So I have decided on a cat....Now what?

[twisty]

As the title say I have decided on a catamaran, after taking everything everyone said in another thread into consideration I have decided. I have made a couple ventures to look over a couple, just to get an idea. The first was a 33' Something or other, I couldn't get inside of but left me quite curious. So the other day driving by a local marina/brokerage I happened to see one and stopped. It was a 41' ish Lagoon. The first thing that struck me was how wide the beam was on this boat, holy crap!

Knowing that I will be going at this alone once my son goes to college, how does the beam width effect handling? Specifically handling it alone?

The next thing I noticed was all the lines, another holy crap! I didn't notice it on the other boat as it was on the hard and well above me. This one however, I was standing on the dock looking at. Not having sailed before this seems like a maze ending in an accident waiting to happen. Is there anything I should be looking for knowing I will refitting it for solo handling?

I know I will have several hundred more questions before I actually get ready buy but these were the first two that popped in my head as I was standing on the dock looking at it.

I'm not interested in buying this particular cat, I will probably be looking more in the 30'ish range but as there are so few of them in this area, if anyone knows this boat I would love a chance to really look at it, so as to get a better idea as to what I am looking for and at. The boat is located in Wilmington NC but is from Oregon, so she is pretty far from home. There is a paddle wheel boat docked near it. Now wishing I had written the name of it down.

[TaoJones]

Congratulations on having narrowed your choices down to a catamaran, twisty. You will probably remember from your other thread that I had advised that you consider a power cat under 35'. That is still my advice.

It may be anathema on CF to suggest power over sail, and I know there will be others who will be adamant that you opt for sail, but given the information you provided in that other thread, I still think power is the right choice for you.

You are correct that there is a seeming rat's nest of lines on a big sailboat. Of course, an intelligent woman like you will master those fairly quickly if you do decide to get a sailboat. And hoisting the main will prove difficult even for a strapping young first mate like your son, but there are ways to get power assistance when hoisting your main, so that, too, can be easily dealt with.

Yes, a Lagoon 41 is a beamy beast, as you noted. Luckily, a powerful diesel engine in each hull will make handling such a large vessel much easier. Still, there will be times when wind and current will make handling such a large vessel almost impossible in certain conditions, and if you ever find yourself in such a situation, you will wish that you had gone smaller/more manageable.

I recall that you had intended to cruise the ICW for the first couple of years, at least. Imagine the convenience of not having to wait for bridge openings because of a long stick soaring 50+ feet into the air. The PDQ 34 I had mentioned has a "mast," of sorts, to get the antennae to a higher plane, but it is on a tabernacle, so it can be lowered to a horizontal position as necessary, leaving an off-the-water maximum height of about 12', if memory serves.

There are other power cats besides PDQ (which is now out of business), such as the Fountaine Pajot line: Cumberland 44, Maryland 37, Highland 35, Greenland 34. Lagoon also has a 44' power cat that is an awesome thing. To be sure, power cats aren't inexpensive, and with two diesels to worry about and take care of, that can just be added stress.

But if you do ever get a chance to get aboard such a vessel, I think you will find it could well-suit your intended use.

Best of luck to you in your search.

TaoJones

[slomotion]

I have never owned a cat, but I’ve sailed on a few:

1. The wide beam is necessary to keep the boat stable. Cruising monohulls have deep ballasted keels - our 34 footer had close to 5000 lbs. in its keel. Modern catamarans are relatively light weight, shallow draft unballasted vessels, they do not heel much, and the widely spaced hulls keep them from flipping. They also allow for HUGE cockpits.

2. There shouldn’t be any more running rigging on a modern cat than on a typical monhull sloop. Perhaps the Lagoon you saw had a furling screecher in addition to the the usual foresail.

3. There are not too many sailing cats built in the last 10 years under 37-38'. FP Mahe, Wildcat 35, Gemini, PDQ - can’t think of any other common ones.

There is a wealth of catamaran knowledge here - much better than mine.

[twisty]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

Congratulations on having narrowed your choices down to a catamaran, twisty. You will probably remember from your other thread that I had advised that you consider a power cat under 35'. That is still my advice.

It may be anathema on CF to suggest power over sail, and I know there will be others who will be adamant that you opt for sail, but given the information you provided in that other thread, I still think power is the right choice for you.

You are correct that there is a seeming rat's nest of lines on a big sailboat. Of course, an intelligent woman like you will master those fairly quickly if you do decide to get a sailboat. And hoisting the main will prove difficult even for a strapping young first mate like your son, but there are ways to get power assistance when hoisting your main, so that, too, can be easily dealt with.

Yes, a Lagoon 41 is a beamy beast, as you noted. Luckily, a powerful diesel engine in each hull will make handling such a large vessel much easier. Still, there will be times when wind and current will make handling such a large vessel almost impossible in certain conditions, and if you ever find yourself in such a situation, you will wish that you had gone smaller/more manageable.

I recall that you had intended to cruise the ICW for the first couple of years, at least. Imagine the convenience of not having to wait for bridge openings because of a long stick soaring 50+ feet into the air. The PDQ 34 I had mentioned has a "mast," of sorts, to get the antennae to a higher plane, but it is on a tabernacle, so it can be lowered to a horizontal position as necessary, leaving an off-the-water maximum height of about 12', if memory serves.

There are other power cats besides PDQ (which is now out of business), such as the Fountaine Pajot line: Cumberland 44, Maryland 37, Highland 35, Greenland 34. Lagoon also has a 44' power cat that is an awesome thing. To be sure, power cats aren't inexpensive, and with two diesels to worry about and take care of, that can just be added stress.

