Recommended Cat

[jrb1001psu]

My wife and I are looking at potentially purchasing a used cat and taking a multiple year hiatus from normal life to sail around. We are looking for recommendations on a cat.

Generally we will spend 95% of out time between 30 N and S, 4% between 40 N and S, and potentially 1% between 50 N and S. No sailing will be done outside of 50 degrees. The cat needs be able to sail in blue water (I plan to have all rigging replaced and upgraded). From previous threads it looks like a 35 to 45 foot vessel would be most appropriate, with the best recommendation between 40 to 45 feet (of course: plus or minus a few feet to fit a standard length).

As for experience, we have plenty of experience with twice as much education.

While it will be the two of us most of the time, we will have guests with us off and on. We are looking for at least 3 cabins and 2 heads.

Most of the time we will be at anchor or sailing, while we do plan on exploring land, we plan to live on a strict budget. So, no moorings or docks.

As for a budget, I really do not want to spend more than 200k; whether it be a ready to sail boat for 200k or a 100k boat that needs 100k in upgrades. I don't care if it has a bunch of fancy electronic, I will probably refit the boat with new equipment.

I am mostly looking toward a more safe track record than anything, I would prefer a monohull, by my wife wants a cat (some theory that it is less rough than a monohull, but as an engineer I think a chaotic ocean beating on two hauls would be more jarring than beating on one, but what do I know). So if there is a cat with a safe track record of not flipping over in rough seas, that is a big consideration.

P.S. If you have some smart a** answer such as "don't do it" or "hire a captain"; please put your post somewhere else. I am only looking for serious recommendations.

Go...

[Sthompson]

For the $ you're willing to spend you're going to be restricted to the 35-38' range for purchase and upgrades, assuming your operating expenses aren't in your $200k figure.

[snort]

The difficult factor for me is the price range and the two head requirement.
I'm thinking something older like the Sailcraft Apache or 12M Catalac, but I don't know if either has any plan that included two heads. Something along these lines is more apt to stay right side up, but no guarantees when you're talking about the ocean. You could also go with an older Prout, but slamming's a bitch when it happens.

[jrb1001psu]

Just to confirm, the 3 cabin/2 head is a minimum requirement. Anything more is fine.

[malbert73]

I think you would ultimately do better for extended cruising with a mono at that price range- you'll have more money for refit, better payload capacity, better seakindliness.

Check out a Hylas 44, or Bristol 45 center cockpit for example. Boats like there are very well built, have aft master cabin that's IMHO much more spacious and comfy than a 38 foot cat stateroom I think. Get one for 140-150K, repower if needed, new sails and rigging if needed.

My suggestion would be go boat shopping with wife- look at some cats, then show her one of these boats. I like cats, but the smaller ones have too jerky a motion for some, and payload and tankage capacity is really reduced. Just one opinion, but the story on seakindliness doesn't just end with heeling, which is easy to get used to.

[Dulcesuenos]

Leopard 38, island spirit 38 , manta 38-40? , maybe a Fountain Pajot Athena or Venezia? Lagoon tpi or Privlidge 37 or 39 if you can find one in good shape .
Your wife's right. A little pound once in a while and some hobbying vs heeling rolling pitching and yawing (and thats at anchor lol) is a great trade off.
I wouldn't worry about tankage, thats what Watermakers are for! Our Leopard 38 carries 212 gal of water, but we have a 360gpd Watermakers onboard. To get the space of a 38' cat you'd need a 50' mono.
Sent from my LG-LS980 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[colemj]

We own a catamaran and are big proponents of this type of boat. If we planned on cruising from Newfoundland to the Faukland Islands, or conversely from the Aluetian Islands to the Auckland Islands, we would have a mono. That has nothing to do with "flipping over" or other safety concerns.

Mark

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by snort

The difficult factor for me is the price range the two head requirement.
.

Have to agree it will it will not be easy to find a cat that will sail in the 40s and 50s at your price point.

[valhalla360]

It might be helpful to define your 40+ cruising.

If you are talking NewEngland or the more developed parts of Scandinavia, it's mostly coastal hopping and with good planning there is no reason to get into bad conditions.

If you are talking about rounding cape horn, doing a loop around inthe 40-50's and then heading north, that's different.

Then again regardless of boat, is your wife really going to go for it, since she is already clearly demanding a level of comfort while on board?

[Tropic Cat]

All these boats are for sale by their owners (No broker). All are in your budget.

Privilege 45 for sale USVI

Simpson 45 Catamaran for sale

Simpson 12 Metre Cruising Catamaran for sale

Solaris 42 Catamaran for sale

Dean 400 cruising catamaran for sale by owner

[travellerw]

Make sure you get a good surveyor for any boat you plan on purchasing. At least one of the boats above has a history here on CF.

I would love to hear opinions about the DEAN cats. I haven't heard a ton about them, except the odd comment that they aren't built real strong.

[Wellington]

Originally Posted by travellerw

I would love to hear opinions about the DEAN cats. I haven't heard a ton about them, except the odd comment that they aren't built real strong.

We buddy boated with a French family on board a Dean 44. They bought it new in SA, and 3 years later it still looked pretty new. They like their boat and take care of it. To me it seems to be well built and strong, quite "upmarked". This cat LOOKS fast, with the thin hulls and the steeply raked mast. But it isn't (at least theirs wasn't) despite clean hulls, maybe because it always seemed overloaded (despite the water maker, and water reserves that they kept at a minimum). It sits very low on the water. Our Lagoon 440, with its "condomaran" look and much greater load (1600 litres of water and 800 litres of diesel when leaving Panama) sits much higher on the water, and is faster, probably by 1 knot. Their only complaint was the hull slamming. They were really happy to reach French Polynesia, when we felt we could have gone on for weeks (OK, for one week...). We also found the motion when moored, in the rolly anchorages of the Marquises, much less comfortable on the Dean than on our Lagoon. Maybe because of the thinner hulls and smaller beam.

[Toreador]

http://m.yachtworld.com/mobile/boats....-Kits-&-Nevis this might do it. A 100k cosmetic fixer upper.