Catamarans New Zealand

[RandyAbernethy]

Any Kiwis out there who can offer an update on the status of Catamarans New Zealand? I always thought that their CNZ 4500 was one of the nicest cruising cats made.

[sinbad7]

Have a look at their website:
http://www.catamarans.com/catamaranc...791&curr_id=7#

[RandyAbernethy]

Tarahumara is a great boat. I actually looked at her. She has dagger boards though and my wife and I have decided to stick to keels. CNZ did offer the 4500 without boards but I have never seen one. Anyone looking for a great cruiser with boards should consider Tarahumara.

The CNZ web site:
http://www.catamaransnz.co.nz/
is still active (loads as if running on a laptop in a basement) but the last US dealer I talked to said they were in receivership.

[Sunspot Baby]

I’m interested in why you want keels as opposed to dagger boards. I have a Prout with keels. My perception is that she would go to weather better with boards and allow access to skinnier when needed.

Sunspot Baby

[RandyAbernethy]

Hello Sunspot,

I'm lazy is the real answer. My wife and I really like sailing, but we love the tropics and diving. The easier the sailing is the more fun we have.

I have never sailed with boards on a cat but from observation, they clutter the deck, complicate the rigging and reduce the interior volume. In really bad weather you need the boards up to avoid tripping, down wind you want the boards up, sailing into the wind you need the leeward board down. Grounding with a board down can be a real bummer posing a greater threat to hull integrity than with keels. We sail two handed most of the time and this all seems like a lot of downside.

I know that for other people the windward advantages and the ability to lift the boards for downwind or shoal access are crucial.

[Talbot]

short handed sailing with boards, you are much safer using the weather board rather than the leeward one. If the weather hull lifts in a gust, the board comes out of the water and the boat slips sideways.

I cant remember the boat now, but there is a sports cruising cat at abt 40 ft that is available with boards and with LARS. somebody did a test and compared their weather performance to discover that there was insignificant difference between them.

IMHO boards have no business being in a cruising (and short handed) boat.

[Sunspot Baby]

Randy and Talbot, thanks for the input to my question about why no boards. I guess I should count myself lucky that I don't have them. Still since the gods of weather seem to have decreed that the wind shall blow from whence I wish to go, I do wish for better performance going to weather. Of course, my Prout is rigged with the mast farther aft than most. This means I have a small main and most of the work is done by the foresails. A more traditional rig might give me better performance.

Sunspot Baby

[Talbot]

The shape of the genoa will make a big difference to your windward ability, I believe I would consider rigging a supplementary forestay and using a blade jib to see what effect that would have on performance to windward. weight and speed through the water are the two important considerations for a cat. You are never going to beat a modern cruiser/racing mono, but you should be able to make decent progress at abt40 degrees to the apparent.

If you think your windward performance is poor, try my catalac.

[Tropic Cat]

In a gust or puff, a Cat's rig doesn't unload like a mono will. Although they point much better, Dagger boards can be inherently dangerous in this situation as it's possible for a Cat to 'trip' over it's dagger boards and lift a hull. Cat's without boards will slip sideways under these conditions which is much safer. Safety vs performance, the age old question.

Sunspot, on my boat, the genoa sheets so far aft that it's difficult flattening sail when going to weather. I find it's much better to switch to a smaller jib which sheets on my cabintop. Then again, my Catalac isn't exactly recognized for it's windward performance (smile).

Rick in Florida

[Sunspot Baby]

My Genoa sheets run pretty far aft as well, but are not as far from amidships as many cats. I am also cutter rigged. I guess I could try furling the Genoa and running with the staysail which I can sheet almost amidships. I am too lazy to mount a different jib just because the wind changes direction.

Sunspot Baby

[redtwin]

Before opting for a production cat I started construction of a Ron Given 10.6m cat. I have sailed on an earlier version of this and I was very impressed. Not extremely fast but fast enough, I was most impressed with its up-wind and sea handling capabilities. Ron insists on boards. Some designers state that dagger boards are the secret weapon for up-wind sailing in a cat. But for cruising one may not want the hassles of using and maintaining the boards. I like the idea for motoring all the way upto a beach without leaving the cockpit.

[Tropic Cat]

I love turning heads when I beach my cat on a sandy beach (smile). There's nothing quite like it for attracting attention. It never fails that one or two mono guys wander over and begin asking lots of questions about catamarans.

Rick in Florida

[cat man do]

I,ve sailed many a time on a cat in Brisbane Australia called "free spirit" she is a crowther supershockwave 40, and she has no problems taking the best that the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron has to offer on a Wednesday afternoon race. They sometimes get a mixed fleet of 100 boats regularly have 50. This boat would be getting close to 10 years old now and obviously has dagger boards, as do any of the high pointers.
My last cat had boards and we had no problems with them, in fact we unitentionally hit the edge of a reef in new caledonia doing 14knots and had boards fully down, lifted hull about 2 ft out of water. any way we sustained little damage to the board and a crack a bout 12mm long in bottom of case, but I did put in a mountain of uni's around the case bottom running it 4ft fwd when we built her,and she was light,I'm sure that helped.
Dave

[GMac]

Cats NZ are currently in recevership. They are just finishing off a boat now, which is coming out of the shed in a month or so.

No-one is to sure what will happen then. Rumours have a few people interested in buying it and carrying on. Shame really, they tried real hard to keep it running but it all just got a bit much during the 'everyone wants a kiwi boat' phase brought on by the Americas Cup. A lot got so busy so fast it all got a bit out of hand and then the real pressure came on to the great boatbuilders but not the best business runners.

[cchesley]

Here we go again, arguing 'theory' that has little to do with practice. The comment about boards 'having no business' on a cruising cat is just a wee bit strong in my never to be humble opinion. It's preference and availabilty that matter. They're all about compromise. Which is 'less' preferable to you for which reason? I sail with daggerboards. They require no tending short of bringing them up when finished sailing. I sail with them all the way down, part way down, one or both depending on my mood. I also outpoint many cruising monohulls. Would I like the potential to lay the boat on the hard to dry out?...well, maybe. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on putting my (admittedly somewhat expensive) boat anywhere near solid objects/ground. If I were on a shoestring budget and couldn't afford a proper haul out periodically, then, yes, I'd prefer keels, but that brings us back to where we started. Preferences. There is no right/wrong/safe/unsafe argument on this question.