Information on buying at 35-40' catamaran

[travellerw]

My suggestion.. If you can find an Island Spirit, then I would add that to your list.

I won't bother singing its praises, there are multiple posts you can seach for that do that. Its just a brand that you may not have considered.

[Bean Counter]

It depends. If you are living on the boat 365 days summer and winter in Qld then (just taking one example of compromise) you will need to consider sleeping arrangements as a priority. (After all it is a third of your life spent here) There is a big difference between sleeping on double beds perched high in the forward cabin over the bridge-deck vs a queen size aft cabin with easy on and off for both occupants. This leads to design considerations because a fast 35-40 ft cat is usually skinny and not a lot of room for this sort of comfort factor along with other things like generators, water makers, refrigeration large battery banks, big dinghy etc etc.



If you are only cruising winter in the Whitsundays and have a home to go to then yes a more spartan faster boat would do.

[barnakiel]

OK. I did not know all Schionings were one off.

Sure thing if you find one from a reputable boatyard, it will likely be on par or better than mass market products.

I stand corrected.

The design can be very good and then a poor builder botches things.

Cheers,
b.

[jfjharry]

Beancounter:Thanks for this information. We would actually be using it for 5 months of the year, Qld Coast for minimum 3 years so I am really looking at a good buy as it could be sold with not much difference in a few years time. Keeping in mind we have come off a trailer sailer living on it for one holiday for 5 months - all the cats we have looked at on the web are much better than what we had. I also realise that the hard part with the home made ones is to prove the construction quality.

[Morph]

This is very much a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

Are you looking for a boat that sails well? if so, go for a daggerboard boat. If you're not so interested in that then mini keels are fine. Schionnings are very good designs and often the home built ones are well done--but do check them out--there are a few duds.

If you don't mind using the engines more then heavier cats are fine and they take far more load than the Schionnings, Orams or Pescotts.


The other advantage of these boats is that they are often cheaper than the production boats and frankly, you get a lot for your money as long as you have properly and carefully checked them out--as someone says the production boats do have their issues--I hear there has been a few osmosis issues in several of the big brands...



If I was getting another cat--I would almost definitely have outboards... They are just so much simpler, easy to maintain and a third of the cost--no hassles with folding props, anodes etc etc. My boat has been perfect for me--I had it built to lock up and then finished it off and put the rig on it--however it is not for everyone. She was not as big inside as the Seawind 1160 (for four of us she we had more than enough space) and we sailed so much better, both speed wise and upwind angle. Big is great, however as it gets bigger it gets harder to single hand which I love doing....depends on what you want.

[jfjharry]

A belated reply but just wanted to thank you for your input. We really like the look of the Lightwave 38's and one came up in our price range so we are now the owners of one.