3 options small Cat

[cuffy]

Diesels in a Maldives kill the boats best point, The excellent performance. Looked at one and the seller had put 2 water tanks under the front berths to balance it!
Def agree with comments on Mahe, been living aboard for 2 years now, enough space for 2.

[knobhdy]

We looked at the Tomcat, and the Island Packet 35 before settling on our Gemini 105M. We really liked the Packet and if we had been just the two of us, I think we would have gone with it. Seemed like a very nice boat with a really useable cockpit and salon layout. But the double cabins were not good for our family.
The tomcat was lovely, but the layout especially walking through the head to get to the forward cabin was just too awkward for our liking. Too bad because that boat was actually in our neighborhood.
We love the Gem though. The layout is perfect for our family, and the price was unbeatable. I think we'll get years of good use out of it.
Good luck in your boat hunt!

[tomtriad]

If you want to actually sail, avoid the Prout and Island Packet; you will have to mostly motor with them when passage making.

[admiralslater]

PDQ36and 32s all came standard with and sailed best with twin Yamaha 9.9 outboards with standard longshaft.

[Espiros]

Thanks for you input!

[Espiros]

Originally Posted by knobhdy

We looked at the Tomcat, and the Island Packet 35 before settling on our Gemini 105M. We really liked the Packet and if we had been just the two of us, I think we would have gone with it. Seemed like a very nice boat with a really useable cockpit and salon layout. But the double cabins were not good for our family.
The tomcat was lovely, but the layout especially walking through the head to get to the forward cabin was just too awkward for our liking. Too bad because that boat was actually in our neighborhood.
We love the Gem though. The layout is perfect for our family, and the price was unbeatable. I think we'll get years of good use out of it.
Good luck in your boat hunt!

Thanks for you input!

[Espiros]

Originally Posted by tomtriad

If you want to actually sail, avoid the Prout and Island Packet; you will have to mostly motor with them when passage making.

Why?
Are they to heavy?
Are they not good sailing boats?
I been reading everywhere that Prouts have been circunavigated the glove more than any other Catamaran...

[Seafarer7]

Also take a look at the Victory 35 catamaran. Hard to beat in terms of roominess and liveability in that size range.

[alansmith]

Espinosa, no one else mentioned another viable option for you...the Wharram catamarans. They are simple to service and can even be taken apart for transport to different coasts. Most Wharrams use outboards.

Check out the YouTube channel “Lucky Fish” to see the Wharram 37 footer I believe. You can find them all over the world. Some for very good prices. Personally, I love them. I have a 30 foot Condor trimaran that sits on a trailer down in San Carlos Mexico. BTW...you can find some helluv bargains in the Carib and Sea of Cortex.

Let me help you with some outboard motor information. Boatman is one of the jewels on this forum and rarely leads anyone astray with prejudice. He is right about in board diesels being more sane when off shore cruising long distance. I am strictly a coastal cruiser so i like outboards because they are light and cheap to maintain. If your Diesel engine develops a sickness you will get proficient at repairing it or you will go broke. On the west coast the Kubota marine engines reign king. They are called Beta Marine. I think a 20-30 hp Beta will cost you almost 16-18 thousand dollars installed. I have a 10 hp Tohatsu that cost 2600 dollars. I spend about 50 dollars a year to maintain it....new outdrive fluid, fresh engine oil, and a new in-line gas filter. I bought a new 9.9 Suzuki EFI (electronic fuel ignition) which i will throw on the boat when i drag the boat home this spring. I get approx 4.5 hours out of the 3 gallon tank doing 7 knots on a flat sea. If i have anything over 6 knots of wind i am sailing.

Some other features about outboards that are in the positive column. The prop and outlet are never in the water unless being used for propulsion....no parasitic drag....and no Corrision....no galvanic issues....no barnacle shizzle....If seaweed or lobster/crab pot caught i do not have to get in the water to release it. I just pop it up and slip it off or cut it off. My boat draws about 20 inches with centerboard, rudder, and outboard up. I have walked my boat around in water that is only up to my knees. That is something so special ....i can’t even begin to tell you what crap the monohullers go through or big cat with Diesel engines go through....well actually they don’t go through that ....because they can’t if they have have a stern drive or shaft drive.

