The New Fastcat 405: Please Comment and Help Us Make the Perfect 40-41' Cat

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by Seeratlas

Fast, not sure you understand what i'm saying. I'm not talking about a foward cockpit, I'm talking about molding into your rounded foredeck a couple of indents to fit a couple of bodies, think something along the lines of those 2 people molded recliner jacuzzis. Just a shape that would eliminate the need for a couple of lounge chairs. I can't believe that would add much weight or cost much windage, certainly less than two people just sitting up there on the tramp.

seer

Hallo Seeratlas It would ad weight in a location where I want to keep weight to the absolute minimum Maybe we could fit 2 seating like arrangements into the front windshield but I have always loved to just go down on the trampoline and linger in the sun.

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by shadow

Is there an estimated time of release of the first production run to be sold??

We have started selling already and the first 3 units are sold.
The first 410 will be in the water middle of next year and as we always do no cat is the same every improvement we can make along the total production run we will make even after a boat is sold and still in production.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

last, you'd never see this in a drawing, but putting the hatches on a small elevated lip standing proud (sic: housekeeping pad) of the deck is very important to help prevent a constant battle with leaks. Trust me.

I like it - a lot.

I too, would like to see all penetrations (chainplates, cleat fastenings, hatches, etc) of nominally horizontal surfaces (deck & house) occur through “housekeeping pads” and/or significantly canted surfaces (drainage slope) - preferably both.

[Joli]

Looks good Gideon. I think everyone hit the major issues.

Curved saloon seating looks sexy but straight seats with a corner are more comfortable.

The Lagoon's have gone to vertical windows for room, yours has heavily sloped windows. Obviously your profile is more slippery for weather work but the forward saloon seating position in the elevation drawings looks cramped. I'm almost 2 meters tall, would I fit?

How is the cabin top accessed since it is heavily sloped? Will there be flat pads or perches for working at the mast base?

Cheers,

Joli

[fastcat435]

The saloon seating will be like the picture in answer 24 The standing height in the saloon and in the hulls will be 1.96 meters or 6 ft 7 inches. next to the mast on each side is a small step up to the saloon roof .
You will be able to sit comfortably on the forward side of the table
Do not forget this is only the first preliminary drawing shown to you but we will make at least 12 different sets until satisfied ands starting the production of the Plug 6 months from now.
The Lagoon way of having windows is great for space inside but not so good for windage and we try to produce more of a performance type cat. It is impossible to make both in one Cat
Every yacht is a compromise and we are on the fast track.
Greetings
Gideon

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I like it - a lot.

I too, would like to see all penetrations (chainplates, cleat fastenings, hatches, etc) of nominally horizontal surfaces (deck & house) occur through “housekeeping pads” and/or significantly canted surfaces (drainage slope) - preferably both.

Hello Gord
In later drawings all these penetrations will be seen , one thing is for sure in all our cats it is possible to reach all connections from the insdie , nothing is hidden , that makes life a lot easier if you ever have a leak


Greetings Gideon

[David M]

Originally Posted by Seeratlas

One other thing, are you sure you want to go with plumb bows? Something a little raked would serve to not only get you some anti-dive extra reserve buoyancy in the bows, but something raked and 'racy' looking would give your 'fastcat' a unique and agressive "look" in profile that would make it stand out from the increasingly clorox bottle looking cat crowd while reaffirming it's design as a FAST fastcat. Something looking more like the head of a shark than a dolphin....in fact, call it the "Fastcat 41 'Mako'" or something since the 'leopard' type cat names are already taken. something a bit sexier than 'the '41' ....heheheh

seer

Personally, I think plumb stems look more high tech. They also give you a little more waterline which of course is faster. How many older and slower designs do we see with excessively raked stems? Marinas are filled with poor sailing dock queens with raked bows that try to look like old clipper ships. That is a very tired look.

