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Old 09-01-2008, 00:42   #46
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Originally Posted by schoonerdog View Post
I think the glow in the dark pain is very cool! I think you've got a great product, it's easily a world cruiser and it's payload is greater than my boat. Regarding the twin retractible engines, I'd definitely do it. Think about it, if you suffer the worst engine failure and complete breakdown, you can reach through a lower hatch and pull off the complete engine at an anchorage, get a fed ex box and ship it in for repair in the middle of vanuatu. If you were really worried, you could potentially even keep an entire spare engine on board. With the engine up no issues with galvananic action. Be able to inspect and replace a prop without even having to wear a snorkle mask. No performance penalty. No issues with fuel leaks and you get to have a diesel generator where you want it rather than where it has to be for logistical reasons. My yanmar 3JH diesels are probably the most simple bullet proof diesel engines ever designed, you can let tons of air bubbles in through the fuel system and the engine just sputters and keeps going, but I would drop them in a second if there was a reliable electric engine I could put on as servicing the engines would be so much easier. You also get to have a diesel generator on a real performance boat, that's another first really.
The nice thing is there is already a spare motor on board , even if one breaks the other one will still give you 7 knots plus.
And offcourse no Liquid gas on board since also on this boat the cooking is done electrically thru induction in other words solar and wind energy will give you propulsion , cooking, warm water even a warm cabin if needed.
The only exception to this rule will be with long periods without wind and or sun. ( the doldrums for instance ) and than the diesel genset can take over. BTW the diesel genset can also run on bio diesel so if you have veg oil on board it will work.
I have added another picture in how we can inspect a prop on the 435 from the king size bed a closed hatch with view on both retractable propulsion systems and to the halyards running under the boat.

BTW thank you for the compliment

Gideon
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Old 09-01-2008, 00:48   #47
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Unfortunately we will not be at the boat show this year. too busy with new developements but next year we will probalby be present.
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Old 09-01-2008, 10:11   #48
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Gideon, perhaps you could do the next best thing for allowing people to view the boats. Is there an owners list where people who are interested in seeing the boats could arrange an appointment? Or perhaps a list of contacts available via a PM to you of owners who wouldn't mind showing off their new boats.
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Old 09-01-2008, 10:45   #49
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Or how bout this. Send me one as a demo. Well test it and let you know the results after certain time periods. Like initialy, after 1 month, 6months and then yearly reports. How does that sound?? Hey I woudln't charge. I would consider it a fair swap..the boat for my comments. ;-) :-)
My wife....(yeah me also)...would love a cat. But waaaaay out of our price range.
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Old 09-01-2008, 11:30   #50
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Quote:
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I will let you in on a small secret Hull number five of the fastcat 460 will be spray painted in Very light yellow glow in the dark paint.
At night it will shine turqoise for well over 12 hours.
This will increase safety and will give the boat a very sleek appearal
There are 3 41 ft cats on order but we have not really started selling yet
Nice hearing from you

Greetings
Gideon
Is this an Awlgrip product? If not then what is it? Has it been tested for durability?

I think realistically, the nav lights would show before a glow in the dark boat would show to an approaching vessel. At least I intend to have brighter than average (greater than 20 Meter) lights. I have seen too many sailboats whose nav lights are totally inadequate, although probably legal.

Do you know if any of your boats will be at any of the shows in the US in 2008?
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Old 09-01-2008, 11:37   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by schoonerdog View Post
Gideon, perhaps you could do the next best thing for allowing people to view the boats. Is there an owners list where people who are interested in seeing the boats could arrange an appointment? Or perhaps a list of contacts available via a PM to you of owners who wouldn't mind showing off their new boats.
All the delivered 435 ,s are in Europe or in Africa at this moment
2 or 3 will probably join the ARc so you will see a couple in the carribean by the end of the year. If I get the testing of the Green Motion done in time I might also join so that would make 3 or 4 FastCats
If I come in your direction I promise you now that we will sail for a couple of days. the problem might be that you will fall in love again like you did with the St. Francis 44.
Last year in Coming back from La Rochelle I picked up a client in Nieuwpoort a city on the south side of the Belgium coast and after one hour and 5 minutes if sailing we entered Blankeberge another small harbor on the Belgium coast 21 NM further up. we did an average speed of 19,2 knots the client had 2 smal kids with him and they had been playing a game the whole time during the trip. he fall in love with the boat and ordered a FastCat that same day.
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Old 09-01-2008, 11:45   #52
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Is this an Awlgrip product? If not then what is it? Has it been tested for durability?

I think realistically, the nav lights would show before a glow in the dark boat would show to an approaching vessel. At least I intend to have brighter than average (greater than 20 Meter) lights. I have seen too many sailboats whose nav lights are totally inadequate, although probably legal.
We purchase Awlgrip clear 2 K laquer and mix it with organic glow in the dark powder in a mixing ratio in weight of 50 to 50 % first the complete boat is spray painted in White and then we coat the boat with the Glow in the dark mixture and then another 2 coats of clear 2 k paint .
We have tested the paint mixture as we test everything we use before putting it on a boat. It has a 10 year life and after this period it still has 70 % of its original glow. The glow time is over 12 hours , it slowly loses its glow but the glow after 12 hours is still around 50 % of what it was after one hour and still very visible, even 3 miles away.
We make our own 3 nm led tricolor light because it is not available anywhere. ( i do not think it is legal in Europe , 2 NM is the maximum but who will check us.) I want to be seen speccially if you reed these stories about sailing yachts that have been overrun in the middle of the night by fast ferry ships and these ships have not even seen these yachts like happened twice last year in Europe.
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Old 09-01-2008, 15:44   #53
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Or how bout this. Send me one as a demo.
.
Dear Mr. Wheeler,

This has already been proposed.........BY ME.........quite some time ago.

