solaris 42 ketch catamaan?

[bvstarmaiden]

is there anyon who has any informaton, experience or opinions on the solaris 42 ketch catamaran?
It's one of my choices for a offshore cruising cat (with the other being an oceanic 31 ketch cat).

[belizesailor]

Ive sailed one before, but only for a couple of day sails. I think there are a couple of Solaris owners here who will hopefully comment.

[Dulcesuenos]

I have heard they are very slow dont sail well. A good Google search should reveal all the same posts I found on them. Strong older boats though.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[boatman61]

Its like a Catalac or Prout... you can sail well in any direction..
As long as the winds 100+* aft of the beam..
Owners back then thought well of them.. get the beams well checked by the Surveyor..

[Triumphant]

I helped deliver one from Roatan to Rio Dulce recently and did not like it.

VERY low clearance aft and very very noisy underway, and this was in light weather, 15 knots and less off the quarter, also seemed slow

Also remember these boats and the design dates back to 1960 so will have had quite a full life already

[Sand crab]

The Solaris 36 is generally thought of as a better (sail)boat.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Triumphant

I helped deliver one from Roatan to Rio Dulce recently and did not like it.

VERY low clearance aft and very very noisy underway, and this was in light weather, 15 knots and less off the quarter, also seemed slow

Also remember these boats and the design dates back to 1960 so will have had quite a full life already

After you and "T-bone" delivered it, I did some training on the same boat for the owner. Handled OK under sail, but not overly quick. Due to the way it was rigged could only trim the head sail for about 60d apparent. It would come thru a tack even starting from there, so I expect with some improvement in rigging it would sail closer. Head sail was also a bit of a pain to tack, tended to foul, again I expect a little work on rigging would help with this too.

[Southern Star]

Solid construction and roomy, but as has been pointed out:

1. Very low bridgedeck clearance.
2. Inefficient rig.
3. Slow.

In terms of Solaris catamarans, the Sunstar 36 and 32 and the Sunstream 40 are much better performing boats.

Brad