Information on buying at 35-40' catamaran

[jfjharry]

I have raced small catamarans for many years and am now looking at buying a 35-40' catamaran to cruise the Queensland coast. I am keeping in this size range for mooring. maintenance and the cost of buying. I am completely new to this particular size catamaran.

The makes I have been looking at are;
Easy 37'
Oram 39'
Schionning 36'
Any information and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks John

[clownfishsydney]

You should also consider Lightwave. There are 35 and 38 foot ones, basically the same but 38 extended at sterns. Made on the Gold Coast, support from factory is very good. There were a few for sale when I last looked a couple of weeks ago. We have been very happy with ours and have done two six month trips from Sydney to Far North Queensland.

[44'cruisingcat]

There's a fair bit of choice in this size range, it would help to know the budget, and whether you're looking for maximum space and payload, or something that sails well.

[jfjharry]

Thanks for the information. I may have seen some Lightwaves for sale but may have discounted them because of their age. All the boats I have been looking at are under $300k. I have been looking for one that has reasonable room and sails OK. By looking at the features I consider the Schionning to be one of the better sailing ones followed by the Oram and then the Easy. I consider them all to be adequate for our needs. We have come off 25' trailer sailers for the last 30 years so to us they all have heaps of room.

To the 44' cruisingcat Senior Cruiser;
I have been trying to get on to Brian and Rowena on 'Schools Out' but lost their contact numbers.
Cheers, John

[44'cruisingcat]

As it happens, School's Out just anchored next to us. PM sent.

Other boats worth looking at might be Seawind 1160, Lagoon 380, and FP Lavezzi, if any are available in your price range.

[JasonS]

Consider a Manta 40. Lots of room - great single-handed or couple. Maybe not the fastest, but a great blue water cruiser that you'll enjoy. Built on the west coast of Florida, there are a good number currently cruising Australia/New Zealand right now. Check out Escape Velocity | Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. blog.
Good luck with your search.
Jason
Breathe
Manta Hull #49

[bushytales]

Hi... I have owned several sailing catamarans during the last 30 years all built in Qld. These included a Windspeed 32 originally built by Geoff Cruse. Then I decided to build a one off Snell - strip cedar 38’ called Heartbeat. Then a 43’ part Snell, part my own design, called Wicked. Thereafter I bought a 32’ Seawind.
Each vessel had its natural limitations as well as benefits. The Windspeed was a fast and seaworthy boat but the main cabin height was never satisfactory. After having owned and built Heartbeat, I decided on building a bigger catamaran with a higher bridgedeck - Wicked it was.
Longer waterline meant a faster boat...but heavier and more expensive. Would have been quite a handful if sailing alone.
Then the Seawind “Dream On” ... loved this boat and found it close to the ideal.
In all honesty, if I had the money I would look very closely at a Seawind 1160. Very pricey but a delightful liveaboard boat with so many comforts. Easy to sail, hold their value amazingly, very well built, etc etc.
So, if I had my time over ( and the funds!!) I would buy a Seawind 1160.
Good hunting...Jeff B

[bushytales]

Also, sorry - forgot to mention...those boats you referred to - be aware of the limitations of foam form construction. It is VERY easily dented by a dinghy or coming alongside and can delaminates if water ever finds its way into the laminate ( areas such as staunchions, etc etc).
Plywood is great but has a market limitation in value...having said that, if properly built is a wonderful, strong material.
Of course, the Seawind is a Moulder production boat and high strength structure especially in the hulls. Also easy to fit attachments as it is a solid core.
I still lean towards the Seawind because 1 hold their value amazingly 2 solid core fibreglass 3 easy handling even for one 4 delightful open space living.
One downside....galley down. Otherwise, in my humble opinion;, nearly the perfect catamaran.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by jfjharry

The makes I have been looking at are;
Easy 37'
Oram 39'
Schionning 36'
Any information and advice would be appreciated.
Thanks John

All three of those boats are likely to have been home built. So there will be variable levels of quality of finish, possibly changes in layout, and equipment too.

