Multihull weight sensitivity?

[jhovan]

Hello,

I currently have a mono hull with all the toys. Generator, watermaker, folding bike, diblasi scooter, hot water tank, solar panels, diesel heater, 170 gallons of diesel, 15hp Yamaha and 10ft dinghy, 6 mos of food, air conditioning etc. My question is this, can all this gear be put onto a Lagoon 380 or Lagoon 410? I enjoy having all the comforts of a house. However, a post on this website concerning a Lagoon 410 said that the owners returned to Florida from Trinidad to "remove some gear". I believe she said the weight was impacting the boats performance in heavy seas.

My question is this, I see other folks running generators and larger fuel and water tankage etc. Do these items create safety issues? Hull smack issues? Or, is it more of a performance issue? Was the issue above due to the location of the weight or the weight in general?

I'm new to Catamarans and before I get too excited about buying one, I want to ensure that adding the toys is possible. I refuse to submit to having to buy lower quality items like the fisher panda generator to save weight. (BTW. Everywhere I went in the Caribbean, people were cussing these things) I currently have a 300 plus pound northern lights generator. I consider this a serious cruising generator. The former I do not and would be unhappy to have to settle for this type of gear.

Would love to hear thoughts on those living aboard and have ac/generators etc. If there are other catamaran brands/models more suited to more gear, I would be interested in hearing those thoughts as well.

thanks in advance,
John
(Over 5,000 sea miles in the gulf of mexico and caribbean in the past three years.)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by jhovan

I currently have a mono hull with all the toys. ......... diblasi scooter.

At the risk of an early thread hijack (call it a free thread bump ) - a DiBlasi folding Scooter is on my wishlist (probably an Electric one), how do you get on with it?

[David M]

Basically, the larger the cat and the wider the hulls, the less weight sensitive they are. But overall, cats are more sensitive to weight than are monohulls. Cats are also more sensitive to weight placement, where you do not want to place to much weight fore or aft. Doing this increases "hobby horsing".

[jhovan]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

At the risk of an early thread hijack (call it a free thread bump ) - a DiBlasi folding Scooter is on my wishlist (probably an Electric one), how do you get on with it?

I love my Diblasi. I had it registered in California years ago when you could mail in the form and get a permanant plate for life. Texas will not allow you to register a scooter unless it is on their approved list. (after all, we are the land of the free). That is the big issue with the Diblasi. That said, I love this piece of gear. I've ridden it 6 months in Mexico. Other places include Culebra puerto Rico, a few times in the Dominican Republic (after getting permission from their customs officer) and Bonaire. If I was in a "police state" like culture such as Colombia, I didn't bother trying. They are busy writing tickets to locals for no insurance etc. sleepy islands like Isla and Bonaire are ideal. I also highly recommend the brompton folding bike. This rides like a full size bike. Only issue is buying new tires for a brompton. Only find them in the us and Europe.

I've had some minor issues due to use and wear and tear but it's been overall very solid. I have a stainless version so it holds up superb on a sailboat. Only problem I have now is ripped seat.

[jhovan]

David,

I've uploaded a pic of my girlfriend riding the Diblasi last week in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

I think you would be better off with the electric version since the laws get crazy with anything with a gas motor.

John

[jhovan]

This is a better photo of the diblasi and the brompton can also be seen in the background. These are both high quality equipment in my mind. No complaints. Some other folding bikes I've ridden will not allow your leg to go straight. Puts a lot of strain on the knees when going up hill and very uncomfortable in my opinion. The brompton does not have this issue. I also purchased the lower gear for the brompton to better allow it to go up steep hills typical of cruising islands.

[Cotemar]

If you need a big heavy generator than you need a big cat. You do not like solar power?

[Teeto]

Just to compare. Our 44 foot Chamberlin cat with narrower hulls than a lagoon has the following. She sails beautifully and is very comfy with high bridgedeck clearance. Has been across the Pacific.
6KVA generator, 3.5m dingy with 20hp outboard, watermaker, instant gas HWS, bicycle (no scooter), air-cond, lots of solar panels plus wind gen, tv's, heaps of food, 420 litres diesel (+200 extra tank), 1000 litre water tank, plus a few things difficult to fit on a mono like comfy marine bean bags, king size bed and large reclining camper chair.
I know, I know, we like it cushy! Sorry to the purists.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Cheers John, glad to hear you are actually getting use from it .

