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Old 09-04-2013, 09:53   #1
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Takacat Catamaran Dinghy

Just this weekend received my new TAKACAT Lite 10 foot'er catamaran dinghy.

I'm pleased.

The thing came with all sorts of stuff: bag, oars, pump, pressure gauge, repair kit. This included shipping as well

The build quality is nice, has a good finish quality.

The TAKACAT Lite is _extremely_ stable and was pushed along quite well by my old 1959 Elgin one-cylinder OB. Went lots faster than the Walker Bay 8 ever did. (BTW Walker Bay is for sale...)

We did hang our friend's 6 horse Mercury on the Takacat and husband toodled round, he got on plane easily with 3/4 throttle, cruising at 1/2 throttle no problem.

Steering is different. Quite responsive. Even a bit twitchy.

The boat has a different feel than either the solid dink or the RIBs I've been on. We didn't really make a huge effort to pump the hulls or floor completely (have to figure out the gauge, I need to write and ask) so there was some flex.

I'm thinking these are good little boats and I'm looking forward to some good times with her (we've named it "Saoularde" for her twitchiness, ha ha). And I also have to figure out how to make chaps for it.
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Old 09-04-2013, 09:58   #2
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I looked onto those. At the time there was no hypalon (CSM) version. Has that changed?
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Old 09-04-2013, 11:16   #3
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

There's not a hypalon in the LITE, but they do have hypalon in other models
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Old 09-04-2013, 12:04   #4
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

Have you determined the correct pressure to eliminate the hull flexing? I'm also considering the sport models rather than the lite, but remain concerned about the flex of either of these in anything other than flat calm water. Are they easy to assemble and disassemble on deck? Also I wonder how stable the high pressure floor is to allow a person to stand while removing a 5 hp motor from the ship's rail and mount on the dinghy?
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Old 09-04-2013, 13:21   #5
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Thanks for the review. Is the ride wet in chop?
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Old 09-04-2013, 14:00   #6
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

Even with it a bit under inflated, how quick did it come up on plane as compared to other dinghies you have had powered by similar power? I imagine the Elgin didn't plane anything?
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Old 09-04-2013, 14:11   #7
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

Haven't determined the correct pressure, as we only played with it a bit.

The boat is VERY stable, even underinflated. I walked all over that thing. You can walk right off from the front just like the video which is super nice for beaching and even onto a dock.

Ride is not particularly wet. Not much chop, but in any case I don't expect wetness, any more than any other inflatable. It's certainly less wet than the Walker Bay.

Planing: husband was alone (he's in the 180-200lb? range) and it came right up, as I said, at 3/4 throttle on the 6hp. No, the Elgin didn't plane but it sure pushes the little cat a helluva lot faster than it ever did the Walker Bay.

We're more about having a dink that is easy to manage and stow, so power isn't really a consideration.

Forgot to mention: the Takacat does indeed row well. The Taka's oarlocks and their stowing are well thought out. Easy to stow, easy to deploy. The w'bay's oars could never really be rid of unless removed from the boat and if you didn't pay attention, they'd just slide right out the locks since they weren't fastened.
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Old 09-04-2013, 14:59   #8
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

Thanks for the input. Now you have a big cat and little cat, what a pair. Just as I thought, the same reasons we all like cats, i.e., stability and efficient hull, carries over to the dinghy.
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Old 09-04-2013, 15:04   #9
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

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Thanks for the input. Now you have a big cat and little cat, what a pair. Just as I thought, the same reasons we all like cats, i.e., stability and efficient hull, carries over to the dinghy.

we think so too. You say 'big cat and little cat' ha ha. A problem we foresee is that folks might just know whose dink it is, kind of like naming the tender after the boat, which is something we don't do for safety reasons
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Old 09-04-2013, 15:15   #10
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

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There's not a hypalon in the LITE, but they do have hypalon in other models
Actually not true, they will do it in Hypalon with the exception of the high pressure floor part. I had enquired and had confirmation from them that they'd do the tubes in it, but couldn't do the high pressure floor. I ended up going with a regular rib in the end.
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Old 09-04-2013, 15:29   #11
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

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we think so too. You say 'big cat and little cat' ha ha. A problem we foresee is that folks might just know whose dink it is, kind of like naming the tender after the boat, which is something we don't do for safety reasons
That might be 30 years ago when there wasn't many cruising cats, but today there are quite a few. Also, some mono guy might try a cat dinghy to see if he might want the mother ship to be a cat sometime in the future.
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Old 09-04-2013, 16:21   #12
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

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Actually not true, they will do it in Hypalon with the exception of the high pressure floor part. I had enquired and had confirmation from them that they'd do the tubes in it, but couldn't do the high pressure floor. I ended up going with a regular rib in the end.

The site didn't list that, I guess I should have asked. I did note on the other models that the hypalon was roughly 2x the price of the PVC
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Old 10-04-2013, 04:15   #13
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

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Originally Posted by tamicatana View Post
Ride is not particularly wet. Not much chop, but in any case I don't expect wetness, any more than any other inflatable. It's certainly less wet than the Walker Bay.

Planing: husband was alone (he's in the 180-200lb? range) and it came right up, as I said, at 3/4 throttle on the 6hp. No, the Elgin didn't plane but it sure pushes the little cat a helluva lot faster than it ever did the Walker Bay.

I think from your earlier note you mean a fully rigid (i.e., not a RIB) Walker Bay model? If so, I'd suspect it wouldn't plane -- by design -- even with whatever the largest recommended horsepower was... Just not meant to be.

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Old 10-04-2013, 05:52   #14
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy

Chris, I'm answering Bob's post. I referred to the TAKACAT planing, and it did that easily with the 6 horse.

I can't imagine how frightening the Walker Bay would have been with anything larger than that little Elgin on it, ha ha, poor little "Nervine."

What I was saying is that although the Elgin can't make the TAKACAT plane, the Elgin pushes the TAKACAT faster than it did the Walker Bay. Of course this is partially or even mostly because of the more efficient catamaran hullform, I'm sure...
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Old 11-04-2013, 04:15   #15
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Re: TAKACAT catamaran dinghy



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