Broadblue 345

[Southern Star]

And some people who get seasick on monohulls have no such difficulty in a cat - for them, no heeling and a brighter interior with a view of the horizon seem to reduce the disorientation that can cause seasickness.

Brad

[Sand crab]

Is it just me or does this boat look weird. The high freeboard which gives you the headroom you need makes it look really top heavy. It also makes it look alot narrower than it is. Sure, all boats are compromises but as the other posters have said it's just too much of a compromise. Actually I think it's kinda ugly. But that's just me. Good Luck BOB

[Eleven]

In my ex-Prout opinion this is a great cruising boat. Faster than the old Prouts but do make sure, very sure, you go for the rear mast, not the sport rig. Makes a huge difference to single handed conning. No need to go forward normally, wake the Admiral or wait out the problem (your call).
I had a trip in one in f6 and choppy (Emsworth to IoW). Progress to windward was POOR to virtually nill, not a big issue if you are cruising because in all other directions it was easy sailing, just hard to maintain a course close hauled. I had the same problem in my Prout which I resolved by reefing the main, to get a better balance of sail to keel. Remember I told you and try it if you find the boat struggling.
It improved my Prout considerably, I could make slow headway upwind in a strong f7 in the short seas east of the IoW on a slip of furled genoa.
The boats are built in Poland to UK standards and are sold through the Welcome to MultiHull World - Catamaran,trimaran,prout,heavenly twins,patterson,summer twins,sirroco,catana,outremer,nautitech, privilege, solaris, sunbeam, Dean, Catalac, Lagoon, Multimarine,Voyager,fountaine pajot, Edel,multihulls,dragonfly,corsair, in the UK. Lots of other cats on their site too.
Other tips, don't plan on sleeping in the bow berth on passage, keep weight carefully under control, don't expect to be faster than extreme mono's or point as high to the wind. Our china suffered in a freak wave, but life is much nicer with it. Diesel heaters are great for the UK but boiling the kettle on the gas ring heats the cabin in the morning.
Add a weather board to the cabin doorway, and a serving hatch to the doors. Keep the cold out of the cabin and you'll be sailing whenever the wind is suitable, only the watch has t dress like a penguin.
Please don't add full width windscreens that detroy the aerodynamics, but a little sports car semicircle will make your favourite spot nicer in cold winds.
All the very best with her.

[Baybaby53]

Have you looked at the Tomcat 9.7? I know she is ocean certified. We sail in NJ on Barnegat on the sister cat, the 6.2 (20'3").

Here's a link: www.tomcatboats.com

Just a thought.

[H.S.Hemingway]

@BOB, sure it is not the most beautiful lady out there but some has to get the ugly too
on the short list is also this one
Lady Hawke 33 Cabin
a Erik LeRouge design, has 1.9m headroom but i am sure if i find a custom builder I could raise the cabin a few cm to have enough free room in the galley, shower and stateroom
thats anyway the places where I would most need it
and the price for a custom boat would be roughly the same as the Broadblue...


Big thanks to ELEVEN, so it is possible and the Broadblue is top of the short list right now. am sure she would be a wonderful boat!
Will anyway do lots of testing before any decision is made as it will take at least a other year or so until we are ready for signing anything...

cheers

[H.S.Hemingway]

As I'm very interested in the Broadblue 345 one detail came to my mind, what if I take her for blue water cruising and I have big following seas?

as you can see here she has big hatches astern for the aft staterooms!

I'm sure this is not a perfect layout for a blue water cruiser, as this catamaran is designed for coastal cruising, but would it be dangerous with this to go out in the big waters??

any opinions?

[hummingway]

There's a lot of glass on the boat. I think you'd want to make sure it was all heavy enough and latched well. That looks like a slider in the galley and that might be of concern. I'd want to be sure that a heavy wave couldn't pop it out.

[H.S.Hemingway]

Originally Posted by hummingway

There's a lot of glass on the boat. I think you'd want to make sure it was all heavy enough and latched well. That looks like a slider in the galley and that might be of concern. I'd want to be sure that a heavy wave couldn't pop it out.

thanks Hummingway,
yes the door is also not one of my favorites. So do you think if the hatch is mounted strong enough and with heavy glass it would ok? or would be a relocation (during construction) be a much safer solution?

There is some space under the elevated seating area for some smaller hatches, which would give much less light to the stateroom but it would not have to bear the heavy loads of a following sea!

[hummingway]

It's bigger then your average port light but not that big. If the quality is there, and someone doesn't forget to close it, I don't see why it would cause a problem. Having forgotten to close a portal I can attest to that letting in a bit of water.

[H.S.Hemingway]

thanks Hummingway,

well yes, if i like a sea water shower I will leave the hatch open
I guess that will do a good job in waking me up as well!

cheers

[downunder]

The Broadblue 345 looks good for canal and coastal but it does not look like a vessel for offshore to me. The 385 perhaps but not the 345.

This thread for a reality check.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...sea-75182.html

[H.S.Hemingway]

I'm well aware of what happened to Minx, that's actually why I wrote about the hatches...

I really like this cat and my wife loves it, so I'll have to make her somehow blue water capable, which would mean to change the hatches to somewhat big port lights, would personally feel much better with that anyway as also due to privacy issues and the lower stress on them in case of following seas

as well the door is in my focus, changing that to a strong, watertight one should not be a real big problem either

with that, after a loooooooong testing phase in the Caribbean seas it should be ok to take her offshore and test out what she is capable of

We where looking so long for a cat which requires all our "needs" and this comes closest to it. Blue water capability is one of it but not in the top 5, so with the mods it should do the job.

thanks for your help

[colemj]

Those hatches look to me to be properly sealed and locking ones. Why are you concerned about them? A majority of catamarans have those types of hatches even closer to the water and waves (sometimes even partially underwater while underway). As long as they are fit for purpose, they are fine offshore. I wouldn't buy a new boat and then start grinding off mounting flanges and standoffs and glassing in fixed ports of a different size.

Mark

[H.S.Hemingway]

thanks Mark,

well I have not much experience yet in sailing, but so far I have never seen a cat with big hatches near the waterline in that position.
I'm sure the designer got it all right and it will hold up to the green water!

Would i feel comfortable with it while passage making?
No

Would it be maybe some overkill to change the hatches?
Maybe

Would changing them to some heavy duty, smaller in size, port lights make me feel better?
Yes

Does this apply to the sliding door as well?
Yes

So after opinion pro and contra I would feel much better if we would do this changes, and yes it would be insane to rip out a completely good hatches, therefore (if we go to buy this cat) we would try doing this changes while having her build.

Does this cost some more money?
Yes

I don't have millions but a few thousand bucks for some safety upgrades is well worth the money in my opinion.

just my thoughts
cheers mate

[colemj]

Ah, I didn't catch the new build part. Unfortunately, I suspect the molds have the hatch flanges built into them and you will have a problem getting this modified. If not and the hatch holes are simply cut out later, then this won't be as much of a problem.

Most escape hatches on cats are that size or bigger and are mounted right at the waterline. They are certainly under water part of the time and take waves while underway. Most cats lift their sterns readily in following seas, so those hatches won't be underwater.

For privacy, you can get opaque hatches instead of clear ones.

I also think sliding doors are silly and dangerous. But not those hatches.

Mark