Dear Santa........

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by jhovan

Hello,

I currently have a mono hull with all the toys. Generator, watermaker, folding bike, diblasi scooter, hot water tank, solar panels, diesel heater, 170 gallons of diesel, 15hp Yamaha and 10ft dinghy, 6 mos of food, air conditioning etc. My question is this, can all this gear be put onto a Lagoon 380 or Lagoon 410? I enjoy having all the comforts of a house. However, a post on this website concerning a Lagoon 410 said that the owners returned to Florida from Trinidad to "remove some gear". I believe she said the weight was impacting the boats performance in heavy seas.

My question is this, I see other folks running generators and larger fuel and water tankage etc. Do these items create safety issues? Hull smack issues? Or, is it more of a performance issue? Was the issue above due to the location of the weight or the weight in general?

I'm new to Catamarans and before I get too excited about buying one, I want to ensure that adding the toys is possible. I refuse to submit to having to buy lower quality items like the fisher panda generator to save weight. (BTW. Everywhere I went in the Caribbean, people were cussing these things) I currently have a 300 plus pound northern lights generator. I consider this a serious cruising generator. The former I do not and would be unhappy to have to settle for this type of gear.

Would love to hear thoughts on those living aboard and have ac/generators etc. If there are other catamaran brands/models more suited to more gear, I would be interested in hearing those thoughts as well.

thanks in advance,
John
(Over 5,000 sea miles in the gulf of mexico and caribbean in the past three years.)

Hallo Jhovan if you want all the goody's on your cat that is possible.
Just like a monohull cats will slow down if heavy loaded.
If you start out with a cat that can handle load well and make sure that your goody,s do not overload the boat . A cat with good load handling will have wider hulls, 1:9 or 1:10 length to width ratio or start out with a cat that is build as a light weight boat.
A lagoon is a heavy boat to start with, nothing wrong with but they cannot take a huge load

[CSY Man]

Dear Santa........

Ho-ho little David, have you been a good boy this year?

[jhovan]

Cotemar

It is not possible to run air conditioning without a generator. Otherwise 100% solar would be ideal.

John

[D&D]

Originally Posted by fastcat435

A lagoon is a heavy boat to start with, nothing wrong with but they cannot take a huge load

Not too sure about that, but hey...we're not experts!




We can say that we too prefer the creature comforts. For us that includes:

• 4.5Kv Onan generator;
• 650L fuel (and we carried an additional 200L crossing oceans, altho it turned out we didn't need it as she sailed so well!);
• 900L water;
• 2 fridges & a freezer;
• 2-person kayak;
• 3.6m RIB w/6hp Yamaha (on our wishlist to be upgraded!);
• 640W of solar panels;
• scuba gear; and
• a reasonably full and heavy complement of 'stock' for our floating gallery (check out our website at www.floatingimpressions.com.au !)

After ~18000nm, we observed no performance problems nor any safety issues. Admittedly, we deliberately sought a vessel with load-carrying ability as a higher priority than performance. 'Blue water' seaworthiness in comfort and light-air performance (as in don't have to turn on the engines unless we're in a rush) were our priorities and we acheived both. So we are not the fastest cat out there, but there are also plenty that we sail past...and we are not bothered in either event!

[Overlord]

Our Leopard 47 weighs 30 000lbs at the moment. Hard top , 720 watts solar , ice maker , spectra 400 Newport WM , westerbeke 7.6 D-Net genset , 3x A/C units,:thumb washing machine , dive compressor , 4 x dive cylinders , 3x kayaks , 2 full size folding mtn bikes , loads of spares , surfboards , ski,s , 12ft AB plus 30hp yamaha ,food and family of 5
We sailed from lighthouse reef to glover reef , Belize yesterday in 20 knts on beam. Averaged 8.1 knts , top speed 11.3 knts. Not bad for a fat cat.
Look at our blog for pics. smithtribesailing.blogspot.com

[jhovan]

D&D

Which model do you own?

Thnx
John