The Multihull scene in the US.

[44'cruisingcat]

I was recently surprised to read that a Seawind 1160 won the multihull division (and also sailed past over 100 monohulls) of the San Francisco "Delta Ditch" regatta, which apparently is a well attended regatta adjacent to a major city.

With due respect to Seawind I was pretty appalled by this. In Australia, a Seawind 1160 would only win in a Seawind regatta. They are considered fairly heavy cruising boats built mostly for charter use. Not performace boats at all. They sail well enough, but in an Australian regatta you would expect to find them toward the rear of the fleet. (even in the cruising division)

But it seems there in the States, it's quite a fast cat. Is this true? Over there do you expect most cruising multihulls to be slower than a Seawind 1160?

Iv'e said it before, but you guys over there who are thinking about buying should seriously investigate having a boat custom built over here. Even with the dollar the way it is.

[slomotion]

It looks like there were exactly 9 multihulls in this race and the Seawind won on handicapped time:

Ditch2007.rcw

The U.S. west coast is not catamaran country.

[44'cruisingcat]

That's a relief. The article I saw never mentioned handicap.

[Tropic Cat]

It also would appear it was the only cruising catamaran in the race, the rest being Tri's and racing cats.

[Steve Rust]

I don't think we have anyone designing boats like Tony Grainger, Eric Schionning, or the late Lock Crowther. Here they all seem to be designed with the charter market in mind with the emphasis on luxuary and less on performance. If you want a fast cat go with a designer from down under.

[mikereed100]

Steve,
I don't think we are totally bereft. Kurt Hughes and Chris White come to mind, and don't forget Jim Brown! But yeah, the majority of custom design and construction seems to be down under.
Mike

[Therapy]

Have any of them tied a mast-aft rig?

Would the price be about the same as production?

[Brandywine]

There just is not much of a multi hull scene on the west coast.

I am in the market for a clean 40+ cursing cat and there is maybe 5 at time for sale in the 800 miles of coast if any one has a nice mid 40 foot cat with two heads three staterooms less then ten years old I would love to talk to you.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Brandywine

There just is not much of a multi hull scene on the west coast.

Why is that? I know some cities are kind of famous for being weird, like LA, and others like San Francisco are well known for, er, other things, but surely there is some common sense somewhere on the west coast?

[scotte]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

surely there is some common sense somewhere on the west coast?

No, not really...

[fhrussell]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Why is that? I know some cities are kind of famous for being weird, like LA, and others like San Francisco are well known for, er, other things, but surely there is some common sense somewhere on the west coast?

It IS weird, given the fact that the US west coast was somewhat the epicenter of multihull development during the 50's, 60's, and 70's. With CSK, the TransPac, Hobie, Nacra, Prindle, ...etc. all in SoCal; and so many Piver's and Brown's were built on the west coast in the 70's.
Although, it is not what it used to be, the west coast is still home to Morelli, Hughes, and now Newick! Also, Russell Brown and his proa are in Washington.
Coming from the US northeast, California is still much more of a multihuller's paradise than these parts.

[Evan]

Most production cats come from France and S.Africa, sailed on their own bottoms to the US East coast. It's expensive to get them to the US W. Coast.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Brandywine

I am in the market for a clean 40+ cursing cat . . .

I know this cat who plays the sweetest tenor sax, man, and he's over 40. He's clean most of the time, and he !@#$% like a drunken sailor, so . . . if that's what you're looking for, I can put you in touch.

TaoJones

[Intentional Drifter]

But, does he have 2 heads?

ID

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Intentional Drifter

But, does he have 2 heads?

ID

Well, when he's clean, he only has the one he was born with. But when he's holding, his head is totally different - it's almost like he has two heads then, and his sound comes from a place that can't be put into words.

TaoJones