Best Cat for Circumnavigation?

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Factor

Agree if you want a condo then buy a condo, if you want to sail then buy a sail boat, if you buy a sailboat and load it like a condo it will sail like a codo

This is obvious but I still see people paying extra 70-80.000 € for carbon stick and kevlar rigging to save 300 kg and then loading the boat with largest dingy possible with 40-50 HP outboards and plenty of spare that they even don't know what for..

Fast cats like Catana, Outremer will average around 200 nm a day, maybe a bit more. Fully loaded FP or Lagoons will make around 150-160 nm a day or 170-180 nm if kept light. They will have to carry and consume more oil for sure. But for those who are making the circumnavigation in 4-5 years, that wouldn't matter much. However, fast cats are much safer and easy to handle than heavily loaded condo's in bad weathers and heavy seas..

When I say FP and Lagoons, I am refering to rather new models. Fidji, Belize, Lagoon 57, Marquises 56, Eleuthra 60 kind of older models are much faster.

As far as the budget goes, if one cannot afford Outremer or Catana (even 4-5 years old second hands will be around 550-600.000 USD) I would rather go with a well kept Belize for example at 250.000 USD, spend 50-60.000 USD on top to make it perfect for passages.

Anyway, different tastes, different priorities, different budgets..

Cheers

Yeloya

[Goosebumps]

Anedote re bestcatamaran for circumnavigation. Without mentioning names!
In 2007 I stayed at Royal Capetown Yachtclub refitting. A Leopard 46 cat came to moor next to me at the walk on marina. New cat, owner invited me to come view it. Man the space, the panoramic view from saloon,the use of beautiful material on interior finishes! It was owner's version, one hull dedicted to owner, queen size bed, head with hull spanning glass wall, full size bath... The other hull two staterooms ensuite head each. In bow both hull two cabins for crew. he was goingto sail crew!
Dishwasher, washing machine,tumble dryer.... The owner told me he planned to sail to Australia to meet his son in Australia. He left indeed after two weeks, back same day, dishwasher sprung leak. He made warranty claim,took week to resolve. Sailing out again, port yanmar inboard misconnected cooling leads engine overheated blew head. Didn't resolve that one for month. Lesson to be learned, I sailed out of Capetown never to turn back with my ugly duck catalac many condescending about! I liveboard East Africa on the hook without any technical support, and no i am not engineer but got degree in philosophy!

[ranchero76]

At least now I know where all these horror stories and ferry tales about "extremely high maintenance and repair costs in boat ownership" coming from. These are very same people who (while on hard) spending thousands on car repairs, dozens and hundreds of thousands on house repair...I will never understand these people (even if they're making 100s of thousands per year). For me - it always worth learning to do repair and maintenance of things one owns. Not mentioning all other benefits, it's simply gives self-respect that you're not helpless and hopeless creature in this world.

[SV Luckyfish]

Originally Posted by Goosebumps

Anedote re bestcatamaran for circumnavigation. Without mentioning names!
In 2007 I stayed at Royal Capetown Yachtclub refitting. A Leopard 46 cat came to moor next to me at the walk on marina. New cat, owner invited me to come view it. Man the space, the panoramic view from saloon,the use of beautiful material on interior finishes! It was owner's version, one hull dedicted to owner, queen size bed, head with hull spanning glass wall, full size bath... The other hull two staterooms ensuite head each. In bow both hull two cabins for crew. he was goingto sail crew!
Dishwasher, washing machine,tumble dryer.... The owner told me he planned to sail to Australia to meet his son in Australia. He left indeed after two weeks, back same day, dishwasher sprung leak. He made warranty claim,took week to resolve. Sailing out again, port yanmar inboard misconnected cooling leads engine overheated blew head. Didn't resolve that one for month. Lesson to be learned, I sailed out of Capetown never to turn back with my ugly duck catalac many condescending about! I liveboard East Africa on the hook without any technical support, and no i am not engineer but got degree in philosophy!

+1 goosebumps! A Cautionary Tale for sure. Thanks for sharing!

