Island Cat

[Prflyer1]

Hello,

I am Danny and I own a monohull...... that did not hurt...

I have a friend offering a Cat at a very attractive price, it was built in France sailed to the St. Marteen in 1985, very nicely built, one thing that troubles me, is it has one single outboard (85hp) that lowers in the middle!? it is a 45 ft Fast Cat (factory name) insteasd of 2 smaller diesels on each side. It seems to me it would be a nightmare to dock in windy days, that is the only turn off of the cat, any one with experience on this set up?


Kind regards to all,

Danny H

[allnunstoport]

I sailed a Gemini 105M catamaran for a number of years. It had a single drive leg centered aft (though diesel not an outboard). It was more difficult for marina handling than twin drives in the hulls. I had to make sure the centerboards were at least partially down before entering a marina to give a central pivot point and to counter cross winds. Then it essentially behaved like a very wide and light mono. It was always a bit of a challenge when the wind was up and you needed to get into a tight space. However, there were advantages as well. There were no fuel/engine smells in the cabins. It was much quieter in the cabins when motoring. And the drive leg could be lifted when sailing and eliminate drag (picking up about a naut). I would be most concerned about carrying around enough gasoline to fuel the outboard. Diesel is so much safer.

[Prflyer1]

Yes, I am very concerned about the single drive, I visit a lot of Marina that getting in is a challenge, some in PR some in the Islands, Nanny Cay, Tortola mainly, and when the wind blows it can be very very challenging.
other than that the rig is super nice and it does have the daggerboards that can go down.

[cat man do]

A few cat's in Oz have single diesel or outboard install's, some of them can get into very tight spot's with a bit of patience and knowing how your boat behaves in different condition's BEFORE entering said tight spot.

A steerable outboard or diesel leg also help's greatly, and I remember seeing one for sale here.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-cat-6231.html

Sorry about the shameless plug.

Dave

[Whimsical]

Could always add a bow thruster
Mike

[44'cruisingcat]

A bow thruster combined with a steerable central outboard would give you unrivalled maneouvarability. I have been considering this option over twin motors.