blue water cat under USD 200k?

[sandy daugherty]

Geminis are not blue water boats. They are marketed for coastal cruising. They are laid up with extensive coring, but being built to a price, scantlings and rigging do not pass muster with blue water sailors. Their narrow beam makes them feel very tender to multihull sailors, but that combined with thier centerboards makes them closer winded than shoal draft keels. The narrow beam helps by lifting a lot of wetted surface out of the water when heeled.
There have been reports of surveys discovering regretable problems with construction.
Having to look through the cabin to see ahead from the helm is objectionable. Having said all that, they have built a thousand multihulls.

[BigCat]

From Practical Sailor: "The hull is built of solid fiberglass--mat and woven roving. The deck is cored with balsa for stiffness. The new Gemini 3200 incorporates…"

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by BigCat

From Practical Sailor: "The hull is built of solid fiberglass--mat and woven roving. The deck is cored with balsa for stiffness. The new Gemini 3200 incorporates…"

Originally Posted by sandy daugherty

Geminis ...
... There have been reports of surveys discovering regretable problems with construction...
... Having said all that, they have built a thousand multihulls.

Sounds like a pretty typical* boat, except that they've sold a thousand.
* Most of which, I wouldn't take offshore (as found).

[Steve Rust]

Originally Posted by BigCat

From Practical Sailor: "The hull is built of solid fiberglass--mat and woven roving. The deck is cored with balsa for stiffness. The new Gemini 3200 incorporates…"

I don't know the build specs on the 105 but I do know that the 3200 is an old model that has not been built for many years so that may not apply. There is a young couple in the process of circumnavigating on a Gemini 105. Would I recommend it? No, but then we have many example of people doing just that on boats that many, including the builder/designers, do not consider suitable.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Steve Rust

There is a young couple in the process of circumnavigating on a Gemini 105.
.

Where do I find thier info?

[BigCat]

Re: The Gemini 105M


From: Gemini 105M catamaran: extensive re-design of a popular budger cruiser


Hull: Solid GRP, laminated from woven roving and mat with isophthalic polyester resin. An outer layer of polyester resin and gel coat protects against osmosis.
Decks and cockpit sole: GRP sandwich with balsa wood core.

[Steve Rust]

Here you go Therapy
theslapdash.com

BigCat
Thanks for the clarification.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Steve Rust

Here you go Therapy
theslapdash.com

Thanks.

I am eating it up right now!

If only I had the gumption when I was younger.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Thanks.

I am eating it up right now!

If only I had the gumption when I was younger.

And, it seems that they might agree that their boat is not a blue water boat. It is taking a beating.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by jzk

And, it seems that they might agree that their boat is not a blue water boat. It is taking a beating.

I would not take a Gemini across the Pacific.

Waiting for the next installment.

[sandy daugherty]

I've watched them being built, from the 3400 up. Tony uses endcut balsa extensively in the one piece hull mold, but not much below the waterline. Pretty standard stuff.

Its one heck of a lot of boat for the money, and appeals to a good sized segment of the market for exactly that reason. It might be said that his buyers have a better grasp of how they will actually use a boat and are buying accordingly.

Being an effete, intellectual sailing snob with pretensions of grandeur, the PDQ represents the highest construction quality I can afford, and I look down my short red nose at Geminis, Wildcats, Endeavors, and others I am just barely wise enough not to name....

[gramos]

the owner of the gemini company ,tony -smith ? proved his boat beyond doubt , to be ocean going by sailing with his son ,i believe, across the atlantic to present the boat at the southampton boat show.a few years ago . what more proof is required ? , i read the story and it was a big wave crossing and the boat handled it very well

Originally Posted by Therapy

I would not take a Gemini across the Pacific.

Waiting for the next installment.

[SurfNRG]

I think categorizing a Gemini as a Blue Water cruiser is pushing it. Also, for a cruising cat the room is quite limited with it's 14 foot beam. Super nice coastal cruiser though. I looked at so many cats in the 35 to 38 foot range when I was shopping - including PDQ's, Fountain Pujot's, Gemini's, Catalac's, Leopards, Admirals, and Lagoons (with the last three being out of my budget), and I found the Wildcat 350 to be the best deal for the money. I've sailed it across the Gulfstream and quite extensively here in Florida (Atlantic and Gulf) without problems.

Unfortunately it's time for me to sell so if interested check out the classified section of this forum or click on my site

Surf NRG

[GordMay]

A single data point is not usually considered “substantively significant”. The information may have value, but any single data point may be suspect, requiring careful interpretation.
The single event does, however, disprove the negative.
In this case, Tony Smith’s TransAtlantic delivery disproves the contention that a Gemini cannot make an offshore passage, and hence proves that a Gemini can make that passage.
It says little about the prudence of such an undertaking, or the likelihood of future success’.