My outboard weighs a little over a hundred pounds. Too much for an old guy to wrestle. But i just tie a 2x4 to the boom and then use the topping lift on a wench when i want to get her off. I expect to get 15 years of life out of the new one. If she goes tits up....i buy another one for less than 3K.

My outboard will also feed my battery charger when it senses the batteries are in need. It is not equivalent to a diesel with an alternator. But with the advent of solar panels that advantage seems to be slipping away quickly. Some people use the Honda 2000 if they need that backup.

There are advantages to each engine platform and each boat ....as you are already well aware there are so many decisions to be made. Wish you the best of luck....take a look at Lucky Fish videos to ascertain what the Wharram’s offer. I think it ticks off a lot of boxes on my list....but i am not everyone....respects

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by tomtriad

If you want to actually sail, avoid the Prout and Island Packet; you will have to mostly motor with them when passage making.

Haha are you trying to incite hatred or something?

The Prout Snowgoose 35 has a higher sail area / displacement ratio than a Lagoon 380.

What sort of weather do you look for when passage making? Any trade wind sailing is going be between 10-20knts.

My 35 which isn't the lightest int he world, but not the heaviest either will happily do 7-8knts or more in a 15-16knt blow on the beam.

I was doing over 8 knts peaking at over 9.5knts on a broad reach in 18knts of wind.

Similarly close hauled (with old crappy sails) I was doing over 7knts in 18knts. I will admit that the sea was calm for this particular run as it was sheltered.

Where I struggle is in light winds so under 10knts, but that is more to do with the heavy 7.5oz genoa. But with the spinnaker she will happily sail within a 1-1.5knts of wind speed.

[tomtriad]

They are not only heavy, they also have low bridge decks (little clearance underneath) and are under rigged. The Snowgoose will not saill upwind. Both it and the IP depend largely on their motors for propulsion.

[geoffr]

We own a Prout Snowgoose 37' and have friends with a PDQ 32' so I can comment on them.

Any Prout is a good boat for longer passages as it was designed for this. Your biggest problem is not to overload the boat as there is lots of storage space. There isn't much of a difference between the 34' and 37' - when we were comparing these two boats you really had to look to find the 3' difference. We chose the 37 as she can carry more before running into being overloaded. Prouts are tanks both from the point of being very tough when it comes to being hit, hitting things and groundings, but also from the aspect of being slow.
We do have the Sillette outdrive rather than two sail drives. The Sillette is great in that you can gain and extra 0.5-1.0 knot of speed when you lift it out of the water, but turning in tight spots is a real art form with a single engine! Having the single engine is nice in that it's only one to service and it's not in the cabin, so slightly quieter down below.

Our friends PDQ 32' is a great little boat, I would not take offshore as much because of the storage as anything else. They live on it for 6 months at a time and I have no clue how they store all that they need! The PDQ probably sails better than the Prout. It would be a good choice for smaller coastal trips (they don't take theirs offshore). It also has outboard engines which can be lifted out when sailing, but I would not be comfortable for longer trips as they aren't as reliable as a Diesel, nor have big alternators... but having said that they are easier to fix when they do inevitable break.

One final comment - the Snowgoose Elite 37' is a different boat than ours - it's side decks are very narrow (we thought dangerous in a seaway) and have wider aft cabins which I've read have some issues with the waves going under the hull.

Geoff.

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by tomtriad

They are not only heavy, they also have low bridge decks (little clearance underneath) and are under rigged. The Snowgoose will not saill upwind. Both it and the IP depend largely on their motors for propulsion.

Heavy compared to what? The 35 I mentioned in my earlier post is lighter than a Lagoon 380 and a FP Mahe 36. Both are considered decent entry level blue water boats. Yes they are under rigged, but at the same time have a better SAD than both the modern 'blue water boats' mentioned above. In fact the weight and SAD of the 35 is comparable to the PDQ36. The stats are there to check.

