Takacat as a Catamaran tender

[BigBeakie]

Takacat user feedback.

I'm hoping to get any feedback from existing users of Takacat inflatables with the tunnel hull design. I've seen a few comments on previous threads of mixed opinions that are wide apart, so more feedback would be great.

I've had excellent feedback and really helpful information from JollyDogs (thanks mate Maybe you could cut paste to this thread your previous comments as a user?) on the anchoring thread, so we are continuing the discussion here so others can participate.

This seems like an ideal tender for it's lightweight, great soft ride with the air cushion tunnel hulls, easily planed with smaller outboards, good drainage out transom flaps, and there is a hypalon version for better durability in long term tropic sun exposure. Sounds too good to be true. We will be South Pacific cruising on a Catamaran, with diving and fishing as main activities, so if anyone has alternate suggestions, by all means I'm all ears.

I've been considering also Porta-bote (love the toughness) and Quickboats (exceptional design and interior room), but the water entry & exit may be an issue?

[aclmck]

Takacat lite is what i have planes with a 2 hp honda,easy to row,i don't think it comes in hypalon though. 16 mths old no issues at all. great tender from boat to beach etc but not really a long distance tender, they have bigger and better for this although i have an ally inflatable(all ally no pvc/hypalon) from oceancraft for this but its a bit heavy to make it virtually indestructible.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

We will be South Pacific cruising on a Catamaran, with diving and fishing as main activities, so if anyone has alternate suggestions, by all means I'm all ears.

I've been considering also Porta-bote (love the toughness) and Quickboats (exceptional design and interior room), but the water entry & exit may be an issue?

Have you looked at Polycraft:

Open Boat | Polycraft

[JollyDogs]

In 2013 we purchased a 2008 model Seawind 1160. Our catamaran was equipped with a Achilles 3.1 m dinghy and Honda 20 hp 4-stroke outboard when we purchased her. We found the arrangement heavy and cumbersome, and we weren't impressed with the performance or stability in big seas or by the top end speed. As we were preparing the boat for cruising, I was adding weight in the form of solar panels and support structure, etc. As I spent my career in the prototype helicopter development business, I became infinitely familiar with SWAP (size, weight and power) principles as applies to all mission oriented, weight sensitive vehicles. Believe you me, there isn't an ounce of spare weight available in the type helicopters I worked with. It better either be fuel, bullets, pilot armor, or the machinery necessary to haul all that around.

The Achilles weighed around 162 pounds. The Honda outboard was around 104 pounds.

The Takacat Explorer T340E weighs around 130 pounds. We equipped it with a Yamaha 9.9 hp 4-stroke outboard that weights around 88 pounds. The smaller outboard is new and not only does it use a lot less fuel than something twice as powerful, it has a really kick ass feature - you can hook a fresh water hose to a fitting on it and flush the salt water out without even running then engine, and you don't have to screw with one of those clampy things.

So we didn't lose a huge amount of weight, but we did lose some and we don't have to carry a lot of gasoline to keep it fed. As we have only limited vented locker space, there isn't an infinite amount of space to store gasoline, and I don't like fuel containers on deck.

What we really got from the deal is a dinghy that will absolutely scoot with the two of us on board, with only 9.9 hp! While I haven't measured the performance side to side, I'm pretty darn convinced that we're going faster with half the horsepower. Reason being, the Takacat hull remains clear of the water and even though the pontoons are larger in diameter, overall the drag is much reduced. The Takacat is ridiculously stable in very rough conditions and ingress/egress is much easier. It's also a good platform to stand up and spin cast from. (do me a favor and don't go off on that old "end the sentence with a preposition" joke). Altogether my wife feels a lot safer operating the Takacat in rough conditions. As we all know, if our wife is happy, we get to go cruising; although oddly enough my wife was the impetus for going cruising. Single hander crusty old guys refer to me as "lucky bastard". . .

