The best 50' liveaboard/extended cruising cat?

[cruiz9]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

Thank you for suggestions! I feel the same way about saildrive - they are nice, but I will be traveling in such places where maintainance will be a nightmare... About in-boom furling - I talked to a reputable boat builder and he said that he was very much agains them until recent generations that seem to be very dependable. But I will investigate your suggestion. I am always for safety and redundance, but I will need to be able to reef main singlehandidly from the cockpit, hense my interest in furling systems...

Safety,Redundancy...... the exact reasons why you should stay away from boom furling. I got boom furling for the same reasons you want it,i believed the advertising blurb.
Some facts from someone who knows
The boom angle has to stay at 87degrees when furling ,if not the sailwill roll to far back in the boom and jam or roll to far forward and jam against back of the mast.
Reefing,contrary to advertising blurb you cannot reef downwind,you have to go head to wind,try doing that in a 3m+ sea in a small boat single handed.
The luff rope and track has to be kept very clean and lubricated or it will jam.
Boom furling has its place but not on mid sized boats in the open ocean

[Sea Frog]

I am really confused. On one hand, I totally agree with everything said about reefing systems, i.e. that when in the ocean it is better to have a 100% bulletproof system that won't break or jam. On the other hand I have been reading some comments from owners of good in-boom systems who claim they never failed in many years and tens of 1000's miles around the globe... I will certainly need to need to get deeper into this.

As for the boat - thanks to Mike (Jeannius) for suggestion on Privilege 515. I have contacted builders and they are ready to accomodate all my wishes (shaft drive, huge solar, extra thermal insulation etc). Most importantly, they have very nice "owners suite" version with a huuuuuge owner suit (something like Discovery 50), that's exactly what I need. So, it looks like I will most probably be getting Privelege 515 (they have a new version that supposed to be even better).

I would like to thank everybody who participated in this thread for valuable input, it REALLY helped!

[Factor]

In Mast - absolutely forget it, no battens and thus no sail shape. In boom - well its a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Good well thought out single line reefing systems rely on one thing - gravity. Pretty much fail safe and very low maintenance. Also they weigh a far bit less and cost a fraction.

[FLLCatsailor]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

. About in-boom furling - I talked to a reputable boat builder and he said that he was very much agains them until recent generations that seem to be very dependable.

I would say that when I worked as a rigger I used to make more money repairing roller furling main's and boom's than just about anything else it seemed... I would definitely go with a slab reefing setup with the lines run back to the helm. The safest and most reliable setup.

[menovapills]

sounds good!

[Sea Frog]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

I would say that when I worked as a rigger I used to make more money repairing roller furling main's and boom's than just about anything else it seemed... I would definitely go with a slab reefing setup with the lines run back to the helm. The safest and most reliable setup.

I was wondering about new "PoweFurl" system from GMT composites. Supposedly they afe free from the drawbacks of other boom furling systems, and can safely and reliably furl at high wind speeds and any directions. However, the price seem to be extraorbital, as each boom is engineered to a specific boat. If indeed it is more reliable than the "notmal" boom furling I may try it. Otherwise single line reefing seem to be the only choice...

[SVNeko]

Why so intent about a roller furling main? Seems there is enough testimony in favor of well-laid out, single line slab reefing.

[Sea Frog]

It is very subjective. It "seem" easier to roller-furl. Just press the button and off it goes! Any amount of reefing you fancy.

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

Chris's boats don't do in-boom furling or big beds. The biggest bed requires one to crawl over his/her partner to escape and climb down to the floor. They really don't even have "owner's cabins". Also, they have very plain painted interiors, what some may call "plasticky". He eschews the weight of panelling and headliners. They have saildrives.

In standard configuration, that's true. However, Chris is quite willing to specify just about anything reasonable. Certainly avoiding saildrives is no problem with Chris. If you don't like his default interior layout, just tell him what you want. If it can fit into the available space, then no problem. If you want to load it up with much more than the design weight, then Chris won't be interested.

If I wanted a catamaran in the 50' range, I would get an Atlantic 47 with Mastfoil. If that didn't have enough space for the owner's cabin, then I would try to entice Chris to develop a larger Mastfoil cat.

[Sea Frog]

There is no space available for a "owners suite" inbetween hulls in Chris' cats, and while I like his designs, this writes his cats off my list, unfortunately. Designing one completely new would make a price go way beyond my limits...

[mcarling]

The entire port hull (aft of the collision bulkhead) of an Atlantic 47 could be an owner's suite, instead of the two cabins in the standard configuration.

A strange design that would be one-of would be expensive, but if you wanted something that Chris could sell many of (for example, a Mastfoil-based replacement for the Atlantic 57) with Chris setting the overall dimensions, weight, etc. and you just specifying the interior configuration you wanted, then I don't think it would be terribly expensive.

[cruiz9]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

I was wondering about new "PoweFurl" system from GMT composites. Supposedly they afe free from the drawbacks of other boom furling systems, and can safely and reliably furl at high wind speeds and any directions. However, the price seem to be extraorbital, as each boom is engineered to a specific boat. If indeed it is more reliable than the "notmal" boom furling I may try it. Otherwise single line reefing seem to be the only choice...

Seafrog ,had a look on Powerfurl"s website and there video, that is the exact setup of my system,sure it will work in ideal conditions ,but you will rarely find that at sea. Despite numerous experienced sailors trying to convince you otherwise you seem convinced that boom furling is going to be your saviour and turn your adventures stress free. If you must do it,do your self a favour and get them to demonstrate it for you at sea in real world conditions, not in 10 knts of wind in a protected bay.
Have you also noticed that no has actually come on board this thread
and defended these things?????????????????

[Sea Frog]

I guess you are right It is just an old dream of a worry-free stress-free push-button operation that keeps me looking in the direction of those things. I guess I should get real

Speaking of single line reefing. If I have 3 reefing points, I need 3 lines and 3 block systems inside boom. Which makes me worry that they can get stuck, interfere with each other etc. I know it is only subjective worries, but I wonder if someone may point me into the right direction of manufacturer of a proven, 100% reliable single line reefing system?

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

I guess you are right It is just an old dream of a worry-free stress-free push-button operation that keeps me looking in the direction of those things. I guess I should get real

I think Chris White's Mastfoil is as near as you'll come to that.

[Sea Frog]

Originally Posted by mcarling

I think Chris White's Mastfoil is as near as you'll come to that.

While I love his designs, I need a boat with a wide owners suite for berth that simply can not fit inside a single hull. That's why I am looking in the direction of Privilege and Discovery. If not that limitation, there would be a whole lot of very interesting boats to buy... Including Chris White's