[AussieCat]

Now that's like asking a room full of fishermen what's the best bait. Always sure to start an argument! Another big vote for the FP Belize. Light weight cat, great clearance of 90 cm (3 foot) last cat was less than half that and the slap drove us crazy. plenty of living space and storage. 600 litres water, 2 bathrooms, A bit light on fuel with only 300 litres but we can easily fit 8 x 20 litre drums fuel in the helm storage locker. Very easy to solo sail (we have one electric wince) and reasonably fast especially to windward. We average about two thirds wind speed ie: 15 knots @ 40 deg on the nose = 10 -12 knots. Downwind up to 15 knots we usually just put out the spinnaker and relax. Just fitted a new square top main but haven't had a chance to test her out yet but expect that will give her a bit more speed. Huge helm area as well. We burn 2.2 litres / hour per engine at 6.5 knots. Top speed about 8.5 knots. Calm seas we drop one engine and only loose 1 knot speed. One word of caution is there is so much storage space it's very tempting to load it up. Not good.

[Binarysailor]

Ive spent 2 years trying to answer the OP's question for myself.

Catamaran or Mono....the Admiral says cat
Used or New...the pocket book says used
Big or under 40'....slip costs and single handing say under 40. Comfort/seaworthiness says bigger.
Sigh...

After all this time I have come to realize that the best answer may not be a cat/mono powered primarily with sails. I know, sacrilege!

The romance/freeness of sailing is very tempting. I do love to sail. However, the more I read and charter, the more I get the impression that a boat with a motor that has sails may be more practical than a boat with sails that can motor. The fact is, sailing as a primary means of propulsion can be a real pain in the ass. The wind is free but only inconsistently blows toward the destination I desire.

I'm thinking Diesel Duck 462 or a Nordhavn 55 may be the way to go for me.

[StuM]

Add another vote for the Belize. What Aussiecat said!

I don't recommend them because I own one, I own one because I recommend them
(after much looking at many different cruising cats before settling on this one).

[Goosebumps]

I realize that us owner's will praise our cats we own! I however had no funds to buy anything better, thus more expensive than my cottage on the water, the Catalac 10m! Now after ten years this cat,seeming so aged in design then, provesto be best choice I could have made. Amongst the E-African isles she looks like summumof design and proved herself on cruise, navigate, gunkhole on the hook liveboard life aspects.

[texpie]

A vote for Manta's
6 - Manta's have circumnavigated. Not as fast as a Catana but not nearly as expensive to purchase either. Mantas are great boats for cruising couples.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by ranchero76

At least now I know where all these horror stories and ferry tales about "extremely high maintenance and repair costs in boat ownership" coming from. These are very same people who (while on hard) spending thousands on car repairs, dozens and hundreds of thousands on house repair...I will never understand these people (even if they're making 100s of thousands per year). For me - it always worth learning to do repair and maintenance of things one owns. Not mentioning all other benefits, it's simply gives self-respect that you're not helpless and hopeless creature in this world.

I agree 100%. You really have to know your boat inside and out and be willing to grab a wrench and a rag and fix things when needed.

[Tri]

Thanks much everybody for sharing your thoughts. As predicted its not an easy pick or answer. [emoji4]

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

I agree 100%. You really have to know your boat inside and out and be willing to grab a wrench and a rag and fix things when needed.

Which is why you should build, not buy.

[Emerald Sea]

Originally Posted by Tri

Hi, I wanted to pick your brains on what you considered the best catamaran for a circumnavigation and why? Special focus on quality to not have to repair the boat around the world.
Cheers,
Achim

Not to repair the boat around the world? No chance. There isnt a cruising cat or mono around that wont need some repair and maintenance during its tour. You need to be realistic about this.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Which is why you should build, not buy.

I know that building a nice catamaran has worked well for you, but the truth of the matter is that 99.9% of cruisers will never build a catamaran.

Just as many will never build their own homes.

It is just so unrealistic for most people today.

[AussieWayne]

Another vote for the mighty Belize. Hard to beat when you consider this proven design, but then I might just be a little prejudiced.
AussieWayne