Catanas??

[Lightfin]

How do Catana's rate / stack up in the catamaran sailing universe?

[Jeannius]

Number 1 in terms of performance for a production cruising cat (maybe Outremer run them close)
Number 1 in terms of price (have a stiff drink in your hand when asking)
Joint number 1 with Privilege on quality

I was tempted by a Catana 431 but chose Privilege as cheaper and better suited to my immediate requirement as a charter boat. (don't reckon the dagger boards would last long on a charter boat)

[gosstyla]

Also, based on the statistics I've seen, probably #1 in crusing cats that have gone turtle over the past 10 years or so.

Don't know why that is.

[Lightfin]

Gone turtle?? As in, capsize???!!!

[henryv]

I don't know where the capsize statistic came from - or if it is real - however daggerboards do dig in more which helps when going upwind but would require that you draw them up to reduce bite when you are in heavy seas where sliding down the waves would be preferable to digging in and risking capsize - one of those trade offs between performance and safety perhaps?

I must say if I find my self with too much spare change I would want to look seriously at a Catana - they do seem to have much to offer both in terms of performance and finish - definately an upscale boat.

[gosstyla]

If I remember correctly all or most of the incidences were diagonal pitch poles.

Also, there were so few, 3 or 4 at most the numbers are probably not statiscally significant. Still more than for any other production cat in the data. I'll see if I can find the original source. It has been a year or two since I saw the article.

Re: daggerboards. Some of the guys I respect that do most of their sailing between 40 and 50 deg south recommend when surfing down the waves to lift the lower board so as not to trip but keep the upper board down to dig in.

[captjohn360]

i would really like to see any article on a cruising cat turned turtle.as far as i know it aint happned to any modern cruising cats....jt

[delmarrey]

"Rivera said he was surprised to see the capsized tour boat. "A catamaran is probably one of the most stable vessels on the ocean. It was very odd to see something like that flip over," he said."


Honeymooners rescued
.........................................._-/)

[henryv]

The cat that flipped was one of Paragon's high performance day sail tour boats - they have posted speeds in excess of 30 knots - not exactly your average cruising cat.

[captjohn360]

why start rumors with no proof????....jt

These are fast boats, and as such, the people that buy them, tend to sail them fast. The most common cause of turning turtle is oversailing the cat. Just a theory, but it stands to reason.

[svcattales]

Catanas look like high quality cats, but the ones I've seen at boat shows have a design flaw that would prevent me from buying one. Catana tends to put dual helms in the far aft end of each hull. Visibility to port is poor if you are steering from starboard and vice versa. With this set-up you always need two people on watch to avoid running into something. Even worse, the helmsman must sit out in the rain and sun since there is no easy way to build dodgers around the steering stations. We bought a Privilege 37 and we can see the "four corners" of the boat from a forward helm seat. The helm is under the bimini and we have forward and side vinyl glass to protect us from the elements.

[delmarrey]

From what I've read in the MultiHull mag. Catana's are heavy boat with a higher then normal freeboard. Also known to be a stable boat but slower then most.

They also filed bankruptsy and was sold to Poncin Yachts on Aug 1st of 2003. About 100 employees were fired, 50 % of the staff. And as Poncin writes they will build in the future more motorcats.
In the last days it looked as though the company had difficulties maintaining the quality and the so called customer service was not helpfull.

If you can read german go to www.doublemagic.ch and read the logbook.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_-/)

[gosstyla]

Page 78 and 79 of Cruising World's February issue has a brief summary of Catana's history.