So the only accurate part of your statement is the low bridge deck clearance. There's no getting around that.

Don't get me wrong. There is plenty not to like about Prouts, and I'm not recommending the OP buys one, but your description of them seems off to the point of having an agenda.

EDIT: I should also add that the SAD and the weight of a Snowgoose 35 is better than a Gemini 105M, but worse than the MC version. That being said, the Prout is a much stronger built boat.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Espiros

Gemini 105
Prout snowgoose elite 37
Tomcat 9.5

New to sailing.
Dreaming of buying my first and last Catamaran

Would love to be able cross oceans few years from now.


From these 3?

Which one would you sugest and why?

Budget $80,000 tops

Pdq 32, 36 is an ok boat, not great load carrying capacity, but we'll built.
Prouts you need to be wary of the water tanks are part of the hull and a few older ones can have osmosis from the Inside out. I might suggest a wharram cat, you could find and outfit a decent one in your range.or a Richard woods design cat, a renaissance ami320 , a Dean 365, Solaris 36,NuStar or sunrise, whichever is the modern looking one, Or save a little more money and look for a privilege 39 or Athena in the low 100k range which is a lot more boat then any listed. I've been on a few island packet 35s, IP and both had major issues with the mast step and one had structural damage from the sheer weight of it on the hard, the stands had washed out a bit so all the weight was on the keels,,, they were pushing up thru the hulls and breaking bulkheads etc.
No boat is perfect, they all have tradeoffs

[sailhand]

For a great small cat check out the pescotts and schoinnings. The schionning 10.5 wilderness is a roomy little boat and much faster than most production boats. The main problem with the pescotts is headroom in the saloon but probably the fastest in this size range. Rogers also has a good little cat and the crowther 10s are quite roomy and cheap. Shuttleworth also has some great open bridgedeck boats with huge accommodation in the hulls. Lets not forget richard woods here and some of his fantastic smaller cats. I personally am not a big fan of any production built cat that i know of as they are usually quite heavy fot their size. My boat is under 4 ton and 44ft long but it has the room of a 36 footer. Makes for great performance and safety in a sea and very fast. Most production boats are full of shiny interior linings and saildrives and closer to hotel rooms than performance cats. It really comes down to what you want from a boat. In a marina i would prefer a gemini style cat, plenty of plush accommodation and well finished interior, for a production boat with nice volume finish and reasonable performance for coastal work then a lightwave 35 would be my choice. For an offshore ocean cruising boat in this size then the pescott or the schionning wilderness for performance. Actually i would go for a cheaper 40 footer than a 30 footer performance gains in the extra length are huge. Actually the Oram mangoes are a case in point, longer 40 ft hulls and accommodation of a 32foot cat, and go like a scalded cat too. Around the 100 to 150k aus price range but in a completely different class when it comes to performance. I prefer a simpler basic boat to all the bells and whistles. Less maintenance and better performance. More sailing and less working, much safer too. I must also state that i own an oram boat however my bias is not based solely on ownership. They are fast, simple and strong. If you want the polished gelcoat and brightwork on your cabinetry, low speed and performance and usually low bridgedeck clearance go production. I dont even have cupboard doors but i can do pretty close to windspeed up to 7 knots without a main. Boards and kick up rudders are infinitely better than keels, boy that's gonna get some comments, and properly placed outboards are pretty good especially in smaller boats. I have shaft drive diesels and about 450mm to 500mm draft. The oram mango 40ft that i delivered recently is about 300mm draft thats right 1 foot draft, you can go all sorts of places that other boats would never even consider. The only boats that anchor in your part of the anchorage are tenders or kayaks.
Good luck with whatever you choose but I'll guarantee one thing, if it floats its gonna be a hell of a lot better than anything that doesnt. Life on the oceans is fantastic and probably has the greatest freedoms of any lifestyle you could want, enjoy it while it lasts.