I found this article about cats very useful.

[David M]

Cruising World - Join the Cat Crowd

[Tropic Cat]

I take exception to:

"....Under 30 feet, a catamaran's natural proportions converge to make it less habitable than a monohull of similar length.... "

The mono guys in my marina judge my habitable space to be equal to a 34-35 ft mono. This is in a 27 ft catamaran and is their approximation, not mine. To infer in this article that the opposite is true shows a complete lack of experience with smaller cats. Considering who they were quoting, this is completely understandable.

A better source of catamaran information is either of the catamaran books written by Charles Kanter.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by David M

Cruising World - Join the Cat Crowd

Like Rick I would say some things are either missed or wrong but overall a pretty good article.

Thanks.

[ronflonflon]

I found this article a good source when i was looking to go from monohull to cat:

Good Cat, Bad Cat... Bay Yacht Agency Page Bay Yacht Agency Group. We offer new and brokerage boats. Power and sail. Monohulls and catamarans. We also offer a unique Boat-As-A-Business plan.

Ron

[Tropic Cat]

Wow.... more misinformation, but presented so well I had to read parts of it twice.


Why not too much beam? Have you ever observed the wake coming off the bows of a boat? (Actually if you watch a power boat, the effect of a heavier boat at higher speed exaggerates the effect I'm talking about.) The wave curves up and away at an angle about 150 degrees back from the bow. If you measured diagonally outwards from the bow, you would see that the wave increases in height as it curves away from the bow. Keep this in mind.

Now, imagine an older design catamaran with narrower hulls (The waterline beam of each hull being narrow.)

Lets pause here. Older Cats were actually beamier in that the individual hulls were wider, with a narrower beam. Fineness in hull design and it's effect on speed didn't come on the cat scene until much later.

The hulls don't have the buoyancy to give the stability that comes from buoyancy (see above) so the designer is forced to gain stability the only way he can--he increases the overall beam. The trade off? Several and all bad:

Yes, a common problem with modern cats is overloading due to the fineness of the hull design.

• The two bow waves come together under the nacelle as they angle back from the bow and the distance is longer (with the wider hulls) so the wave is bigger--the result is excessive pounding under the bridge deck! In other words, the self generated waves combine with even a modest chop causing pounding in relatively moderate conditions.

I just love this one. I have a 22 year old boat on a 30 year old design.My wakes come together about 15-20 feet behind my boat. Where they meet I have a mini rooster tail when sailing speeds exceed 6 knots.

The narrow hulls don't give you the load carrying ability a serious cruiser needs.

According to both catamaran books written by Charles Kanter this is somewhat controlled by hull shape/design. In a hard chine design used by older cats, the load carrying ability is much higher than with todays fine entry hulls.

There is a point when there is only so much reading a person can do. At that time you have to get on these boats and sail them. Many posts are on this forum recommend that people charter the model Cat they are interested in before locking themselves into a buying decision. It's good advice. In addtion, what I would like to suggest is having a look at much older boats of the same model or manufacturer than what you would actually purchase to see how the boats age. You'd be surprised at what you'll find.

Nuff said

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by ronflonflon

I found this article a good source when i was looking to go from monohull to cat:

Good Cat, Bad Cat... Bay Yacht Agency Page Bay Yacht Agency Group. We offer new and brokerage boats. Power and sail. Monohulls and catamarans. We also offer a unique Boat-As-A-Business plan.

Ron

Hi Ron - I agree that there is some good stuff in that article - but it is biased to the particular cat manufacturer the author represents, in my humble opinion. The "good cat" is exactly what he's selling. Have your salt shaker nearby.........

Dave

[ronflonflon]

Originally Posted by 2Hulls

Hi Ron - I agree that there is some good stuff in that article - but it is biased to the particular cat manufacturer the author represents, in my humble opinion. The "good cat" is exactly what he's selling. Have your salt shaker nearby.........

Dave

Hi Dave,

Yeah. I know he´s trying to sell his own brand, didn´t go for it though. Ended up buying Chris White´s atlantic cat.
There are not so many articles around though and for a beginner in cat-world it was useful at least for me.

The book from Chris White was also very helpful, but I got it only after the decision which cat to buy.

Ron

[2Hulls]

Hi again, Ron - I really like Chris's boats - based on the little I know about them. Which model did you get? Where was it built?

I have never been on one, although I saw one from the dock about this time last year at Georgetown Yacht Basin, Maryland, US.

Do you find the "mid cockpit" gets wet? Or are you going so fast that bow spray doesn't come down until it's well aft?

Dave

[ronflonflon]

Dave,

"Got" the 57 which is actually the 55 with an extension of the bow. It is being fabricated at the moment in Chile, with Alwoplast, hoping to take deliveru in november 08.
I sailed a whole day in relatively bad weather (a cold front passing in the bahama´s) with Chris White together on his own 55. The cockpit in front got a bit wet when sailing close hauled, otherwise not at all.
The beautiful thing was to step back into the pilothouse and steer from there (of course here we introduce another disadvantage, being not close to the sheets, so you have to make sure to have your sails relatively underpowered).
We (of course my wife loved it too) found the cockpit in front in combination with the inside steering one of the best design inventions we have seen on a cat (and we hated the Catana setup with both steering stations on the hull).

Ron

[2Hulls]

Ron - The pilot house steering should be a real bonus when it gets miserable out front. Where are your engine controls?

Re: the Catana helms > seems either folks love 'em or hate 'em. We love 'em. When sailing it reminds me of siting on the upwind side of a mono - nothing between me and the wind, I have a clear view of the sails, and no cabin roof to look over ahead. To escape the sun or miserable conditions we can switch to the other helm (maybe it's in the shade of a sail) or is shielded from spray by the coach roof/bimini OR use the remote auto pilot. Docking from the stbd helm (where the engine controls are located) stbd side to is a cinch. Unobstructed views.

Good luck with your build!

Dave

[ronflonflon]

Dave,

Everyone fortunately has his/her own preferences and happily we can all make our own choices (within limits). I can see the advantages of the catana helm setup (excellent visibility).

Engine controls are both inside and outside.

ron