Catana 48 Advice / Feedback

[ejlindahl]

I'm looking at a mid 1990's Catana 48. Anyone have any advice on what to look for during or before a survey; such as problem areas, idiosyncrosies, what versions/years to avoid or even what you like about em. I do not want a discussion of the helm location. That is well covered elsewhere. I read this is a stretched version of the 44. I can't seem to dig up much info about this Catana. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you

[mark_morwood]

I have one, but don't know much of the history of them either, so can't give you much advice on problem areas. We've had ours for the last 3 years and have been very happy. Normal sort of problems with a 19 year old boat, engines, electronics etc, but nothing structural that we know of.

If it is the boat on Yachtworld in the Caribbean it looks to be in better condition than ours when we bought it. We've had to undo a bunch of stuff done by the previous owner of ours who made it into a floating condo on the Great Lakes. As examples, we took out two airconditioners (no generator so had to be plugged in at the dock) one of which had replaced the propane tanks - so no stove working beyond the microwave. We also replaced the inboom furling main with the orginal boom and lazy jacks set up. I still haven't got a sprit back on it for the gennaker.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about our experiences with the boat.

Regards,
Mark.

P.S. I've been very happy with the helm position. Though outboard it's "in" the cockpit and quite secure. Certainly much more secure and stable, and no less sheltered than the hlem on my previous two monohulls. :-)

[Shrubb]

Originally Posted by mark_morwood

I have one, but don't know much of the history of them either, so can't give you much advice on problem areas. We've had ours for the last 3 years and have been very happy. Normal sort of problems with a 19 year old boat, engines, electronics etc, but nothing structural that we know of.

If it is the boat on Yachtworld in the Caribbean it looks to be in better condition than ours when we bought it. We've had to undo a bunch of stuff done by the previous owner of ours who made it into a floating condo on the Great Lakes. As examples, we took out two airconditioners (no generator so had to be plugged in at the dock) one of which had replaced the propane tanks - so no stove working beyond the microwave. We also replaced the inboom furling main with the orginal boom and lazy jacks set up. I still haven't got a sprit back on it for the gennaker.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about our experiences with the boat.

Regards,
Mark.

P.S. I've been very happy with the helm position. Though outboard it's "in" the cockpit and quite secure. Certainly much more secure and stable, and no less sheltered than the hlem on my previous two monohulls. :-)

Hello Mark,
I am considering buying a used Catana 48S of 1993. I would appreciate your experience about sailing with this boat : is it easy to run with a shorthand crew, or even solo ? Comfortable in heavy weather ? Efficient upwind ? How is it with the mainsail sheet system without traveller, is trimming difficult ?
I am also questioning myself about the inner layout : chart table small and along the stairs, narrow galley... at least it looks so on photographs I have, I did not visit the boat so far, I know other Catanas like the 431 which has a very nice layout, the 48 looks quite different.
Thank you for feedback.
Olivier.

[Barra]

Yes Mark look forward to hearing about the mechanics of sailing them without the traditional traveller too. I will be sailing one up alot of the time and was a bit concerned with the remoteness of main controls from the helm.

[mark_morwood]

Originally Posted by Teles

Hello Mark,
I am considering buying a used Catana 48S of 1993. I would appreciate your experience about sailing with this boat : is it easy to run with a shorthand crew, or even solo ? Comfortable in heavy weather ? Efficient upwind ? How is it with the mainsail sheet system without traveller, is trimming difficult ?
I am also questioning myself about the inner layout : chart table small and along the stairs, narrow galley... at least it looks so on photographs I have, I did not visit the boat so far, I know other Catanas like the 431 which has a very nice layout, the 48 looks quite different.
Thank you for feedback.
Olivier.

I can't answer all you questions, but can share what we have experienced so far.

- we sail almost exclusively short-handed or less - my wife and I and two 10 year olds who are just making the transition to being more help than hinderance. I have moved the boat single-handed, but it is quite large to be managing on your own if something goes wrong. When everything is going well, and with an autopilot, I don't have a problem single-handed, but I don't think I would want to do a long distance single-handed on it.
- we have not experienced any really bad weather, so can't comment directly on that. I am confident that the boat will do fine when we do.
- when we got our boat we got a new fully battened main that drives the boat very nicely upwind. We have a big asymmetric spinnaker that we use off the wind. We are still to add a code zero - it will be our next sail purchase.
- our boat is rigged with a traditional full beam traveler, so can't comment on the double block/sheet system
- the 48 is one of the older school Catana's - lighter, finer hulls, but not as much interior space as the new designs like the 431. The galley works great for us. The lack of a sit down chart table is the only real drawback to the layout that I have not worked out how to fix.

Regards,
Mark.

[Shrubb]

Originally Posted by mark_morwood

I can't answer all you questions, but can share what we have experienced so far.

.

Thank you Mark, if I eventually buy this boat I'll return and share my experience and new fittings.