I'm mission oriented. Isabel and I gross out at under 300 pounds. We might have 100 pounds of parts, food and beer/wine to hump back from a shore excursion. That means for about 95% of the time I want a dinghy that will haul 400 pounds at planing speed. If we have two additional passengers on board we do slow down a bit, and when heavy we do need to be more careful in bigger chop to avoid taking any water over the bow. The Takacat does not have the same bow buoyancy as conventional inflatables, but for the most part rearranging the load - i.e. having folks move a little more aft - cures the problem pretty well. I recently noticed during a very gusty day in 0.5 - 1.0 meter chop in La Paz - if alone in the dinghy and trying to be aggressive with speed while strong winds are on the bow, one senses a risk that the dinghy bow could fly and cause the boat to do a back flip. That may or may not be a risk - but the bow did feel extremely light in high head winds and just me on board. Certainly something to consider. I was also warned by the US salesman that if I had put 15 hp on the T340E I would have to consider it a "sport boat" at lighter gross weights and be a bit thoughtful about how aggressively I applied the throttle.

The Achilles/Honda arrangement was good kit, and the new owner is happy.

The Takacat/Yamaha is the kit that works best for us - it satisfies our mission requirement. We love our Takacat, and were very happy with the gentlemen that demo'd and then sold it to us. Apparently they sell mostly PVC ones in SOCAL, and we bought the only hypalon one they had. We're planning on enjoying a bit of sunshine . . .

We did have an opportunity to row the smallest Sport series - rowed fine in smooth water.

We also had an opportunity to row for a bit a Lite T340L (was quite satisfying). Properly inflated, the floor on that one is absolutely rigid. I suppose it is similar in structure to our inflatable stand up paddle board - that thing is amazingly rigid once inflated to about 11 psi; can't tell it from a wooden plank of the same dimensions (unless you pick it up).

We went with the Explorer over the Sport simply because of the perceived robustness of hypalon and our plan to be in very sunny environs, as well as the dinghy living on davits where it would roast.

It may be that the latest generation of PVC used by Takacat, combined with some good quality chaps would result in an economically acceptable product life. The Lite model is just that - likely the two of us would be able to drag it up the beach much easier than our Explorer model -

Folks in Australia and New Zealand commonly operate in conditions that might be considered rare in many parts of the world. They are a great proving ground for what works, and what fails. Oddly enough we've ended up with Beach Master dinghy wheels - again from New Zealand. We did our research, and simply couldn't find comparable equipment anywhere else.

[jaybird1111]

search Cruisers' Forum, and thou shalt find:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...hy-101568.html

[BigBeakie]

Aha, I searched this forum instead of all forums for Takacat, and didn;t get a hit. Mea culpa

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by JollyDogs

In 2013 we purchased a 2008 model Seawind 1160. Our catamaran was equipped with a Achilles 3.1 m dinghy and Honda 20 hp 4-stroke outboard when we purchased her. We found the arrangement heavy and cumbersome, and we weren't impressed with the performance or stability in big seas or by the top end speed. As we were preparing the boat for cruising, I was adding weight in the form of solar panels and support structure, etc. As I spent my career in the prototype helicopter development business, I became infinitely familiar with SWAP (size, weight and power) principles as applies to all mission oriented, weight sensitive vehicles. Believe you me, there isn't an ounce of spare weight available in the type helicopters I worked with. It better either be fuel, bullets, pilot armor, or the machinery necessary to haul all that around.

The Achilles weighed around 162 pounds. The Honda outboard was around 104 pounds.

The Takacat Explorer T340E weighs around 130 pounds. We equipped it with a Yamaha 9.9 hp 4-stroke outboard that weights around 88 pounds. The smaller outboard is new and not only does it use a lot less fuel than something twice as powerful, it has a really kick ass feature - you can hook a fresh water hose to a fitting on it and flush the salt water out without even running then engine, and you don't have to screw with one of those clampy things.

So we didn't lose a huge amount of weight, but we did lose some and we don't have to carry a lot of gasoline to keep it fed. As we have only limited vented locker space, there isn't an infinite amount of space to store gasoline, and I don't like fuel containers on deck.

What we really got from the deal is a dinghy that will absolutely scoot with the two of us on board, with only 9.9 hp! While I haven't measured the performance side to side, I'm pretty darn convinced that we're going faster with half the horsepower. Reason being, the Takacat hull remains clear of the water and even though the pontoons are larger in diameter, overall the drag is much reduced. The Takacat is ridiculously stable in very rough conditions and ingress/egress is much easier. It's also a good platform to stand up and spin cast from. (do me a favor and don't go off on that old "end the sentence with a preposition" joke). Altogether my wife feels a lot safer operating the Takacat in rough conditions. As we all know, if our wife is happy, we get to go cruising; although oddly enough my wife was the impetus for going cruising. Single hander crusty old guys refer to me as "lucky bastard". . .

