Fastest Semi-Production Cats

[cat49]

does anyone know what are the fastest production cats? and fastest semi production/custom cats? under 50'.

[snort]

Racing or cruising catamarans?

[cat man do]

Semi production/custom?

With the right crew and a distinct lack of respect for the vessel, Crowther/Cruse super shockwaves have been known to be insanely fast

[Sand crab]

Production cruising cats:
1. Outremer has all the others beat and they have been in business for over 20 years.The new Outremer 49 is a solid 10 out of 10. And they are making a new 59' called the 5X.
2. Catana but can't wrap myself around the exposed helms. I may buy one anyway as all boats are compromises.
3. Seawind.
Semi-production:
1. & 2. Gunboat and Atlantic are probably tied. Both can approach 30 knots and are expensive. Atlantic is probably the better value pricewise. Gunboat moved everything to China and as far as I know hasn't finished one yet from there. Hopefully the price will go down. This would be like saying a $200,000 Ferrari is affordable at $175.000.
3.4. & 5 Dolphin, Absolu and Switch. Dolphin has the highest production numbers.
5. Maine Cat. This one has a unique open but enclosed bridgedeck design and daggerboards. Check it out.
6 onward. There are so many small semi-customs that it is hard to compare or rate because the barely make one a year if that. Two new boats, the Morelli and Melvin 62 and the Alibi 54 could tie for top honors. Both are expensive. The Neel 50' tri is supposed to do 20 knts plus. OK what did I miss? BOB

[smj]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Semi production/custom?

With the right crew and a distinct lack of respect for the vessel, Crowther/Cruse super shockwaves have been known to be insanely fast

Me want, me want NOW

[cat49]

i want to know who makes the fastest cruising cats out there? are manta cats fast? fusion? spirited 380? i checked out the catana and seawind and some others i couldnt really find info about there speed performance?

[Palarran]

Have you tried to read back through the multihull section of Cruisers Forum? Try doing a custom google search. There are 20 threads here which deal with your question. The answers are here already if you spend the time to look.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by cat49

i want to know who makes the fastest cruising cats out there? are manta cats fast? fusion? spirited 380? i checked out the catana and seawind and some others i couldnt really find info about there speed performance?

Sure ain't Fusions. We raced one with an Oram Mango 38 and absolutely slaughtered it - one race took us 4 hours and them over 6. (In the same race a Seawind 1160 failed to cross the finish line in time.)

Best to look at sail area/displacement ratios. Spiriteds could certainly be expected to be fast, especially in light conditions - they have pretty big rigs and sails for their size and weight.

[Glenn C]

I have used comparisons from Multihull dynamics in the past. performance data based on publish specs. interesting web site.

[David M]

I just want to say that fastest is not necessarily a good thing unless you are racing. There are a LOT of compromises you make in order to have a fast boat, especially from a cruisers perspective.

[44'cruisingcat]

Everything's a compromise, but we have a pretty fast boat and don't feel we have made a LOT of compromises. We carry plenty of water, food, other gear, including washing machine, portable genny, vacuum cleaner, breadmaker, TV DVD, etc etc... we're comfortable.

We still often sail within 1 knot of windspeed in the right conditions. Just averaged 9.5 knots from Moreton bay to wide bay in a steady 15-18 knot westerly (beam) breeze.

If you have the money, this boat doesn't seem to ask for many compromises:

YouTube - Gunboat 66 Video

[Teeto]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Everything's a compromise, but we have a pretty fast boat and don't feel we have made a LOT of compromises. We carry plenty of water, food, other gear, including washing machine, portable genny, vacuum cleaner, breadmaker, TV DVD, etc etc... we're comfortable.

We still often sail within 1 knot of windspeed in the right conditions. Just averaged 9.5 knots from Moreton bay to wide bay in a steady 15-18 knot westerly (beam) breeze.

If you have the money, this boat doesn't seem to ask for many compromises:

Sorry to change the subject - just an aside since I notice you are in Wide Bay. Plan to come up there next week also in a 44 cat. Are you going over the bar? If so what max. swell would you do so in, assuming we are clever with tides etc. Thanks.

[44'cruisingcat]

I crossed the wide bay bar yesterday. I think the official swell size according to the BOM was less than 1.5 metres. Looked less than a metre to me. The bar was fine, you could have crossed in a dinghy. (It actually got lumpier inside, where you had a westerly wind against the flooding tide, but it was still perfectly safe)

If you're sensible with the tides, ie. 4th hour or later of a rising tide, I'd feel Ok about going over in up to around 2 - 2.5 metres of swell. I'm sure many have crossed in bigger than that, but personally I wouldn't feel comfortable advising anyone to do it.

It's actually a pretty deep bar, the main issue with it compared to other bars is how long it takes to cross the dodgy bit. With a sailboat you really can't go fast enough to duck across between sets, so it pays to be pretty conservative IMO.

We're going to be in the Hervey bay area for a couple of weeks, so you never know, we might spot each other.

[44'cruisingcat]

Forgot to mention - call Coast Guard Tin Can Bay when you are around Double Island point, and they will give you the latest set of waypoints for the best bar crossing.

[multihullsailor6]

Originally Posted by cat49

does anyone know what are the fastest production cats? and fastest semi production/custom cats? under 50'.

For semi-production cats look at the Eric Lerouge designs at www.lerouge-yachts.com