General questions about cat's

[gixxxer]

I've been sailing couple of times in my life, small boats in Finland and once a 75' race boat in the east coast of Australia.

I've always had the interest to stop living "normal" and start living the dream.

Seeing the world has always been the dream and with Cat, that would be possible without spending thousands and thousands on gasoline and upkeep.

I'm sure I would have found answers to all these questions somewhere on this forum but since this is active place with lot of experienced users, tough that this would be the easiest way.

- how big is the fuel consumption with 40'-45' category boats? (I know the are variables but if someone could give rough average)
- insurance costs?
- how big savings people are having when going for a trip that lasts 1 year, 2 years, 3 years etc?
- what kind of maintenance costs are to be expected with the 40'-45' size cat's in a year?

So what I've been looking is a boat with max size of 45'. And it's not going to happen next year, not in the next five years but maybe in next 10 years.

It all depends how my businesses goes because funding is everything when going for this dream.

And if this dream ever comes to reality, I will of course go to sailing courses before trying to do something that I'm not capable to do.

And one more question, how are this size cats handling sailing in lakes, there are lot of them in Finland and if this ever comes to reality, I would definitely start sailing in the lakes before heading in to seas.

Thanks in advance for all your answers.


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[geozeck]

I have a FP 43 with twin Yanmar 30 hp. Normal cruising at 2500 rpm I burn 3/4 of a gal. total,both engines. My Northern Lights 6kw generator burns about .4 GPH.


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[gixxxer]

That is fairly small consumption when you think how much the boat weighs.

Cruising speed somewhere around 5 to 7 knots?


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[a64pilot]

I may be showing my ignorance here, but I think a Cat's fuel consumption would be slightly lower than a mono, due to it's lighter weight? Or does the greater wetted area cancel that out?

[rancher44]

Insurance runs about 3-4 K and the fuel consumption is about right. If you motor sail you get the same basic speed but use only one engine

[geozeck]

My Yanmars are happy at 2500 rpm and speed is 6.5 knots without wind or current effect.

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[geozeck]

Not sure why fuel consumption is lower but my 43 X 23 cat weighs 22,500 lbs fully loaded and I only have 4 feet below the water line.

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[Cheechako]

My Lagoon 42 with 3GM30 diesels burned about 1.1-1.25 gallons per hour max with both engines running. (.5-.6 per engine) I felt it was a bit underpowered.

I may be showing my ignorance here, but I think a Cat's fuel consumption would be slightly lower than a mono, due to it's lighter weight? Or does the greater wetted area cancel that out?
I think just running two engines cancels any weight advantage. It takes a certain amount of fuel to just run the engine. My 47 mono 80 hp about the same, a touch less, than the above mentioned cat.

[a64pilot]

Just as a data point, my 25,000 lb mono with a 44 hp Yanmar burns 1GPH at 6.5 to 7 kts

[roetter]

Filled up our L450 in December in Ft. Lauderdale - cruised the Bahamas for 4 months. Went back for 2 weeks this summer. Just under half tanks now.

If you are cruising in the trades you should make it with 1 to 2 fil ups per year.