[Shrubb]

More than a year after...
I bought this boat, and I have much pleasure with her.
First I made a complete refit : new engines, new sails, new batteries and electricity network, new electronics, new plumbing and watermaker, dismasting and rigging refurbished, main electric winch, new galley, new dinghy... Apart from the hulls and some remaining equipments (solar panels, wind generator, windlass), it is almost a new boat.
I got answers to most of my questions above :
- single-hand is not an option. On cruising with autopilot there is obviously no problem, but in harbors or even anchor maneuver a crew of two is minimal.
- I didn't yet experienced heavy weather - winds up to 27 kts max, but I notice that when the wind goes up you don't feel anything but speed increase. Also the pilot does not hold if you do not reduce sails. My new mainsail is very powerful and I reduce as early as 15 kts without losing a single knot (even gaining).
- the double block/sheet system needs a learning curve, but is secure and efficient, particularly for gybe. As far as I have understood, you consider the leeward sheet as a vang, and the windward sheet as the actual sheet. This seems to be correct upwind and downwind with slight differences.
- it hits sometimes hard when sailing upwind with waves of more than 1,5 m.
- the galley was so rotten that a had a whole new one built. I plan to have soon a new stove, I'll order a Smev which looks great.
- the chart table is really uncomfortable, but I now use an iPad as inboard computer, connected to the Raymarine network, and I can easily sit at the saloon table.
I don't give extended details on the comfort, space, stability on anchoring during my last cruises in the Caribbean... It is close to paradise ! See my blog (on profile).
I'll happy to share experience with other 48's owners, as on the Catana forum (CatanaCats : Catana Catamaran Owners & wanta be's).

[dennisail]

I know this is an old thread, but can you beach a catana 48 safely? Seems a lot of cats are designed without this ability which takes away from one of the best possible features of a cat. Why fit dagger boards then have rudders that stick out without being able to retract? I have seen some cats beached on their spade rudders but that looks a little scary to me.

[mark_morwood]

In my experience - cruising US East Coast, Bahamas, Atlantic and Mediterranean with our Catana 48 - beach-ability is not very high on my list of things to look for in a catamaran of this size. I have always thought it would be a interesting thing to try, and would do so carefully with our boat, but have never had the need to do so.

My understanding is daggerboards are primarily made to retract to reduce wetted surface area (drag) and draft - not for beaching. I can not imagine the expense and engineering for retractable rudders being a good trade off for most owners of a boat like this. Even if you made the rudders retractable, you'd still have to do something about the saildrives that are just in front of the rudders. Catana did at one time offer a mini-skeg option that I believe was for this purpose, but were not widely installed.

If beach-abilty is your main reason for moving to a catamaran, you could achieve the same with a bilge-keeler monohull. :-) :-)

For me the tradeoff with keels and dagger-boards was simplicity of keels versus generally improved performance of boats with dagger-boards. There are lots of exceptions, but in general the boats that have better performance upwind have dagger-boards as part of the design.

If you were looking for the best possible features of a cat (presumably versus a mono-hull) my list after a couple of years full-time cruising would start with: living space, comfort at anchor, stability, passage speed, shoal draft and handling. The cons would include: carrying capacity, wide beam, less forgiving of mistakes in bad conditions.

Mark.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by dennisail

I know this is an old thread, but can you beach a catana 48 safely? Seems a lot of cats are designed without this ability which takes away from one of the best possible features of a cat. Why fit dagger boards then have rudders that stick out without being able to retract? I have seen some cats beached on their spade rudders but that looks a little scary to me.

Its fine to beach cats on Spade rudders, IF THEY ARE DESIGNED FOR IT. And usually they are designed for it, if they have mini keels, not dagger boards. Boards about about pointing angle, not withdrawal for beaching. If you want to beach regularly - get a mini keel boat. Remember evry time you beach you are liable to wear away the anitfoul a bit quicker.

[dennisail]

Yeah obviously daggers have great performance advantages irrespective of kick up rudders so that alone is reason enough to have them. But you are half way there in terms of expense and complication.

Many cat designs are fully beachable with daggers and many custom cats are built with this option.

Obviously if I am looking at Catana 48s a bilge keeler is probably not the kind of boat I want!

Factor might understand that living in QLD being brought up with a beachable trailer sailor, I know all the places you can go with a beachable boat, and it takes the whole cruising experience to a new level. Other cruisers who have not had this experience do not know what they are missing out so don't rate it as a big plus.

With a cat I can have high speed, comfort AND beachability.

[Wraith_Mac]

Dennis,
Here's a C531 on the beach for maintenance.
Cheers,
Mac

[Factor]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Factor might understand that living in QLD being brought up with a beachable trailer sailor, I know all the places you can go with a beachable boat, and it takes the whole cruising experience to a new level. Other cruisers who have not had this experience do not know what they are missing out so don't rate it as a big plus.

With a cat I can have high speed, comfort AND beachability.

I saw a great photo the other day of a Seawind 1250 and an Oram parked in Hill Inlet in the whitsundays, there is so much of our part of the world that is wonderful if you can park the boat. Most of my boats have been beach-able, save the two keel boat monos.

[Wraith_Mac]

Originally Posted by Factor

I saw a great photo the other day of a Seawind 1250 and an Oram parked in Hill Inlet in the whitsundays, there is so much of our part of the world that is wonderful if you can park the boat. Most of my boats have been beach-able, save the two keel boat monos.

+1

So many haul-outs saved as well by going old fashioned.

Cheers,
Mac

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by Wraith_Mac

Here's a C531 on the beach for maintenance.

That boat is older than the 'xx1' models. That looks like a 1990s Crowther Catana.