CATANA'S

[eskfreedom]

So whats your opinion on catana's??? I find my self liking them more and more. We could afford an older one. But are unsure what to get. Now I'm thinking Catana , St Francis, Manta, Lagoon 41....?????? The more research I do the more confused I become!! I have heard the rumors about the de-lams and poor customer service. I know a delivery capitan for Catana and he says that they are the best cats in the world. Just wondering if any owners have any feedback. Thanks a lot.

[Harriet]

My bias toward Manta aside, I would not want outside steering stations like the Catana has. Only in advertisements will all your sailing days be sunny blue skies. And without protection from the sun on those sunny days, you will be fried in no time. That was just a deal breaker for us.

If you are concerned about customer service, please consider Manta very carefully. I feel safe in saying that you will not get better customer service from any cat manufacturer, even if you buy an older boat.

A lot depends on how you will use the boat. Are you planning to live aboard and cruise full time? How many people will you have aboard? Do you like to anchor out, or do you prefer marinas? Consider the beam on the boats you've listed, because finding dockage for some of them will be difficult.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about the Manta. We have lived aboard boat for 2 1/2 years and cruised throughout the east coast and Bahamas.

[fhrussell]

Catanas are great boats and a bit more performance oriented than the others listed.

[RandyAbernethy]

My wife and I spent the last year researching new/newish cats. I really like many things about the Catana but for a long range family cruiser we decided that dagger boards and steering stations not on the bulkhead in the cockpit were out. After sailing heavily over the past year for weeks at a time on various cats including our own, I would second Harriet's caution regarding exposure as well.

[jean1146]

Being protected from the elements is a must weather it is hot or cold.It can get very miserable out there. I am also concerned about not having a 360 vue from the helm station. Dagger boards can be a real problem especially in florida,you can't get into those real shallow well protected spots. There is no perfect design,it is a matter of what you will be doing with your boat. We went to the Miami boat show and came back even more confused,we finnaly opted for a FP,the price beeing anther big issue.as we start using our boat we will let you know objectively.......what we like and dislike.Have fun in your hunt.JC.

[ess105]

When we first start looking at cruising boats my wife and I were smitten by the Catanas we saw - both the 47 (too expensive) and the 43. The layout was great (when you look at it as a mobile home) and the performance improvement from having daggerboards coupled with the minimal draft when they were up was attractive.

In the end we had to part with the idea of a Catana for the same reason as quoted before and that was the exposed helm. Great place to be if you're cruising the islands and not too bothered about melanomas. Aweful place to be in a storm with a bust autopilot.

I still think they're great boats but they don't match our needs.

A similar affair with the Lagoon 440. We spent a week on one around St Martin / St Barts and the bridgedeck was an awesome place to be. If I had the money and all I did was fair weather sailing, this would be a great boat. But the bridgedeck is not where I would want to be climbing up to and down from in extreme conditions.

Steve

[Jeff]

Sud Composites have exposed helms but also revised their designs to offer the helm on the bulkhead. There's a few used Switch 51s on the market with non-exposed helms.

j

[jzk]

Originally Posted by jean1146

Dagger boards can be a real problem especially in florida,you can't get into those real shallow well protected spots.

Actually, since dagger boards can be raised, the boat's draft will be less than that of a cat with keels. An Outremer 55 has a 2.5ft draft.

[pieter97]

Yanmare engines with straight shaft drives (no saildrives!!), very solid construction, sacrificial keels and a good touch of performance.

In my opinion preferable to a Lagoon 41 (expensive) or Manta 40/42 (very little space, outdated layout). I have to say, don't know much about the St Frances. I have sailed a lot of cats, but never ran into one

[fhrussell]

Originally Posted by jzk

Actually, since dagger boards can be raised, the boat's draft will be less than that of a cat with keels. An Outremer 55 has a 2.5ft draft.

But the problem then becomes the lack of any lateral resistance if beating to windward. I am a fan of the asymetric hull for this reason, particularly for cruising...just retract the boards and the hull still provides LR. The downside, asymetric hulls don't load as well...very sensitive to weight, and expensive to build.... oh well, as Dick Newick said, "Speed, Comfort, Cost,...you can have only two."(paraphrased)

[fhrussell]

Originally Posted by pieter97

Yanmare engines with straight shaft drives (no saildrives!!), very solid construction, sacrificial keels and a good touch of performance.

Any experience with V-drives? we are designing a boat for a client and he is adamently against saildrives. We are considering V-drives.

[jzk]

Originally Posted by fhrussell

But the problem then becomes the lack of any lateral resistance if beating to windward. I am a fan of the asymetric hull for this reason, particularly for cruising...just retract the boards and the hull still provides LR. The downside, asymetric hulls don't load as well...very sensitive to weight, and expensive to build.... oh well, as Dick Newick said, "Speed, Comfort, Cost,...you can have only two."(paraphrased)

I don't know if I am that concerned about trying to get good windward performance in areas so shallow that I need the boards up. Retracting the boards is for motoring into hard to get nooks like Normand's Pond in the Bahamas.

[fhrussell]

Originally Posted by jzk

I don't know if I am that concerned about trying to get good windward performance in areas so shallow that I need the boards up. Retracting the boards is for motoring into hard to get nooks like Normand's Pond in the Bahamas.

I agree, but some folks would argue the point. Like I said, asymetric hulls do solve the problem. Here on Long Island, NY, the Great South Bay can be very shallow and I'm always harping about asymetric hulls...everyone thinks I have a fetish!

Oh, and Catana's are still nice boats!

[Canibul]

How often are you (really) beating to windward in water needing 2.5 ft. of draft?

[fhrussell]

Originally Posted by Canibul

How often are you (really) beating to windward in water needing 2.5 ft. of draft?

Not often, but it is still nice to know you can make headway without the boards down. Even with the wind abeam, an asymetric hull tracks better than a full round hull without boards down. But, I admit that asymetric hulls do not have the load carrying abilty of a nice round hull. It seems these days, some of the production cats that have keels have less and less draft. The FP Lavezzi 40 draws 3.5 feet, while an old CSK 40 would draw about 2 feet, and not have nearly the amount of load capacity! For another 18" of draft, the Lavezzi owner could bring about twice the amount of food, crew, gear, etc. in weight. The other side of the argument is that the Lavezzi will not sail as fast as the old CSK..... always the compromises.