Cruiser vs. Trawler - how to decide?

[waterman46]

I have not heard any mention here of power catamarans. It would seem they would have some real advantages in speed and fuel economy. Essentially they are two light and narrow displacement hulls with very low drag, thus can be driven at high speed with less power. And then, no rolling at anchor, etc. etc

[Tom.B]

Originally Posted by waterman46

I have not heard any mention here of power catamarans. It would seem they would have some real advantages in speed and fuel economy. Essentially they are two light and narrow displacement hulls with very low drag, thus can be driven at high speed with less power. And then, no rolling at anchor, etc. etc

That is a very good point. We looked at them too. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive and take wider (more expensive) slips to keep them in.

[a64pilot]

The time thing is a very good point, I'm still working, last year, and really can only go to the boat on weekends. Well with just the weekend, we can't go anywhere, it takes a full day to get to anywhere and we don't have two full days in a weekend.
I discovered pretty quickly with a sailboat that to make one work, time almost has to not matter, you have to be able to have the attitude of "we will get there when we get there"
Having to be there by this time tomorrow doesn't work well with a sailboat.

Funny thing was the expression if you own an airplane is "Time to spare? Go by air"

So I guess I just have to Retire so time wont matter as much
So for the working person I can see how a planing boat may can work, but if your desire is to travel, do the Loop or up and down the intercoastal chasing the seasons, I think you will often not go due to the cost of fuel.
My sailboat burns 1 GPH and goes 6.5 kts., if I run the generator it costs me a gl of fuel every four hours. It really doesn't matter so much now, but if I had to burn 10 to 15 times that much, that would push my Retirement out further, and I don't want that.

[fargo007]

A power cat is what I first looked at. Even a used one 10+ years old is out of reach. If I hit the lottery, that's what I would buy.

I'm probably going to look at a sailing cat too, something like a gemini 105.

I would really like to charter one of these for 3 days to see if we like it but I can't find one in Florida.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Tom.B

That is a very good point. We looked at them too. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive and take wider (more expensive) slips to keep them in.

At least in the Eastern USA, the more expensive slip theory for cats has been debunked many times. Very few marinas even consider charging more and most that do will back off. Biggest downside is you may have to walk from the end of the pier as you are on a T-head.

Also, it depends on the size you are talking about. Some of the sub-40' cats fit quite nicely in a normal slip for a similar sized monohull.

As far as original purchase price, when you consider like-for-like (and the same length is not), a lot of the price difference goes away.

A lot of the sail cats make for really nice motor cruisers with or without the mast (unlike monohull sailboats that need the mast to resist rolling motion). In terms of speed and efficiency, they are probably among the closest to the original intent of the term "trawler".

[Tom.B]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

At least in the Eastern USA, the more expensive slip theory for cats has been debunked many times. Very few marinas even consider charging more and most that do will back off. Biggest downside is you may have to walk from the end of the pier as you are on a T-head.

Also, it depends on the size you are talking about. Some of the sub-40' cats fit quite nicely in a normal slip for a similar sized monohull.

As far as original purchase price, when you consider like-for-like (and the same length is not), a lot of the price difference goes away.

A lot of the sail cats make for really nice motor cruisers with or without the mast (unlike monohull sailboats that need the mast to resist rolling motion). In terms of speed and efficiency, they are probably among the closest to the original intent of the term "trawler".

Good points. Thanks.

[hturner12]

Hello all
We are in the same situation. My question is if you have a boat doing 7 knots in a headwind of 15 knots , would you be going forward, dead in the water or going backwards?

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by hturner12

Hello all
We are in the same situation. My question is if you have a boat doing 7 knots in a headwind of 15 knots , would you be going forward, dead in the water or going backwards?

it depends ...

hull form, windage, current, waves ?

[Chuck Hawley]

Originally Posted by waterman46

I have not heard any mention here of power catamarans. It would seem they would have some real advantages in speed and fuel economy. Essentially they are two light and narrow displacement hulls with very low drag, thus can be driven at high speed with less power. And then, no rolling at anchor, etc. etc

What I find disappointing about power cats is that the inevitably have two really large engines (225HP is not uncommon), and they are not all that efficient. If you were to take a normal charter catamaran and pull the rig out of it, then use the normal 75HP engines to run around, you'd power at about 8 knots and use the engines efficiently.

I think the heavy construction of many power cats means that you're digging two pretty big holes, even though you have an efficient beam to length ratio.

Chuck

[Tom.B]

Originally Posted by hturner12

Hello all

We are in the same situation. My question is if you have a boat doing 7 knots in a headwind of 15 knots , would you be going forward, dead in the water or going backwards?

No. Not even close. A 24" prop digging into the water can always out thrust a 15k wind. Maybe if you also had a 5k current, but to stop even a low powered trawler, you would need a lot more wind than that... More wind than you would want to be boating in.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hturner12]

Originally Posted by Tom.B

No. Not even close. A 24" prop digging into the water can always out thrust a 15k wind. Maybe if you also had a 5k current, but to stop even a low powered trawler, you would need a lot more wind than that... More wind than you would want to be boating in.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

I got a lot to learn about boating.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Chuck Hawley

What I find disappointing about power cats is that the inevitably have two really large engines (225HP is not uncommon), and they are not all that efficient. If you were to take a normal charter catamaran and pull the rig out of it, then use the normal 75HP engines to run around, you'd power at about 8 knots and use the engines efficiently.

I think the heavy construction of many power cats means that you're digging two pretty big holes, even though you have an efficient beam to length ratio.

Chuck

You have obviously not seen a PDQ 34

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by hturner12

Hello all
We are in the same situation. My question is if you have a boat doing 7 knots in a headwind of 15 knots , would you be going forward, dead in the water or going backwards?

Assuming no current, if you are doing 7kts...you will be doing 7kts.

To your underlying question (if you set the throttle based on doing 7kts in calm conditions and then a 15kt headwind kicks up): You might lose a couple tenths of a kt but even low powered boats have enough power to keep the speed at 7kts.

Yes, you may reach a point where the motor starts to lose the ability to fight a headwind. Our prior boat was a 34' catamaran with 25hp outboard. One time in calm waters we had to fight a 35kt headwind. We were still able to maintain 3kts. Add in significant waves and the subject gets complicated.

One thing to keep in mind, wind resistance increases with the square of the speed, so 35kts is going to create way more than twice the drag of 15kts of headwind.