You'd really need to look at individual boats and assess them on their merits.

Having said that, some generalisations. The Schionning and Oram will be more performance oriented. Lighter weight materials, daggerboards etc.

The Schionning will be quite short of headroom, especially at the stairs into the hulls. You might need to reverse down them.

Easys usually have nice big cabins with plenty of space beyond the mattress. Generally Schionnings and Orams in these sizes will have good size beds, but not much space in the cabin.

The Oram will almost certainly have kick up rudders and outboards, so very shallow draught. The Schionning will probably have outboards, but some have fixed rudders, some kick ups. I actually converted a fixed rudder Schionning to kick ups once.

The Easy will likely be outboard equipped with mini keels and fixed rudders. There are maybe a couple of the bigger Sarah model with diesels.

[Ken Fowler]

I have a share in a Seawind 1160 based at manly and can confirm I find it a very comfortable and excellent cruiser. 2006, new standing rig this year and it is going like a rocket. Don;t know if have looked at a part share in a boat but it works for me. Also, a good friend of mine has his Lagoon 380 for sale and he has put a heap of extra gear on it - Onan generator, watermaker, big Genaker. If you go on to BoatSails.com it is called Cloudbreak. I did the Brisbane to Airlie Beach trip on it last year and it's in great condition. Good luck.

[tomfl]

I have an older Seawind 1000 and have been happy with it. The open cockpit/salon design really makes it seem like there is a lot of room. I have single handed it at my advanced age of 70+. They were not making the bigger Seawinds when I bought mine but from all I have read they are great boats. Keep in mind most Seawinds have two outboards in wells which can really reduce costs if you are not wed to motoring most of the time. I got an estimate to replace both of mine for $US6K installed. Try and get an estimate for an inboard replacement and you will understand what I am talking about.

[smj]

Originally Posted by bushytales

Also, sorry - forgot to mention...those boats you referred to - be aware of the limitations of foam form construction. It is VERY easily dented by a dinghy or coming alongside and can delaminates if water ever finds its way into the laminate ( areas such as staunchions, etc etc).
Plywood is great but has a market limitation in value...having said that, if properly built is a wonderful, strong material.
Of course, the Seawind is a Moulder production boat and high strength structure especially in the hulls. Also easy to fit attachments as it is a solid core.
I still lean towards the Seawind because 1 hold their value amazingly 2 solid core fibreglass 3 easy handling even for one 4 delightful open space living.
One downside....galley down. Otherwise, in my humble opinion;, nearly the perfect catamaran.

I’ve owned 2 Seawind 1000’s and there’s no doubt that the entire structure is foam core construction. But they are fantastic cats.

[barnakiel]

I would not buy a Schionning as I worked on one and it was very poorly built.

I have been on a handful of off the mill cats (FP, Lagoons, Catanas, etc.) and they were all very nice boats. Easy to buy, sell and with plenty of owner info available online.

Cheers,
b.

[smj]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I would not buy a Schionning as I worked on one and it was very poorly built.

I have been on a handful of off the mill cats (FP, Lagoons, Catanas, etc.) and they were all very nice boats. Easy to buy, sell and with plenty of owner info available online.

Cheers,
b.

Schionning isn’t a production build so no telling who built the one you were on, doesn’t mean they are all badly built.
The ones you mentioned are production builds and are also not perfect.

[ozsailer]

G'day John,
there has been some very good advise given to date and some information I would not consider IE dont buy a Schionning as one was poorly built. Many Schionning and other builder models are home or proffesionally built and each has its own level of finish. Even mainstream builders get it wrong occasionally. I have seen many home built boats out there sailing with very very good build quality.
As Cruising 44 has stated I believe you need to identify what you want in a boat and then start cutting down your list of boat that suites your requirements. We own a 44 foot cat that is not exceptionally fast but suites our needs, not someone elses needs or wants.


Greg and Sue
Lagoon 440