Fastest cruising cat in the world?

[cruiz9]

BATHURST WINNER & MOTOR RACING LEGEND TONY LONGHURST LAUNCHES HIS G-FORCE 1800



20.05.2014


Tony Longhurst, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and motor racing legend has shown that all vehicles he owns must be fast, with the launch of his brand new G-Force 1800 design 'KATO'. The design has been under construction for the past 14 months and has been a tremendous achievement for Noosa Marine, and Julian Griffiths and his team. The boat floats beautifully and is reported to be impressingly quick in the sea trials done so far, more details will follow.
The launch was heavily covered in the local and national media, and stories can be found on our Facebook page if you'd like to see some additional media coverage. Tony has reported that he could not be happier with the boat, and after an inital cruise to Lizard Island in the Whitsundays they are planning a world sailing adventure. Schionning Designs is very excited for them and wish them the very best in their travels. The Schionning team will be keeping a close eye on them and reporting any stories of interest here, so stay tuned!
For more photos of the launching and boat, including sea trials and the interior - click here for the G-Force 1800 design page.
Congratulations to all involved, she looks stunning!

[StuM]

When did they move Lizard to the Whitsundays?

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by thorcat

BATHURST WINNER & MOTOR RACING LEGEND TONY LONGHURST LAUNCHES HIS G-FORCE 1800

It looks like a fantastic boat, and I love those lines.

I doubt it's the fastest though - the SIG45 is half the weight (5500 vs. 12000 kg) since it is all carbon fiber and has no bridgedeck. No bridgedeck means that it also has less profile against the wind. I am confident it would be quite a bit faster. Supposedly it regularly exceeds windspeed even in light winds.

Of course the SIG45 also costs around $2 million USD, so the G-Force 1800 could very well be the fastest yacht in it's price range (whatever that price ends up being). Just my guess, but I'm sure the cost here would be under $1 million.

[downunder]

I recon it would be at least 1.6 m probably more and I would not rule out $2 mill.

cheers

[Polux]

Nice cat but far to be the fastest cruising cat. I believe the honor belongs to this all carbon beauty:

Catamaran MC²60 #1 Mach² sailing in Hong Kong (1/2) on Vimeo

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Rohan

It looks like a fantastic boat, and I love those lines.

I doubt it's the fastest though - the SIG45 is half the weight (5500 vs. 12000 kg) since it is all carbon fiber and has no bridgedeck. No bridgedeck means that it also has less profile against the wind. I am confident it would be quite a bit faster. Supposedly it regularly exceeds windspeed even in light winds.

Of course the SIG45 also costs around $2 million USD, so the G-Force 1800 could very well be the fastest yacht in it's price range (whatever that price ends up being). Just my guess, but I'm sure the cost here would be under $1 million.

Would you call that a "cruising cat"?

Does a tent come with it? OK for a weekender in good weather, but hardly practical for live-aboard or all weather cruising.

[colemj]

I have been on a Sig45. It is surprisingly well-setup for cruising for such a performance design. Yes, it is minimal compared to most current "cruising cats", but the living spaces are probably on par with a Gemini and more than a lot of small monohulls. Whether is it appropriate for all weather cruising is a personal preference. I find most monohulls to be atrocious in this respect. While you would be wearing foulies in bad weather on the Sig, you probably won't be shipping water over you continuously. However, even in good weather, doing 15-20kts upwind on the Sig is going to get you a lot of spray...

Mark

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by StuM

Would you call that a "cruising cat"?

Does a tent come with it? OK for a weekender in good weather, but hardly practical for live-aboard or all weather cruising.

Of course an exact definition of "cruiser" is elusive, but it's got three cabins, two heads, a large galley, a nav station, a good amount of storage space, holds 52 gallons fuel, 80 gallons water. Certainly has a lot more comforts and systems than a lot of other blue water cruisers. Yes, the amount of fuel and fresh water are a bit on the low side, but it probably doesn't need much since it would make its passages in half the time of an ordinary boat. And, of course, it's CE category "A".

[cruiz9]

$2m for a 45ft open deck cat? WOW

[colemj]

Yeah, I don't think their primary customers are cruisers. The one I was on was a training boat for the owner's Mod 70 trimaran...

Mark

[savoir]

The practicalities of owning a boat like that would be horrendous.

Around here the only place that could haul such a vessel would be Newport Shipyard - because of the beam not the weight. Dock fees would be enormous at around $4,000 month. The owner can expect lots of knockbacks from both yards and marinas.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by savoir

The practicalities of owning a boat like that would be horrendous.

Around here the only place that could haul such a vessel would be Newport Shipyard - because of the beam not the weight. Dock fees would be enormous at around $4,000 month. The owner can expect lots of knockbacks from both yards and marinas.

He will be right mate, he owns a yard and Marina, no drama at all.

Boatworks

[Factor]

Originally Posted by downunder

I recon it would be at least 1.6 m probably more and I would not rule out $2 mill.

cheers

If its the Gforce 1800 you are talking about John, keep going.

[belizesailor]

$/knot is certainly a metric of interest to most of us. Assuming these boats can easily achieve at least 15 knots for $2M then that's $133K per knot. By contrast, had a friend with a used Corsair F31, he paid about $110K for it, it could easily hit 20 knots, so thats $5,500 per knot. But of course a Corsair does not fit most folks idea of a comfortable cruising boat.

Wonder which production cruising cat has the best $/knot ratio?

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Factor

He will be right mate, he owns a yard and Marina, no drama at all.

Boatworks

Well he says he wants to travel the world. Maybe it's really a daysailer.