affordable fast cruising cat

[tallboy]

Researching the market I found that used cruising cats in the 38/45 ft range are quite expensive on a limited budget and abovethat they're requiring more or less TLC to get them to a sail away condition.
I found a guy named Peer Lovald who is offering two 45ft nida cored narrow hulls (easy shiment!) at 33k. They're called Skimmer cat. About Skimmer Catamarans
In comparison to the 38ft hulls of Richard woods starting at 44k plus shipment from the UK not bad.
Does anybody has some experience with them?

[sandy daugherty]

Dreams die hard, don't they? The reason you don't find any birds' nests on the ground any more is because the birds know better! I don't think these hulls represent much of a cost savings. A completed cruise-ready cat using these hulls will probably still cost you $300K. Nor do I think a flat runout aft is good for a cruiser, they will keep you awake at night from the slapping. Once you have calculated your absolute minimum cruising weight, you will find that the 45' hulls are too small!

[Jmolan]

"You can any of two out of three things, Fast, Comfortable, Cheap." Dick Newick said it and I believe it sums up so many parts of boat searching and ideas. Like his boats he was able to boil out all the fluff and have just the amount of info needed to help us along the boat path. I do not want to discourage you, just adding my own .02.....I chose a self built (not me) Tri that was in need of cosmetics, as I could not afford a cat without giving up everything else in life.....cost $25k going in and I will probably have another $10k to $20k depending on how crazy I get on outfitting and finish. Many of the $ will not make it any more seaworthy are safe, just nicer in terms of what Dick called "All the modern inconveniences"....:-)

[tallboy]

Thanks for your comments.
However there are enough examples of small cats going around the world.
Not that I'm thinking that they were travelling in comfort but it is possible.
I'm not a young guy anymore so some comfort and space is essential for enjoying long passages.
When you're going to more length the maintaining costs will increase too.
300k is a lot of money, so probably I've to look on used trimarans which are significantly cheaper than cats.

[Jmolan]

And square footage rises dramatically. I just painted top and bottom. I figued a 34' x 22' Tri was equal in deck space to a 55' mono! If you go to a 40 or 45' Cat the costs just for materials must be double. I just thought of this as I sanded 3 hulls and taped off 6 waterlines...:-)

P.S. I have noticed a couple Cross Tri's on lattitude 38 as well as yachtworld....YOu can usually figue 50k up to 125k for a real good one.

Good luck!

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by tallboy

Researching the market I found that used cruising cats in the 38/45 ft range are quite expensive on a limited budget and abovethat they're requiring more or less TLC to get them to a sail away condition.
I found a guy named Peer Lovald who is offering two 45ft nida cored narrow hulls (easy shiment!) at 33k. They're called Skimmer cat. About Skimmer Catamarans
In comparison to the 38ft hulls of Richard woods starting at 44k plus shipment from the UK not bad.
Does anybody has some experience with them?

This might be of interest: Bob Oram Design » 46′ Pod Cat For Sale

[maxingout]

Size in offshore catamarans has less to do with seaworthiness, and more with load carrying capacity. Our Privilege 39 gave us seaworthiness and load carrying ability, but with less speed when fully loaded.

Hulls represent a small portion of the cost of a finished modern yacht.

The Pardey's sailed around the world without an engine, electricity, electronics, and minimal plumbing on their yacht.

In Fiji, I met a one-legged multihull sailor who designed and built his own ocean going trimaran. For a toilet, he had a board with a hole in the cockpit. The boat had nice lines, was fast, basic, and well-constructed.

If you want a cruising multihull that doesn't cost so much, that's light and fast, all you need to do is eliminate the plumbing, the engine, and the electrical system just like the Pardey's, Joshua Slocum, and Harry Pidgeon. All of them circumnavigated in basic uncomplicated yachts.

[Evan]

The Skimmer hulls are too skinny. Beam on deck of 44" is very narrow and not even wide enough for more than a single berth 1/2 way down in the hull. And they are cored with Nida core, which most designers don't consider suitable for hulls but only for interior furniture.

[sailrjim]

I tried to contact the makers of the Skimmer hulls a couple years ago but received no response.

One possibility for the narrow hulls is to use them as basis in a pod cat. This would limit accommodation, but would increase load capacity and thus cruising range while reducing cost to build and maintain, scantling and choice of materials not withstanding.

[sandy daugherty]

Tallboy: Get a ride on an early Prout 33 to 37, preferably in open water, where you can compare the ride with other choices. Quite a few have circumnavigated, and their safety record is remarkable. Their sailplans are easy to handle, and they offer considerable creature comforts compared to similarly priced monohulls while being incredibly strong. A smaller cat is a lot easier to maintain.

[sandy daugherty]

Come to think of it, tell us what your parameters are.
How tall are you, tallboy? Do you have any mobility problems? How many people can you stand sailing with? Do you have any experience sailing single-handed, off shore, or on long trips? How much are you willing to spend on a boat, when, and where? Do you dream of Fiji and the Fjords, or Coastal and the Keys?

Are you a type A or a type Z person?

You'll find someone here with similar traits who might have some valuable advice.

[Robertcateran]

Have you had a look at Pacific Cats. They have a kit at a pretty good price. Also Bab Oram designs or even a second hand Wharram. Personally I am going with a Harryproa if ever I can scrape up enough money after building my beach house