Is there ANY option for diesel propulsion? Green boats are sort of a trend right now but I think there will always be a demand for both. I can eventually see the necessity for motoring many miles or needing the extra propulsion for getting oneself out of a jam. I do like the idea of having an abundance of solar cells...the more the better.

Having no gelcoat is also a great idea. In my experience, an LPU like AwlGrip is much easier to clean and maintain and overall looks better than gelcoat. Whatever I have my boat painted it will not be white. The bleach bottle look is unnecessary. I kind of like that light yellow look...and its still practical from a heat standpoint. On one of your competitors boats, Gunboats, the owner had his boat painted a light yellow...it looks pretty good.

I agree with a previous poster that there needs to be a small work area on boats where the owner is living aboard. It makes no sense for boats entering charter service of course.

Overall, I like the design and think it will be a good looking boat.

Whats the backlog now? What do you guess the backlog will be in a few years?

400,000 Euro is NOT expensive for what you are offering. This boat is certainly on my list of boats to consider purchasing when that time comes.

[fastcat435]

Hallo David

Diesel will be possible but the cost wil be the same as the retractable electric version
After you have tried out the electric version that we produce with the higher sailing speeds , no noise , smoke , fumes and maintenance I am sure I can convince you.
Plumb bows look more high tech but if you havce ever hit something floating in the water like I have you will prefer the slightly raked hulls so if you hit something , at least you have a better chance to slide over it instead of hitting it full speed The slope we will try to keep at 10 % but the final words are not yet said on this so we might end up with a plumb bow , this is one of the reasons for me to start this thread. get your opinions and work with them .

[fastcat435]

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

[David M]

Please post some links to some pictures when you get them.

Thanks
David

[schoonerdog]

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.

Originally Posted by fastcat435

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

[Therapy]

I am sorry you will not be in Miami.

Any of your boats?

[44'cruisingcat]

Up 'till today I haven't been able to download any of the files. From the plan view it looks like there is a mast section or similar, in place of a catwalk. I'd prefer a catwalk, wide enough to work with sails. Trying to stand on tramps and handle sails at sea is very tricky.

Are those bunks in front of the heads?

one concern I have about the wind gen at the masthead: a guy I know had boobies fly into his wind generator twice. Made a hell of a mess, and also broke blades on the gen. Replacing them at the masthead would make it even more of a pain.

[Whimsical]

44CC
If your worried about your boobies getting messed up in the wind gen don't let the missus climb the mast.

Mike

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Up 'till today I haven't been able to download any of the files. From the plan view it looks like there is a mast section or similar, in place of a catwalk. I'd prefer a catwalk, wide enough to work with sails. Trying to stand on tramps and handle sails at sea is very tricky.

Are those bunks in front of the heads?

one concern I have about the wind gen at the masthead: a guy I know had boobies fly into his wind generator twice. Made a hell of a mess, and also broke blades on the gen. Replacing them at the masthead would make it even more of a pain.

There is a catwalk/compression beam to separate the trampoline see drawing of the purpose build aluminum extrusion.
The width is 220 mm and next to it the Dyneema firm trampoline without stretch.
The space in front of the bulkheads can be used as you please .
separate shower/toolshed/work area/bunks/storage but always low weight use.
On my maiden trip from cape Town to Miami on the prototype FastCat 435
we have had 3 occasions where a bird flew into the blades. This wind gen was mounted on the davits and the chance of birds hitting there is much bigger because at night they rest on the bimini and then fly away and sometimes into the blades.
With a mast head mounted solution the chance of a bird hitting is substantially smaller because they have no place to sit closeby.
Even if work is needed on the wind generator it is not that hard , we standard mount 2 steps on the top of the mast for support for any work needed.
The biggest advantage is the noise or I should say no noise with this solution and off course much better performance , even downwind.
We have tersted this solution on a trip last year from Durban Via Cape Town , Namibia to St Helena , Cape verdi islands and on to Madera and no problems at all.
The amps generated are double of what we where getting at 9 ft above sea level.