So there is a line, thank you very much.

Therapy.

PS: I would give a monthly report for years and tours by appointment at any port of call. I would even do shows.
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Old 09-01-2008, 15:49   #54
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. he fall in love with the boat and ordered a FastCat that same day.
I can tell you right now, sight unseen, if I had the money, I would put a deposit on one.
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Old 09-01-2008, 20:00   #55
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So there is a line, thank you very much.
Dang it. I hate lines. I always seem to be at the back of them.
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Old 12-01-2008, 03:13   #56
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On my shortlist!

I can't see any toe rail on the pictures/drawings. Many cats lacks this feature, while for example Erik Lerouge put it on his designs. I consider it an essential safety feature.
Is there any provisions for an inner forestay/storm jib or trysail?
What about the engineering of the davits.Will they stand up to a swamped dinghy?

Although most sailing is done in light/medium conditions, I like to be prepared for heavy/survival conditions.
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Old 14-01-2008, 08:54   #57
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Gideon,

It seems like you have a good electric motor system. Have you also thought of offering up a service for retrofitting other boats? With your experience, facilities and quality standards I imagine it would be successful. I know that a lot of people when their boats hit the 15 year mark often are looking at expensive engine issues.

Doug
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Old 14-01-2008, 09:33   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fastcat435 View Post
We purchase Awlgrip clear 2 K laquer and mix it with organic glow in the dark powder in a mixing ratio in weight of 50 to 50 % first the complete boat is spray painted in White and then we coat the boat with the Glow in the dark mixture and then another 2 coats of clear 2 k paint .
We have tested the paint mixture as we test everything we use before putting it on a boat. It has a 10 year life and after this period it still has 70 % of its original glow. The glow time is over 12 hours , it slowly loses its glow but the glow after 12 hours is still around 50 % of what it was after one hour and still very visible, even 3 miles away.
We make our own 3 nm led tricolor light because it is not available anywhere. ( i do not think it is legal in Europe , 2 NM is the maximum but who will check us.) I want to be seen speccially if you reed these stories about sailing yachts that have been overrun in the middle of the night by fast ferry ships and these ships have not even seen these yachts like happened twice last year in Europe.
There is no maximum brightness for sidelights as there is a minimum brightness for sidelights based on the LOA, according to the IMO and the COLREG's. Hopefully with the greater use of LED's, we will be seeing brighter nav lights on yachts..especially sidelights. I dont think most boaters understand how much of a safety factor this is.

At 25 knots, (typical speed for a modern container ship) a ship travels 2.5 miles in 6 minutes. This means that a boat with a sidelight range of one mile in perfect conditions, has 2 minutes and 24 seconds for a ship to see their sidelights, make a decision, tell the helmsman to come right or left, and then wait for the bow to start swinging in order to avoid that sailboat! The "old man" (captain) usually has standing orders to avoid all contacts with a minimum CPA of two to three miles typically and a Mx (maneuvering execution distance) of 5-6 miles typically. Is that going to happen when the Mx has already been passed by the ship?...No way. One may as well be driving their car around at night with the headlights off if they are going to have dim nav lights.

In ideal conditions, two mile sidelights give the ship 4 minutes and 48 seconds to avoid you...much better.
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Old 14-01-2008, 10:07   #59
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I don't know about the European laws concerning distance, but I do know the international and US laws. Two miles would be WAY better than one mile. The white lights must remain proportionately brighter than the sides.

Also, don't rely on being seen by radar. In heavy seas, the Sea Clutter filter will be turned up so that you will probably be pretty much filtered out on the radar screen at a range of somewhat less than a mile...depending on the sea state. Sea clutter extends out a greater distance as the radar antenna gets higher off the water.

Obviously, we did not have nearly as many ships typically going over 20 knots when the distance standards for lights were adopted.

Also, if it is pretty ambiguous if a ship needs to turn right or left to avoid a collision, they will typically turn to their right.
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Old 14-01-2008, 11:05   #60
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Thats wild! Shirley McLean will surely announce she has seen UFOs on the water now.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fastcat435 View Post
We purchase Awlgrip clear 2 K laquer and mix it with organic glow in the dark powder in a mixing ratio in weight of 50 to 50 % first the complete boat is spray painted in White and then we coat the boat with the Glow in the dark mixture and then another 2 coats of clear 2 k paint .
We have tested the paint mixture as we test everything we use before putting it on a boat. It has a 10 year life and after this period it still has 70 % of its original glow. The glow time is over 12 hours , it slowly loses its glow but the glow after 12 hours is still around 50 % of what it was after one hour and still very visible, even 3 miles away.
We make our own 3 nm led tricolor light because it is not available anywhere. ( i do not think it is legal in Europe , 2 NM is the maximum but who will check us.) I want to be seen speccially if you reed these stories about sailing yachts that have been overrun in the middle of the night by fast ferry ships and these ships have not even seen these yachts like happened twice last year in Europe.
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