If You Had $400K to Buy a Cat....

[schoonerdog]

none of the above, frankly most of them concentrate on charter business, sacrifice structural bouyancy for births, reduce costs by using balsa as a core don't have storage where you need it. Boy I'm going to piss a lot of people off with those comments, but realize that catamarans are designed for different purposes. If you choose a charter boat, it was designed not to be a circumnavigator (obviously though they could), they were designed to hold a lot of people living out of a suitcase and sailing between close islands in tradewinds. Think hotel. Galley space, not a priority, structural bouyance for collisions with containers, not a priority, materials that will last decades well, not the priority. So to answer your question?

For 250-300k I'd get my boat, not as pretty as many, but half the fleet are circumnavigators.

For 400k I'd look for a used PDQ42/44 with yanmars, Privilege has a lot of charter boats but they also have design specs with quality and lots of structural bouyancy, maybe a dolphin 44, a mainecat if it were going to be sailed in temperate to tropics and really wanted a nice sailing catamaran is another good choice.

[Sabbatical II]

After 1000 miles up the East Coast of OZ in a name brand cat, I wouldn't buy any unless I knew it was going to pound unmercifully once the wind gets above 25knts. I'm told some are a lot better than others.

Greg

[PHIL+MARYANNE]

We spent several years researching first monos, then cats, and actually sailed on many (St. Francis, Royal Cape Cat, Lagoon, Catana, FP, Manta).. In the end we realized that for a cruising couple (or solo sailor) the best was (and still is) a Manta 42. (Manta 38 and 40 are not quite as good balance wise, but still great boats.) We bought ours new in 2006 and sailed her 14,000 miles in 3.5 years from Florida to Maine, through the Bahamas and most of the Eastern Caribbean down to Trinidad and back. They have all the comforts and safety features, they're fast, solid in bad seas and the cockpit layout, sling seat and hardtop are amazing. They do have Volvo engines, but we've had no problem getting good service when we've needed it (rare I'm happy to say) in US, Bahamas or Carib. They're diesels after all. Best of all, the Manta Users Forum (ONLY open to Manta Owners) is amazingly active with helpful advice from all over the world within minutes - whether it's ways to trim your custom spinnaker, or where to find a 10 year old part for generator. The company may be gone, but thanks to their excellent build and dedicated owners, the boats will thrive for many years to come....

If you'd like to see all the Mantas for sale or sold in the last couple of years, checkout Home. Lots of specs and fun pics, too.

Whichever cat you end up with - the cat-cruising lifestyle in the Caribbean is AWESOME.... we miss it...
Cheers!
Phil+MaryAnne
s/v Calypso
Annapolis

[Ortolan]

I believe that now ( recent news) Maine Cat will be building the MC 41 again, probably at their facility with Lyman-Morse as a backup.
Best is to contact Dick Vermeulen via the Maine Cat website, www.mecat.com

[sailingaway221]

DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO...BUT I REALLY LIKE THE OUTREMER 45'S...THEY ARE GETTING IN AROUND THAT PRICE NOW.

[RayW]

Originally Posted by sailingaway221

DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO...BUT I REALLY LIKE THE OUTREMER 45'S...THEY ARE GETTING IN AROUND THAT PRICE NOW.

The Outremer 45 is my top pick too.

[Slowing Down]

With the demise of the euro, many fine used cruising cats are getting close to this range. I just wish that was my range. I would definitely want daggerboards and galley up. Performance is very important as is bridgedeck clearance. I like the hard tops over the cockpits.
Catana's (43 or 47) look to be great choices. Still not 100% sold on helm positions.
Outremer's look very nice too (never been on one) with what would seem to be a better helm.
Catalantech 50's intrigue me but that's getting big. I think I'd like this helm position best but it eliminates a big sliding entry which I also like. Also would need to build a good sized hard cockpit cover. Don't like the transoms though and the forward edge of central nacelle (bridgedeck) looks very square and boxy like a bulldozer for waves.
I like the mainecat 41 but it's galley down. Otherwise they are strong, light and fast. If they are starting a new run of these, I would love it if they went galley up but that's unlikely (I mentioned this to the builder (Dick V) several years back at a boat show). Lack of resales also mean higher used prices.
Dolphin 46 are still pretty expensive too and I was surprised by lack of head room at the galley (I'm 6'3").
I would definitely consider a custom built Crowther, Farrier or other but these would need more scrutiny regarding quality of construction and any mistakes made.
Unfortunately, nothing will be perfect as there will be tradeoffs. Even if you build it yourself, there will be things that you would do differently if you had a do over.
Right now, If I could put 400K into a boat, I'd be looking for Catana's, Outremers and custom builts.

[Denvermike66]

Thank you all for your input. I really do appreciate all of your time spent on this subject. Funny how you start with looks... thinking the Catana, Outremers are kind of ugly vs the Condomarans. Then you start looking at bridge clearance and performance... now the ugly ones have a whole new meaning. Kind of like women...lol. But I have to say with confidence that I am sold on the ugly ones... which are absolutely beautiful in my eyes now. Going to Dagger!
Cheers!

[YOGAO]

Wait a minute! Women have bridgedeck clearance?

Fair Winds,
Mike

[sailingaway221]

If I had 400k to spend just on the boat I would not be looking at a lagoon 38.........no matter how pretty it was.....and if i was theres over 100 of them begging to be brought on yachtworld.com

Go Look at an Outremer 43 or 45..this boat will eat almost anything for reliability and cruisability......
Leopard 40 has far more space and sails much better than a loaggon 38

[Denvermike66]

Originally Posted by YOGAO

Wait a minute! Women have bridgedeck clearance?

Fair Winds,
Mike

LMAO yes they do..... it's called long legs!