[SOLD] 42' cat ketch ocean voyager $39.9k

[Terra Nova]

Been deeply involved with refits on several core-failed boats. And project managed a cored hull extension to 50'.

[Matt Johnson]

It just seems odd that this post is allowed outside the classified section. I hope we don't start seeing more self promotion here.

Matt

[Ronald Rogala]

Hello Alaska,
Yes she does have an engine. She has a 4 HP outboard motor that could push her at 2 knots. But that's the dinghy motor. The diesel is a 56 HP yanmar rebuilt in 2009. Now she has 1027 hours.
The LOA: 41.85'
DWL: 34.97'
Beam: 12.26'
Draft: 5.91'
Disp: 20,190 lbs
Keel 3675 kg cast iron
SA: 862 sf
Fuel: 60 gallons
Water: 200 gallons
Holding tank: 100 gallons
Novacool refrif 2008
Frigoboat freezer 2009
Pur power survivor 40E water maker
Macerator
Two 30gpm whale gusher pumps
Raymarine tridata depth and speed 2009
Xantrex 1000 inverter 2010
Raymarine st6000 autopilot needs drive unit
Morningstar TriStar 60 amp mppt charge controller

[Ronald Rogala]

Alaska asked about a protected prop. The prop isn't encased in the skeg/ rudder as I have seen. The shaft is fully exposed and stabilized with a skeg. There is about 3 ft of exposed shaft as I remember. I don't see a problem with that.
The rudder is transom hung.
Cheers

[Ronald Rogala]

Hi steady hand. Cat ketches are faster offwind, running and reaching than standard boats, but don't point as well as conventional boats. This is what I keep hearing. Having no shrouds allows the booms to go much further out than stayed masts allowing more exposed sail area while greatly lessening the tendency to gybe. It gives a much wider comfort zone sailing downwind. Some cat ketches can even depower the sail by bringing the sail even further forward- forward of the beam. My boat cannot do that because it has a gooseneck.

The nice thing about sailing a cat ketch is that the sails are self tending. Like a self tending jib on a cutter rigged boat. A big headsail is more of a headache to manage.
I could post more pictures, but the classified section is where the boat is listed for sale. This is just fun comments that we do here. One touchy guy is already commenting about self- promotion.

[Ronald Rogala]

Sorry. Can't trade a boat for another.

[Ronald Rogala]

Nice to get a reply from a cat owner. I have heard the same before. Going fast running and reaching but not as well upwind as traditional sloops. I wonder, can you bring your booms to centerline when going to whether? This would account for a reduced pointing ability. I remember racing a Hobie 16 with main and jib when Hobie alter was outpointing me with his Hobie 14 which doesn't have a jib. Maybe its how the boat is sailed. Lasers sail and point great with only mainsails (no jibs) but you have to center line the booms as well to point well. Cheers

[Ronald Rogala]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

I have a few friendly suggestions, with the intent to further the discussion of this boat's design and because I am curious.
__________________

Tubs are a desired feature on boats, for some sailors.

1. I suggest posting a photo of the head+tub if possible, as it may get the attention of some buyers.

2. Actually, posting more photos is a good idea, and I suggest posting text or your comments as the owner about what you like about the features you show in the photo. For example, your boat has a hard dodger.

3. I have not yet sailed on a cat-ketch, but am curious about them. I once looked at a Freedom 40 Cat Ketch years ago, but did not get to sail her. I would find your comments about sailing that rig interesting, so post something about that too. Since it is an usual rig, I am sure others might be curious to learn more about the sailing qualities of the Cat-Ketch rig.

In short, tell us more about sailing a boat like this and the features. It is an uncommon boat, so probably unfamiliar to most sailors.

"Steady Hand" asked if I could talk about benefits about cat ketch rigs. I mentioned some already in an earlier post, but thought of a few more benefits. One, like this rig on my boat, most cat ketches are duplicate rigs - same size masts and booms. Unstated and independent. Its like having a spare mast on board. Lose one and you still have one left. Like twin screws (engines). Parts are interchangable which reduces the need to carry spares. That point is invaluable. On a traditional sloop or enen traditional yawl or ketch, if you lose a stay, then most likely, there goes the mast. And if the mainmast goes, it pulls the mizzen mast down as well as they are usually tethered together. Rollovers almost always results in losing a mast. The shrouds almost always give way. With a cat boat with its unstated mast, its quite possible that the masts would stay intact in a rollover.
The cat ketches with a stern mounted rudder is more efficient and is more salvageable if broken or damaged. Even if broken off at the waterline, a piece of wood could be fastened to the remaining portion to regain steering. Boats with spade rudders almost always bend their rudder shafts which make them useless. The rudder has to be removed, boat taken out of the water, straightened in a machine shop and reinstalled. Transom mounted rudders are the epitony of simplicity. No rudder shaft housings in the bottom of the boat which can fracture and sink the boat. A transom mounted rudder can be removed while the boat is in the water for repairs. How's that for easy? Plus with the rudder being so extremely aft, it has a better leverage for pivoting the boat, therefore more efficient. And, don't forget, the rudder is much taller than normal boats because the rudder goes all the up to the waters surface whereby a normal rudder is what...maybe starting at the bottom of the boat some foot or two under the surface. Most racing boats with spade rudders have their rudders come right up to the surface too with their transoms 6-10 inches out of the water. This is a yacht design technique to reduce the waterline length for IOR or PYRH handycap ratings because when the boat moves through the water, the waterline is increased as the water swells up to the transom. It is a way of legally cheating the handicap ratings. But that's racing and modern racers. Most cruisers have rudders well below the waters surface which reduces their efficiency.
Also, about cat ketch rigs. The masts are filiment wound with a continuous filament spun round and round the mast. Its like how fishing rods are made. And you know how often those break...not very. Cheers.

