New to Sailing Cats

[sailawhile]

Hello Cruisers Forum!
This long term monohull sailor is considering dipping his toe in the sailing cat market. I am new to the catamaran market. I am hoping to sail the Caribbean for an extended period of time with my wife and rotating guests. Currently I sail a Tartan T4100.
My question is, based on actual experience, is there a hierarchy ranking of brands? I am looking for something in the 40' to 46' size range. Because this will be a liveaboard, I like the real estate a cat will afford you. I do prefer a turn of speed. Quality is important to me. I have concerns about things like hull slap and inherent quality issues. I feel like I would prefer to avoid charter boats. What features are important to you? Looking forward to your input.
Thanks

[sw34]

There is a huge difference between a 40' and 46' cat - much more than 6' of length difference in a monohull.

Based on your desire to cruise Caribbean - I will assume your US based. If true most brands will do just fine between Bahamas and Caribbean.

To me sailing performance was a big factor in our choices. We migrated to a catamaran from the power boat world in part because I cant stand listening to the drone of engines anymore, so that means I wanted light air sailing abilities. To get better sailing performance something needs to give so you either have much smaller living space or you increase size.

The boat show">Annapolis Boat show is in October - there is a large array of cats at the show. Its worth spending a day or three there and look at the whole spectrum.

Budget and timeline are also huge factors, although I would assume delivery schedules are getting better now that some yard have ramped up and the covid surge is winding down. Two years ago most factories had 3+ year backlogs - I think many are down to one or two now, the big three are well under a year.

With as many "non-charter" boats that are being built today compared to 3 years ago, the used market for the non-charter boats should start to get some better options but time will only tell.

Good luck in your search, there are lots of great options out there but only you can decide what is important to you.

[sailawhile]

Thanks for the reply sw34.
What cat did you end up with?

[DragonflyBob]

While we are owners of a Dragonfly 32 trimaran, my resume includes a two week charter of a Maine Cat 30 in the Abacos, honeymoon bareboating (wife and I) on a Leopard 40 for two weeks in Grenada, and racing on a Gunboat 66 for six years in St. Maarten.

I think you have your priorities correct if you put sailing performance near the top. We were extremely impressed with the Maine Cat 30 and I have read favorable reviews of the Maine Cat 38 and 41 in terms of giving you a bit more performance than the typical cruising/charter cat. Same can be said for the Leopard 40. We only had RF jib and main for that charter but we sailed upwind at a 50 degree TWA at 6-7 knots in 12-14 knots of wind and sailed at 8-10 knots in 16-18 knots of wind broad reaching so I was pretty impressed. The time on the Gunboat opened my eyes to what was possible (if you have deep pockets) in the performance cruising market as that boat easily sailed at 10-12 knots upwind and 20-25 knots downwind (with chute up) but it was not really intended for shorthanded sailing. To fly the snuffer launched chute you needed at least 4-5 crew to do it well and safely.

I think anything from Leopard, Katana, or Outremer would be a good start for evaluation. I would suggest a sail inventory that includes a real upwind screacher (or blast screacher/J1) for light air upwind and close reaching work, a code Zero for close to broad reaching (or heavy air gennaker), and a gennaker for light to medium air downwind work. You need to be sure you can set up an RF staysail for heavy/storm sailing along with three reefs in the mainsail.

Between my own limited experience with Leopard but having friends that have had or currently own Outremer and Katana, all three are good but not perfect build quality but are proven as basic solid platforms that you could configure for your specific requirements.

Good luck and have fun with the project.

[Snore]

As a former delivery captain and former Tartan owner, this is going to be a significant transition for you.

Unless you move to the top level Outremer or Katana- the build quality is not the same. My T-33 had rich hardwoods- some were veneers, but they were thicker veneers. Cats don't have that. Likewise, most cats have terrible handholds and sail poorly below 90-100 AWA.

But that said, put a new Tartan and a new FP 46 in Ft Lauderdale and tell me to deliver one to the BVIs and I will take the FP 46. Much more space, comfort and features.

Just be sure to adjust you expectations.

PS- for long hauls, I would avoid specialty sails, unless they can storm in-place. Even then, as a delivery guy, I would stow them below on a delivery. The added speed is not worth the risk if something happens.

[sailawhile]

Thank you all for your input. My previous boat was a T33. I loved that boat!
I’m looking forward to narrowing my choices

[smj]

A Katana will be impossible to find on the market, may have better luck with a Catana. Nice cats