I'm mission oriented. Isabel and I gross out at under 300 pounds. We might have 100 pounds of parts, food and beer/wine to hump back from a shore excursion. That means for about 95% of the time I want a dinghy that will haul 400 pounds at planing speed. If we have two additional passengers on board we do slow down a bit, and when heavy we do need to be more careful in bigger chop to avoid taking any water over the bow. The Takacat does not have the same bow buoyancy as conventional inflatables, but for the most part rearranging the load - i.e. having folks move a little more aft - cures the problem pretty well. I recently noticed during a very gusty day in 0.5 - 1.0 meter chop in La Paz - if alone in the dinghy and trying to be aggressive with speed while strong winds are on the bow, one senses a risk that the dinghy bow could fly and cause the boat to do a back flip. That may or may not be a risk - but the bow did feel extremely light in high head winds and just me on board. Certainly something to consider. I was also warned by the US salesman that if I had put 15 hp on the T340E I would have to consider it a "sport boat" at lighter gross weights and be a bit thoughtful about how aggressively I applied the throttle.

The Achilles/Honda arrangement was good kit, and the new owner is happy.

The Takacat/Yamaha is the kit that works best for us - it satisfies our mission requirement. We love our Takacat, and were very happy with the gentlemen that demo'd and then sold it to us. Apparently they sell mostly PVC ones in SOCAL, and we bought the only hypalon one they had. We're planning on enjoying a bit of sunshine . . .

We did have an opportunity to row the smallest Sport series - rowed fine in smooth water.

We also had an opportunity to row for a bit a Lite T340L (was quite satisfying). Properly inflated, the floor on that one is absolutely rigid. I suppose it is similar in structure to our inflatable stand up paddle board - that thing is amazingly rigid once inflated to about 11 psi; can't tell it from a wooden plank of the same dimensions (unless you pick it up).

We went with the Explorer over the Sport simply because of the perceived robustness of hypalon and our plan to be in very sunny environs, as well as the dinghy living on davits where it would roast.

It may be that the latest generation of PVC used by Takacat, combined with some good quality chaps would result in an economically acceptable product life. The Lite model is just that - likely the two of us would be able to drag it up the beach much easier than our Explorer model -

Folks in Australia and New Zealand commonly operate in conditions that might be considered rare in many parts of the world. They are a great proving ground for what works, and what fails. Oddly enough we've ended up with Beach Master dinghy wheels - again from New Zealand. We did our research, and simply couldn't find comparable equipment anywhere else.

A very well written evaluation.

[tpkas]

StuM suggested looking at a polycraft.

I've recently replaced my inflatable with a polycraft Tuff Tender and I'm very happy with the decision. It's as stable as the inflatable and I don't have to worry about oysters or sharp rocks when I take our pooch ashore for her evening ablutions. I put some hatches in the seat tops and stow everything in the hulls ( oars, life jackets, bait board etc) so it leaves the dinghy floor completely uncluttered. I use a Tohatsu 5hp outboard and it will plane with one person (max HP for the Tuff Tender is I think 15hp .... But don't quote me).

It is however about 30kg heavier than my old inflatable but I figure that's only the weight of a small child so I'm not concerned about it.

Overall I'm very pleased not to have an inflatable.

[35S]

Originally Posted by BigBeakie

Takacat user feedback.

I've been considering also Porta-bote (love the toughness) and Quickboats (exceptional design and interior room), but the water entry & exit may be an issue?

Hi BigBeakie.

Not the input you asked for but some other options you could consider in the lightweight tender division -

Infanta Inflatables International Product Catalogue: New Soft Bottom Inflatables

Infanta Inflatables International Product Catalogue: New Soft Bottom Inflatables

Made in South Africa.

Very durable boats.

[BigBeakie]

Hi 35S,

Thanks for that & always happy to be made aware of alternatives!


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