[Ronald Rogala]

In the above post, typing errors. "Unstated" should have been "unstayed", meaning no stays...i.e. Forestay, backstay etc. I made that typo a few time I noticed. Sorry.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Good luck Ronald.

Terra Nova, cadence, I wonder what personal experience you two have had with balsa cored hulls?

I think I made it clear? Absolutely none. It is an opinion, maybe based on 35 year old digging into it. Possibly I am wrong. New techniques, such as vacuum bagging may well make a difference. I would suggest a survey that measure moisture content in the balsa. I haven't got the slightest as how that would be done. I am just not convinced end grain balsa won't weep or will not get soggy if the laminate is not flawlessly bonded to it.

It does look like a beautiful vessel for the price. All that glitters is not gold,
then again it may be. I just hope it doesn't end up being fools gold.

[Ronald Rogala]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I think I made it clear? Absolutely none. It is an opinion, maybe based on 35 year old digging into it. Possibly I am wrong. New techniques, such as vacuum bagging may well make a difference. I would suggest a survey that measure moisture content in the balsa. I haven't got the slightest as how that would be done. I am just not convinced end grain balsa won't weep or will not get soggy if the laminate is not flawlessly bonded to it.

It does look like a beautiful vessel for the price. All that glitters is not gold,
then again it may be. I just hope it doesn't end up being fools gold.

Balsa cored hulls rarely have problems. Its decks that have the problems when water enters through mounting holes. There are not many holes in a hull except thru hull seacocks. There aren't many of those so I imagine a builder would seal the balsa with epoxy before installing the seacocks. Balsa can be layer end- grain (best) or not end-grain. The discovery was made 20 years ago that end grain balsa wicks less than water travellin with the grain. So boats within the last 20 years now lay it end grain. That can even wick a little though so it might eventually travel to where the next section was glasses in. End grain is glassed in with sections. Not long boards because it is cut through the grain - like cutting a sausage. Then they epoxy all the small sections next to each other one after another.
Plywood coring is not played end grain and its the worst. Water enters a hole and freezes then expands and enlarges the cavity over and over. Just keeps traveling until the whole board I soaked and delaminated. Then the wood starts rotting. I had to replace my entire cockpit floor when water entered thru the binnicle mounting holes. I cut out the floor and removed all the wood and layed solid glass. You have to watch the sealed holes on decks or it will weep in. Hulls not so much. I don't see hull damage much. If people add a seacock and don't seal the core they are just asking for trouble down the road. Cheers

[Randyonr3]

[QUOTE=Ronald Rogala;1778341 Cat ketches are faster offwind, running and reaching than standard boats, .[/QUOTE]

You are making a blanket statment... and I only interject when speed is brought up.. which Cat boats are faster than which standard boats.. and what is a standard boat..

And as openions go, I kinda think that boat is Butt Ugly.............

[Ronald Rogala]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I think I made it clear? Absolutely none. It is an opinion, maybe based on 35 year old digging into it. Possibly I am wrong. New techniques, such as vacuum bagging may well make a difference. I would suggest a survey that measure moisture content in the balsa. I haven't got the slightest as how that would be done. I am just not convinced end grain balsa won't weep or will not get soggy if the laminate is not flawlessly bonded to it.

It does look like a beautiful vessel for the price. All that glitters is not gold,
then again it may be. I just hope it doesn't end up being fools gold.

There are moisture meaters that surveyors use to measure the moisture levels in hulls or decks. In 45 years of boating I have seen only one boat that high moisture areas in the hull. But i am sure if i were a surveyor and it was my job, i would see much more. Although this boat was a tarten ten race boat. Surveyors like to tap with a plastic hammer to hear the hollow thud of a soft spit. It makes a sound like tapping on a ceramic floor tile without grout underneath it. Like a hollow sound. Some boats may eventually get damp cores because polyester resin is not as good as a water barrier as epoxy resin, and all production boats use polyester resin (not epoxy) because it is cheaper resin by cost basis. So, mass produced boats would be more suseptable to moisture getting into the core. But moisture and delamination are two different things. A hull loses strength only when the sections delaminate and lose their bonds. Its the glue bond that makes the layers act like a solid piece of material. When the bond is broken then the layers can move independently and that allows flexing to occur. As for my boat, I never survey them. I don't want to spend the 400-600 cost for that. I just fix the problems I find. I have fiberglassing boats for 30 years and am not afraid of working with it. My worst project was buying a new Pearson 28 from a fiberglass shop that bought the salvage rights. The boat was coming from the factory by truck when it fell of the truck on the highway. The keel broke and was hanging by a thread, the hull was cracked in two places from impact. Two bulkheads smashed as was the hull to deck joint. Now that was a project. It took me two years to finish that. I had to cut the floor interliner out to grind out all the damage before re- glassing the sump area back in.
As far as my boat goes, I am not aware of any soft areas or delaminated areas however it is not a production boatxand plus it is a 1996 boat...not so old. Cheers

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Ronald Rogala

Sorry. Can't trade a boat for another.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Meant I was joking..

[Ronald Rogala]

As far as speed goes, I would rule out any kind lightweight race boat and would compare cruising boats only. I have seen another freedom 40 listing where it was a winner to the race to Bermuda. I can't get anymore specific than that because I don't know more facts.
My boat is a salty looking boat and I guess that look is not for everyone. Many people like the sleek lines of a race boat and some cruisers are styled with lines like sleek race boats. Boats are like woman and everyone had different tastes . cheers