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Therapy · 03-11-2012, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

I'm thinking one of the 1970s vintage Cross trimarans. Built out of ply, so a trip to the lumberyard is all you need to repair it. They were 40' to 43' as I recall and some had the gap between the almas and the main hull glassed over so they had roughly the same deck area as an aircraft carrier

I guess..............

ProjectElandra · 03-11-2012, 12:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Therapy

20k for a cat that will haul 3-4 and gear?

I think you will be pretty disappointed when you start looking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

I'm thinking one of the 1970s vintage Cross trimarans. Built out of ply, so a trip to the lumberyard is all you need to repair it. They were 40' to 43' as I recall and some had the gap between the almas and the main hull glassed over so they had roughly the same deck area as an aircraft carrier

Yeh i've seen some of those tri's online, those are what im holding out for. I can stretch to $25k if i have to, but it means i'd have to stay with my job a little longer to keep the money coming in before i can become a 100% fulltime cruiser. There's a few out there for around $30-40k, i'm hoping to find someone willing to drop their asking price a bit.

Therapy - i realise 20k for a cat big enough is probably not going to happen. If i can't get my hands on one of these 1970s tri's, i might have to go with the monohull and say goodbye to those shallow water anchorages

Quite a few of those in mexico, but i'd rather get one on the east coast USA to save the hassle of getting to the caribbean cruising grounds.

Therapy · 03-11-2012, 12:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProjectElandra

Yeh i've seen some of those tri's online, those are what im holding out for. I can stretch to $25k if i have to, but it means i'd have to stay with my job a little longer to keep the money coming in before i can become a 100% fulltime cruiser. There's a few out there for around $30-40k, i'm hoping to find someone willing to drop their asking price a bit.

Therapy - i realise 20k for a cat big enough is probably not going to happen. If i can't get my hands on one of these 1970s tri's, i might have to go with the monohull and say goodbye to those shallow water anchorages

Quite a few of those in mexico, but i'd rather get one on the east coast USA to save the hassle of getting to the caribbean cruising grounds.

Yea.

Hassle + $$

snort · 12-11-2012, 18:18

and another: 32 ft Catamaran

smj · 12-11-2012, 19:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by snort

and another: 32 ft Catamaran

Nice find!

ArtM · 12-11-2012, 20:16

Does anyone know anything about this boat? Model? Layout? Any critical design flaws? If it is even available?

Dogfish · 12-11-2012, 20:38

It's an Iroquois, a pretty old cat now--they were built in the 60's and 70's, I think. They were supposedly tough, well-made boats, and I would go look at it myself if it were closer to home.

SunDevil · 12-11-2012, 20:52

The interiors need some serious 'modernization'. But, it looks like a good catamaran for the money. And it could be a great boat for two short people (under 6').

1979 Iroquios Catamaran Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
Here is one that did do the work to update the interior, and it isn't a bad boat.

smj · 13-11-2012, 02:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunDevil

The interiors need some serious 'modernization'. But, it looks like a good catamaran for the money. And it could be a great boat for two short people (under 6').

1979 Iroquios Catamaran Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
Here is one that did do the work to update the interior, and it isn't a bad boat.

Rio is a heavily modified Iroquois with stern extensions and daggerboards instead of center boards. Looks like the only mods to the interior was a paint job in white. Nice boats but very tender. There have been quite a few that have flipped, especially the earlier MkI models. But performance is good if kept light.

ArtM · 13-11-2012, 11:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by smj

Rio is a heavily modified Iroquois with stern extensions and daggerboards instead of center boards. Looks like the only mods to the interior was a paint job in white. Nice boats but very tender. There have been quite a few that have flipped, especially the earlier MkI models. But performance is good if kept light.

My interest in this boat would be a few weekend trips and some sailing practice for myself and the missus. We both need some catamaran time, and I'd personally rather own a boat like this than charter larger more expensive ones.

Southern Star · 13-11-2012, 12:22

smj is right - they do have a reputation for being rather tender and a number have capsized. Indeed, some were fitted with a football-shaped flotation device on the top of the mast!

That being said, they were well-built and are good performers - the designer, J.R.(Rod) MacAlpine-Downey, designed some world-record breaking performance cats and the underbody design of these boats is still virtually state-of-the-art for performance-oriented cruising cats: relatively high Cp (prismatic co-effiicent), fine entry forward with modified u-shaped sections aft, upward-angled forward chines to increase bouyancy forward in extremis, relatively high bridgdeck clearance, forward trampoline, boards rather than keels, relatively low displacement with a relatively high SA/D ratio, etc. If being used for daysails and weekend trips in good weather, I would have no compunction about the stability; and of course you can (and should) always reef early and often!

Furthermore, while the interior is spartan and there is no standing headroom in the saloon, so what? You can stand in the head, galley and in the staterooms for getting dressed and there is plenty of sitting headroom around the table. As a liveaboard for extended periods, no. As a weekender, she should be a fun, fast, responsive boat with far better accomodation than most small monohulls.

Brad