Broadblue 345

[H.S.Hemingway]

hi,

we are seriously looking for a small cat as our first boat and we came across this one V345 - Broadblue Catamarans USA

The reason why we are thinking of this cat are following:
- I'm 6'4" high so headroom is an issue
- we'd like to do mostly coastal cruising but with the possibility to do blue water as well
- the cockpit is laid out for single handling
- possibility of diesel-electric drives
- possibility of cruising the european canals

so my question is, has somebody real world experience with this catamaran??
i read some reviews and they seem to be quite positive. Does it make a safe ocean crossing vessel? does the price of ~200000 Euros fully equipped and vat paid make sense?

thanks for your help
Olli

[hummingway]

Looks like a lovely boat but small for crossing oceans I would think (I'm not a cat owner). Definitely light on fuel capacity.

[Dulcesuenos]

Seems ;like a nice boat and adecent price, seems like a large amount of sail area for a 32' cat and narrower beam. Could be a fun ride.

[smj]

I may be wrong but it looks like Broadblue bought the molds for the 10m Dazcat.

[H.S.Hemingway]

Originally Posted by smj

I may be wrong but it looks like Broadblue bought the molds for the 10m Dazcat.

Yes, it is a Dazcat design formerly sold as the Voyager 10 Welcome to Voyager Catamarans

[smj]

Originally Posted by H.S.Hemingway

Yes, it is a Dazcat design formerly sold as the Voyager 10 Welcome to Voyager Catamarans

The Voyager 10 is not similar at all to any of the other Dazcat designs.

[H.S.Hemingway]

Originally Posted by smj

The Voyager 10 is not similar at all to any of the other Dazcat designs.

hei smj, yes indeed it is far off any other Dazcat design but look at this link Voyager build2

looks similar

[smj]

Looks like a really nice boat. The only thing I would be leary of is the narrow beam and high center of gravity. Our first cat a Catfisher 32 was deigned this way and in any beam sea her motion was so sharp she would throw things of the counter. Not very cat like at all!

[H.S.Hemingway]

Originally Posted by smj

Looks like a really nice boat. The only thing I would be leary of is the narrow beam and high center of gravity. Our first cat a Catfisher 32 was deigned this way and in any beam sea her motion was so sharp she would throw things of the counter. Not very cat like at all!

thanks, thats the kind of information I am looking for!
well i guess we will not take the good porcelain plates then with us

did you take your Catfisher 32 for blue water cruising?

cheers

[smj]

Originally Posted by H.S.Hemingway

thanks, thats the kind of information I am looking for!
well i guess we will not take the good porcelain plates then with us

did you take your Catfisher 32 for blue water cruising?

cheers

No mainly the Florida Keys and Bahamas.

[Sand crab]

Just to change the subject.....There have been threads before about cats for Big Boys and the 2 that stood out were the Maine Cat 41 and the older PDQ line. Both of these builders make a couple of different boats so you might want to take a look. You could get one used for your price range. BOB

[muskoka]

Delete: Sorry, I thought you'd asked about the BB 435.....

I'd first ask what kind of passages you're contemplating. Crossing the Atlantic / Pacific is different than bobbing around the Med or Caribbean.

Of the 34 footers, I think the Gemini is worth a look.

Personally, I think any 34 boat which offers headroom of 6'-6" is probably designed around the wrong criterion (I'm 6'-2"). Not that I like banging my head, but designing for that much headroom in that length of boat creates some pretty weird compromises.

[H.S.Hemingway]

Just to change the subject.....There have been threads before about cats for Big Boys and the 2 that stood out were the Maine Cat 41 and the older PDQ line. Both of these builders make a couple of different boats so you might want to take a look. You could get one used for your price range. BOB

hei Bob, yes, was looking at this ones, nice designs, but the Admiral doesn't like them
and there is no way i get my toy if she doesn't like it...

so the only design so far in this range is the Broadblue 345...

Personally, I think any 34 boat which offers headroom of 6'-6" is probably designed around the wrong criterion (I'm 6'-2"). Not that I like banging my head, but designing for that much headroom in that length of boat creates some pretty weird compromises.

muskoka, i do agree that it is a compromise and that 2m headroom in 32' is almost insane, but i banged my head so badly when i was younger, that i will for sure go for a boat where i do not have to duck all the time. what i really need is to be able to cook upright and to have a shower from above, not like in some designs chest downwards

i am aware of the design limits, but this is a fun sports and if i cannot have fun then it isn't fun.
therefore i need to know if this boat is safe to take it across the Atlantic and Pacific every now and then to enjoy the med, caribbean and polynesia...

if it would not be safe enough to do so we would need to look further and may safe for a bigger boat. but that is the point, i don't want to be here in 5 years still looking for a suitable boat. hmmmm

but thanks a lot for your advises, very much appreciate them
cheers

[Dulcesuenos]

Just curious have you and the admiral spent much time offshore in a cat or in particularly nasty weather w high seas?
I ask as the cat handles much differently, people not prone to seasickness on monos regular get sick on cats in rohgh weather due to thevdifferent,motions.

[H.S.Hemingway]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Just curious have you and the admiral spent much time offshore in a cat or in particularly nasty weather w high seas?
I ask as the cat handles much differently, people not prone to seasickness on monos regular get sick on cats in rohgh weather due to thevdifferent,motions.

no, we haven't spend much time offshore yet, will soon change...
we have to see how we would feel like on this design, so far i haven't had much problems with seasickness, my Admiral usually get motion sickness if i drive a bit faster on a curvy hilly course , which is a lot of fun for me...

and then my wife is a medical doctor and in case really necessary she knows which pills to take, but this is a last option. she does like rollercoasters, so i think it would suit her the faster motion of such a small cat

we will see