But if you do ever get a chance to get aboard such a vessel, I think you will find it could well-suit your intended use.

Best of luck to you in your search.

TaoJones

I am actually starting to take a shine on the sailing thing, we will know for sure soon, while in Wilmington eyeballing that boat I ran by the sailing school and happened to find the owner there, I am set up for a June weekend of sun, fun and education. I will probably make a decision on which way to go after that.

Believe me I wouldn't even consider a boat the size of that Lagoon, I could already see it was to much boat and not enough, well, me. LOL But I would love to get on one and have a look around. Pictures and seeing the outside can only show you so much. There are just so few around here. I have been by every marina I could between here an Myrtle Beach SC and these are the only two I have seen.

[Sandyh]

Our Seawind 1000XL [10.85m/35'] can be sailed by one person and the main export outside Australia is to Florida! Look around and good luck.

Cheers

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by Sandyh

Our Seawind 1000XL [10.85m/35'] can be sailed by one person and the main export outside Australia is to Florida! Look around and good luck.

Yup, if you want to see a lot of catamarans, visit Florida - 10 pages on yachtworld for under 42' Florida cats for sale:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...dedSelected=-1

[twisty]

Originally Posted by slomotion

Yup, if you want to see a lot of catamarans, visit Florida - 10 pages on yachtworld for under 42' Florida cats for sale:

(Sail) Multi-hull Boats For Sale Florida FL

Oh if only I could get to FL right now. I am headed to the Carolina Power and Sail show this weekend in hopes of meeting someone that as one I can look at, Being 1-1/2 hours inland I doubt there will be any actual cats there but who knows maybe I can find a sympathetic owner to show me theirs.

If you only knew ho much time I spend at yacht world.... There bandwidth bill will be a little higher this month...lol

[farotherside]

congrats on the decision, Twisty! I'm going through the same thing right now - I actually decided on a big trimaran instead of a cat, and I'm now finishing up the title transfer, working on her 2-3 days a week, and getting rid of all my worldly possessions in preparation for the big move onboard.

If you haven't sailed much, investing in some classes wouldn't be money wasted, even if they're on a monohull. Alternately, make yourself available as crew and you can likely get some excellent sailing experience on other folks' boats, which is an excellent way to 'learn the ropes'...

[twisty]

Originally Posted by drew23

congrats on the decision, Twisty! I'm going through the same thing right now - I actually decided on a big trimaran instead of a cat, and I'm now finishing up the title transfer, working on her 2-3 days a week, and getting rid of all my worldly possessions in preparation for the big move onboard.

If you haven't sailed much, investing in some classes wouldn't be money wasted, even if they're on a monohull. Alternately, make yourself available as crew and you can likely get some excellent sailing experience on other folks' boats, which is an excellent way to 'learn the ropes'...

Thanks!

The only sailing school around here is monohull only, I am set and ready to go with them in June, I can't wait!

[SeaKing]

Get yourself a sail cat, sailing is fun and you'll still have two economical engines to motor if you want or need to. Look for a PDQ 36'. A great boat and easily single handed. Don't listen to those mono guys, a cat is where its at. The speed, the stability, the room of a larger boat for the length and they hold their value better.

[Robertcateran]

You could also look at a Harryproa, but there are only a few of them completed so I don't think there will be any on the second hand market in the states.
Unless you are tied to the US, then you could consider buying a boat in Australia and cruising the East coast for a while. Our dollar is pretty low at the moment.

[twisty]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Get yourself a sail cat, sailing is fun and you'll still have two economical engines to motor if you want or need to. Look for a PDQ 36'. A great boat and easily single handed. Don't listen to those mono guys, a cat is where its at. The speed, the stability, the room of a larger boat for the length and they hold their value better.

I am a former, ok maybe not so much former, power boat girl, I listen to everyone when it comes to sailing. But it is definitely going to be a cat for all of the reasons you mentioned exactly, except that holding their value thing, at the moment that isn't a good thing, once I own one tho it will be a different story.

Robertcateran,
coastal cruising is not an option at this point it is the ditch for me until I have enough experience to go further. I would love to buy one there and find an experienced crew to float her back though, unfortunately I dont have enough experience to know what an experienced crew is so I will be sticking to buying in the US.

[cchesley]

Twisty, a good way to begin your search is to charter a few cats. Some can be chartered with a skipper by the day. I'd highly recommend the Kathleen D at www.kathleend.net Kathleen D Sailing Catamaran - Kathleen D Home Page . Its a 41' Mainecat, actually they now have two, one on the Chesapeake and one in Fl. I have no connection with them but have met the owner and I also own a MC 41 but on the west coast. Before you buy, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It may not suit you, but you will have gained more 'experience'!

[twisty]

Originally Posted by cchesley

Twisty, a good way to begin your search is to charter a few cats. Some can be chartered with a skipper by the day. I'd highly recommend the Kathleen D at www.kathleend.net Kathleen D Sailing Catamaran - Kathleen D Home Page . Its a 41' Mainecat, actually they now have two, one on the Chesapeake and one in Fl. I have no connection with them but have met the owner and I also own a MC 41 but on the west coast. Before you buy, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It may not suit you, but you will have gained more 'experience'!

That is another idea I am considering, though when saving for a boat $1200 a day is a lot. But I have not ruled it out yet, I am jut hoping to find a sympathetic cat owner that will give me a running tour or two or three.

[henryv]

You really need to look at a PDQ32 - they are modestly priced ( for a cat ) - they sail well - are easy to single hand - easy to maintain - accomodations are exceptional for a boat this size.

I have a PDQ32 up in Canada and sail larger cats down in the Carribean - I refer to my 32 as my sports car - it is a lot of fun to sail.