-down furler rather than a sock. Much easier to use, but a little more finicky.

But really, unless the OP is planning to sail really broad angles, a reaching Code 0 is plenty enough to go 130* AWA, which is generally deep enough yet still maintaining good boat speed. Heck, if we’re lazy we’ll take our gennaker (very flat, but also very large) right to dead down wind either by wing and wing or by moving the tack to the windward bow. A performance cat doesn’t often need a cloud of sail.

[JustMurph]

Horses for courses. Sure you'll move nicely enough with the Code 0, but you'll go a whole lot faster with the extra sail area of the spin. You just can't get that much sail area in a Code 0. And when the wind is 10 knots or less and you've got some distance to cover, that extra sail area counts. Certainly in my experience, it's usually well worth the effort of taking my code D (bottom up furling) down and putting the spin up. That said, I usually have a young and energetic crew. YMMV.

I haven't played with a top down furler yet, but single handed, I rather use my spin than my Code D. The sock is easier than the bottom up furler.

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by JustMurph

Horses for courses. Sure you'll move nicely enough with the Code 0, but you'll go a whole lot faster with the extra sail area of the spin. You just can't get that much sail area in a Code 0. And when the wind is 10 knots or less and you've got some distance to cover, that extra sail area counts. Certainly in my experience, it's usually well worth the effort of taking my code D (bottom up furling) down and putting the spin up. That said, I usually have a young and energetic crew. YMMV.

I haven't played with a top down furler yet, but single handed, I rather use my spin than my Code D. The sock is easier than the bottom up furler.

I agree with fxykty. A code 0 will cover most situations and as it is a new boat I would hold off on a spinnaker until the OP gets the feel of the boat. We retired our spin soon after we got our Code 0. Too narrow a window to make it worthwhile. You can of course pick up a spin cheap as the fit is not as critical as a Code 0 and it makes a good backup.

[JustMurph]

Narrow? Really? I regularly run my asym spin anywhere between a broad reach and DDW and ~4knots TWS and ~20 knots TWS. With ~40% more sail area than the code sail, that's a big difference in power.

Of course if you aren't interested in changing sails, then a screecher of some kind makes sense. It's definitely the most versatile.

I do entirely agree with you that there's no harm in waiting and that they can be picked up new or second hand cheap. You don't need any fancy materials or design for a spin.

[Matt Johnson]

Yesterday we had a 23hr layover in Dubai and the OP was kind enough to show us around his amazing city -- but most important for this thread, we also got a great tour of his new boat in construction.

This is going to be one sweet cat! Mike's raceboat building past is apparent in every detail of the design and construction, yet he also has made a very liveable cruising platform which shows a broader understanding of this market than the bare ish interior boats he's used to producing.

There are actually quite a few differences I saw in person from the render's on the website ... All positive in my view. Hopefully we continue to see updates showing the build out and some videos of it sailing next year.

[Syren]

Thanks for all the updates! I'm definitely following the progress of this one and really excited to see and hear about it once hull 1 is launched.

[osi48]

Originally Posted by Ratel

Thanks! Rest assured, I will report back on the actual performance after launch

There is a lot to like about this boat, great lines and sensibly set up - minus the bridge deck clearance which seems a little low for a performance cat with slender hulls, but I think your polars may be a little to optimistic. When is your launch date?

We have a 48' gunboat (all carbon/kevlar with foam below the waterline and nomex above - including all the furniture) that weighs around 9 tons light - pushing 11 tons in cruising mode, and can assure you that we do not see our boat speed anywhere near wind speed, in cruising mode, with light airs at any point of sail. After about 10 knots tws we can sail at wind speed between 60 and 120 degrees awa with the code zero up.

We are certainly weight conscious when cruising, but creature comforts = more weight most of the time - larger battery banks, generator, thrusters, secondary autopilot, galvanic isolator, more solar, larger solar controllers, larger inverters, air-conditioning, weight of wire for all the above (4/0 is HEAVY), heavier anchor and chain, secondary anchor and chain, electronics, safety gear, sail covers, window covers, awnings, dinghy, additional headsails, mooring lines, etc.... all adds up quickly and generally is not included in the light ship weight.

Do you have any weight guarantees in your build contract? I would not be surprised to see this boat come in at well over 9 tons light, especially with it being hull number 1.

Did you go with a carbon rig? What is the mast height? Who is the builder?

[Ratel]

Originally Posted by osi48

There is a lot to like about this boat, great lines and sensibly set up - minus the bridge deck clearance which seems a little low for a performance cat with slender hulls, but I think your polars may be a little to optimistic. When is your launch date?

We have a 48' gunboat (all carbon/kevlar with foam below the waterline and nomex above - including all the furniture) that weighs around 9 tons light - pushing 11 tons in cruising mode, and can assure you that we do not see our boat speed anywhere near wind speed, in cruising mode, with light airs at any point of sail. After about 10 knots tws we can sail at wind speed between 60 and 120 degrees awa with the code zero up.

We are certainly weight conscious when cruising, but creature comforts = more weight most of the time - larger battery banks, generator, thrusters, secondary autopilot, galvanic isolator, more solar, larger solar controllers, larger inverters, air-conditioning, weight of wire for all the above (4/0 is HEAVY), heavier anchor and chain, secondary anchor and chain, electronics, safety gear, sail covers, window covers, awnings, dinghy, additional headsails, mooring lines, etc.... all adds up quickly and generally is not included in the light ship weight.

Do you have any weight guarantees in your build contract? I would not be surprised to see this boat come in at well over 9 tons light, especially with it being hull number 1.

Did you go with a carbon rig? What is the mast height? Who is the builder?

We are launching towards the end of September. Weight is guaranteed by the builder at 8200Kg. The payload of approximately 2000kg should be sufficient for us. Bear in mind that we do not have to carry diesel, being an electric boat.Performance sails from OneSails will supply the horsepower. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating...

The mast height tops out at 21meters. Carbon would be nice, but we are going with Aluminium from John Mast in Denmark.

Mike Eaton is the builder. https://eatonmarine.com

Love your Gunboat, which sails are you using?

[fxykty]

Our 55’ boat is 7550kg lightship and 3750kg load for a nominal 11,300kg loaded weight. For a couple of live aboards that isn’t hard to fill up, though we do have a bunch of paper books in our library and lots of toys.

That’s a tall mast: our mast top is 22m above waterline, with 19.2m for the mast itself. More than enough horsepower once the wind goes above 8 knots: below that upwind with our self tacking jib it is a bit slow. But if we bear away a bit and put up the gennaker, we equal boat speed and true wind speed from 3 knots to 7 knots at TWAs from 70-110*. From 8 knots TWS we get boat speed up to 130% TWS until about 12 knots TWS with the gennaker. After that we furl away the gennaker and start reefing the white sails upwind and reaching. Broad reaching we can keep full sails longer but the speeds start to get uncomfortable for cruising if there’s any sort of seas running. I expect newer hull shapes can tolerate higher boat speeds in rough water better. Maybe you can trust the reaching and running polars, but they will require using bigger sails than a two person cruising crew really wants to handle.

We have membrane string sails by Zoom Sails. They do help keep us moving well in all wind conditions, generally reefed well down. One of the pleasures of a performance cat is losing almost no speed at all when reefing down one or two steps earlier than the reefing guide.

[JustMurph]

That's some impressive speed!