Kennex Catamarans

[ireaney]

I am aware that Pro Kennex have not produced catamarans for some time, but has any body have any experience of sailing and especially owning one, if so I would like to hear their pro's and con's especially the 380.

[Tom Blalock]

I have a 1993 Kennex 380. I haven't sailed it much yet, but it seems to be a performance boat. I sailed thru a storm and had only 3 wave slams, a tremendous improvement over my former Prout 37. I live aboard. The design wasn't planned for that, e.g. a cockpit enclosure will be difficult, the engine driven fridge had to go, and access to the cabin table is difficult. Contact me if you have questions.

-- Tom

[cat man do]

I had a good pro kennex squash racket once (-;

They seemed a bit ahead of there time with those carbon ringframes

Dave

[Tom Blalock]

Pro Kennex sold the boat division to Dufour which then split it off as Nautitec.

[John Ruppel]

Hi
I'm John Ruppel, currently residing in St. Augustine, looking for a live-aboard sailboat to cruise from the southern Bahamas to New England.
I'm piggybacking on your response to ireany's query about the Kennex 380. One just came on the market in Mobile, and my wife and I are wondering whether it would be worth the 1000 mile round-trip to look at her. I have a bunch of generic questions about the Kennex; if you'd be willing to give me a few minutes, please drop me a post at nhsharpie@hotmail.com. If you'd prefer to do this over the phone, just email your phone#.

Thank you.

John Ruppel

[wsdemmer]

I owned a Pro Kennex back in the 90's and thought it was a well built catamaran. The 18 horse engines were lacking, the galley head height was not made for anyone taller than 5-9" and the fuel capacity was not enough for extended cruising. I was able to enclose the cockpit very easily with screening. Here in TX the enclosed cockpit was really nice in all weather. I remember the wiring seemed to have some problems as well. I do know that after owning a catamaran I now recognize that they are great for shallow water cruising and living at anchor but the motion offshore on long passages can be irritating. I am now torn as I look for my next boat which way to go. I love the motion of a monohull offshore but love the catamaran inshore and at anchor (does that mean I should try a trimaran?). I sold my catamaran to a couple in Canada and they ended up taking it through the canal up to Canada and eventually through the South Pacific. Their boats name is Mustang Sally.

[Tom Blalock]

Catamarans follow the shape of the water, which can be jerky at times. But I have sailed across the Atlantic in a 41 monohull which in light wind would roll 30 degrees to each side every 4 seconds for 10 hours at a stretch - enough to make you scream! The sails had to be taken down because of the explosive slam on each roll.

[sww914]

I met some people on the dock in San Diego yesterday who have just completed a circumnavigation in a Kennex cat.

[Gary russell]

I owned an 89 kennel 380 for 4 years. Boat was great but as I bought it out of a foriegn charter co. I had to redo a lot of things, but as someone said was a great boat in1989

[Amaleo]

I have a 1990 Kennex 380 and am replacing the trampolines. I did not get the dimensions the last time I was at the boat and keep it at a private dock in Guatemala. The company that is making them listed Kennex 380 as a boat that they make tramps for and even sent diagrams, but are asking for the dimensions of one of the pair. If you could get those from your boat it would be appreciated.

[7MarSan7]

Amaleo
I just bought a Kennex 380 1993 catamaran, which needs a lot of work, I have been trying to get a copy of the Owner's Manual, I wonder if you have one for your boat and could sell me a copy. I would greatly appreciate I really need one.

[zephyrgale]

I have owned a Kennex 380, ser no 3, since 1998 when I bought it used, and sailed it from the Chesapeake Bay to Australia in 2006 through 2008. It now lies in NZ in the water with a recent cruise to the Bay of Islands. Never had an owners manual though. However to suit it for long term cruising and live-aboard I ended up replacing all plumbing and tanks, most wiring, adding stiffening stringers under the bridgedeck and stiffening the forward and aft main bulkheads. I added forward horizontal chainplates to take sea anchor loads -- she lay very well to a sea anchor in a January Atlantic gale shortly after departure.
The engines, Volvo 2002 18HP diesels, have proved quite reliable, and the sail drive legs have given no problems. However, on noting from Volvo that the sail drive legs must be isolated electrically (and the model 2002 Volvo engines do not isolate the legs), I added grounding solenoids to the engine start circuits so that the engines are grounded only during startup. Otherwise one risks drive leg corrosion. Alternators must have isolated grounds, and oil pressure senders must be two-contact. My legs have no corrosion, thank goodness, but I've seen plenty that are pretty bad, probably due to being connected to boat ground all the time.
If gone through, the Kennex 380 makes a nice cruiser. The honeycomb-cored decks are super solid, and the Airex-cored hulls are not vulnerable to water intrusion. The hull-to-deck transition underneath is very well done and minimizes stress concentrations. My boat has Lewmar Ocean Series deck hatches which are very good. There are collision bulkheads fore and aft. The mast is super strong. I did have the hulls peeled and relaminated with vinylester and epoxy barrier coat in Australia though.
The layout is 3 double staterooms plus two large forward spaces accessible via deck hatches. Galley and nav are on the bridgedeck along with a large settee. This makes for a nice living arrangement with all daytime activity up on the bridgedeck and sleeping/washing/pantry below. The engines are well sound-suppressed. This is a lot nicer than the earlier Prout I had. I don't think though that the 380 has quite the payload of some other cats, so watching overall load is worthwhile.

[Momentum]

Hi Zephergale,
What's the head hight like in the main cabin?.
I'm 6Ft

[zephyrgale]

Just took measurements as I am aboard now. Just inside the entrance the head height is 6 feet even. But height tapers gently left and right, and to the front. Standing before the nav table one has 5'9" height available, standing in the galley (in the center of the "U" defined by the sink, counter, and stove) one also has 5'9". At the threshold to the steps down into the hulls there is 5'8" of height, but one is already ducking to go below at that point. In the center of the bridge deck 3'4" forward of the entry one has 5'10". At this point the ceiling quickly drops 3" and then continues to slope gently lower going forward in this settee area. But this is the area around the table where one is normally sitting, not standing. The ceiling at the rear edge of the forward athwart-ships settee forward of the table is 4'9", but as stated this is a seating area and I have never found the low height a problem (though I am not as tall as you are).
Down the starboard steps there is 6'5" standing room, inside the rear berth is 6'4", and inside the forward double berth is 5'10". Down the port steps there is 6'3", inside the port aft stateroom 6'2", and going forward to the wash room and head 5'10".