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1paulg · 06-08-2011, 22:51

Hi- am wanting to buy a Cat for blue water cruising -do want a boat that can sail well and is comfortable inside and be reasonably self sufficient...obviously the 47 is a bigger boat and as a result carry loads better - are there any issues or main differences on either of these ( travelift sizing etc)..or any other designs I should be looking at...centre board boats are an option but I think the room inside would be compromised?....
Appreciate any thoughts...

Kapena · 06-08-2011, 23:32

Do CAREFUL research on St Francis cats.... That said I like the layouts, decks and nearly everything about them except they tend to be stern heavy. Maybe somebody can post the history of St Francis...believe they went out of business because of the... (do research here) and Dufours owned the molds for a while.
Cats don't have center boards, they have dagger boards (outside in each hull). Most cruising cats have short fixed keels (no weight).
Look for a beam of less than 24 feet, but about 1/2 the length for travel lifts.

1paulg · 06-08-2011, 23:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kapena

Do CAREFUL research on St Francis cats.... That said I like the layouts, decks and nearly everything about them except they tend to be stern heavy. Maybe somebody can post the history of St Francis...believe they went out of business because of the... (do research here) and Dufours owned the molds for a while.
Cats don't have center boards, they have dagger boards (outside in each hull). Most cruising cats have short fixed keels (no weight).
Look for a beam of less than 24 feet, but about 1/2 the length for travel lifts.

Thanks Kapena, know there are aft and midship engine versions -I understood the mid engine version had gone a long way to overcome any stern drag...?

quartersplash · 07-08-2011, 04:20

Hi,
I dont lnow anything about the St Francis, but I do own a Mayotte 47 and they are very well built. There is plenty of room and head height. I am 6 ffot 3 and only have to duck going through the bulkhead doors. Very comfortable boat. If you would like to know anything else about them, just let me know.
Gary Swenson
Bahia De Caraquez, Ecuador

Catalysis · 07-08-2011, 07:24

The St. Francis 44 and Mayotte 47 have a couple of things in common. Both were made in South Africa and both are Angelo Lavronos designs .

The St. Francis 44 was made by St. Francis Marine who have been in business since 1991 and currently build the St. Francis 50.

The Mayotte 47 was made by Voyager Yachts in Cape Town, the moulds were stretched and a sharper bow added to become the Voyager 50 which is still made.

Intentional Drifter · 07-08-2011, 08:15

In the interest of full disclosure, I own a St Francis 44 and it is for sale, although that has nothing to do with any dissatisfaction (we very much enjoy the boat), but simply a change in life circumstances such that long distance cruising isn't in the picture for awhile.

St Francis is not out of business and never has been. It is still owned by Duncan Lethbridge, who started the company and continues to build 50 footers. The molds for the 44 were sold to Knysna, which continues to build them. Angelo Lavranos designed the 44. 43 hulls were built by St. Francis. Many of them have circumnavigated and almost all of them are still out there, cruising. (We just returned from 3 weeks in Desolation Sound, BC.) There is an active owners group on google.

The mid-ship engines are different, but they have a number of advantages. Engine access is great (takes me 5 minutes to do my daily checks and I don't have to tear up any beds or crawl down through a transom, either). The placement optimizes weight distribution. The transoms are slender and maximize water exit, which enhances performance. With the props on the inside of the hulls, you are highly unlikely to ever catch a line in a prop, since there is the entire hull between the prop and where the line is likely to be dangling. Since the props are about 18 inches higher than the bottom of the keels, they are very well protected from groundings and never come out of the water in even the lumpiest of seas. There are two disadvantages: You have to walk around the cowlings (you easily get accustomed to that), but you also gain the space in the aft cabin, and the engine noise is a bit higher (though not by a lot) than with engines under the aft berths.

St. Francis 44's are wonderful cruising boats that sail very well. Very few keeled cruising cats can point up to 35 while maintaining 50%+ of windspeed. Plus, they are also excellent light air boats. In 6 to 7 knots of wind, we're still going 4 to 5 with just working sails, with a spinnaker up, we will be doing 5 to 6.

ID

1paulg · 07-08-2011, 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catalysis

The St. Francis 44 and Mayotte 47 have a couple of things in common. Both were made in South Africa and both are Angelo Lavronos designs .

The St. Francis 44 was made by St. Francis Marine who have been in business since 1991 and currently build the St. Francis 50.

The Mayotte 47 was made by Voyager Yachts in Cape Town, the moulds were stretched and a sharper bow added to become the Voyager 50 which is still made.

Hi Garry -would love to hear anything you can tell me- are they basically the same as the 50 (inside) except with shorter scoops on the transom? Being a beamy boat do you have any issues with travelifts etc, sailing wise -is the performance pretty good?
Cheers...my email is gonesailing@ymail.com
Paul

SeaKing · 09-08-2011, 05:58

The Mayotte was designed by Alex Simonis not Angelo Lavronos. Mayotte was their own company eventually bought buy VOYAGE yachts not VoyageR. Voyage bought the company and design specifically to use as a charter boat for the Caribbean in the late 90's. I believe our boat was the first with the Voyage name. The 500 was only stretched on the stern and not the bows. The interior of the 470 and the 500 are identical as is the new 520, the 500 is no longer in production. The new 520 has 2ft added to the bow for a finer entry. The big difference is opening the back of the cockpit making a hugh open area to enjoy. Our boat is a 1997 , now VOYAGE has had 14 years of fine tuning, the new 520 should be fantastic!

My wife and I love this boat and everyone who comes aboard it. We like ours so much we have made a deal for a 520 that is under construction at this time. We sail our 470 in the Chesapeake bay every weekend of the summer it is our weekend home. I love going out in the Bay under "minor" small craft conditions and seeing what she can do. Feel free to ask me any questions or if you are near Annapolis, come for a sail. Our new boat is to be in charter for a few years then is our retirement crusing home.

1paulg · 09-08-2011, 16:35

Thanks Seaking - thats what I understood re history and layout - they are nice boats...shame u arent selling yours now lol... appreciate the insight and good luck with your new boat..am sure you will be v happy with it ..

FSMike · 09-08-2011, 16:50

1paulg -
You might want to visit cruisersforum.com for additional info.

Sand crab · 11-08-2011, 08:46

Check out this video about slamming and pounding on these boats.
Catamarans for Sale. BTW how do I post the video and not just the link? BOB

SeaKing · 12-08-2011, 21:41

hey crab, the site does not work. I want to see this video

Sand crab · 13-08-2011, 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaKing

hey crab, the site does not work. I want to see this video

I just clicked on my link and it worked for me. It gets you to a page with multiple videos so click on the one labled "Educational" and then hit the play arrow. I didn't realize that my link wouldn't go directly to the video. He talks about these boats about 3/4s of the way through.
BTW, I went through the Cruisers FAQ and found out that I can mostly only post Youtube videos and this one is not from that site. So I am answering my own question for others who might wonder about the same thing. BOB