Quote:
Originally Posted by Keegan
David:
What kind of cat are you leaning towards buying? Why?
Keegan
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Hey Keegan!
I really don't know yet. I am in the exploring phase. I have to
charter a number of cats first with my wife and I have to get to some boat shows. If possible I would like to see some of the factories where they are built, but that is more out of an excuse to travel than a necessity.
I can tell you which boats I really like initially but I don't know how realistic it would be to
purchase one. I really like the GunBoat 48, the
FastCat 52 and the
Lagoon 57 so far. Remarkably, the
Lagoon 50 weighs more than the Lagoon 57! Cats in the upper 40 foot to lower 50 foot range seem to be the sweet spot between comfort and speed versus manageability...but I am not certain of this yet. As I said, I am a
newbie to cruising catamarans and simply need to get some sea time on a number of cats before I can make any firm decisions. As far as design specifics go, I am not interested in a fly bridge and prefer a
galley on the bridge
deck. The boat needs to be one that could be singlehanded in an
emergency by my wife such as for a
MOB or if I should become incapacitated.
I don't want a boat with a relatively low bridge
deck height or is a dog to
weather or even off the
wind. Fast is fun, even if it is a bit more uncomfortable and one has to live with fewer amenities. I really like the light weight boats that some builders are producing now with the carbon spars and other structural members. Some of the
reviews on the gunboats are pretty impressive. I don't mind paying some more for some high technology to generate more speed and
safety. There are many more considerations of course.
It's been fun and educational spending a few hours every night doing web searches on
catamaran related articles. This website has been a fantastic resource which has led me to other places on the
internet.
We plan on doing our first
catamaran charter in the early summer in the
pacific northwest which is only a two hour flight from where we live. Yeah, we could get rained on but that's life. I have read a few articles now about chartering up there and it looks very appealing. The plan is to charter a Lagoon 38 or 42 or perhaps a 44 and sail the
San Juan Islands.
Next year I want to see the
Florida and the
Annapolis boat shows which apparently have a number of cats. I would like to do some test
sails on whatever boats interest me at the end of the shows.
Next year before
hurricane season, I am thinking of doing a
BVI charter with my brother, a friend and his
family on a larger cat. This will help me get a feel for if a couple really could manage a boat in the upper 40 to lower fifty foot size range. With a total of three adult
men on board it should not be a problem managing a larger cat. Could my wife and I do it?...I hope to get a feel for it then.